Class Summary: January 7th, 2008

Today in class we shared our media projects in groups. In my group was Dylan, Leo, Annalise, Olivia, Henry, and Nate.

Dylan went to MOMA and viewed 2 paintings and one sculpture. He concluded that the overall theme of these works was that of a changing society. Annalise listened to Rubber Soul by the Beatles, Bringing it All Back Home by Bob Dylan, Raining in My Heart by Buddy Holly, and After the Gold Rush by Neil Young. These albums had different themes, ranging from analogies of society to racial prejudice to new ideas of youth. Olivia watched Dr. Strangelove and Vertigo. She concluded that Dr. Strangeloce used humor and irony to question the cold war, while Vertigo used the theme of human urges to show how manners and proper society was all just a huge facade. Leo listened to After the Gold Rush, The Band by The Band, Back to Basics by Billy Bragg, and Bringing it All Back Home. These albums all shared a common theme of the desire for change in society and the world. Henry watched The Searchers and Citizen Kane. The Searchers was a reflection of the times, depicting explicit racism and genocide against American Indians. Citizen Kane portrayed a greedy and ambitious society, where money didn’t always result in happiness. Nate watched The Third Man and The Searchers. He concluded that both movies showed a society where people would do terrible things for personal and monetary gain. I read Cannery Row by John Steinbeck, which portrayed a simple, almost communist society.

We then briefly viewed several enlightenment paintings, including “Wanderer Over the Sea of Fog” and “The Death of Socrates”. The first painting, “Wanderer”, depicted the power of observation and showed humanity’s triumph over nature. “The Death of Socrates” showed that ideas and ideals were more important than any individual.