This paper discusses Natalie Safir's poem based on the Impressionist masterpiece, Matisse's "The Dance", which depicts a ring of five naked women dancing on a mound of fertile green grass.
1,615 words (approx. 6.5 pages), 0 sources, 2004, $ 52.95
Abstract This paper explains that this poem serves as an extended caption or a lyrical description of ?The Dance,? not as a feminist or psychoanalytic, symbolic interpretation of that painting in spite of those elements contained within the poem. The author points out that Safir's description of the movement and momentum in the painting corresponds directly to Matisse's images of the women, whose spiral dance brings the painting to life.The paper stresses that Safir's diction parallels Matisse's painting in its simplicity; a tone of simultaneous joy and anxiety is apparent in both the painting and the poem that describes it.
From the Paper "The "spirals of glee" that Safir perceives refers to the circular energy created by the spiral dance. While a spiral dance has feminist and pagan implications, this description is not arbitrary. Matisse's "Dance" is no tango but a female-centered ritualistic circular dance. It may or may not be fertility-related; Matisse's women are painted with such little detail that indeed several of them may be pregnant. In a similarly subtle fashion, Safir suggests pregnancy in her poem. One of the women's torsos is a ?green-burning torch,? indicating the potential life within. The poet's reference to "ripeness" also hints at possible pregnancy: ?grass mounds curve ripely.? However, these poetic elements are literal renderings of Matisse's own symbolism. Safir directly refers to the "grass mounds" that ?curve ripely beneath.? Her description of the grass, while it is innuendo for female sexuality and pregnancy, is actually just that: a description of the grass. Even the line "Breasts swell and multiply" is a formal interpretation of Matisse's painting. The artist does depict breasts, and the women's bodies are deliberately ambiguous as far as whether they are pregnant or not."
From the Paper "Closed Captioned Television
There are approximately 24 million hearing impaired individuals in the United States (Elliott D16). Before July of 1993, these people did not have equal access to the entertainment industry or to the Public Broadcasting System. Closed captioning involves putting the spoken portions of a television program or movie into words printed on the screen; this is similar to the printed subtitles on foreign movies (Closed-Caption Requirement 2215). Closed captioning of television programs was not mandated by law and the decoders were not readily accessible before 1993. Beginning in the late 1970s, closed captioning was available on a limited number of programs and videos to individuals with decoders (Closed-captioning 93). With the passage of HR4267 on July 12, 1990, and S1974 on August 2, 1990, closed captioning is.."
The paper looks at the two films, "Pulp Fiction" directed by Quentin Tarantino, and "Being John Malkovich" directed by Spike Jonze, and the ways in which they use narrative structure and surrealism to tell their stories.
Abstract The writer first looks at "Pulp Fiction," by director Quentin Tarantino, a prime example of a film that utilizes a multiple narrative structure. The film has three narrative stories that are signaled by inserted captions, and told in "episodes" that are shown non-chronologically. The writer then studies "Being John Malkovich", a film set entirely in a surreal story world that runs by its own rules.
From the Paper "Surreal is defined as "having the intense irrational reality of a dream" and surrealism as "the principle of . . . producing fantastic or incongruous imagery or effects . . . by means of unnatural juxtaposition and combinations" (Webster, 1164). These definitions precisely describe the techniques utilized by Kaufman when putting together the dialogue and other aspects of narration for this movie. The viewer is literally buffeted by bizarre effect after bizarre effect, realizing very quickly the world of "Being John Malkovich" has its own rules of logic. For example, as Craig enters the filing office for his job interview, the secretary simply cannot understand what he is saying and mistakes his name and every comment that he makes. Craig attempts to correct her, but fails miserably. During his interview, Craig learns that the secretary's distorted hearing is considered truth, as the boss believes he has a speech impediment based on his secretary's misperception. That is simply the way the world is. As illogic after illogic piles up, the sum total is a dream world, one that certainly comes close to a nightmare for Craig, who represents the viewer's point of view."
Abstract This paper discusses the movie "The Crime of Father Amora". The writer shows how it appeared as a close captioned movie. By exploring this perception of film, one can see how the movie relates in the grander scale of deaf movie viewing.
Abstract This paper explains that the petite Channel Island fox, urocyon littoralis, endemic to the California Channel Islands, has become near extinction because of the invasion of non-native species, misguided conservation efforts and rampant canine distemper disease. The author points out that, in an effort to save the San Clemente Loggerhead Shrike, lanius ludovicianus mearnsi, one of the most endangered birds in the world, which is a prey of the Channel Island fox, careless conservation efforts reduced the San Clemente (one of the Channel Islands) fox so rapidly that its population then became endangered. The paper stresses that conservation is more complex than looking at a primary cause alone: For the Channel Island Fox, this means trapping and relocating golden eagles, reintroducing bald eagles, removing feral pigs, replacing exotic grasslands for native ones, and above all, monitoring the foxes. The paper is attractive with many photographs and captions.
Table of Contents:
Scorch and Sizzle
Plagued by an Epidemic
The Hitch with the Shrike
The Flying Catastrophe
Taking a Wider Glance
From the Paper "The good news is that predator control is starting to work. Since 2004, there have been no golden eagles on the islands of San Miguel and Santa Cruz. San Miguel Island has also released ten island foxes from their captive breeding program to begin to repopulate the subspecies. In addition, all three islands now have a total of 25 resident bald eagles that have been relocated there in order to bring this native species back. The bald eagles kept the golden eagles away once before, so they may be able to do it again."
Abstract This paper analyzes an advertisement with actress Gwyneth Paltrow against a dark and featureless background, with the words "I am African" appearing prominently on the bottom of the picture. The author vividly describes the advertisement and gives a connotative account of the Western and African symbols used in the advertisement. The paper analyzes the use of make-up and jewelry in the advertisement and examines the symbolism of gender in the Western and African context. The paper also discusses the ideology of the advertisement, that there is no difference between the races, no real barriers, between human beings of different ethnicities and genders.
Outline:
A Denotative Description
A Connotative Description
An Ideological Description
From the Paper "The advertisement presents a gendered image of a typical, fashionable Western White woman. Gender is noted in particular by the long and full blond hair; the carefully made-up lips and the thick bands of eye shadow. But for the overly heavy application of the eye shadow, Paltrow is the picture of Western fashion - the kind of woman one might see modeling in a popular, upscale magazine, or in a television commercial for designer clothing or similarly trendy goods. Yet, the actress is also an African, just as the text informs us. The bands of face paint are of a style that would easily be recognized by the typical Western viewer as "native," if not necessarily African."
A discussion of photographer Dorothea Lange and her work during the Great Depression, focusing on three of her most famous photographs, "White Angel Breadline," "Migrant Mother," and "Waiting To File Claims."
Abstract This paper discusses the photographer Dorothea Lange and her use of photography to document social issues such as the problems of poverty and the unemployed during the Great Depression. The author describes how Lange's work raises to a high level the tension between recording fact and deliberately creating symbols, and looks closely at how and why three of her most famous photographs, "White Angel Breadline," "Migrant Mother," and "Waiting To File Claims" became symbols of the Depression. Through Lange's photographs and dedication to bettering social conditions, she was able to accomplish her goal in improving American society. This paper contains figures.
From the Paper "It was during 1933 that Lange began her foray into the social world of depression. Lange observed the increasing number of unemployed workers in the streets of San Francisco and one day decided to take pictures of them. Compelled by the visible human anguish of the Great Depression, she traveled through the streets to a bread line that had been recently set up by White Angel, a wealthy woman living in San Francisco. She took several photographs that day but the most telling was the one of an "unshaven, hunched-up little man, leaning on a railing with a tin can between his arms, his hands clenched, the line of his mouth bitter, his back turned to those others waiting for a handout."
