Pictures Don’t Always Paint a Thousand Words
John Berger makes a bold statement in saying “ No other relic or text from the past can offer such a direct testimony about the world which surrounded other people at other times. In this respect images are more precise and richer than literature,'; (Ways of Reading, 106). This statement is very untrue. Literature has been the focal point of all modern learning.. Literature lets the reader feel what the author is thinking, not just see it as you would in a painting. This can be proven after reading Berger ‘s descriptions of paintings in Ways of Seeing and also reading parts of literature written by W.E.B Dubois.
When a reader reads literature it is easy to feel what the author is writing about . An author’s job is to show the reader his point of view. He does this by describing things, offering opinions, and making conclusions. By doing this the author can get his point across and the reader can hopefully relate to him. A good author will also paint his own picture by words. He will leave the reader with a picture in his head of what he is describing. A writer’s words are stronger than the stroke of an artist.
An example of this could be from W.E.B Dubois ‘s Of the Meaning of Progress . DuBois paints us a picture of his life . On page 225, DuBois describes a child , he says “ Thenie was on hand early ,-a jolly, ugly ,good-hearted , who slyly dipped snuff and looked after her little bow legged brother.'; This description is something a picture can not describe. A picture cannot significantly show someone being jolly or good hearted. These two descriptions are important in learning about the character, thus literature is more precise than images.
Berger’s also states that paintings leave the reader to make many conclusions. Berger is talking about the sitter in a painting by Frans Hals. He says “ It is not possible to produce circumstantial evidence to establish what there relationships were, ';(110). Here he is saying by looking at the picture, there aren’t many valid conclusions one can make. The viewer can see five people and describe what they look like, but he cannot dig any deeper. Any other conclusion a reader would mak...
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...rpretations. Paintings are left open for the viewer to make his own conclusion. An author could send out an essay to a million different people and receive and still have only one interpretation. An author often will write a thesis statement which lets the reader know exactly what the writing will be about.
In conclusion, literature is what has built this nation and world from the ground up. Unfortunately John Berger did not feel this way. Images give us a picture that we can see with our eyes, but images leave out the feelings we see in our heart. Literature gives us the power to see and feel everything. The heart and mind will forever be more powerful than the eye.
WORKS CITED
Berger, John. “Ways of Seeing.'; Ways of Reading. Ed. David Bartholomae and Anthony Petrosky. Bedford/St. Martin’s: New York, Boston, 1999. Pg 104-132.
Du Bois, W.E.B. “Of the Meaning of Progress.'; Ways of Reading. Ed. David Bartholomae and Anthony Petrosky. Bedford/St. Martin’s: New York, Boston, 1999. Pg 224-231.
Federalism is a type of government where there are two or more entities share the power over a country or region. Federalism has always helped to prevent tyranny from happening in the US. The two entities ruling in the United States are the National or Central Government and the State Government. The Central Government has powers such as regulating trade, declaring war, and to conduct foreign relations. The State Government can hold elections, pass marriage and divorce laws, and establish schools. They also have shared powers like taxing, being able to make and enforce laws, and borrow money (Doc A). Federalism prevents tyranny because the state or national governments can never become too strong because the other has powers too.
Federalism guarded against tyranny by making sure everyone has power and they all share it. “ The different governments will each control each other, at the same time that each will be controlled by itself”(James Madison, Federalists Paper #51, 1788). In this piece of evidence, it explains how central and state governments will control each other and themselves so they have equal power and one doesn’t get too much. The dividing the powers of the governments is known as Federalism. They govern towards themselves for the most part.
Although the greater picture is that reading is fundamental, the two authors have a few different messages that they seek to communicate to their audiences. “The Joy of Reading and Writing” depicts how reading serves as a mechanism to escape the preconceived notions that constrain several groups of people from establishing themselves and achieving success in their lifetimes. “Reading to Write,” on the other hand, offers a valuable advice to aspiring writers. The author suggests that one has to read, read, and read before he or she can become a writer. Moreover, he holds an interesting opinion concerning mediocre writing. He says, “Every book you pick has its own lesson or lessons, and quite often the bad books have more to teach than the good ones” (p.221). Although these two essays differ in their contents and messages, the authors use the same rhetorical mode to write their essays. Both are process analyses, meaning that they develop their main argument and provide justification for it step by step. By employing this technique, the two authors create essays that are thoughtful, well supported, and easy to understand. In addition, Alexie and King both add a little personal touch to their writings as they include personal anecdotes. This has the effect of providing support for their arguments. Although the two essays have fairly different messages, the authors make use of anecdotes and structure their writing in a somewhat similar
As stated by Judith Butler, the view of Susan Sontag, visible throughout her texts claiming that the photograph can’t reflect clarification by itself, would be senseless. She indicates that we require captions and written examination to support the diverse imagery in particular. According to her, the image can solely influence us, yet not grant us the comprehension of what we perceive. (Butler 2009: 63)
...eatly affect the mood of the paintings. The Women Picking Olives painting is quite simple but it has ominous details such as the highest women on the ladder is looking to her right, the trees and the leaves all going in different directions making it hard to tell where the breeze is going. These details make me believe that the painting is much more complicated then it seems and creates a sense of cryptic from the painting. The Harvesters looks complex but it’s clear that the painting is about a relaxed group of people getting ready for harvest time.
Federalism is what the United States government is based on with governmental power divided between several individuals. Federalism is the structure of government that allows two or more individuals share control over the same geographic region. Every person in the United States of America is subjected to the laws of that county, city, state, and our federal government. The history of American federalism has fluctuated between three different types, dual federalism, cooperative federalism, and new judicial federalism. Dual federalism began roughly in the late 1700’s and went through World War II. It refers to the concept of the national government and the state governments have sovereign power. There is a distinct line of authority and do not over lap and one should not intrude into the other’s authority. Each government is supreme it’s own
My decision to become a physician assistant (PA) was made earlier in my life as I wanted to graduate high school with an established career path. Suffering from frequent sinus infections in 2006, I often landed myself in the Emergency Departments Fast Track, which to my surprise was managed by PAs. At that time, PA was a newly evolving medical career that everyone around me was interested in. What attracted me was that it allowed students to study medicine in a flexible approach, where they were able to easily alternate specialties throughout their career. One could graduate PA school practicing general medicine, but later go on to study a different specialty. This enabled a PA to practice within many fields of medicine, allowing them to expand their knowledge and experiences every time. In order to explore the field further, I began volunteering at my local hospital in the Surgery Recovery Unit. It was here where I had my first-hand experience with PAs, as I was able to observe them at work
As a precursor, the common understanding needs to be reached that: literature is an art, and has many mediums. Medium is the material or technique with which an artist works (Dictionary.com), for example: photographs, pastels, canvas, paper, ink, etc... There are technical, recreational, and otherwise artistic uses for all mediums. A small child taking pictures of a puppy with a disposable camera, a reporter taking precise pictures of a sporting event, and an artist taking close-up pictures of the dew as it drips off a tree are all different uses of the same medium in photography. Literature can be created with many different intentions and reasons, but the attempt to determine that something is not art based off of the motivation or intentions of the artist is quit meaningless.
Can you imagine a world where literature did not exist? It’s very hard, nearly impossible. Literature plays a major role in shaping society. Literature is a word used to describe written or spoken material. Literature educates, informs, entertains and influences the reader or listener in a myriad of profound ways. Broadly speaking, “literature” is used to describe anything from creative writing to more technical or scientific works, but the term is most commonly used to refer to works of the creative imagination. Writers can change one’s beliefs, thoughts, actions, indeed their entire lives. In Northrop Frye’s The Educated Imagination, Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird and Plato’s The Republic, the writers use literature to utter the importance literature bestows on society. The three writers state their opinions using different methods to prove to the readers that their opinions are valid. Since each author has a unique writing style, most envision their writing with a relatable figure. Some would argue that Frye’s writing style is much like that of a textbook, very instructional and factual, Lamott reminded them of a conversation with a friend and that Plato’s writing style is very informative, akin to a professor carrying on a dialogue with an inquisitive student.
Federalism is perhaps the greatest form of government by the people and for the people because of its evolution. Because people and society change, so must the form of government that presides over them. Federalism allows the flexibility to do so.
Federalism, by definition, is the division of government authority between at least two levels of government. In the United States, authority is divided between the state and national government. “Advocates of a strong federal system believe that the state and local governments do not have the sophistication to deal with the major problems facing the country” (Encarta.com).
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