Final Project

I have several ideas for the upcoming final project. I have narrowed my choice down to two topics: Rice (a food) and Haunting Melodies (a nickname of type of music). Each has its own benefits and drawbacks, such as rice being easier to find collaborative help on (restaurants in town) while Haunting Melodies are easier to relate to women (the greatest composer of all time is a woman). Either way, there is significant material from which to gather, and both a great topics of interest to me. At the moment, I am leaning towards Rice because of its additional benefits.
Either way, the greater step is not so much putting the product together but rather the research. There is an incredible abundance of information on both of these topics. It will take a great amount of time to gather all the data I need to mold these topics around global topics.
Although it would be a bit time consuming, I am thinking that my product will be a book. Yes, a book - a short book, of course. Regardless, there is more than enough information for these topics. If writing a book does not work out, my second thought is a detailed website. It is similar to a book, but more easily presentable, and requires less effort.
Regardless, I plan to spend the next week determining the best course of action, and hopefully in time this project will be a success.

Today I felt honored to have Mr. Chinen come to our class. I was not sure what to expect, and Mr. Chinen indeed had a lot to tell. He seems like a very nice man and he is certainly adept at interpreting music. It was very interesting listening him delve into the secrets of new songs. Yet... I felt that sometimes he dove a little too deep into the meanings, and other times I just flat out disagreed with him (though I would never say so). Most of the time however, as I saw in the disection of Rihanna's Russian Roulette, he was very insightful and pointed out many details that I had not noticed prior. It also seemed at times that we were not studying the songs so much as we were studying the artists.
Mr. Chinen did have some very interesting pieces information from which to learn from. I learned from him that the atist and the art is very much intertwined, and that the art, when made to represent the artist, does not necessarily portray the artist. Perhaps the insight is a bit deep for me, for while I see the inspiration, I do not always believe in what Mr. Chinen said. Mr. chinen's visit was very interesting, and I am gald he came. I wish he could have spent more time with us to more thorough;y explain his ideas.

This piece of art is Inner Peace, by Giovanna Numan. This is a mixed media style of art. More specifically, Ms. Numan starts with a basic painting, and adds layer upon layer of beads, sequences, etc. to the painting.
In this piece, a Latin-American woman is seen in a garden with her back to the world. Her turned back represents her turning away from the world. Her hat hides her face, allowing her to see her garden world but not allowing the world to see her. She is dressed traditionally, with her black hair protecting her exposed backside. Her dress channels the visual energy from the ground to her backside, thus focusing the piece around the mystery of the woman.
Likewise, the shiny leaves reflect the shine of her mind, and too focus the light back on the woman. In the midst of this is the garden, a place full of flowers representative of the inner peace the woman has found. The lack of society and indeed the exposed back represents the woman's existence alone with hersself, in a place of peace and tranquility. This is a place of evrlasting beauty, as shown by the green background.
The frame around this woman carries out the edges of the picture, with flowers and leaves coming out into reality with the bottom of the woman's dress. Thus, she is not far away from the physical world, and is capable any time of returning from this place of inner peace.

Red, hooded, and opinionated

The story of little red riding hood is a normal fairy tale, made stranger by the article in Ms. magazine. When I first read the original story, I found no surprises - the ending was not very outlandish for an original fairytale. The interpretation was a whole different story. I would not have guessed the true intentions of the wolf in any circumstance - the story then seems truly creepy. The culture itself seems truly disturbing, in regards to what was deemed "acceptable". I can now more fully appreciate the moral stated at the end of the story.
The creation of alternate versions also interests me. The fact that the Grimm brothers would "tone it down" seems shocking to me, as I know them as writers who leave very little unwritten. However, from what the article relay's, Grimm's version may be a copy of the original version. This leads me to the question: why did Mr. Perrault choose to change the story so? I can only partially understand the motive of instilling children with a good moral message.
The influence and change in attitude toward the characters in this story is slightly comical. Degraded standards in society have worsened to the point that Riding Hood's predicament is one lusted after by many people. Who is to blame for this complete erosion of moral values? It is possible that Mr. Perrault got the idea correct, and that the story would serve to explain good moral standards in today's world.

Fairy Tale Tale

When I was growing up, my favorite children's story was a book called the 11th Hour, by Graeme Base. This was a not-so well known, but kid friendly book. The plot is about a group of animals who come together for a party and a magnificent feast, which is stolen before anyone gets a bite.
Among the unique aspects of this book, I particularly liked it for its incredibly detailed pictures, with each page covered entirely by intricate drawings of animals in costumes playing games. A food lover as a kid, I loved to just stare at the delicious looking banquet that Base drew and imagine eating it.
The mystery of "who ate the feast" also intrigued me, as I have a love for mysteries. Base drew every picture with clues as to the culprit hidden in the most innocent of places, or page borders. In addition, each game that the animals played (before the theft of the feast) had a funny twist to it, such as a musical chairs game played by breaking the chairs.
I also thoroughly enjoyed the large cast of characters. Base made each character separate and memorable, by giving them individually their animal traits while endowing them with traits fitting of their costumes. The plot does not focus entirely on the mystery, but rather takes a slightly episodic approach of walking the animals through their day, a form difficult to pull off but that Graeme Base does well.

Like Water for Chocolate

I enjoyed Like Water for Chocolate. Laura Esquivel is an extremely talented author. I am enthralled, and amused comically, at the mass amounts of themes and motifs. It makes discussion simpler, when in other books themes are more hidden and confusing. I am always a fan of the cookbook side of the story, in part because I am a fan of food. The concept of the book, made in such a way, adds a unique touch to the book that I have never truly seen previously in literature.
I loved the actual story content of the book. The plot of the suppressed urges of the characters as well as the intricate love affairs are plot lines that many classmates and I can relate to & appreciate. The slightly episodic nature of the book ironically also helped the flow. Through this there was no continual drawl, but the book was not so episodic as to lack a central plot. I also thought that the ending was excellent. The way the death of Tita is portrayed, she does not seem to so much "die" as much as become fully happy. I am also glad that Esquivel killed off both Mama Elena and Rosaura, two hideous women who become clear protagonists. Even farther than these two, I enjoyed most of the diverse characters that Esquivel creates, such as the kind and fathely Dr. Brown as well as the always-aware, master cook Nacha.
I appreciate how Esquivel added a magical touch to the stories. The effects of the food always made the book interesting to read, from the lusty experience of Gertrudis to the tornado of chickens. These images helped me to understand, as well as extend, the themes and motifs of the book. Overall, this was on of the better assigned reading books that I have read.

The book Like Water for Chocolate is full of creative themes and ideas that can be expounded on. Of particular notice is the theme of magic. Throughout the book, Tita conveys her emotions through those who eat her cooking. She also sees various ghosts, including Dr. Brown's grandmother and Mama Elena. The idea of love is so foreign to Tita that perhaps it becomes like a fantasy, and so the world around her seems to channel this. The concepts of love and tradition also play important roles. While Tita loves Pedro, family tradition dictates that she must stay with her mother until she dies. Likewise, the feelings of racism that are tide to tradition create love troubles. These create a circle of more tradition preventing more love.
On a note for the college essay, I have not done too much. The exercises in class were very helpful, but I don't feel that they are appropriate for a college essay intro. Instead of saying, "I am a unique writer", it says (to me), "I am sense-obsessive". However, I do trust Ms. Falk's judgement in the appropriateness of these essay starters. Also, I am at a miss as to what else to include in my paper. Essentially, I have not written a lot.