Tuesday, January 05, 2010

WH II Honors: 5 January 2010

Prayer (alphabetical):

Current Events:

Eyewitnesses during the attempted bombing of a plane by a Muslim on Christmas Day have come forward to relate their experience.


And, the Haskell's are helpful enough to publish a blog describing their experience with the terrorists (plural) on the flight. The FBI report of the incident has changed numerous times, but has now confirmed the detention of a second individual, a point initially denied. According to the Haskell's the bomber had an accomplice and they maintained this point consistently.

Another passenger, Daniel Huisinga, supports the basic claims made by the Haskell's.


A third passenger on the flight, interviewed with the Haskell's on CNN, confirms the details of their account; in addition, a man with a camcorder apparently taped the entire incident.


Per our class procedure, a Shanawiki page Ch. 12 Sec. 4 has been posted.

Ch. 12 Sec. 4 Culture: Romanticism and Realism
Sunset: Audio
In the 1800s, many writers turned away from the harsh realities of industrial life to celebrate nature. The English poet William Wordsworth described the peace and beauty of sunset (recited below, :52):

“It is a beauteous evening, calm and free,
The holy time is quiet as a Nun

Breathless with adoration; the broad sun

Is sinking down in its tranquillity.”
—William Wordsworth, Complete Poetical Works
"It is a beauteous evening," by William Wordsworth, :52.



A thought provoking collection of Creative Quotations from William Wordsworth (1770-1850); born on Apr 7. English poet; His "Lyrical Ballads," 1798 are noted for their worship of nature and humanitarianism; poet laureate, 1843-50, 1:07.


Audio

Romanticism does not refer to romance in the sense of an affectionate relationship, but rather to an artistic style emphasizing imagination, freedom, and emotion. Romanticism was a reaction to the neoclassical writers of the Enlightenment, who had turned to classical Greek and Roman literature and ideals that stressed order, harmony, reason, and emotional restraint. In contrast to Enlightenment literature, the works of romantic writers included simple, direct language, intense feelings, and a glorification of nature. Artists, composers, and architects were also followers of the movement.

The Romantic Hero

The following clip, released on 1 June 1981, is rated by the MPAA: PG.

If you object to the content please let me know and I will make other arrangements.

Indiana Jones: The American Romantic Hero

This video is a look at Indiana Jones, and how he is portrayed as a true American Romantic Hero throughout the first film. It was created for an 11th grade class, 7:29.


Romantic writers created a new kind of hero—a mysterious, melancholy figure who felt out of step with society. “My joys, my grief, my passions, and my powers, / Made me a stranger,” wrote Britain’s George Gordon, Lord Byron. He himself was a larger-than-life figure equal to those he created. After a rebellious, wandering life, he joined Greek forces battling for freedom. When he died of a fever there, his legend bloomed. In fact, public interest in his poetry and adventures was so great that moody, isolated romantic heroes came to be described as “Byronic.”

A Romantic Love Story, Byronic Hero, and Wordsworth's "Lucy," 2:21.


From Romanticism to pop culture, we have had numerous, mysterious, and melancholy figures who are out of step with society. These are Romantic, Byronic, figures.

One of the first rebels in pop culture was Marlon Brando in "The Wild One."

The Wild One is a 1953 outlaw biker film. It is remembered for Marlon Brando's portrayal of the gang leader Johnny Stabler as a juvenile delinquent, dressed in a leather jacket and driving a 1950 Triumph Thunderbird 6T. Acting opposite of Brando was Lee Marvin as a rival gang leader. This low-budget production had Brando playing a rebel without a cause two years before James Dean.
The film version was based on a January, 1951 short story in Harper's Magazine "The Cyclists' Raid" by Frank Rooney that was published in book form as part of "The Best American Short Stories 1952." The story took a cue from an actual biker street party on the Fourth of July weekend in 1947 in Hollister, California that was elaborately trumped up in Life Magazine (dubbed the Hollister riot) with staged photographs of wild motorcycle outlaw revellers. The Hollister event is now celebrated annually. In the film, the town is located somewhere in California.
Deemed scandalous and dangerous, the film was banned by the British Board of Film Censors from showing in the United Kingdom for fourteen years. Its first UK public showing, to a mostly Rocker audience being at the then famous 59 Club of Paddington in London.

In a famous exchange from the movie Brando's character is asked: "What are you rebelling against?"

Brando's character slyly responds: "What have you got?"


The rebellious pop image was thereafter popularized by James Dean:



Arguably the most famous Byronic rebel was Elvis.

In a well-known scene from one of his first movies, 'Jailhouse Rock', 1957, Elvis' character, a former penitentiary inmate (also starring Judy Tyler), has a chance to meet the parents.



The Byronic figure in pop culture can be seen in diverse figures from Jim Morrison, to Michael Jackson, and many others such as Tupac Shakur.

The romantic hero often hid a guilty secret and faced a grim destiny. German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (gur tuh) wrote the dramatic poem Faust. The aging scholar Faust makes a pact with the devil, exchanging his soul for youth. After much agony, Faust wins salvation by accepting his duty to help others. In Jane Eyre, British novelist Charlotte Brontë weaves a tale about a quiet governess and her brooding, Byronic employer, whose large mansion conceals a terrifying secret.

Faust Fragments: Prologue in Heaven and Faust Monologue bilingual German/English, 4:52.

Faust is a tragic play. It takes place in multiple settings, the first of which is heaven. Mephistopheles makes a bet with God: he says that he can deflect God's favorite human being (Faust), who is striving to learn everything that can be known, away from righteous pursuits. The next scene takes place in Faust's study where Faust, despairing at the vanity of scientific, humanitarian and religious learning, turns to magic for the showering of infinite knowledge.
Faust makes an arrangement with the devil: the devil will do everything that Faust wants while he is here on Earth, and in exchange Faust will serve the devil in Hell.
Video and Music by Independent Basement Production Ltd.


Michael O'Neill: Visions Rise, and Change - Emily Brontë's Poetry and Romanticism, The Brontë Society Conference 2009 July 31 - August 2 at The University of York, 2:43.



Inspired by the Past

Romantic writers combined history, legend, and folklore. Sir Walter Scott’s novels and ballads evoked the turbulent history of Scottish clans or medieval knights. Alexandre Dumas (doo mah) and Victor Hugo re-created France’s past in novels like The Three Musketeers and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Sir Walter Scott and Ivanhoe, 5:41.



Alexandre Dumas (doo mah) re-created France’s past in a novel like The Three Musketeers. The romantic adventure between D'Artangnan and Lady de Winter ends in a disaster. Milady tries to kill the Musketeer after he discovered her bad secret: Lana Turner, Gene Kelly star, 5:45.



Victor Hugo re-created France’s past in his novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame: here is an excerpt from Disney's version, "Heaven's Light" - The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), 1:31.



Architects, too, were inspired by old styles and forms. Churches and other buildings, including the British Parliament, were modeled on medieval Gothic styles. To people living in the 1800s, medieval towers and lacy stonework conjured up images of a glorious past.

Music Stirs Emotions

Romantic composers also tried to stir deep emotions. Audiences were moved to laughter or tears at Hungarian Franz Liszt’s piano playing. The passionate music of German composer Ludwig van Beethoven combined classical forms with a stirring range of sound. He was the first composer to take full advantage of the broad range of instruments in the modern orchestra. In all, Beethoven produced nine symphonies, five piano concertos, a violin concerto, an opera, two masses, and dozens of shorter pieces. To many, he is considered the greatest composer of his day.

Franz Liszt (October 22, 1811 July 31, 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist and teacher. Liszt became renowned throughout Europe for his great skill as a performer; during the 1800s many considered him to be the greatest pianist in history. He was also an important and influential composer, a notable piano teacher, a conductor who contributed significantly to the modern development of the art, and a benefactor to other composers and performers, notably Richard Wagner and Hector Berlioz. As a composer, Liszt was one of the most prominent representatives of the "Neudeutsche Schule" ("New German School"). He left behind a huge and diverse body of work, in which he influenced his forward-looking contemporaries and anticipated some 20th-century ideas and trends. Some of his most notable contributions were the invention of the symphonic poem, developing the concept of thematic transformation as part of his experiments in musical form and making radical departures in harmony.
Victor Borge - Franz Liszt - Hungarian Rhapsody #2, 2:48. This is a humorous clip from a typical variety show of the past.



Biography: Audio

Ludwig van Beethoven


An accomplished musician by age 12, composer Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) agonized over every note of every composition. The result was stunning music that expresses intense emotion. The famous opening of his Fifth Symphony conveys the sense of fate knocking at the door. His Sixth Symphony captures a joyful day in the countryside, interrupted by a violent thunderstorm.

This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons.
Yngwie Malmsteen, a Swedish musician, plays here in a 1985 rock version of Beethoven`s 5th symphony, 1:29. Beethoven wrote Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 between 1804 and 1808. It comprises four movements: an opening sonata allegro, an andante, and a fast scherzo which leads attacca to the finale.


Otto Klemperer conducts Beethoven's 6th Symphony "Pastoral" - The Storm, by The New Philharmonia Orchestra, London, Royal Festival Hall, 1970, 3:49.



Beethoven’s career was haunted by perhaps the greatest tragedy a musician can face. In 1798, he began to lose his hearing. Still, he continued to compose music he could hear only in his mind. How did Beethoven’s music reflect romanticism?

Other romantic composers wove traditional folk melodies into their works to glorify their nations’ pasts. In his piano works, Frederic Chopin (shoh pan) used Polish peasant dances to convey the sorrows and joys of people living under foreign occupation.

Prelude for Piano No. 7 in A Major (The Polish Dance), :43.



Romanticism in Art, 6:08.

Painters, too, broke free from the discipline and strict rules of the Enlightenment. Landscape painters like J.M.W. Turner sought to capture the beauty and power of nature. Using bold brush strokes and colors, Turner often showed tiny human figures struggling against sea and storm.

Joseph Mallord William Turner RA (1775-1851) was an English Romantic landscape painter, watercolourist and printmaker, whose style is said to have laid the foundation for Impressionism. Turner was considered a controversial figure in his day, but is now regarded as the artist who elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivalling history painting. Although renowned for his oil paintings, Turner is also one of the greatest masters of British watercolour landscape painting. [Cf. Wikipedia]

Music: They that go down to the sea in ship, by Herbert Whitton Sumsion (1899-1995)

Sumsion was organist of Gloucester Cathedral from 1928 to 1967.

The cloisters at Gloucester Cathedral are exquisite. They were used in the Harry Potter movies (1, 2, 6).

The music is by: St. Paul's Cathedral Choir, John Scott (conductor), Huw Williams (organ); Worcester Cathedral Choir, Donald Hunt (conductor), Adrian Partington (organ).

The music is from Psalms, 107:23-30 by Henry Purcell.

Purcell also wrote a hymn based on this psalm: "In thankfulness for a providential escape of the King from shipwreck, the Rev John Gostling, who had been of the royal party, put together some verses from the Psalms in the form of an anthem, and requested Purcell to set them to music."


Romantics painted many subjects, from simple peasant life to medieval knights to current events. Bright colors conveyed violent energy and emotion. The French painter Eugène Delacroix (deh luh krwah) filled his canvases with dramatic action. In Liberty Leading the People, the Goddess of Liberty carries the revolutionary tricolor as French citizens rally to the cause.

This was a school task. The topic was to create the paraphrase of a random painting. I chose Delacroix: Liberty Leading the People, which i [sic] reimagined [sic] as a fictional Nintendo game. Not interactive....sadly. :)


Artwork: ‘Viva La Vida’
Here is a little background about this amazing work of art. It’s by Eugène Delacroix (French Romantic Painter) and was painted in 1830 titled “Liberty Leading The People”. Eugene Delacroix is numbered among the greatest and most influential of French painters. He is most often classified as an artist of the Romantic school. His remarkable use of colour was later to influence impressionist painters and even modern artists such as Pablo Picasso.

Liberty Leading The People; Painted on 28 July 1830, to commemorate the July Revolution that had just brought Louis-Philippe to the French throne; Louvre.

This painting, which is a sort of political poster, is meant to celebrate the day of 28 July 1830, when the people rose and dethroned the Bourbon king. Alexandre Dumas tells us that Delacroix’s participation in the rebellious movements of July was mainly of a sentimental nature. Despite this, the painter, who had been a member of the National Guard, took pleasure in portraying himself in the figure on the left wearing the top-hat. Although the painting is filled with rhetoric, Delacroix’s spirit is fully involved in its execution: in the outstretched figure of Liberty, in the bold attitudes of the people following him contrasted with the lifeless figures of the dead heaped up in the foreground, in the heroic poses of the people fighting for liberty, there is without a doubt a sense of full participation on the part of the artist, which led Argan to define this canvas as the first political work of modern painting.

Liberty Leading the People caused a disturbance. It shows the allegorical figure of Liberty as a half-draped woman wearing the traditional Phrygian cap of liberty and holding a gun in one hand and the tricolour in the other. It is strikingly realistic; Delacroix, the young man in the painting wearing the opera hat, was present on the barricades in July 1830. Allegory helps achieve universality in the painting: Liberty is not a woman; she is an abstract force.

Live performance of "Viva La Vida" by Coldplay in pop temple Paradiso, Amsterdam and was a secret gig for only 300 fans.
LYRICS:

I used to rule the world
Seas would rise when I gave the word
Now in the morning I sleep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own

I used to roll the dice
Feel the fear in my enemies' eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing
"Now the old king is dead, long live the king!"

One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castle stands
Upon pillars of salt, and pillars of sand

I hear Jerusalem bells a'ringing
Roman cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
Once you'd gone it was never
Never an honest word
That was when I ruled the world

It was the wicked and wild wind
Blew down the doors to let me in
Shattered windows and the sound of drums
People couldn't believe what I'd become

Revolutionaries wait
For my head on a silver plate
Just a puppet on a lonely string
Oh...who would ever wanna be king

I hear Jerusalem bells were ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs were singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
I know St. Peter won't call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world

Whoaaa

(Whoa) hear Jerusalem bells were ringing
(Whoa) roman Cavalry choirs were singing
(Whoa) be my mirror, my sword and shield
(Whoa) my missionaries in a foreign field
(Whoa) for some reason I can't explain
(Whoa) I know St. Peter won't call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world

Oooh ooooh oooh ooooh.

The lyrics are reproduced here for educational purposes only; the original copyright remains with the lawful owners.


Checkpoint

How did romantic writers, musicians, and artists respond to the Enlightenment?

Learn

Focus Question

What artistic movements emerged in reaction to the Industrial Revolution?

Audio

William Wordsworth, along with William Blake, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Percy Bysshe Shelley among others, was part of a cultural movement called romanticism. From about 1750 to 1850, romanticism shaped Western literature and arts.

Reading Check, p. 389

Examining

How did the popularity of Ivanhoe reflect the interests of the nineteenth century?

A New Age of Science
British broadcaster Sir David Attenborough presents his views on Charles Darwin, natural selection, and how the Bible conflicts with Darwin's views of the natural world in an exclusive interview for Nature Video, 4:27.

In addition, to celebrate Darwin's bicentenary Darwin 200 in Nature is also providing selected content free online, including continuously updated news, research and analysis on Darwin's life, his science and his legacy.



Baba Brinkman performs "Natural Selection" from "The Rap Guide to Evolution" at the launch party of the Cambridge Darwin Festival, Cambridge Botanic Gardens, July 5 2009, 3:30.



This video shows results from a research project involving simulated Darwinian evolutions of virtual block creatures. A population of several hundred creatures is created within a supercomputer, and each creature is tested for their ability to perform a given task, such the ability to swim in a simulated water environment. Those that are most successful survive, and their virtual genes containing coded instructions for their growth, are copied, combined, and mutated to make offspring for a new population. The new creatures are again tested, and some may be improvements on their parents. As this cycle of variation and selection continues, creatures with more and more successful behaviors can emerge.

The creatures shown are results from many independent simulations in which they were selected for swimming, walking, jumping, following, and competing for control of a green cube.

A similar experiment in musical evolution has been tried with Darwin Tunes by professors at the Imperial College, London. You can participate and let the organizers know what you think of the evolving music. As they state:
The organic world – animals, plants, viruses – is the product of Darwinian evolution by natural selection. Natural selection expresses the idea that organisms (more accurately their genes) vary and that variability has consequences. Some variants are bad and go extinct; others are good and do exceptionally well. This process, repeated for two billion years, has given us the splendours of life on earth.

It has also given us the splendours of human culture. This may seem like a bold claim, but it is self-evidently true. People copy cultural artefacts – words, songs, images, ideas – all the time from other people. Copying is imperfect: there is "mutation". Some cultural mutants do better than others: most die but some are immensely successful; they catch on; they become hits. This process, repeated for fifty thousand years, has given us all that we make, say and do; it is the process of "cultural evolution".

However, the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. For example, how important is human creative input compared to audience selection? Is progress smooth and continuous or step-like? We set up DarwinTunes as a test-bed for the evolution of music, the oldest and most widespread form of culture; and, thanks to your participation, these questions will soon be answered.
DarwinTunes: a test-tube for cultural evolution



One of the most important scientific thinkers of our day is Richard Dawkins. Dawkins explains his thoughts on Charles Darwin and Natural Selection.



Reading Check, p. 390

Describing

How did Darwin's theory of natural selection influence the way in which people viewed the world?

Realism
The Call to Realism: Audio




By the mid-1800s, a new artistic movement, realism, took hold in the West. Realism was an attempt to represent the world as it was, without the sentiment associated with romanticism. Realists often focused their work on the harsh side of life in cities or villages. Many writers and artists were committed to improving the lot of the unfortunates whose lives they depicted.

Novels Depict Grim Reality

The English novelist Charles Dickens vividly portrayed the lives of slum dwellers and factory workers, including children. In Oliver Twist, Dickens tells the story of a nine-year-old orphan raised in a grim poorhouse. In response to a request for more food, Oliver is smacked on the head and sent away to work. Later, he runs away to London. There he is taken in by Fagin, a villain who trains homeless children to become pickpockets. The book shocked many middle-class readers with its picture of poverty, mistreatment of children, and urban crime. Yet Dickens’s humor and colorful characters made him one of the most popular novelists in the world.
Oliver! (1968) - Theatrical Trailer - © Columbia Pictures
Starring: Mark Lester as Oliver Twist, an orphan, Ron Moody, Shani Wallis, Oliver Reed, Jack Wild. Directed by: Carol Reed. Story written by: Charles Dickens "Oliver Twist" (novel). Screenplay & Dialogues written by: Vernon Harris. Distributed by: © Columbia Pictures. Theatrical Release Date: September 26, 1968 (UK).

Synopsis:
"Oliver!" is a 1968 musical film directed by Carol Reed. The film is based on the stage musical Oliver!, with book, music and lyrics written by Lionel Bart. The screenplay was written by Vernon Harris.

Both the film and play are based on the famous Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist. The musical includes several musical standards, including "Food, Glorious Food", "Consider Yourself", "As Long as He Needs Me", "You've Got to Pick a Pocket or Two", "Oom-Pah-Pah" and "Where is Love?".

The film version was a Romulus Films production and was distributed internationally by Columbia Pictures. It was filmed in Shepperton Film Studio in Surrey and various other locations in England.

In 1968 Oliver! won Six Academy Awards, including awards for Best Picture, Carol Reed Best Director.

Plot:
Oliver Twist is sold to a Dunstable undertaker after asking for more dinner at the orphanage. Escaping to London he is taken in by Fagin to join his gang of child pickpockets. Wrongly accused of a theft he meets a more kindly gentleman who takes him in, to the concern of one of Fagin's old pupils, the violent Bill Sykes. In the middle is Nancy, Sykes' girl whom Oliver has come to trust.


French novelists also portrayed the ills of their time. Victor Hugo, who moved from romantic to realistic novels, revealed how hunger drove a good man to crime and how the law hounded him ever after in Les Misérables (lay miz ehr ahb). The novels of Émile Zola painted an even grimmer picture. In Germinal, Zola exposed class warfare in the French mining industry. To Zola’s characters, neither the Enlightenment’s faith in reason nor the romantic movement’s feelings mattered at all.

Realism in Drama

Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen brought realism to the stage. His plays attacked the hypocrisy he observed around him. A Doll’s House show a woman caught in a straitjacket of social rules. In "An Enemy of the People," a doctor discovers that the water in a local spa is polluted. Because the town’s economy depends on its spa, the citizens denounce the doctor and suppress the truth. Ibsen’s realistic dramas had a wide influence in Europe and the United States.

Part 1 of 12. Arthur Miller's adaptation of Ibsen's "An Enemy Of the People," which first aired in 1966 on "NET Playhouse." Stars Emmy-award winner James Daly, Kate Reid, George Voskovec, James Olson, William Prince, Philip Bosco and Ken Kercheval. All copyrights acknowledged. For research and commentary purposes only.


Arts Reject Romantic Ideas

Painters also represented the realities of their time. Rejecting the romantic emphasis on imagination, they focused on ordinary subjects, especially working-class men and women. “I cannot paint an angel,” said the French realist Gustave Courbet (koor bay) “because I have never seen one.” Instead, he painted works such as The Stone Breakers, which shows two rough laborers on a country road.
The Stone Breakers, Gustave Courbet, 1849, this is a file from the Wikimedia Commons.

A slide collection of Courbet's paintings, 5:08.



This is a "mockumentary" about Courbet, the French realist painter. You can see puppets bring to life the intriguing story of the man brave enough to use a pallette knife and stand against the wave of current trends.



Later in the century, The Gross Clinic, by Philadelphia painter Thomas Eakins, shocked viewers with its realistic depiction of an autopsy conducted in a medical classroom.
The Gross Clinic, Thomas Eakins, 1875, this is a file from the Wikimedia Commons.


Gross Clinic Bounce: Excerpt, :40, a clip from the 2009 Penn Reading Project music video by The Indoorfins.



David Fox, the Director of New Student Orientation, introduces the 2009 Penn Reading Project: Thomas Eakins' "The Gross Clinic," 4:15.



Dr. David B. Brownlee discusses ways of looking at art more deeply, Penn Reading Project: Learning to Look, 11:57.



Dr. Kathleen Howard and Dr. David B. Brownlee discuss 19th-century Philadelphia artist Thomas Eakins to help prepare the discussion leaders for the 2009 Penn Reading Project, 1:14:48.



Vocabulary Builder

emphasis—(em fuh sis) n. special attention given to something to make it stand out

Checkpoint

How did the realism movement differ from the romantic movement?

Reading Check, p. 391

Evaluating

What factors helped to produce the movement known as realism?


Resources:

HW email to gmsmith@shanahan.org

1. Section 4 Assessment, p. 391, answer #1 and #2; if you already answered these on Shanawiki (on a first come, first serve basis, you do not have to answer these again for HW. Be sure to list your class student number on Shanawiki).

2. p. 391, answer #3-5. For #4, locate these two cities by indicating what they are near, major bodies of water, other countries, etc.