Reflection upon Humanities 2002

There were several important things that were learnt over the course of this semester. I feel like I improved my writing skills and also feel like I have cultivated the habit of reading books regardless of whatthe subject is. Also writing the interdisciplinary essay exams in class in a 2 hour period has helped me to manage my time in an efficient manner. For anybody that is going to take this class in the near future, I would highly recommend them to dedicate the time for this class in order to keep up with the daily readings. I had some trouble catching up with the readings right after the midterm since I was preoccupied with other classes. I was really interested in the periods we had covered this entire semester in Humn 2002. Baroque, Japan, West Africa and Jazz Age were the most interesting periods in my opinion. I was interested in those periods because the works in all the three disciplines were relatable to each other easily. For example, in Africa, the literary work of Achebe reflected the idea that the African community is always concerned about the ‘value’. So does the art and music of the african drums illustrate the same idea to the audience. The idea that resonated with me regarding each and every single period is that each had several period traits and themes that were exemplified in the works. The only problem that I found in this class that should be solved for future students is the period traits found in the eras after midterm. Since those period traits were not as consistent as the period traits in the pre-midterm eras, it was hard to write the interdisciplinary final essay. In my opinion, all the three professors were highly knowledgeable in their respective fields and very much dedicated to their crafts. (306)

Final Exam Preparation

For this blog, I intend to construct the thesis for one of the interdisciplinary essays we are about to write next week. I would like to focus on the literature, art and music disciplines of the Japanese culture. The Japanese culture exemplies the importance of nature, economy and introspection in their works and also convey the very nuances to the readers. In Basho’s ‘The narrow road of the interior’, the author explains to his readers that everyday is a journey and it is our home. When he does that, it refers to the period trait of nature being the subject matter and speaks to the theme of nature. Also the work speaks to the period trait of introspection as he talks about his experiences on his journey throughout the Japanese landscape. As for the art, Japanese artwork of Hakusai’s ‘The Great Wave’ gives a scenic representation of an enormous wave approaching the sailing boats on the coast of Kanagawa. The artistic piece describes the period trait of closeness to nature as the wave rises up against the boats. It would be a classic example of an artwork in this era that would speak to the theme of nature. As for the music part of this blog, I would like to talk about the Shakuhachi flute piece. An unique instrument made of bamboo provides an ‘instant vibe’ to the listeners as the music signifies everything we need to know about the Japanese culture and customs. I was in utter amazement when I listened to the Shakuhachi piece ( especially the honkyoku played by the Komosu). This musical piece speaks to the period trait of Economy as it tries to achieve maximum effect by utilizing minimum means. It also speaks to the theme of nature and how it can help us understand our innerself. (302)

Expressionism Values and Ideals

It was a very different experience trying to understand the teachings of the Expressionism era. This era really focused on the emotional experience among us rather than the physical reality. It made a clear distinction compared to the works of the realism or impressionism era. I would like to talk about the work of Achebe’s ‘Things Fall Apart’ for the literature discipline of this blog. It gave me a great opportunity to understand the customs and culture of Nigeria during that period as it relates to the story. The period trait expressed in this work of Achebe is ‘emotional agility’ as it conveys to readers the personal tragedy of Okonkwo and the gradual destruction of Native African cultures. For the art piece, I liked figuring out the visual characteristics of Edward Munch’s ‘Scream’. The visual elements in this painting were so flamboyant when I looked at it for the first time. This artistic piece also expresses the period trait of ‘emotional agility’ as it depicts an agonized figure portraying a serious emotion to the audience. It is also important to mention that this piece served as an inspiration for future expressionistic painters of this period. For the last discipline of this discussion, I really liked listening to Arnold Schoenberg’s musical piece. It also had an underlying tone of emotional vulnerability of an individual in that piece. In further analysis, all the three works from each of the disciplines spoke to the same period trait in one way or another. In looking at the period traits from the slides, I feel like the period trait mentioned above sort of exemplifies the values and concepts of the Expressionism era. It could be a possibility that there could be more period traits that spoke to these pieces but I think it (emotional vulnerability) best expresses the meanings conveyed in the above mentioned examples. (310)

Realism/ Impressionism teachings

It was an interesting experience to understand the philosophical teachings of the Realism/Impressionism era. I really liked the existentialist ideas of Dostoyevsky’s ‘Notes from Underground’. This literature piece speaks to the period of realistic inner lives as it deals with an individual person’s (Underground Man) emotions and thoughts in shaping the future of the society. This period trait speaks to the theme of reason and logic as he feels that humans do things that are illogical and sometimes to satisfy their own ambitions in life. The Underground Man is very critical of the way humans behave and how they incorporate some of the western philosophies in their lives. As for the art piece, I would like to talk about Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s ‘Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette’. This piece is very flamboyant in delivering its artistic features and components as a whole. It also expresses the period trait of realistic inner lives as it displays the joyous gathering of people on a Sunday afternoon in Montmartre, Paris. As for the music piece, I enjoyed listening to Debussy’s ‘Faun’ which was composed of dissonant melody and the harmony was at its best in clarity. It also spoke to the period trait of realistic inner lives as it appealed to the listener’s emotions and thoughts. As we focus on the interdisciplinary essays, I feel like I was having trouble in explaining certain questions on the essay. For example, I was confused about having a thesis statement in my introductory part of the essay and also did not provide enough historical/contextual information about the pieces that were chosen. I also figured that I had a hard time making transitions within the essay when talking about one idea and moving to another idea. Overall, I was not satisfied with my grade but I will keep focusing on how to write effectively on the final interdisciplinary essay exam. (314)

Teachings of Confucianism and Buddhism

There is a considerable difference between the Romantic Era and the emergence of the Confucianism. The literature works, art pieces and musical compositions of this era are totally in contrast with the works of the previous periods. I would like to ponder about the message from the prominent chinese literature ‘Monkey King’. There were several aspects about this works that caught my attention. For example, one should not be desiring Nirvana to attain it. In fact, he/she should cease to desire Nirvana in order to attain that salvation. The period trait expressed in this piece is the ‘Value of Way’ as it explains that one should stop desiring Nirvana (the Way) to achieve salvation. Also, I do have certain doubts and questions in this work in reference to Tripitaka’s credibility. I am still not sure why he is a suitable candidate for achieving Nirvana. It is also important to point out some similarities that Buddhism shares with another major religion of this day – Hinduism. One similarity is that Buddhism preaches everyone to do the right thing and to do it for the right reason. They should do their karma with the right intentions to others such as showing love, compassion etc. As for the art piece, the painting revealed the sort of emptiness that existed during this period in chinese history. It provoked a calm and tranquil experience in the viewers much like the art works of the Romanticism period. As a reult, it expressed the period trait of ‘the value of emptiness’ in the piece. As for the last discipline of the chinese history, the music was very different in its compositon compared to the music of the previous periods. I think the reason for this difference is because of the types of instruments that were used in the musical pieces. The sample piece played in class expressed a sense of emptiness in it as it relates to the period trait of this era. (325)

INTERDISCIPLINARY CONTEMPLATION

For the upcoming interdisciplinary essay exam, I intend to discuss the following three pieces from the baroque era covering all the three disciplines of this course. They are Moliere’s ‘Tartuffe’, Caravaggio’s ‘Conversion of St Paul’ and Purcell’s ‘Dido and Aleneas’. For the literature section, I am going to pick the period traits of ecstatic emotions and dramatic contrasts. And these periods are going to speak to the theme of reason vs emotion. Tartuffe’s ability to act as a religious person but indeed posess secular urges within himself would prove the point of dramatic contrasts. Orgon’s act of completely giving in to the words of Tartuffe would exemplify the theme of ecstatic emotions. The same period traits are going to be used to tie in the art work to the theme of the era. As far as music, I would like to emphasize Dido’s unconditional love for Aleneas and his focus on carrying his duty as the explanation for the theme of reason vs emotion. The last paragraph would be a compare and contrast between the baroque era and romanticism era. For the second essay, I am going to discuss the Classical era with power and authority as the theme. Rousseau’s ‘Confessions’ would be exemplifying that theme with directness/accessibilty and clarity of form as period traits. Since Rousseau is very direct in recounting his personal experiences, it can bring the directness trait and also speak to the theme of power and authority as he believes that power and authority found in our society corrupts the individual. For the art piece, I would like to expound on ‘ Death of Marat’ as he spoke against people with power and authority which in turn led to his murder. For the music piece, I am going to use Mozart’s ‘Klein Nachtmusik’ with period traits of clarity of form and directness to explain the theme of power and authority. As far as the midterm exam, it was beneficial in preparing me for the essay exam but it would be really helpful to have a word bank for the fill ins for the final exam. Also some quotations from the readings were a little too difficult to recognize when taking the exam. (366)

Age of the Enlightenment

It was a noticeable transition from the baroque period to the age of enlightenment as this period was highly concerned about social order. Basically, during this period everyone was expected to submit to the social order. Also it is crucial to point out that reason was extremely important and advocated throughout this period in western history. Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s ‘Confessions’ was an interesting reading for me from this era as he documents his childhood experiences in this masterpiece. As an autobiography, it captured my attention because his work focused on himself and his personal feelings about various experiences he went through in his life. It was interesting to me to comprehend the author’s personal feelings put in his own words. As for the art work, I felt that the portrait of King Louis by Hyacinthe Rigaud to be extremely captivating because his posture was just really unusual. Also, his body was a little distorted to look at in the portrait. For the last discipline, I enjoyed listening to Beethoven’s ‘Symphony No.9’ and it stood out to me because it was the first symphony to use voices in it. The period trait that was expressed in the work of ‘Confessions’ was Directness /Accessibility and the theme in the literature was the concept of ‘self’. Because the author focuses on himself, his ideals, his philosophies and personal feelings about the things in the world. He doesn’t take anyone’s inputs but his own and explains his ideology to his readers through that. The period trait expressed in the portrait of King Louis was Critique of reason and the theme that spoke to it was the concept of ‘self’. He cared about himself as a ruler and did not give in to the opinions of his fellowmen. As for the music piece, the period trait that was expressed was rational humanism and the theme that spoke to the piece was the nature of reason as Beethoven was one of the prominent composers in his era to advocate reason into his profession. (336)