...After Caravaggio’s Sacrifice of Isaac The bible states that in ancient times, Abraham, the father of many nations, was commanded by God to sacrifice his only son and heir, Isaac, for the lands of Moriah and to verify his love and fear for God. As Abraham is about to sacrifice his son, he was interrupted by the angel of the LORD. His willingness to give up his son was enough proof for God and Isaac would live. In the short story After Caravaggio’s Sacrifice of Isaac (written by Rachel Cusk, published in 2003) the main character, Alan, is involved in the same situation as Abraham. Gerte wants Alan to choose between his son Ian or herself. The story takes place in modern day London and the fundamental layout of the story is the narrator Alan reminiscing the instance he almost left his wife Sally for the German teacher Gerte. Alan lived a terribly ordinary life before the birth of his son, Ian. "I looked back at the life I’d lived and thought, how could you have done this and that, how could you have been so ordinary?" (line 53) His wife suffered of what can only be interpreted as a form of depression. She could not stand being near the child when it cried. It made her mad. This caused Alan to take an unpaid leave from his work to take care of his son. One day when walking Ian around London, Alan discovers an art exhibition which fascinates him in an unknown way. He attends the exhibition and finds himself very intrigued by the renaissance artwork. It makes him stop...
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...After Caravaggio’s Sacrifice of Isaac Interpretation: "After Caravaggio’s Sacrifice of Isaac" is a short story written by Rachel Cusk and published in 2003 in the book "Best of Young British Novelists". Summary of alan: The story is about the forming of identity. Alan does not really know who he is. I get the feeling that he has never really taken an active part in his own life. He has not lived out any of his dreams, and he has just been content with whatever he had. He does not really love his job nor his wife. This attitude to life changes when he has a son. Now he suddenly has to be responsible to someone else in his life. He enjoys it very much and is very proud to have a son, but I do not think he really loves Ian as much as he should and expresses. He loves to have a son, but in some ways the son is more a thing to him than an actual person: "(...) his being there was like some kind of pass-port, some bridge to another place." (p.1, l.36). Alan begins forming his identity and living his life through his son. He begins taking an active part in his own and his son’s life and feels that the son is responsible for this positive change in his life. But the son is only indirectly responsible for the change - Alan himself changes because he thinks the son changes him. When Alan meets Gerte he sees something special in her from the first moment. He is very fasci- nated by her, and he looks up to her. She is like a god to him and that is very central in this story. Gerte tests...
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...Renaissance The first important painter of the Renaissance was Giotto di Bondone In 1334, Giotto was appointed chief architect in Florence, where he remained until his death in 133Therefore, as the city-states of Italy began to develop great wealth during the early fifteenth century, architects and sculptors rose to fame and power. In 1401, Florence held a competition to choose the artist to design and sculpt a pair of bronze doors for the Baptistry, a church honoring St. Paul the Baptist. The Italian Renaissance is divided into three major phases: Early, High, and Late Renaissance. The Early Renaissance was lead by sculptor Donatello, architect Filippo Brunelleschi, and painter Masaccio. They began the movement on the foundations that development and progress was integral to the evolution and survival of the arts. They found their inspiration form antiquity, creating realistic figures that portrayed personality and behavior. They focused on the laws of proportion for architecture, the human body, and space. The term Early Renaissance encompasses most 15th century art. The High Renaissance sought to create a generalized style of art that focused on drama, physical presence, and balance. The major artists of this period were Leonardo Da Vinci, Donato Bramante, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Titian. The period lasted only a short time from 1495 to 1520. The Late Renaissance was put into motion by the sack of Rome in 1527, forcing artists to relocate to other artistic centers in Italy...
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...After Caravaggio’s Sacrifice of Isaac by Rachel Cusk The main theme in this short story is how to be forced to choose between the unconditionally love between a father-son relationship and a love affair with a grownup. “I was obsessed with her from the start.” Love between a parent and a child does not need attention consisting of flattering words, acts or any other trifles but it is rather based on family bonds which will always differ from other kinds; for the reason that the involved people share the same blood and genes. This kind of relationship can bear a whole lot of pressure; even in most difficult times. There is one thing this kind of love cannot take care of is romance which we only experiences within an adult relationship; between man and woman. The short story is set in present-day London where the narrator called Alan lives an ordinary life with his wife Sally and their son Ian. Sally get’s some kind of depression, it might be a birth depression, right after having Ian which pretty much makes it Alan’s job alone to raise little baby Ian. “Sally couldn’t bear him near her. His crying made her mad;” This decision of Sally’s to not be near her own son gives Alan the opportunity to get about In London and see and explore new things he never thought would make his interest. Alan brings his little son with him everywhere; also in his dreams he dreams – “not the same dream, different dreams, but they’re all sort of similar.” Ian is his little sunshine, his everything...
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...Undervisningsbeskrivelse Stamoplysninger til brug ved prøver til gymnasiale uddannelser |Termin |December 2012 | |Institution |VUC Vestsjælland Nord | |Uddannelse |hfe | |Fag og niveau |Engelsk B | |Lærer(e) |Kirsten Bridgwood, Tine Tang Lystbæk | |Hold |E-læring engelsk B11 jan og E-læring engelsk B21 jan | Oversigt over gennemførte undervisningsforløb |Titel 1 |Growing Up | |Titel 2 |Social Networking | |Titel 3 |Violence | |Titel 4 ...
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...Дневник читателя READER’S JOURNAL Ernest Hemingway. The Old Man and the Sea (1952). Joseph Heller. Catch-22 (1961). Tennessee Williams. A Streetcar Named Desire (1959). Iris Murdoch. The Black Prince (1973). Jerome David Salinger. The Catcher in the Rye (1951). Michael Ondaatje. The English Patient (1992). Ray Bradbury. Fahrenheit 451 (1953). Ken Kesey. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1962). Edward Albee. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1962). Arthur Miller. Death of a Salesman (1949). ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- Ernest Hemingway. The Old Man and the Sea (1952). ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- FULL TITLE · The Old Man and the Sea ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- AUTHOR · Ernest Hemingway ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- TYPE OF WORK · Novella ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- GENRE · Parable; tragedy ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- LANGUAGE · English ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- TIME AND PLACE WRITTEN · 1951, Cuba ------------------------------------------------- ...
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...Prologue Florence, 1283 The poet stood next to the bridge and watched as the young woman approached. The world ground to a near standstill as he remarked her wide, dark eyes and elegantly curled brown hair. At first he didn’t recognize her. She was breathtakingly beautiful, her movements sure and graceful. Yet there was something about her face and figure that reminded him of the girl he’d fallen in love with long ago. They’d gone their separate ways, and he had always mourned her, his angel, his muse, his beloved Beatrice. Without her, his life had been lonely and small. Now his blessedness appeared. As she approached him with her companions, he bowed his head and body in a chivalrous salute. He had no expectation that his presence would be acknowledged. She was both perfect and untouchable, a browneyed angel dressed in resplendent white, while he was older, world-weary and wanting. She had almost passed him when his downcast eyes caught sight of one of her slippers — a slipper that hesitated just in front of him. His heart beat a furious tattoo as he waited, breathless. A soft and gentle voice broke into his remembrances as she spoke to him kindly. His startled eyes flew to hers. For years and years he’d longed for this moment, dreamed of it even, but never had he imagined encountering her in such a serendipitous fashion. And never had he dared hope he would be greeted so sweetly. Caught off balance, he mumbled his pleasantries and allowed himself the indulgence of a smile...
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