TOW #19: "The Garden of Earthly Delights" by Hieronmyous Bosch (Visual Text)

     Hieronmyous Bosch is sometimes considered as the very first Surrealist because of his use of vibrant symbols and images that are out of the ordinary. Painted in the middle of the Renaissance period, Bosch's "The Garden of Earthly Delights" deviates from the common themes of Realism and Classicalism because of Bosch's detailed depictions of both the creation and the devastation of Earth. Little is known about Bosch's life and the meaning behind many of his paintings, so it is hard to know exactly what Bosch's purpose was in the painting of "The Garden of Earthly Delights." However, since the painting is presented as a triptych, a three-paneled painting, it's meaning seems to run along the lines of past, present, and future; the rightmost panel (the leftmost to one looking at it) depicts Adam and Eve in the Garden of Earthly Delights, and as the painting progresses, more people are pictured in the setting. The ladst panel depicts the end of life on Earth: Hell. Through his presentation of the painting and its lively, chaotic tone, Bosch achieves his purpose in painting "The Garden of Earthly Delights" of depicting a scene that shows Biblical morals—one should always avoid earthly temptations unless he or she wants to end up in Hell.

     "The Garden of Earthly Delights" also has a very lively and chaotic tone, especially in the middle and leftmost panels. The middle panel depicts a large number of people giving into temptation in the Garden of Earthly Delights, and the left panel depicts not only a large amount of people but also those people being tortured and chained up in the depths of Hell. Combined with the lively and chaotic tone, Bosch's use of a triptych gives the painting a cause-and-effect nature that helps I'm achieve his purpose. "The Garden of Earthly Delights" warns current art appreciators and past God-fearing citizens about the sins and temptations of Earth and shows them the effect of finally giving in.

"The Garden of Earthly Delights" by Hieronymous Bosch

TOW #18: "Czar Vladimir's Illusions" by Mikheil Saakashvili

     This year's Winter Olympics have been receiving lots of press not only on the account that they're the Olympics but also to the fact that they are being held in Sochi, Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin has particularly been put under the spotlight because of his recent declaration that Russia needs to be "cleansed" of homosexuality. In the article "Czar Vladimir's Illusions," Mikheil Saakashvili studies Russia's progress as a country socially, economically, and politically. As former President of Russian neighbor Georgia, Saakashvili immediately establishes credibility when he compares the growth and maturity of his own country to that of Russia.
     Saakashvili uses data and juxtaposition to achieve his purpose of demonstrating the "illusion" of wealth and democracy that President Vladimir Putin has created for the Sochi Olympics. Although Russia is a wealthier country, Saakashvili notes, in the past nine years, Georgia has experienced a much greater rate of growth than Russia. He also adds that Georgia has no oil, it is eighth in the World Bank Index for "ease of doing business" while Russia is up in the nineties. Saakashvili also employs juxtaposition when comparing the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Adjaria. He notes that Abkhazia, after being seized by the Russians for illegal military occupation, has its capital half in ruins. Adjaria, a few kilometers away from Abkhazia, however, was taken from Putin's hand in 2004. Since then, the Georgian government has managed to turn the region into a much more relaxed and luxurious city than it had previously been. Saakashvili compares Abkhazia and Adjaria to note the fact that Russian occupied Abkhazia has fallen to pieces while free Adjaria "has more new luxury hotels than Sochi" (para. 13). With this combined use of juxtaposition and data, Saakashvili effectively portrays the reality of Russia's condition, which is very different than the one we all currently see on our television screens.
     Saakashvili wrote this article for The New York Times for American civilians who are most likely watching the Winter Olympics so that they can really understand that the nation is not as advanced as Sochi makes it out to be. By comparing Russia's data with Georgia's data and the region of Abkhazia with the region of Adjaria, former Georgian President Saakashvili effectively removes Russia's mask of wealth and progress.

The Illusion of the Olympics

Article and Picture Source

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     "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris is a collection of essays about his adolescent years and the challenges he faced growing up, one of them being his speech impediment. Sedaris is known for writing about these issues with lots of humor and sarcasm. Throughout his life, Sedaris often found himself stuck in situations he badly wanted to get out of or doing odd jobs just for the sake of doing them. Although he initially did not want to be a writer, he had been discovered by radio host Ira Glass while reading a diary he had written in as a young adult. Sedaris's ability to use humor throughout his experiences clearly makes him popular among those who enjoy comedy.

     I chose this book because it is a collection of essays and it is unlike any other book I read independently. I was also interested in it because I had heard about it before and read many positive reviews. Sedaris's use of comedy additionally makes this book intriguing because he manages to look at things like his childhood speech impediment and his love for crystal meth in a very lighthearted way. By reading this book, I hope to gain knowledge about the use of humor as an emotional appeal and how it can be employed to evoke a response from an audience.

TOW #17: "The Naked Face" by Malcolm Gladwell

     Many people do not realize how important it is to be able to read others' body language, much less facial expressions. "The Naked Face" is an essay by Malcolm Gladwell about the research that goes into the Facial Action Coding System, or FACS, and how this research can be applied to real life, whether its through the creation of Pixar movies or through a Q-and-A between a cop and murder suspect. Malcolm Gladwell achieves his purpose of portraying the importance of recognizing certain emotions through facial expressions in "The Naked Face" by using anecdotes and supplying the various pieces of research that went into creating the FACS.
     Malcolm Gladwell is a well-known journalist, author, and speaker. He is best known for his books about various phenomenons and what impact they have on society, such as The Tipping Point and Outliers. "The Naked Face" follows this pattern of social impacts by explaining to readers of The New Yorker and various science enthusiasts the importance of facial expressions. Gladwell includes anecdotes throughout his piece, the most prominent one being about a police officer in L.A., Bob Harms, who happened to be a master at reading facial expressions. He was out with his partner one evening when he spotted a suspicious looking man walking down the side of the road. As the man approached his car, Harms asked the man what he was doing. "I was out for a walk," the man replies. "I have something to show you." Harms then shot the man through an open window. His partner was astonished and asked him why he did it. Harms replied that he knew the man's motives were not good. It was later known that the man had actually been very unstable and he had taken a walk after his failed suicide attempt, carrying a makeshift flamethrower, and he was planning on setting fire to the very car Harms and his partner were sitting in. Gladwell effectively employs this device because it shows how being able to read peoples' faces can be used practically and that it can even save lives.
     Gladwell also includes information about the research that went into the FACS. He mentions that the created of the FACS, Paul Ekman, conducted his research by finding the answer of one of his main curiosities: are these facial expressions universal? He then traveled to countries all over the world, including Japan, Brazil, Argentina, and countries with very remote villages such as Paupa New Guinea. It was found that when the locals everywhere were shown pictures of people with various facial expressions, they understood the emotions and feelings that were associated with the facial expressions. This helps Gladwell achieve his purpose because it emphasizes how facial expressions are recognized globally and thus can be used anywhere.

A chart from the FACS

Read "The Naked Face" here