Portfolio Post — Comparative Essay on Gatsby and Paul Nash

 

First Draft

Gatsby and Paul Nash: 

 

Extracts:

We are making a new world

 

Chapter 4:

‘Mr. Carraway this is my friend Mr. Wolfshiem.’ A small, flat-nosed Jew raised his large head and regarded me with two fine growths of hair which luxuriated in either nostril. After a moment I discovered his tiny eyes in the half darkness. ‘—so I took one look at him—’ said Mr. Wolfshiem, shaking my hand earnestly, ‘—and what do you think I did?’ ‘What?’ I inquired politely. But evidently he was not addressing me for he dropped my hand and covered Gatsby with his expressive nose. ‘I handed the money to Katspaugh and I said, ‘All right, Katspaugh, don’t pay him a penny till he shuts his mouth.’ He shut it then and there.’ Gatsby took an arm of each of us and moved forward into the restaurant whereupon Mr. Wolfshiem swallowed a new sentence he was starting and lapsed into a somnambulatory abstraction.

The arts and literature have in some way always been a key part in human culture around the world to represent ideas and communicate the artist or author’s perspectives to their respective audience or readers. Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, progress and social change have rapidly increased in a relatively short amount of time that was unseen before in all of Human History. The 20th century was perhaps an era of immense social, economic and political progress and rapid change in a relatively short period with both constructive and destructive consequences on societies. For instance, one of the most profound changes to western societies during the 20th century was the outbreak of the Great War and subsequently the advent of the Roaring Twenties or Jazz Age. War artists such as Paul Nash and influential authors like F. Scott Fitzgerald have through their choice of creative expression responded to the rapid social change during the late 1910s and 1920s that transformed society into a new era. “We are making a New World” by Paul Nash, as in many of his war landscape paintings, rejects the romanticised and heroic representations of war that dominated the norm before the 20th century in favour of more abstract, cubist inspired art to express his deep horrors of World War I that warped nature unnaturally and terrorised human emotions. The audience response was profound and was the key factor that changed the way we perceive war as an unnecessary means and even immoral at times. Similarly, Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby expressed his condemnation for the disintegration of the American Dream in 1920s America in an era of unprecedented prosperity and consumerism of material excess. Through his response to the 1920s social change, he made his readers realise the extent of how the decayed moral and social values transformed into the empty pursuit of greed and pleasure. Although different in style, both Nash and Fitzgerald through their creative acts and their representation of certain social values, transformed the way their audience or readers saw society, shedding new light on the ever-evolving and ever-changing issues that surround our societies. 

Firstly, in Nash’s “We are Making a New World” juxtaposition of the title and the brutal and destructive depiction of war in his artwork challenges the heroic portrayal of mass wars that even in today’s modern world, brings back the cruel reality of WWI. Paul nash described his paintings as feeble and inarticulate which was not referring to the limitations of his skill as an artist but rather that he was unable to properly comprehend and express the scale and intensity of not only trauma but the suffering that he and others experienced during world war. For most of the history of Western Art, the more realistic the art the better it was perceived, or at least that the skills of the artist were based on how close he could paint realistically and as close to reality as possible, even if the romanticised depiction of a landscape or figure of authority were not realistic per se. In addition, art that was displayed in art galleries had a similar theme of some romanticized version of an important figure or landscape or realistic interpretation of some still life. However, the introduction of the new art styles, such as cubism, impressionism, surrealism and other more abstract styles, challenged these century-old artworks of what most people believed was expected and what art should represent, especially the artwork or sculptures that displayed the art of Classical Greece or unmoving and breathtaking landscapes, which at the time was the norm. The art world had a rude awakening and Paul Nash’s war landscape paintings were no different from that shock. Likewise, “We are Making a New World” creates this juxtaposition because a new world implies hopefulness and new beginnings. Instead, the title gives no hint of any mutilation of a landscape instilled with horror. On the contrary, the land is warped too organically and resulting in an alienation of the landscape and the oddly liquified trees seem too unnatural to exist on earth. The rays of sunshine further contrast the title by seeming unnatural and artificial despite being the sun. The sun lossesloses it’sits warmth because these rays are straight and are white and not a warm orange or yellow that one would normally associate with the sun. The towering red hills along with the artificial sun, create a miserable and hopeless mood and atmosphere illustrating the illusion of escape or relief from the horror of war and the betrayal of nature. The landscape feels contained wthwith little space among the trees, devoid of any organic living life as the earth and once lush vegetation is reduced to mud and perhaps pools of chemicals and waste. All in all, the painting is far from a celebratory depiction of war and instead depicts utter failure in humanity. Thus all these creative elements in the painting transformed the values typically associated with war such as glory in the battlefield, the same as playing a game with friends and nobility in dying for one’s country to mass-scale destruction and nightmarish landscapes. These established beliefs have been inverted and subdued by these new abstract and revolting art styles of Paul Nash and other artists including those part of the Dada movement, to depict such an alien landscape contrasted to the romanticized beautiful and awe-inspiring landscapes showcased in art galleries before was a huge social changed and transformed the views on war. As it was commonly known, WWI was the war that ended all wars, or rather ended the public’s perceived notions of war transforming into a new truth of what war actually is. 

On the other hand, F. Scott Fitzgerlad saw the mass consumerism and materialism as a result of the increase of urbanization in America, a cause to the alienation in society and away from traditional secular values (that in some cases were more preferable than the new modern values). The Great Gatsby responded to the massive social change that he saw as cynical in a way because the new modern values of endless, meaningless pleasure and greed contributed nothing to society. In chapter 4, the surrounding myths of who Gatsby is sort of revealed or at least Nicks meeting with Wolfsheim instils doubt to him that Gatbys’s virtues are perhaps not as pure as they have seemed to be. Wolfsheim is grotesquely portrayed stereotypically Jewish with the physical appearance of having a “large head’, “small” diminutive stature and his obvious greed expressed through “his expressive nose” as,” as if smelling for money. In a way, this meeting confirms in the eyes of Nick and the reader, Gatsby’s involvement with bootlegging and organised crime. This altogether is a symbolic representation of criminal activity based on stereotypes of Jews. Corruption and illegal criminal activity during the prohibition era in Fitgerald’s eyes, lead to the moral and social decay that dismantled the very idea of the social mobility in the American dream as well as the new consumerism of material excess without thought. This theme is existent throughout the novel, and later on, in Chapter 4, Wolfsheim cufflinks are perhaps the most pertinent manifestation of his corrupt nature let alone his physical description, with the human molars also reflective of death perhaps even foreshadowing the death and downfall of Gatsby. One of the underlying values of the American dream is that anyone can rise up the ranks of the social hierarchy and become satisfied and enjoying a higher standard and quality of life, given the work hard enough. However, in order to attain the American Dream, then crime needs to be involved and Gatsby, despite perhaps enjoying some elements of his illegally acquired wealth, was never fully satisfied and in the end, everything fell apart. Fitzgerald points out that the American Dream was never accessible to anyone and was only a means for the rich to stay rich. This failure in the American dream is just another byproduct of the moral decay in society in the 1920s and through a Marxist analysis view on the American Dream, was a way for the rich like Tom to stay rich by motivating the working class to work. Furthermore, this meeting with Wolfsheim leads to Gatsby’s backstory, which is finally revealed in chapter 6 later on by a reporter. It is revealed that his only true pursuit was to be with Daisy, the female embodiment of the true American along with the symbol of the green light to which Gatbsy attaches sentimental value to, the readers realise the myth of the American Dream. This is because Gatsby can never find true satisfaction was satisfaction and was never able to fully attain the American Dream. His materialistic parties (and how no one, except the owl-eyed man and Nick, further exposes the truth to the extent of moral decay in society) and his failed materialistic efforts for Daisy never resulted in the way he expected, divulges into the social decay in society. Gatsby was also a by-product of the illusion that materialism and getting rich no matter what can help one to achieve one’s goals and be happier. Wolfsheim was the first to reveal the extent of the failed illusion of the American Dream and it’s moral decay on society as Fitzgerlad saw it. Fitzgerald transformed the values in the 1920s that was thought to be prosperous and shocked the Jazz Age that all the glamorous glamorous values were a lie or at least didn’t disclose the extent of the inaccessibility of the American Dream and how it morally decayed the society. His creative effort changed the way the 1920s was perceived in an era of what most people thought was prosperous only to be short-lasting and only for the wealthy few. 

In conclusion, the 20th century was an era of rapid social change and where many authors, artists and other creative individuals contributed to the widely transformed society or were a by-product of the profound social changes and were seen as a response to it. Paul Nash as a war artist expressed through his juxtaposition of an ironically optimised title, and the barren, wasted and traumatising landscape to illustrate the horrors of war on both people and nature. This brutally honest depiction of the horrors of war contrasted the heavily romanticised paintings of immobile landscapes and idealised figures that dominated the art galleries of before. Fitzgerald, on the other hand, was outraged by the American society that although shifted away from traditional values and became more urbanised and modernised, adopted the newly acquired values of greed before anything else and mindless consumption of material excess that resulted in what Fitzgerald saw as moral decay and corruption in society. This, in turn, disintegrated in the American Dream, both in terms of the values upheld by it and the facade or illusion of being able to obtain with no little to no cost despite perhaps only having a limited time of true happiness. Nash and Fitzgerald have used their creative means to transform the societal norms, expectations and values into what they saw as morally wrong or not displaying the actual truth which resulted in mixed reactions of the readers or audience through the responses to social change. Artists and writers today still respond to the ever-increasing social change through their own creative styles of its purpose being to evoke their sense of truth and right. Many artists have responded to the rise of the far-right and the ever polarisation of politics in the US and Europe, and some like Eli Rezkallah has responded to the more feminist values of modern western society today, though not actually being completely feminist through the inversion of gender roles of parodies of 1950s adverts. All in all, creativity is an impactful and inspirational way to transform society and to respond to the change in societal values.

Revised Draft:

The arts and literature have always been a key part in human culture around the world, used to represent ideas and communicate the artist or author’s perspectives to their respective audience or readers. The pace of social change and progress was unseen in the 20th century in an era of immense social, economic and political change resulting in constructive and destructive consequences on societies. The outbreak of the Great War and subsequently the advent of the Roaring Twenties or Jazz Age were one of the most profound changes to western societies. War artists such as Paul Nash and influential authors like F. Scott Fitzgerald have through their choice of creative expression responded to the rapid social change during the late 1910s and 1920s that transformed society into a new era. “We are making a New World” by Paul Nash, as in many of his war landscape paintings, rejects the romanticised and heroic representations of war that dominated the norm before the 20th century in favour of more abstract, cubist inspired art to express his deep horrors of World War I that warped nature unnaturally and terrorised human emotions. The audience response was profound and was the key factor that changed the way we perceive war as an unnecessary means and even immoral at times. Similarly, Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby expressed through his creative work, his condemnation for the disintegration of the American Dream in 1920s America in an era of unprecedented prosperity and consumerism of material excess. Through his response to the 1920s social change, he made his readers realise the extent of how the decayed moral and social values transformed into the empty pursuit of greed and pleasure. Although different in style, both Nash and Fitzgerald through their creative acts and their representation of certain social values, transformed the way their audience or readers saw society, shedding new light on the ever-evolving and ever-changing issues that surround our societies. 

Firstly, Nash in many of his paintings created a juxtaposition of the title and the brutal and destructive depiction of war in his artwork challenges the heroic portrayal of mass wars that even in today’s modern world, brings back the cruel reality of WWI. Paul Nash described his paintings as feeble and inarticulate which was not referring to the limitations of his skill as an artist but rather that he was unable to properly comprehend and express the scale and intensity of not only trauma but the suffering that he and others experienced during world war (Tate). For most of the history of Western Art, the more realistic and romanticised depictions the art was, the better it was perceived. However, the introduction of the new art styles, such as cubism, impressionism, surrealism and other more abstract styles, challenged these century-old artworks of what most people believed was expected and what art should represent. The art world had a rude awakening and Paul Nash’s war landscape paintings were no different from that shock. Likewise, “We are Making a New World” creates this juxtaposition because a new world implies hopefulness and new beginnings. Instead, the title gives no hint of any mutilation of a landscape instilled with horror. On the contrary, the land is warped too organically and resulting in an alienation of the landscape and the oddly liquified trees seem too unnatural to exist on earth. Painting the rays of the sun using a cool white rather than the usual warm yellows or oranges, Nash gives them an attenuated feeling, almost as if they have become unnatural. The towering red hills along with the artificial sun, create a miserable and hopeless mood and atmosphere illustrating the illusion of escape or relief from the horror of war and the betrayal of nature. Nash’s use of composition makes the landscape feels contained with little space among the trees, devoid of any organic living life as the earth and once lush vegetation is reduced to mud and perhaps pools of chemicals and waste. All in all, the painting is far from a celebratory depiction of war and instead depicts utter failure in humanity. Thus all these creative elements in the painting transformed the values typically associated with war such as glory in the battlefield, the same as playing a game with friends and nobility in dying for one’s country to mass-scale destruction and nightmarish landscapes. These established beliefs have been inverted and subdued by these new abstract and revolting art styles of Paul Nash and other artists including those part of the Dada movement, to depict such an alien landscape contrasted to the romanticized beautiful and awe-inspiring landscapes showcased in art galleries before was a huge social changed and transformed the views on war. As it was commonly known, WWI was the war that ended all wars, or rather ended the public’s perceived notions of war transforming into a new truth of what war actually is. 

On the other hand, F. Scott Fitzgerlad saw the mass consumerism and materialism as a result of the increase of urbanization in America, a cause to the alienation in society and away from traditional secular values (that in some cases were more preferable than the new modern values). The Great Gatsby responded to the massive social change that he saw as cynical in a way because the new modern values of endless, meaningless pleasure and greed contributed nothing to society. In chapter 4, the surrounding myths of who Gatsby is sort of revealed or at least Nick’s meeting with Wolfsheim instils doubt to him that Gatbys’s virtues are perhaps not as pure as they have seemed to be. Fitzgerald’s grotesque characterisation of Wolfsheim portrays him as stereotypically Jewish with the physical appearance of having a “large head’, “small” diminutive stature and his obvious greed expressed through “his expressive nose,” as if smelling for money. In a way, this meeting confirms in the eyes of Nick and the reader, Gatsby’s involvement with bootlegging and organised crime. This altogether is a symbolic representation of criminal activity based on stereotypes of Jews. In Fitzgerlad’s eyes, everyone was culpable because everyone turned a blind eye to the whole situation along with corruption and illegal criminal activity during the prohibition era, leading to the moral and social decay that dismantled the very idea of the social mobility in the American dream as well as the new consumerism of material excess without thought. This theme is existent throughout the novel, and later on, in Chapter 4, Wolfsheim cufflinks are perhaps the most pertinent manifestation of his corrupt nature let alone his physical description, with the human molars also reflective of death perhaps even foreshadowing the death and downfall of Gatsby. One of the underlying values of the American dream is that anyone can rise up the ranks of the social hierarchy and become satisfied and enjoying a higher standard and quality of life, given the work hard enough. However, in order to attain the American Dream, then crime needs to be involved and Gatsby, despite perhaps enjoying some elements of his illegally acquired wealth, was never fully satisfied and in the end, everything fell apart. Fitzgerald points out that the American Dream was never accessible to anyone and was only a means for the rich to stay rich. This failure in the American dream is just another byproduct of the moral decay in society in the 1920s and through a Marxist analysis view on the American Dream, was a way for the rich like Tom to stay rich by motivating the working class to work. Furthermore, this meeting with Wolfsheim leads to Gatsby’s backstory, which is finally revealed in chapter 6 later on by a reporter. It is revealed that his only true pursuit was to be with Daisy, the female embodiment of the true American along with the symbol of the green light to which Gatbsy attaches sentimental value to, the readers realise the myth of the American Dream. This is because Gatsby can never find true satisfaction and was never able to fully attain the American Dream. His materialistic parties (and how no one, except the owl-eyed man and Nick, further exposes the truth to the extent of moral decay in society) and his failed materialistic efforts for Daisy never resulted in the way he expected, divulges into the social decay in society. Gatsby was also a by-product of the illusion that materialism and getting rich no matter what can help one to achieve one’s goals and be happier. Wolfsheim was the first to reveal the extent of the failed illusion of the American Dream and it’s moral decay on society as Fitzgerlad saw it. Fitzgerald transformed the values in the 1920s that was thought to be prosperous and shocked the Jazz Age that all the glamorous values were a lie or at least didn’t disclose the extent of the inaccessibility of the American Dream and how it morally decayed the society. His creative effort changed the way the 1920s was perceived in an era of what most people thought was prosperous only to be short-lasting and only for the wealthy few. 

In conclusion, the 20th century was an era of rapid social change and where many authors, artists and other creative individuals contributed to the widely transformed society or were a by-product of the profound social changes and were seen as a response to it. Paul Nash as a war artist expressed through his juxtaposition of an ironically optimised title, and the barren, wasted and traumatising landscape to illustrate the horrors of war on both people and nature. This brutally honest depiction of the horrors of war contrasted the heavily romanticised paintings of immobile landscapes and idealised figures that dominated the art galleries of before. Fitzgerald, on the other hand, was outraged by the American society that although shifted away from traditional values and became more urbanised and modernised, adopted the newly acquired values of greed before anything else and mindless consumption of material excess that resulted in what Fitzgerald saw as moral decay and corruption in society. This, in turn, disintegrated in the American Dream, both in terms of the values upheld by it and the facade or illusion of being able to obtain with no little to no cost despite perhaps only having a limited time of true happiness. Nash and Fitzgerald have used their creative means to transform the societal norms, expectations and values into what they saw as morally wrong or not displaying the actual truth which resulted in mixed reactions of the readers or audience through the responses to social change. Artists and writers today still respond to the ever-increasing social change through their own creative styles of its purpose being to evoke their sense of truth and right. Many artists have responded to the rise of the far-right and the ever polarisation of politics in the US and Europe, and some like Eli Rezkallah has responded to the more feminist values of modern western society today, though not actually being completely feminist through the inversion of gender roles of parodies of 1950s adverts. All in all, creativity is an impactful and inspirational way to transform society and to respond to the change in societal values.

 

Source:

https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/paul-nash/context-comment/articles/paul-nash-war-artist

Comparative Essay | Oscar Landgren | Paul Nash and Carol Ann Duffy

This Essay has been reviewed with Feedback. Here is the Feedback

 

Feedback From Teacher:

The start of a good response but perhaps not thorough enough as not enough points or deep analysis is made. More balance between texts and being perhaps more analytical at times rather than descriptive, also the need of contextualising evidence in the essay. 

How Will I Move Forward:

I will rewrite the essay using the feedback and going forward I will despite the more clearer analysis than last time in the IO, I will do more of this analysis and in-depth in future works such as future essays and IOs. 

 

Links to Extra Reading:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2009/may/01/carol-ann-duffy-poet-laureate 

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/oct/14/from-english-woodlands-to-war-pioneering-paintings-of-paul-nash

https://www.everypicture.org/we-are-making-a-new-world-by-paul-nash 

 

Conflict and war have existed throughout  human history, and different groups of different cultures and ideologies have gone against each other to battle for glory and for their people. These heroic and romanticized representations of war dominated the norm before the 20th century.The world World Wars completely shifted that notion and changed future wars and conflicts as a result. War artists such as Paul Nash and even more contemporary poets like Carol Ann Duffy have through their choice of expression to condemn and evoke the horrors of war. Carol Ann Duffy in her poem “Shooting Stars” in her collection from Standing Female Nude from 1985 deviates from her usual overt sexual poems with dark humour and instead shames the reader in our seeming forgetfulness of the tragedies of World War 2 and as a result, attempts to sympathise with the Jewish victims of World War II. Similarly, Paul Nash, as in many of his war landscape paintings, rejects the romanticism in favour of more abstract, cubist inspired art to express his deep horrors of world war I that warped nature unnaturally and terrorised human emotions. His juxtaposition of a hopeful title against the destruction in his painting aims to shy away from the celebratory and heroic depiction of war to condemn war itself. Although different in style, both Nash and Duffy forces us to reconsider our notions of war and to remember the horrors so that these atrocities are not to be committed again. 

Firstly, Duffy coerces the reader to guiltiness in order to bring a small amount of hope and trust that the acts of savagery will never be committed again. By repeating the verbf“remember” as an imperative in the second stanza, Duffy underlines the need to not forget the brutality of the Holocaust. After the dramatic monologue expressing the silence, the marginalised voices of victims during WWII in the first stanza it leads to the commemorating these voices with bravery through the emphasis on “brave” and comparing them to “statues” that have connotations of remembrance. In the same second stanza, the repetition of the “remember” and the phrase the “forever bad” emphasises that the evilness of those past events can never be recorded no matter how much good tries to change what happened. Duffy aims to call for remembrance of these victims and giving these voices a more permanent and brave stature through her choice of words like “statues”. Furthermore, Duffy later on after grotesque imagery of rape and violence such as through “bowels opened in a ragged gape of fear” with small acts of hopeful imagery throuhg the symbolism of the “child” that gives at least some light in to the situation symbolising future hope and generations only to be lost as one is “shot in the eye”. There is continued torment and taunting by these soldiers onto these victims and at the same time, Duffy aims to directly involve the reader by addressing the reader using “you” and speaking for these marginalised voices. The poet, despite not having experienced the holocaust, aims to connect the present-day readers to the Nazis and victims of their acts of torture in the fifth stanza through the phrase of “history lesson” that replaces the “terrible moans” and “immense suffering” previously in the stanza. This shames the readers that despite expressing clearly how disgraceful it is to overlook the tragedies, implies that people still downplay or don;t understand the full extent of the savagery because of the harmless connotation of “history lesson”. Duffy, all in all, wants readers to still show sympathy despite the distance of time and even space that these tragic events happen so that this “acts of torture” don’t happen again like mentioned in the third stanza as “only a matter of days” sepearate these events conveying how near this acts can happen once again. 

On the other hand, Nash’s juxtaposition of the title and the brutal and destructive depiction of war in his artwork challenges the heroic portrayal of mass wars that even in today’s modern world, brings back the cruel reality of WWI. Paul nash described his paintings as feeble and inarticulate which was not referring to the limitations of his skill as an artist but rather that he was unable to properly comprehend and express the scale and intensity of not only trauma but the suffering that he and others experienced during world war. “The Menin Road” as a title seems harmless which is juxtaposed to the wasted landscape. Similarly, previous titles such as “We are Making a New World” creates this juxtaposition because a new world implies hopefulness and new beginnings. We can see an almost similar irony in the choice of a road that could have easily been described as a road that no longer exists or barren wasteland or even more exaggerated with horror that would have fit in with the painting’s landscape. Instead the title gives no hint of any mutilation of a landscape instilled with horror. On the contrary, the rays of sunshine contrast the title by seeming unnatural and artificial despite being the sun. These rays resemble gun barrels creating a miserable, hopeless and horrific mood and atmosphere illustrating the illusion of escape or relief from the horror of war and the betrayal of nature. The two soldiers not only follow a road that no longer exists, but their ghostly appearance due to their featureless and expressionless faces implies the brokenness of war, as Nash could not depict the feelings of fair, anger, hopelessness and despair. There is a lot of space conveying the vastness of destruction, devoid of any organic life, as the earth and once lush vegetation is reduced to mud and pools of chemicals, waste and perhaps even dead bodies. These flooded trenches along with the stumps of trees and debris of all kinds that cover the foreground and midground have angular lines and unnatural shades of brown, grey, white and black challenges not only the title but the once perceived notions of war. These lines and shades, and the little to no colour contrast between the nature that is left and the ongoing war evokes the unnatural human input into the landscape that has warped nature into an alien landscape. Smoke that suggests ongoing destruction in the background as well as the two soldiers reveal the source and cause of the almost synthetic and abnormal topography and terrain. All in all, the painting is far from a celebratory depiction of war and instead depicts utter failure in humanity. 

In conclusion, the events of WWI lead to even greater suffering in WWII but through the works of artists like nash, poets like Duffy and other individuals have allowed remembrance and continued shame that hopefully leads to less suffering in the world. Paul Nash as a war artist expressed through his juxtaposition of an ironically optimised title or at least no hints of destruction, and the barren, wasted and traumatising landscape to illustrate the horrors of war on both people and nature. Nash and Duffy have used their artwork and poem to give expression to the unutterable, overwhelming pain and mental exhaustion which ravished the minds of so many soldiers which was described medically during the time as shell shock or war neurosis, the precursor to PTSD which is still common of soldiers today from past wars in the Middle East and the Vietnam War. This, in turn, created this new culture and era in which war was no longer heroic but utterly unnecessary, brutal and the condemnation of war.

Comparative Essay between Duffy and Paul Nash

For your next portfolio post:

Explore the global issue ‘politics, power and justice’ in relation to Nash and Duffy. You will need to narrow this down (e.g zoom in on the effect of conflict on notions of masculinity). Please clearly state at the start what the global issue is and how you have narrowed it down.

Pick one Paul Nash painting and one Duffy poem to explore in some detail, and compare them. This could be an essay (although will obviously need to include some images for Nash), some bullet points and some diagrams, a series of annotated images, or any other form. BUT I need it to show evidence of deep thinking and connection making, as well as some analysis.

I want evidence to some extra reading (you could hyperlink some articles about your global issue focus, you could add some quotations about Duffy or Nash etc.).

Before you start, can you also quickly respond to the feedback on your previous portfolio post, and, if you have not already done so, post that on your portfolio (many were handed in as G-docs)

First Draft on a Comparative Essay between Carol Ann Duffy and Eli Rezkallah

The representation of women through objectification and stereotypes has resulted in the marginalisation of women throughout most cultures around the world. This has resulted in damaging effects on their relationships with others and women’s self-esteem such as the Me Too Movement, and early forms of such feminist movements have occured during both the 20th and 21st cenutry. Carol Ann Duffy and Eli Rezkallah subvert traditional gender roles in order to reveal their values in concern with the portrayal of women in literature and advertising, exploring how such representations have  a direct effect on women in the real world. On one hand, Rezkallah created a parody of a 1950s advertisement by Van Heusen to satirically inverting misogynistic gender roles. On the other hand, Duffy based her poem, “Little Red Cap” one the fairy tale, Little Red Cap/Little Red Riding Hood but in contrast with the fairy tale, the narrator is in power and control and therefore challenges the traditional gender roles of women. Both Duffy and Rezkallah have used their respective intertextual parody to convey the marginalisation of women while reinstating new contemporary values that undermine that original texts.

Firstly, Duffy inverts the traditional role of women in fairy tales although still keeping in tradition with approaching sexual maturity and portrays Little Red Cap in a new light as a girl transitioning from childhood to womanhood. The juxtaposition of each line in the first two lines of the first stanza such as “at childhood’s end” in contrast to “houses petered out” and “playing fields” in contrast to “factory, allotments” reveals that Duffy has reinstated the main character as a girl on the verge of sexual maturity through transition of “playing” symbolising children and “factory” as the world of adults. Red Cap has now entered the dangerous adults world rather than the safe children’s world and where this new world is dominated by men. However, the third line inserts an ambiguous narrative in Duffy’s reimagined fairy tale. On the one hand, it seems as though the poet represents the actual or at least the traditional roles of women where women are “kept, like mistresses” for men’s sexual pleasure. However, on the other hand, “kneeling married men” could refer to the shift in power and imply sincerity and reverence. In addition, there is the irony in that man who is interested in working in allotments would not be considered to be interested in illicit sexual affairs, yet “kneeling” could also convey deceitful behaviour along with the “kept” women. Despite this, Duffy portrays red cap as the character in power and control by describing here initial encounter with the wolf has “clapped” suggesting authority.
Likewise, in the second stanza, Red Cap ensures her dominance by making sure the wolf has “spotted” as she asserts, in a way, her dominance by seeking out the wolf first, despite the wolf perhaps symbolising a sexual predator and the allegorical figure of all men. It challenges the roles of women even though the lines before it, convey the traditional roles of men with a few exceptions mainly that the wolf is described as being intellectual which is in contrast to the original wolf in the fairy tale as “reading his verse out loud” conveys that he is literate. Nevertheless, “wolfy drawl” reveals the stereotype that women are attracted to bad boys and thus portraying the wolf as although intellectual, there is still the patriarchal and predatory instincts beneath. The wolf is experienced in sex through the choice of red wine through the word choices of “red” that connotes passion and “wine” that connotes experience. In spite of the sexual predatory nature of the wolf, red cap adopts an innocent persona on purpose and creates irony in that she is the sexual predator. Duffy downplays that the wolf is a threat and that Red Cap has an equal interest in sex, discrediting the patriarchalistic view that girls are frightened of sex. Duffy has aimed to disprove the stereotypes of women in order to express her view and perspective on the sexuality of both men and women, with particular attention to the representation of women through her sex-posivite feminism standpoint in this poem.

Another mean of comparison:

 

Prueba 1: Expresión Escrita

UWCSEA Local

 

¿Tienen los padres el derecho a espiar a los hijos?

Oscar Landgren. Singapura                                                           25 de Noviembre, 2019

A primera vista de la pregunta, la respuesta sería simple—no. Sin embargo, hay más que eso. Por supuesto, y entiendo que puede parecer controvertido que los padres que espían a sus hijos estaría bien. No obstante, si miras desde una perspectiva diferente, podrías pensar lo contrario de este problema. 

A pesar de eso, los personas, e incluso los hijos, tienen el derecho de privicidad. Es muy injusto y en la mayoría de los casos, no es necesito que los padres espian sus hijos. Además, la consecuencia de los hijos a través del espionaje de sus padres es perder la confianza de manera total. 

Espiar es invasiva y no es algo muy bueno para hacer porque saber exactamente todo sobre una persona y lo que él o ella está haciendo es espeluznante. Por lo tanto, los padres no tienen el derecho a espiar a los hijos. 

Aunque, los padres no tienen el derecho a espiar a los hijos, los padres son muy importantes en las vidas de los niños y los adoloscentos por muchas razones. Es importante que tengamos padres porque nos cuidaran y por eso es necesito que sepan cómo somos sentimientos y, a veces, dónde estamos o qué estamos haciendo. Por supuesto, los padres tienen que ser responsables y ser buenos padres

En conclusion, los padres no tienen el derecho a espiar a los hijos, pero los tienen el derecho saber lo que pasa con su hijo mientras lo estén haciendo porque los aman y quieren cuidarlos.

Dar un cachete

Para: gabriel.gonzalez@gmail.com

De: oscar.landgren@hotmail.com

Asunto: El Mundo Dar Un Cachete

Enviado: 5 de septiembre de 2019

 

Querida, Gabriel

 

Leé tu articulo en El Mundo sobre un padre que pedían cárcel por dar un cachtete a su hija. Tu articulo fue fántastico y bastante emocionante. Tengo algunos puntos y opiñiones para esto tópico y voy a escribir los tres aspectos que más han cambiado en la sociedad actual y voy a comprar mi estilo de vida y el estilo de vida de mis padres. 

 

Primero, muchas personas se considera dar un cachete a los ninós es muy malo porque es violento y bárbaro. Cuando yo era pequeño, mis padres casi nunca me daban azotes o daban un cachte a mí y ellos todavía no hacen eso. Cuando mis padres o yo nos enferdamos, tenemos un conversacion y por eso nos respetamos el uno y al otro. 

 

En mi culura en suecia, hemos cambiado mucho en la sociedad. Cuando mis padres eran pequeño, no habra leyes para el maltrato de los niños. Sin embargo, mis abuelos no le daban cachete a mis padres. Pero en 1979, el gobierno de suecia criaron unos leyes para el maltrato de los niños, así que, hemos cambiado en la sociedad. Tambien, eramos el primero país para estos leyes. 

 

Además, aunque muchas culturas y países permiten cachetes, más jóvenes y niños creen que el cachete es muy malo por varias razones. Ahora, muchas personas han estudiado el maltrato y también creen que esto es injusto a los niños. 

 

Un algún aspecto que más han cambiado en las sociedad actual es que los muchos países en las naciones unidas piensan que el cachete es malo y antes pensaban no es un problema. Esto es porque más personas tienen acceso para el educación y pueden aprender más de el mundo y porque el maltrato es malo (cuanado leen alugnos libros, por ejemplo). 

 

Gracias y le saluda muy atentamente,

 

Oscar 

 

Reseña de Cuba – Nueva Nostalgia

Reseña de Cuba – Nueva Nostalgia

Nombre: Cuba—Nueva Nostalgia

Director: DW Documental

Género: Documental

“Cuba – Nueva Nostalgia” es un documental que fue producido por DW Documental. Es un documental sobre la vidas de las personas y la cultura en cuba después de la revevolución de Fidel Castro en 1959. Ahora, cuba es como un “laboratorio de pruebas” dónde la país oscila entre la nostalgia del pasado y el resurgimineto después de la pobreza y revolución comunista. El documental habla de cómo después de sesenta años de socalismo, la cultura de cuba nada será igual. Ahora, la economia es del turismo, especialmente los turistas de estados unidos. 

 

La cultura y arquitectura del Habana es muy famoso y dónde mucho de la nostalgia viende de. La arquitectura es colonial española en del siglo XVI. Algunos edificios famosos son el Castillo de la Real Fuerza, la barroca Catedral de San Cristóbal y la Plaza Vieja. Además la música tiene mucha influencia de la música africanes, españoles, francéses, italianes y mucho más cómo el rock y jazz. Según las personas de cuba y algunos arquitectos, la ciudad de Habana tiene mucho creativa y imaganicón y por eso es un ciudad muy importante y fántastio. Hay algunos piratas informáticos que obetenen contenido de netflix, música y otros sitios web para los cubanos porque es díficil para entrar el internet en cuba. Finalmente, Cuba tiene muchos maravillosos ambientes naturales. 

 

Algunas areás de Cuba tienen mucha probreza, especialmente en los bosques y areás remotes. Cuba tiene mucho potential pero necesito el dinero para desarollar después de fracaso de un gobierno socialismo. 

 

En suma, es un documental muy intresante y atractivo y por lo tante, recomendaría este documental especialmente a personas quienes están interesados en la historia de cuba, el socialismo, y una cultura muy diversidad, vistosa y creativa. 

IB Language and Literature First Portfolio Reflection

IB Language and Literature have been already quite different from any English class before since we are not reading or writing an essay but rather analysing advertisements and artwork to analyse the representation and identity that is portrayed and represented in it.

In this unit, we have mainly talked about the representation of women and how the identity roles of both men and women have changed or even stayed the same but used in a different way since in adverts since the 1950s. Although we have looked a bit into adverts ad analysing them, we haven’t gone in-depth with them. These adverts have either objectified women in a sexual way or depicted roles of women as inferior to men or even misogynised. These text during the 1950s were more sexist then they are today and even though they weren’t sexualised (although some did contain some flirtatiousness), the advertisers assumed gender roles of women being inferior and however, as time progressed, the adverts became even more sexualised and although some were more feminine, the problem of advertising women in a sexist and objectified way has sometimes gotten worse.

Aside from about that, we talked about how to analyse these adverts concerning representation and identity. We learned how composition such as rule of thirds, mise-en-scene, framing and other such technical terms can be used as a narrative tool and setting up the scene. We talked about orientation and camera shot including camera angle which can shape the meaning of the advert or text. In addition, typography and imagery can either give implicit or explicit meanings in a text that altogether strengthens the message that the advertisers are sending through things like colour and visual representation.


More specifically, we’ve been practising synthesising points and using more varied and sophisticated terminology to create an argument mainly about Eli Rezkallah’s parodies of 1950s adverts that inturn relate to the IB central concepts:

“Representation: Can fiction represent reality? How are characters ‘fair’ representations of people? By studying texts and literary works, we engage in a dialogue about how the world works and how the world could be.

“Identity: To what extent is a text an expression of a writer’s identity? Do readers like characters who are thinly veiled versions of themselves? Do strong characters challenge readers to be someone different? By analysing texts, we are really analysing who we are and what we want to become.

Here is a mind-map I created to define and relate all the terminology we’ve been discussing:

Eli Rezkallah is an artist who recreated these advertised and reversed the gender roles, here are some examples:      

In these adverts, we see that through the satirical inversion of gender roles, Eli Rezkallah’s parodies undermines in many cases the male dominance in decision-making (including that of finance) in a heteronormative relationship and professional responsibility and the role of women in the 1950s as domestic workers and as objects that are aesthetically pleasing. He subverts these traditional gender hierarchies but at the same time reveals and criticizes, due to the incongruous feel we get from looking at these adverts, these gender hierarchies still exist in advertising and our society today but have taken a different form and usually a more sexual although empowering form. He also criticizes the nature of the advertising that as being exaggerated to hyper-realism giving us a false perception of the real world making us more inclined to buy their products.

First portfolio Task 1—English Language & Literature

Text: 

The Schlitz beer advertisement text has been created to target a male audience in the 1950s era through the representation of both the man and woman in the text due to the context of the time this advertisement was published. The purpose, through this representation, is to sell their famous beer to the targeted male audience due to their status in the 1950s as the leaders,and  responsible and dominant figures in the household. On the other hand, the representation of women is portrayed as weak and domestic figures in the household and even sexualised, although reserved, with the intent to appeal to the male audience. The orientation of the text also accentuates the ideal household and adds to the appeal to portray men as powerful figures that are able to comfort women in times of need or even with the help of daily domestic tasks. 

Firstly, the Schlitz beer advertisement text uses the heteronormative relationship, typical in the 1950s, between the man and wife, who are presumably married, to reveal an idealised version of the household as well as revealing the stereotypes and norms of the society in which the text was published to capture the audience. For instance, the man in the advertisement tries to comforts the woman by saying, “don’t worry darling,” which along with the facial expressions and body language of both the man and the woman, reveals the prevailing attitudes of the time. The man has dark hair and wears a clean, black suit that contrasts the colour of his face, thus drawing the eyes to the face where he looks down at the woman in a slightly patronising and superior way through a seemingly friendly attitude. He puts a hand around the woman’s shoulder as if treating her as a helpless woman in need to comfort and help. On the other hand, the woman looks up to him with plead and holds a handkerchief near to her eyes as if she was before crying but now, with the rescue of the man, she can continue cooking and giver her husband, a nice dinner. In addition, the woman is also presented as slightly flirtatious in terms of 1950s norms due to the contrast of the yellow, green and dark background against the red of her lips and the red stripes on her apron. Red may have the connotations of flirtatiousness due to its vibrant colour that signifies passion, which will make more appeal to the male audience as it is intended. In addition, the curves and thinness of the woman in the advert also visually gives cues of sexuality, increasing the appeal for the male audience. All in all, the portrayal of the weak and slight flirtatiousness of the woman against the dominant male will perhaps make men seem more masculine and even heroic in this context that ultimately may induce them to buy the beer.  

Moreover, the clothes divulge into the roles of the household and what was expected of the men and women. The man wears a nice, well-kept suit that possibly suggests that he has worked in an office and has come home to expect dinner. This also suggests that the man is the finance manager of the household and is there to support the woman and himself by bringing in the income. On the other hand, the woman is wearing an apron which suggests domesticism and also that her role is to take care of the household and husband with his needs. Therefore, the text portrays women as being and having the need to depend on a man’s income and help as well as their role as the caretakers. This in the eyes of the modern audience may seem demeaning towards women, while for the audience (male) in the 1950s, this may have seemed typical and expected. The clothes add to the appeal because it reflects and creates a role model for the man looking at the text to feel as if he wants to be like that man and help his wife or a woman he likes.

Furthermore, the text uses the composition and imagery of the orientation including the background and foreground, to create an idealised version of the scenario represented in the text in order to persuade the male audience to buy this beer. For instance, the long-shot camera angle of the text that reveals the relationship between the man and woman as well as the overall setting of the house. The nicely decorated dining set up in the foreground reveals the underlying attitudes of the time as well as the idealised version of the typical (or at the very least, expected) household of the 1950s. The beer mat as ell is the handkerchief is the same red shade as the apron that the woman wears which may indicate some more flirtatiousness and sexual innuendos by using that colour that stands out against the yellow table cloth. The use of the table in the foreground makes it stand out a bit more to make it more noticeable. This allows the meaning behind the table set up to be picked up by more male audience looking at the text. Makes it more visible to the audience which may convince them to buy the beer. With closer inspection, the background shows the actual problem, that the wife is so clumsy and easily unresponsible that she is unable to cook the beer probably and obviously because upset about it. But not to worry because the man has an easy fix to this problem by buying this beer which makes them feel more powerful and helpful even. This text uses a problem and solution advertisement, typical of most 1950s advertisements, in order to sell a product through idealised versions of typical scenarios including the stereotypical portrayal of men and women at the time.

In conclusion, the text uses the relationship between the man and woman, portraying their roles and expectations along with the setting of the text in order to persuade the male audience to buy these beers from Schlitz. The clothes and composition and imagery of the orientation create a stronger appeal to the male audience by reflecting and evoking the prevailing attitudes of the time. This visual language ultimately represents and reflects on the social identities of the two sexes in the context of the 1950s. However, different perspectives from different eras will have different views on these portrayals due to their beliefs, as a modern audience might find this too demeaning towards women while those who lived in the 1950s might find it perfectly normal. This text reveals the underlying attitudes and values of the 1950s that is specifically targeted to the 1950s culture, thus allowing reflecting upon it to create appeal to the audience. 

¡Necesito Un Amigo Ahora!

¡Necesito Un Amigo Ahora!

El Blog de la vida de Oscar

Necesito Un Amigo Ahora!

Jueves, 19 de septiembre, 2019
Por: Oscar

¡Hola! Ahora no tengo nada amigos y estoy muy solidario y por eso necesito un amigo ahora. Esto es urgente porque muchos de mis amigos morimos ayer  porque un accidente en las ciencias y el resto me dejaron porque ellos creen que este accidente es mi culpa.

Además, amigos es muy importante para todas nuestras vidas porque ellos pueden aprender en situaciones criticas y a veces son muy graciosos and divertidos tener amigos.

En mi opinion, soy una persona muy tranquillo pero soy leal y a menudo comprensivo. Pero, puedo ser un poco loco y aunque soy bastante amable puedo parecer a alguien un poco enojada y que no me gusta nadie pero no es cierto, por supuesto. Además, creo que seré un buen amigo a mi nuevo o nuevos amigos. Soy inteligente y educado también.

Para mí, me gustaría tener un amigo leal, comprensivo, honesto, amable y graciosos. Un amigo ideal aceptará yo y sin ser juzgado, incluso si el accidente fue mi culpa, (¡solo bromeaba!).  Sin embargo, hay nada personas o amigos que pueden ser ideal o el mejor amigo. Hay nada amigos que pueden ser todos los caracteristicas  buenos.

Por lo tanto, me gustaría tener más que uno amigo porque diferentes amigos pueden ayudar y pueden hablar sobre cosas y situaciones diferentes. Pero, creo que una amistad pequeño con un panda pequeño de amigos, es mejor para mí porque no soy una persona muy extravaganza o necesito mucho y muchos amigos.

Pero tengo una solución, si puede criar un poción que puede hacer mis amigos viven, seré tu amigo. ¿Un fantástico plan, no? Vale, esto no es possible pero sí es, me gustaría tener este poción así que por favor lo me das.

¡Si te interesa esta tema o se quiera ser mi amigo, deja un comentario!