...Grant Wood’s American Gothic painting is a portrayal of traditional American values throughout the 1930’s with its’ main emphasis on the need for a hard working labor force. The painting depicts a stern-faced farmer and his daughter in front of their house, with a Gothic-style window in the background. It is representative of traditional American rural values, where women were considered subservient to men and men made a huge commitment to their labor. The thesis of the painting can be interpreted in many different ways, however, in my opinion, Grant’s main meaning depicted in the painting is of what characterized American rural life during the 1930’s; a hardworking middle class where women, while respected, were still submissive to men. The “New Enterprise Family” is made up of a couple and their children, commonly known as the nuclear family. The family seems to be selfish in choices they make economically as they throw their grandmother out of the house when she is no longer a sensible financial decision. The picture, in my opinion, depicts the typical American family today, who is more focused on making a profit then taking care of their family members. Free enterprise is an economic system where private businesses operate free of state controls and as we can see in the “Free Enterprise Family” the family when operating without moral conduct will throw their grandmother out to help themselves advance. The “Free Enterprise Family” seems to operate with a lack of moral control...
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...Horace Walpole defined Gothic in 1736, as "'light, delicate, and rich to an extreme, full of whimsical and impertinent ornaments,'" as "'the irregular lightness and solemnity of Gothic.'" This definition of Gothic was incorporated into Gothick designs in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. Fundamentally, the Gothick style was based on structural elements in its designs and furniture, but designers also were able to use their imagination to create "a little exotic fantasy for its own sake." This freedom of design, however, depended on the patron, and how accurate a designer chose to be. In this paper, I am going to examine Gothick designs from the late eighteenth and to the mid nineteenth century. This comparison will feature both American...
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...Southern Gothic American Literature was shaped in a part by the southern gothic genre by the regional genre found in these stories. The traits of the american literature of the southern gothic genre of the supernatural and disturbed personalities and the macabre situations. The stories that we have read is “A Good Man is Hard To Find” by Flannery O'Connor, “A Possibility of Evil” by Shirley Jackson and also “A Rose For Emily” by William Faulkner. These southern traits of each story are portrayed by the southern genre and the american south of the moral blindness and the supernatural. Flannery O’Connor wrote this story to talk about the violence and the danger that the grandmother put her grandkids in towards the misfit. The first trait can...
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...have chosen the famous painting American Gothic by Grant Wood. The subject matter of this painting is a middle aged couple standing in front of a farm, the man is holding a pitchfork. While the woman is looking off in the distance of the man the facial expressions of the couple looks serous as if they are unhappy with their marriage. In the background of the of the painting is a house with a gothic style window hinting the name American Gothic for the painting. Grant Wood painted this painting in 1930 for an exhibition in Chicago. The panting give me a type of mysterious feeling due to the facial expressions of the man and woman. The colors used in the painting are mostly dark giving the feeling of depression towards the viewers. Wood may have done this because of the time period it was painted, which was during the being of the depression. Also this could be the reason of the unhappiness that is expressed in the faces of the man and woman....
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...American Gothic Literature 1. The Adventure of The German Student / Washington Irving The Adventure of The German Student consists a few of the elements which compile Gothic stories. This story tells the happenings of a young German student, Gottfried Wolfgang. Wolfgang is described as a man of good family, but also as a person who is intensely immersed in the mystical side of existence. As a student, he dedicated himself to his studies, until both his physical health and imagination have become "diseased" ("he took up a notion, I do not know from what cause, that there was an evil influence hanging over him"). His family and friends, who watched him get melancholy and morbidly obsessed with the dark side, decided to send him to complete his studies in France, in order for him to be happily influenced by "the splendor and gayeties of Paris". Wolfgang arrived to Paris in the beginning of the Reign of Terror (the French Revolution) and witnessed scenes of butchery and cruelty which gained the exact opposite of what his friends and family aimed for; He had become even more introverted and consumed with his own private, dark world of imagination. Little by little Wolfgang also becomes sexually obsessed. The quote describes the beginning of the process, while using the element of a dream state (one of the elements of gothic literature) Since Wolfgang is too shy to actually approach a woman, he gives himself over to romantic and erotic dreams, in which one particular woman face...
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...Brittnie Dean Randy Rambo ENG-1001-100 5 June 2013 Questions Within Our Eyes A man of many years dressed in nineteenth century clothing is shown standing with a much younger woman. The three most common questions most people would ask are, “Who are the man and women in the painting?” also “What’s the relationship between the young woman and the gentleman?” and last “What does their life portray?” The man in the painting is a town dentist from Wood’s hometown and the woman is Wood’s sister, Nan. Many characteristics about this painting are unique and questionable. This painting will allow viewers to expand their imagination. The American Gothic painted by Grant Wood in August of 1930 demonstrates expressionism used in the man and woman’s face, the house shown in the background, and the way of life they portray. When looking at this painting, we see a man and woman carrying the same non-expressive facial expression. As the man is starring directly at the viewer, his expression in his eyes show he is stern. As opposed to the woman, she is not looking directly at the viewer but somewhere off the distance to the left. She appears to be furrowing her eyebrows when looking in the distance, presenting herself as distracted, uninterested, or annoyed. In the early nineteenth century, having to paint a picture consumed a great amount of time; therefore they kept a neutral face to make it easier on themselves and for the artists as well. Their neutral expressions can also...
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...Literature Creation Methods of Poe’s Gothic Tales ——Review of The Fall of the House of Usher 英81 高云君 2008012742 As one of the most famous works by Edgar Allan Poe, The Fall of the House of Usher is the a masterpiece in American gothic literature. The prose is full with of elements and details which are unsettling and macabre. It was slightly revised in 1840 for the collection Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque. Poe’s gothic novels have always been my readings before bed since I was younga child. In my childhood, following the unnamed narrator and walking towards that old and creepy house, I was immersed in the horrible storyline and experience the fantastic feeling of nightmare. Today when I look back on this literature work, I get some deeper understanding and . Ⅰ. Hellish environment setting ：Use of double space The whole environment and different scenes in the story are so hellish that the reader feels a kind of inexplicable asphyxia. I summarize some typical elements Poe uses to build a gothic atmosphere. Day: a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn. Location: a singularly dreary tract of country. House and surrounding: upon the mere house, and the simple landscape features of the domain - upon the bleak walls - upon the vacant eye-like windows - upon a few rank sedges - and upon a few white trunks of decayed trees. The precipitous brink of a black and lurid tarn. If that can be called the exterior space, then the internal...
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...Diego Weaver Mr. Kreamer Honors American Literature 9-19-14 American Gothic Literature American Gothic Literature is a subgenre of gothic fiction. Usually American Gothic Literature is based off things that are included with is the rational facing off against the irrational. Feelings that are included with it are feelings of guilt or insanity. American gothic literature is used to give the reader a thought of an evil presence inside of the story, to get the reader to assume that within all the happiness and good times, a demonic evil presence is still there waiting for its moment to make its grand appearance. There are three different types of American gothic literature: old American gothic literature, New American gothic literature, and southern American gothic literature. The story, “The Raven” by Edgar Allen Poe, it talks about a man who is apparently talking to a raven as it wakes him up in the middle of the night. This is a prime example of American Gothic Literature because the story starts off as a man waking up from his sleep and hearing a knocking on his door, but as the story progresses, the demonic side of gothic literature begins to unravel itself. The raven in this story speaks to the man with one word,” nevermore”, but that one word was all it took for the man to go mad and talk back to the bird. In the story, “The Tell-Tale Heart” the man could not stand the old mad and his eye, so he kills the old man and rejoices when the deed is done. Later on in...
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... The basic government and society in Europe during the middle ages was based around the feudal system. (Eco, U. (1986). Because Christianity played an important role during the Middle Ages, early Christian art icons were popular such as images of Christ, the Virgin Mary or saints. Also popular were illuminated manuscripts that were of a religious nature. Because of the radiant glow created by the gold, silver, and other colors that were used, these handwritten and decorated or painted texts were called illuminations. These were still being created in the Middle Ages. Architecture of the Middle Ages also focused on a Christianity theme. Two styles of architecture introduced during the Middle Ages, included the Romanesque and Gothic style. (MindEdge, 3.11). Romanesque style elements included massive doors, bronze baptismal fonts, wall-sized painting, and objects in gold and silver. Some other characteristics of Roman Architecture, besides massive structures, were small windows, thick walls, and rounded arches. Romanesque style...
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...PREFACE This major project examines the indispensable desiderata of Transcendentalism in comparison to the Dark Romantics background and how these technicalities prepare this work of art as an influential synthesis of human imagination incorporated with mystic facts. Transcendentalism and Dark Romanticism were two literary movements that occurred in America during roughly the same time period (1840—1860). Although the two had surface similarities, such as their reverence for Nature, their founding beliefs were quite different, enough to make one seem almost the antithesis of each other. Moreover one’s genesis is ventured out from other; i.e. Dark Romanticism from the roots of Transcendentalism or precisely the lacunae are best determined for raising up the term called Dark Romanticism. Contents S. No. Page no. Chapter 1.........................................................................................................4-14 Chapter 2.........................................................................................................15-23. Chapter 3..........................................................................................................24-27 Resolution.........................................................................................................28-29 Work Cited................................................................
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...Architecture in Society The Difference of Gothic Church and Jewish Synagogue In today’s society there are many forms of art; pictures, sculpture music and architecture to name a few. Architecture is defined in Merriam-Webster dictionary as: “the art or science of building; the art or practice of designing and building structures and especially habitable ones.” Just look around, you can see art in many buildings of today. The most prominent architecture art forms are religion structures primarily churches. The history of church architecture divides itself into periods, and into countries or regions and by religious affiliation. There are many styles and structural difference in each church. Gothic architecture made of stone that has statues on the outside and several low towers and a low spire with a cross on top of it. The floor plan is often cross-shaped. The most prominent time period is Renaissance period namely the Gothic Style of Churches. These large, often ornate and architecturally prestigious buildings were dominant features of the towns and countryside in which they stood, they had elaborate ceilings, stain glass windows and structure that made them not only marvelous construction achievement’s but true art forms. The most famous and truly a piece of art that represents this time period is Chartres Cathedral one of the finest examples of the French High Gothic style. In contrast of Gothic Churches of yesteryear is the less...
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...Gothic Horror Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most famous American writers, editors, and literary critics. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. The “Black Cat” is about a crazy man who torchers his cat and ends up killing it but the cat comes back to haunt him. The “Masque of The Red death” is about a terrible disease that has struck the country but no one seems to care. He decides to let the kingdom take care of itself while he and a thousand of his favorite knights and ladies shut themselves up in a fabulous castle to have a party. After the last guest enters, no one else can get in the Prince has welded the doors shut. That means no one can get out. Anyways when the clock...
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...The traditions of the southern gothic genre helped shape American literature because it helps to exemplify the moral blindness of the south. The traits of southern gothic literature are macabre situations and disturbed personalities. Southern gothic literatures traits are clearly portrayed in the stories through the characters. “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor is about how a self righteous grandmother and her family go on a road trip, only to be killed by a man the grandmother says is a good man. The three traits of southern gothic literature exemplified in this story are, being an outsider, disturbed personalities, and good versus evil. The Misfit, the man who killed grandmother and her family, says that he didn't belong in jail because he didn't know why he was there, until the doctor told him. He says that he was different...
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...Architecture in Society The Difference of Gothic Church and Jewish Synagogue In today’s society there are many forms of art; pictures, sculpture music and architecture to name a few. Architecture is defined in Merriam-Webster dictionary as: “the art or science of building; the art or practice of designing and building structures and especially habitable ones.” Just look around, you can see art in many buildings of today. The most prominent architecture art forms are religion structures primarily churches. The history of church architecture divides itself into periods, and into countries or regions and by religious affiliation. There are many styles and structural difference in each church. Gothic architecture made of stone that has statues on the outside and several low towers and a low spire with a cross on top of it. The floor plan is often cross-shaped. The most prominent time period is Renaissance period namely the Gothic Style of Churches. These large, often ornate and architecturally prestigious buildings were dominant features of the towns and countryside in which they stood, they had elaborate ceilings, stain glass windows and structure that made them not only marvelous construction achievement’s but true art forms. The most famous and truly a piece of art that represents this time period is Chartres Cathedral one of the finest examples of the French High Gothic style. In contrast of Gothic Churches of yesteryear is the less...
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...Southern Gothic Genre in America The Southern Gothic Genre has shaped the traditions of American Literature. Not only did it shape the traditions, it introduced Americans to the total opposite of the conservative writing style. The traits of this genre includes: violence, unrequited love, race, class, social structure, being an outsider, and good vs. evil. The stories that have been read in class include: “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, “The Possibility”, and “A Rose For Emily”. All of these stories fit the traits of the Southern Gothic Genre. “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is a dark tale about a family who was murdered. The first example of the traits used in this story is violence. A misfit who has escaped from prison murders a whole family in the woods, in cold blood. Another trait used by O’Connor is the trait of unrequited love. The author uses this by mentioning the grandmother remembering that the misfit is the grandmother’s son. Lastly, the trait of being an outsider is used. Flannery uses this trait by making the grandmother an outsider in several instances. Such as when the grandmother wants to go to a different vacation spot than the rest of the family....
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