...photographer, picture-taking is an event in itself, and one with ever more peremptory rights – to interfere with, to invade, or to ignore whatever is going on” (Sontag, 11). Photography narrates the world. A simple photograph can freeze time, halt any moment you please. Photographers have a choice to choose between telling a narrative and expressing art. But when it comes down to it, no matter how complete or comprehensive a narrative appears it will always be the product of including some elements and excluding others based on what the creator wants to be viewed. Inclusion/exclusion is part of what construction is all about, but knowing what is best included or excluded requires an understanding of context. With narrative or art photography events are not found objects waiting to be discovered, they are created, whether by the photographer or the person within the photograph. If it is a live action, journalistic photograph, something led up to that moment in time, it was created. In photography, narrative is related to the idea of context, that is where the photographer comes in and adds their point of view and taste on a subject matter. Ralph Eugene Meatyard uses a narrative format to portray exactly what he wants to be seen in his photographs “Untitled” ca. 1960 and “Romance (N.) from Ambrose Bierce #3” from portfolio 3 ca. 1964. Susan Sontag’s ideas of Plato’s Cave and Allan Sekula’s idea of possible meaning; will relate to what Meatyard is depicting throughout his photographs. He uses...
Words: 1371 - Pages: 6
...English Shelby Lee Adams is a well-known and credibly acclaimed American photographer, who has both advocates and critics. He is particularly focused on capturing the Appalachian lifestyle, in areas such as Kentucky, because he wants to give a glimpse of the impoverished lifestyle of his subjects. While it is interesting to see the disparity between our culture and theirs, it’s also shocking to realize that people live like this every day. Although he denies it, Adams’ photographs are frequently seen as exploitive because they create a distorted image of society for his own personal gain. The photographs’ dismal qualities seem to display a lifestyle where the people look distraught amidst a culture of despair. Despite the controversial appearances of his photos, his finished works still make an impression on society, whether it’s a good or bad one. The photographs are professionally done, and they reveal his prowess as an artist and photographer. While the photography of Shelby Lee Adams is widely criticized for being exploitive of the Appalachian culture, it should be valued for its validity in the eyes of his subjects and artistic qualities. While Adams has been criticized for faking his camaraderie with the people of Appalachia in order to gain their trust, his link to the area cannot be disputed. He was born in Hazard, in eastern Kentucky and after moving around from place to place, he returned to Hot Spot, KY where he attended high school. He accredits his childhood experiences...
Words: 1466 - Pages: 6
...Most believe a photograph is worth a thousand words, as almost everyone recognizes the impressive ability photographs have to describe, explain, and express ideas and messages. Yet, Susan Sontag claims photography is detrimental to the world’s ability to think and dictate its emotions. However, Sontag’s claim that photography limits our understanding of the world is untrue, as photography is the only form of communication that can fully express every possible sentiment around the world, regardless of language. Photography has the power to explain and deliver a complex and intricate issue in an instant. In the passage, the author implies a photograph cannot teach or educate. However, this can easily be refuted by countless real world examples where photography did educate...
Words: 814 - Pages: 4
...Humanity has always had a fickle obsession with capturing the world around them and putting them into little boxes. The art of photography became a device for that. ‘On Photography’ by Susan Sontag successfully captures the elusive effect a photograph can have on a human being, and the true nature of the supposed knowledge it imparts on those who experience. The age old phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words”, is a lie, and Sontag’s essay assures us of that. Words can carry knowledge, an ability to assure understanding in a reader, and photographs, as Sontag so astutely points out, act in the opposite manner - they eliminate understanding. Our society, as the essay to astutely points out, often takes photo’s as unassailable proof of...
Words: 708 - Pages: 3
...Cinemas have changed drastically over the past one-hundred years, however, it did not change for the worse. In Susan Sontag’s short story, “A Century of Cinema,” she gives her point of view about the way the cinema has changed in negative ways. She states, “If cinephilia is dead, then movies are dead too . . . no matter how many movies, even very good ones, go on being made. If cinema can be resurrected, it will only be through the birth of a new kind of cine-love.” Susan believes that cinephilia in current days have decreased. I personally do not agree with Susan and her argument about cinephilia in modern times. I do agree with Sontag about cinephilia not being the same anymore, because it is not. Cinephilia has changed throughout the years, and in more positive ways than negatives ways. Today, cinephilia is enabled by new media technologies of the digital revolution (“The New Cinephilia, Girish Shambu). Many cinephile’s today find most of their mediators on the Internet, unlike back then, during the time period Susan Sontag talks about in her essay, cinephile’s got their mediators through newspapers and through their peers. Sontag expresses how she feels about the movies in America culture. She explains that going to the movies has been a major part of American culture during the...
Words: 600 - Pages: 3
...Susan Glaspell’s play “Trifles” introduced a murder case in a small village. There are two groups of main characters. Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale represent ethical women, with copassion for the unfortunate. County Attorney and Sheriff represent the judicial officers who seek for judicial fairness. The two groups’ conflict, therefore, represents the conflict of judicial fairness and ethical concerns in the real world. County attorney and Sheriff are characterized as official officers from the government. Their job is to catch the criminal and seek the evidence to prove that the criminal is guilty. However, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale are more focused on the feelings and motives of the law-breaker (Minnie). In the novel, Mr. Henderson and Mr. Peters threw all of their attention into searching for, and analyzing, the evidence. They did not worry about, for example, the messy state of the kitchen, “County Attorney: (Looking around) I guess we’ll go upstairs first --- and then out to the barn and around there. [To the Sheriff] You’re….nothing that would point to any motive” (Trifles, p.1043). His obvious concern is solely as to whether there is any evidence that could be collected. He didn’t think about how a good house-wife could allow the kitchen to reach a state of mess like this. When Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale are talking about frozen fruit, County Attorney said: “Well, can you beat the woman! Held for murder and worryin’ about her preserves.” (Trifles, P.1043). County...
Words: 1182 - Pages: 5
...IDOL : WARREN BUFFET INTRODUCTION Warren Buffett is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist and widely considered the most successful investor of the 20th century. Buffett is the chairman, CEO and largest shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway and consistently ranked among the world's wealthiest people. He was born to Howard and Leila Buffett in Omaha, Nebraska on 30th August 1930. He was the second of three children, and the only boy and his father was a stockbroker and four-term United States congressman. Howard Buffett served non-consecutive terms on the Republican ticket, but support libertarian views. He was quickly identified by his family and others as being exceptionally good with numbers. In his youth he made money by reselling cokes and delivering newspapers. At the age of 13 he filed his first tax return and deducted $35 for his bike as a business expense. Later, as a senior in high school, Buffett purchased a used pinball machine with a friend and set it up in a local barber shop. At his father's urging, he applied to the University of Pennsylvania and was accepted. Unimpressed, Buffett left after two years transferring to the University of Nebraska. After graduation, his father once again convinced him of the value of education, encouraging him to pursue a graduate degree. Harvard rejected Buffett, but Columbia accepted him. Buffett studied under Benjamin Graham, the father of value investing which is the beginning of his career. POSITIVE ATTRIBUTES ...
Words: 1146 - Pages: 5
...Inadequate protection of these issues will continue to cost US firms and employees billions of dollars each year. One recent case that has hit the US officials is the creation of 22 illegal Apple stores that resembles an Apple store that sells counterfeit products. Often, US firms specializing in biotechnology, nanotechnology, and telecommunications are major piracy targets. Before the technology even hits the production line, another Chinese business has copied and boxed cheaper versions of the same product. Washington and Obama have been hounding Chinese officials to buckle down on copyright infringement, intellectual property piracy, and counterfeiting. The US officials have filed formal complaints with the WTO and US trade Representative Susan Schwab has announced more complaints will be filed. Chinese officials have responded that these filings will bring “an unfavorable impact on bilateral trade.” With the WTO ruling in favor of the US, it signals that the US will continue to use...
Words: 564 - Pages: 3
...A Jury of Her Peers by Susan Glaspell The short story “ A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell was published in 1917. The story is a version of the play Trifles which was written in 1916, however was not published until three years later. The fictional story is said to be based off of an actual court case from Iowa. The characters themselves are also part taken from the actual court case that took place in Iowa. In the story “ A Jury of Her Peers” the theme, symbols, and characters all show how different men and women are and at the same time, how men and women are alike. The story jumps into action when Mrs. Hale, Mr. Hale , Mrs. Peters, the sheriff, and the county attorney are at the scene of the crime and Mr. Hale explains what he saw and heard yesterday at the Wrights house. After Mr. Hale gives his story, the men decide to investigate the crime scene. The men tell the women to stay in the kitchen and look around for any clues to help them find out what happened. The men go out to look around the house to see if there is any evidence outside. The women find clues that incriminate Mrs. Wright but in the end they decide to not tell the men of their findings. At the beginning of the story Mrs. Hale is flustered with work in the kitchen when she is called upon by her husband to travel to the Wright’s house. Once there she finds out the horrible truth that Mr. Wright has been murdered. While she listened to her husband give testimony about what he had heard and...
Words: 910 - Pages: 4
...Written in 1916 by Susan Glaspell, Trifles is a one-act play of a murder investigation of a farmer named John Wright. In the kitchen of the Mr. and Mrs. Wright, to help in the investigation Sheriff Henry Peters and his wife are being accompanied by Lewis Hale and his wife. Also in attendance is the county attorney Mr. George Henderson. Within this story, during his sleep, Farmer John Wright was killed having a rope tied around his neck. Now the murder suspect is not unknown in fact it was Minnie, Mr. Wright’s wife who committed the murder. Martha Hale as previously said is the wife of farmer Lewis Hale. Mrs. Hale is a type of woman that absolutely resents the stereotypical view of women that most men had in these times in society. At the first sign of Mrs. Hale’s dialogue in the story she is already somewhat combatant when defending her fellow women stating “There’s a great deal of work to be done on a farm”, “Those towels get dirty awful quick. Men’s hands aren’t as clean as they might be” (Glaspell. Speech 32 & 34). This moment in the play is part of a small exchange between Martha and the attorney. Towards the end of the play, Martha Hale begins to become sympathetic towards Mrs. Wright. Although all evidence points to Mrs. Wright being the killer, Mrs. Hale remembers Minnie Wright as a sweet, lovely and cheerful girl, “She-come to think of it, she kind of like a bird herself-real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and-fluttery. How-she-did-change.” (Glaspell. Speech...
Words: 396 - Pages: 2
...Renita Roberson Eng.1302 W.34 Professor Miles April 28,2016 Reversion of Parole for Member of the Mason Family Dear Governor Jerry Brown: I am writing this letter as a petition in hopes of appealing the decision granted by the California State Parole Board to allow Leslie Van Houten consideration for freedom. Your decision reversing the board’s grant of parole for Ms. Houten’s release from the California Institution For Women should solely be based on substantial evidence that Houten is a dangerous threat if released back into society. With murder being the most inhumane act of crime, the continued punishment should be of a comparable caliber. It takes a great degree of motivation and psychological repugnancy to commit to the horrible acts in which Ms. Houten participated. There is an overwhelming mental barrier between final acts of defiance, and who is to say that once Houten is released she would be able to have full control of that barrier? Leslie Van Houten savagely held a pillow over Rosemary La Bianca’s face and watched as her family of cult members brutally murdered Mrs. La Bianca and her husband. Not only did she watch the attack, but also she admitted to violently stabbing Mrs. La Bianca a merely sixteen times even after realizing she had already been dead. This shows how much of little value human life means to her, because she engaged in committing a crime towards someone she’d never came into contact with prior to that night. Also, her consciousness...
Words: 547 - Pages: 3
...Damontae Chapman KDunn English III 27 August 2015 Every person has a reason to do the things they do. Even though it’s illegal or inappropriate. Sometimes people do the things they do to save someone’s life or to protect them. In the play Susan Glaspell’s Trifles two woman find lots of evidence that are considered as trifles and didn’t tell the CA or the sheriff about any of it to cover up for Mrs. Wright. It was right for the women to do the things they did to protect Mrs. Wright. Based on the time period, the women, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters, were justified in their actions of eliminating the evidence. All the sheriff and the CA did was come in Mrs. Wright’s house and be disrespectful about her stuff. So the two women Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale start to stand up for Mrs. Wright. So the CA say “Ah loyal to your sex.” It was the woman’s morals to do what they did. If they didn’t do what they did to protect Mrs. Wright then they would be just letting the CA and the Sheriff gang all up on Mrs. Wright “Here’s a nice mess”, said the County Attorney. They wanted to stand up for Mrs. Wright it’s kind of like she was getting bullied. Mr. Wright took the life away from Mrs. Wright she was probably bored all the time the bird was her only fun. “She liked the bird” it was basically her life. They did what they did to protect their friend...
Words: 259 - Pages: 2
...challenges on a daily basis. However, there is an ongoing trend, in which parents are being overprotective of their children. This consequently leads to their children being unable to explore the outer world and attain valuable skills which can be used later in life. Susan Cheever, an American writer and mother of two children, depicts in her essay, “My Little Bit of Country”, her childhood experiencing both city and country life. The essay was originally published in 2012 in the anthology Central Park. As the title of the anthology indicates, the story mainly takes place in Central Park, New York. The essay is told from Susan Cheever’s perspective, thus it’s not an omniscient narrator, but a 1st person narrator with access to her own mind. The story begins with Susan Cheever recalling the mornings of the summer, going to Central Park with her father, whom had just returned from the war. The essay progresses on chronically, with her growing up and moving into the suburbs, until she finally as an adult returns to the city, when she herself have children. Therefore it’s somewhat safe to assume, that the essay starts after the war in the 1940’s and ends somewhere in the present time close to the year 2012, when it published. Susan Cheever’s writing style is different and she is able to interact with her readers. Her use metaphors and adjectives when describing Central Park, initiates the reader’s imagination and senses, enabling the reader to place him- or herself next to Cheever, as...
Words: 1176 - Pages: 5
...Symbolism: Trifles by Susan Glaspell and Clothes by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni The play trifles tells the story of two male character investigators, investigating the murder of John Write, while the female characters covey their private unofficial investigation and uncover some disturbing evidence. This short play pays a toll on how women were treated back then hence the title trifles which means women during this period were considered trifles. The short story clothes is about a young Indian women who has an arranged marriage and a subsequent trip to America. This story reveals the symbolism that Divakaruni portrays, with great nerves Sumita moves to America with her husband and reveals her own her own identity...
Words: 673 - Pages: 3
...In the play Trifles, written by Susan Glaspell, in 1916(), Minnie Wright is guilty of murdering her husband, John Wright. Some of the signs that Minnie Wright murdered her husband is when she was in the rocking chair, just sitting there alone, and Lewis Hale stopped by to talk to her husband John Wright. Minnie Wright seemed despondent and knew her husband was upstairs dead. She didn’t notify anyone about his death, seemed unconcerned, and “then she laughed about it”(). Although there was a gun nearby, John Wright was killed with a rope, as if it was personal. John Wright’s murder occured while she was in bed with him, and she claimed she didn’t hear a thing that happened to him. Minnie Wright also seemed guilty, when Mrs. hale and Mrs. Peters,...
Words: 356 - Pages: 2
