Responding to Art

Today we'll turn our attention to non-verbal texts as we continue to explore questions about thesis and theme.

You'll stat by going to the website of the Art Institute of Chicago.  Here, you'll start on the page with links to their different collections.  Spend some time surfing around here, browing through art you are familiar with and other works of art you've never seen before.

• To do this most effectively, click on "view all online works" on the title page of each collection.
• While you are looking at a work of art, you'll sometimes see the ability to "view enlargement" which will obviously give you a closer and more detailed look

Next, when I tell you to move to this step, you'll choose a piece of art to work with today.  When you have one, (go to the enlargement if it is available) copy the URL and paste it into a new post on your blog.  Then, you'll spend about 10 minutes with this artwork, answering as many of the following questions as you can.  Feel free to have your responses be in the form of bullet points or sentences.

Representational art

• What is happening in the picture? What is it about?
• What do you see? What else do you see?
• What kind of place is it?
• What kind of light is there? How do you know? Where is it coming from? How do you know?
• What time of day or year is it? Why do you think so?
• What part did you notice first?
• What colours stand out most? Why? What are the surrounding colours like? What colours are used more than once?
• Is the paint thick or thin, rough or smooth, creamy or runny?
• Does the surface look shiny and polished, or heavily textured?
• Can you see the brush marks the artist made?
• Are the edges of things clear and sharp, or soft and fuzzy?
• What is the mood or atmosphere of the picture? How is it created?

Non-representational art

• What part catches your eye most?
• What part is brightest, darkest, busiest, quietest?
• Do some parts seem closer and others further away?
• Which colours seem closer to you and which seem to move away?
• Do some shapes overlap?
• How does the artist suggest movement?
• Can you think of words to describe the edges of things?
• Does the whole painting look flat or does the artist suggest space?
• Is a mood created? What mood? How is it created?

Finally, you will write a Diamante poem about your artwork.  Click here for a description of the process and see below for my example:

 

 

Lonely

Quiet evening

Sitting waiting wondering

I’ve been here before

Slowly patiently stirring

Cold coffee

Again

Willa Cather short stories

In class on Wednesday we read Willa Cather's "A Wagner Matinee."  We discussed the main character, Georgiana, and the differences between life in Nebraska and her experiences listening to the Wagner opera in Boston.

Today you will each read a different story from Willa Cather, from the collection you will find here.

When you are finished with the story, please answer the following questions on your blog (just a few bullet points and sentences for each one - nothing too extensive).  Give your post a title that includes Cather's name, so we'll be able to find it.

1. List some of the details that describe the setting(s) of the story.  Explain why Cather uses these - what are they telling us about this place?
2. List some of the language Cather uses to describe the main character (or one of them if your story has more than one) - both things s/he says and does as well as descriptions of him/her from other people or the narrator.  What is this language telling us about this person?
3. What conclusions come to mind at the end of the story - what are some of the ideas it might be conveying to the reader?
4. Think back to "A Wagner Matinee" - in what ways is Cather using language in similar ways with the story you read?  Are there similar ideas / themes?  How does Cather convey them?