Matty

floating through the sea with the greatest of ease
the manatee named matty hes an ocean disease
he floats with the grace of a swallow in clouds
but when that blow hole blows you better watch out
a beached whale some say is



how can you creep up without me hearing
your step so soft and light you make a feather green with envy
your storm sunk my boat and i am out to sea drifting drifting
waking to the sun bleaching my raft can anybody see me

omg chris is complainging
he needs a cover his whining so draining
i hope he freezes in a hell so cold
cleaning his room a move so bold
surropunded by mouse poop and dog hair galore
as i look now theres garbage on the floor
the walls are red the color of scabs
he said internet explorer now has tabs
van gogh is wheezing it makes me sick
but not as sick as suckin on dick
haha thats a lie i love to death
but not as much as chris farting in bed

the end

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/14/international/asia/14afghan.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/14/national/nationalspecial/14bush.html

http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/ps2/silenthill2#critics

Steven Moller
Glass of Absinthe
Pablo Picasso
1914
Cubist
Painted Bronze and Silver Plated Absinthe Spoon


Pablo Picasso was a revolutionary artist for his time. He created many beautiful works of art. One such work was Glass of Absinthe. This sculpture was created in 1914 and is made of painted bronze and also includes a silver plated absinthe spoon. It is one of 6 bronze casts, each including its own, actual absinthe spoon. It is a Cubist work. Absinthe, a popular hallucinogenic drink of the time, was a popular subject in works over the years and Picasso captures it’s mind-bending characteristics in the form of a Cubist sculpture in only the way that he could with his unique and legendary style..
This work is very similar to most of Picasso’s works and very different at the same time. It is similar in the fact that it is a cubist work like many of his paintings, but different in the fact that at the time he created this he was doing mostly paintings and that this is a three dimensional Cubist work. Although, during the time that this sculpture was made Picasso was experimenting in his cubist form, it directly relates to his works that became popular in the 1920's. One such work that emulates the cubist style of Glass of Absinthe is Cock and Dog made in 1918. They both utilize the analytic style of Cubism because they both show multiple views of a single object simultaneously. The glass that he sculpted is sliced apart and reconfigured in such a way that, perhaps, without the title we would not know what it was. Some pieces are tilted and swivelled on different axis. This is similar to Cock and Dog in the way things are altered in that painting. Other than the fact that the painting is two dimensional they are quite similar. The dog’s head, for instance, can be seen in multiple views, while its body in correlation to its head is at another, unnatural view.(Janson, Classroom Lecture).
Picasso, like most artists, was influenced by other artists. One artist that influenced Picasso later in his career was his contemporary Spanish artist Joan Miro. Miro was a biomorphic Surrealist painter, which meant his shapes somehow eluded to a life form but were not a direct representation. He worked with totemistic figures and was very influenced by the writings of Freud. Picasso, who was never a Surrealist, took some influences from his contemporary. In Picasso’s mural for the Spanish Civil War entitled “Guernica.” His figures, writhing in pain and littered with suffrage, are extremely biomorphic. Their flat, contorted, cartoon-like bodies are not unlike those seen in such paintings as Dog Barking at the Moon and The Beautiful Bird Reveals the Unknown to a Pair of Lovers, both by Miro. Picasso also went through a period of creating Neoclassical images. For this phase he was very influenced by the works of Ingres. (Janson, Classroom Lecture)
Color and line are important in any work. For Picasso’s work Glass of Absinthe he chose a color palate of silver, black and orange. There does not seem to be any sort of implied meaning behind these color choices. However, if one was an absinthe drinker, the colors of the world around you may be distorted. These could be the colors Picasso saw when he was looking at a glass of absinthe one day and decided to paint this particular sculpture this way. The line work is totally Cubist. Picasso has taken the image of this glass and broken it into many different three-dimensional planes, transforming it much like he would in his paintings. The lines lead your eye around the piece while at the same time make the piece point out at you, invading your space. The Absinthe spoon on top of the piece creates a nice flowing diagonal that is pleasing to the eye. (Philadelphia Museum of Art)
Unlike many works of art prior to this, there is no religious iconography that Picasso is trying to represent. Glass of Absinthe is purely a personal piece reflecting his love for the “Green Fairy” If it has any iconography at all, the icon would be absinthe itself. Absinthe was first created in 1792 by French Doctor Pierre Ordinaire. He distilled a strong (68% abv/136? proof) spirit containing wormwood, anise, hyssop and varying amounts of other common herbs as a cure-all tonic. It also contains the chemical Thujone which is almost identical to THC, the chemical found in Marijuana. In 1870, the start of a 30 year depression in the wine industry in France marked the rise in popularity of Absinthe in the café culture. In the absence of wine, due to a bug problem, absinthe was all the rage. It later became the drink of choice and synonymous with the Moulin Rouge. In 1910 Absinthe was banned in Switzerland and in 1912 in the United States. Then finally it was banned in France in 1915, most likely due to the wine industry’s fear of loss at the hands of Absinthe’s popularity. On July 21st, George Rowley secured the UK government's authorization on the landmark document that allows Absinthe to be legally sold in the European Union after being banned in several European countries for over half a century. These days, Absinthe can be purchased and consumed all around the world, depending upon the laws in that country. France is the top dog once more with it’s popular brand La Fee Absinthe. In this long and tattered history of the drink and its mind blowing qualities, it is no surprise that Picasso created such a unique piece. (Philadelphia Museum of Art, La Fee website)
Picasso, like most artists, has had influence on other artists. His influences were also on his contemporaries. Where he took influence from Miro, Miro took influence from him. In 1920, Miro created a painting called Horse, Pipe, and Red Flower. The style of this painting is completely Cubist, which Picasso created. There is even a book on the table in the painting that was around in that time that had illustrations by Picasso in it, a sort of nod of respect to his admired peer.(Philadelphia Museum of Art)
Not many artists can be held accountable for an entire style movement. Picasso is one of the few. Without him, the Cubist movement would never had happened and subsequent movement may never have happened as well. What would art look like today if not for works like Glass of Absinthe? Perhaps our concept of visual space and planes would be completely different. Picasso is truly one of the most valuable artists of our time.

Steven Moller
Horse, Pipe, and Red Flower
Joan Miro
1920
Cubist
Oil on Canvas


Joan Miro was a fascinating artist. He started out as a Cubist and then moved into the world of Surrealism after his move to Paris. During his Cubist period he created this work entitled Horse, Pipe, and Red Flower. It was created in 1914 and is an oil on canvas. This piece has heavy influences and beautiful technique. Miro definitely brought something new to the world of art...
This painting is very Cubist influenced, yet it retains a lot of three dimensional qualities. It has some minor chiaroscuro around the legs of the horse and the glass that the flower is in. It differs greatly from his larger body of works that came from his Surrealist period however the unique style that Miro is famous for remains the same.. One work of his that it is similar to is Dog Barking at the Moon. Though the imagery is substantially different as well as the color palate, the genius behind Miro’s style is clear. His cartoon-like images in both pieces reflect his filtration of the visual word down to its fundamental elements. This is achieved more with Dog Barking at the Moon. What Miro uses is called totemistic figures, figures that suggest a life form but do not literally portray it. (Janson, Classroom Lecture).
Miro, like most artists, was influenced by other artists. One artist that influenced Miro for this painting was his contemporary Spanish artist Pablo Picasso. Picasso was the creator of the Cubist style that this painting was created in. The Cubist style can be defined as the visual world being filtered down into two dimensional, geometric planes. Though Picasso’s works were far more Cubist in nature that Horse, Pipe and Red Flower, the influences are there. The images of the table and other objects in the environment are in a skewed perspective. There is even a book on the table entitled “Le Coq et L’arelequin” (The Cock and the Harlequin) by Jean Cocteau which featured illustrations by Picasso. Miro met Picasso during a trip he took, first stopping in Paris where he met Picasso and then to the Spanish village of Montroig, where he painted this work. He was very inspired by the works Picasso showed him. (Janson, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Classroom Lecture)
Color and line are important in any work. For Miro’s Horse, Pipe and Red Flower he chose a very bright color palate, typical of many Hispanic works of art. Two of the most important things, as suggested in the title, do not stand out at all, the pipe and the flower. They are lost in the barrage of colors. The table that all the objects sit on is nearly every color of the rainbow. The multitude of colors is very confusing to the eye and does not aid in deciphering the image. Chiaroscuro is used in minor detail, such as the flower carved on the leg of the table, the book, the legs of the horse, subtly around the curve of the table to make it seem indented, and the glass that the flower is in. Line is important here. There is a strong line that comes down from the top of the work, separating the wall from the, apparent, floor. It comes down around the horse’s neck and exits through the curves of the table through the right of the canvas. It is a pleasant movement for the eyes when compared to trying to adjust to the colors.(Philadelphia Museum of Art)
Unlike many works of art prior to this, there is no religious iconography that Miro is trying to represent. Horse, Pipe and Red Flower seems to be a genre theme. This painting was created on a trip of his at his home in the Spanish village of Montroig. It is very likely that this could have been a scene he set up in his dining area or breakfast nook to practice his inspirations obtained after viewing the works of Picasso. There may be some personal meaning to him for each of the objects present here. Maybe he enjoyed smoking from his pipe while looking out the circular window to the distant mountains, reading “Le Coq et L’arelequin” all to the smell of flowers. The horse appears to be on some sort of stand, perhaps it was a carving or sculpture he made or that was bought or given to him as a gift. (Philadelphia Museum of Art, La Fee website)
Miro, like most artists, has had influence on other artists. His influences were also on his contemporaries. Where he took influence from Picasso, Picasso took influence from him. In 1937, Picasso created a painting called Guernica. The style of this painting is Cubist with many of the Biomorphic Surrealist overtones that Miro possessed. The figures are totally totemistic and distorted, holding little resemblance to human form other than a few digits and facial features. (Janson)
Miro may not have been as popular as his stylistic muse Picasso, but his unique works are just as important. Not only are his Cubist works phenomenal but his Surrealist works are stepping stones for artists like Dali and modern artists like Hans Rudi Giger, whose works take on a lot of the spacial feel of Miro’s. His works may never shine as bright as his peer’s but they will always be that crucial pilot light.

Steve Moller
Mancuso
Synthesis paper

The world of advertising and media is a cut throat world to say the least. Women have been fighting for their credibility in it for years. However, breaking the testosterone mold of the advertising and media world has been an unrelenting burden for them. The sad fact remains that the world of advertising is far from equal for women.

“You’re Soaking In It” is an essay written by Jennifer L. Pozner, originally published Online at Salon.com. The article is a reflection on the ideas of a famous expert in the field of images of women in advertising, Jean Kilbourne. The essay is in interview format, making an account of Kilbourne’s interview with an organization called Mothers Who Think. A main focus of the interview is on relationships and how advertising portrays them. Relationships are a fundamental and integral part of the human existence, and are vital to our survival. Thus advertising agencies target those emotions that have to do with our relationships and turn them into money making machines. “A central message of advertising is that relationships with human beings can’t be counted on, especially for women.” (Pozner 123) Advertisers use the idea of the necessity of relationships to sell their products. Women, typically in society’s eyes, are generally more needy of relationships than men are. They are more able to become attached to things and people, classically men, they feel are important or necessary. That is when the advertisers come and take a sludge hammer to their knees. They lead women to believe that people, mainly men, are not a good foundation for like. A man can leave them for another woman, or a friend can take her man from you; a coworker can get them fired. A pair of Nike shoes, a brand-new Mustang convertible, the latest Maybelline foundation, or the latest Minolo heels will never let you down. Those products don’t judge or have emotions. They won’t leave you for a prettier, younger owner, nor will they get you fired from your job. Advertisers push the idea that products can be the only friends or soul mate you will ever need.

Products can also be used to boost a woman’s status. If a woman in today’s society is walking down the street wearing a low end designer like Old Navy, she may not get the looks she would if she were wearing a high end designer like Dior. There is an obvious difference in appearance and quality between low end and high end fashion. Therefore, low end designers will push their products to simulate the look of the high end designers. Because of the way women are taught to be through advertising and the media, their image is very important to them. You cannot flip through a women’s magazine without seeing countless ads for beauty products, fashion and fashion advice, and diets, all with the promise of making you more socially acceptable to the opposite sex and to your society. “Perhaps the most insidious about this is that it takes very human, very real feelings and desires such as the need to love and be loved, the need for authentic connection, the need for meaningful work, for respect, and it yokes these feelings to products. It tells us that our ability to attain love depends upon our attractiveness. ” (Pozner 123)

“Sex, Lies and Advertising” is an essay written by Gloria Steinem, one of the most powerful forces behind the American feminist movement. This essay was originally published in Ms. magazine, a magazine that she cofounded. The essay talks about her journey through the process of creating Ms. One of the major hurdles in creating an all-women’s feminist magazine was getting advertiser revenue. The problem with that is that most advertisers catered to a male audience. She had to, “convince makers of ‘people products’ used by both men and women but advertised mostly to men -cars, credit cards, insurance, sound equipment, financial services, and the like - that their ads should be placed in a women’s magazine.” (Steinem 139) The problem with that was that, conventionally in the land of advertising in magazines, the articles of the magazine would somehow reflect the advertisements. Steinem did not want her magazine to end up like every other women’s magazine, censored and littered with commercial garbage and maybe having one or two meaningful stories amidst the sea of commercial kiss ass. One example of her struggles was with technology giant JVC. “But women don’t understand technology,” some executives said to Steinem. “ If women do but it, they’re asking their husbands and boyfriends what to buy first,” said another JVC decision maker (Steinem 142). In the male dominated world of advertising, even the professional advertisers do not know how to target women. They are so used to targeting men. The secret, she discovered, was to create ads that left no one out, ads for everyone. These ads proved to be a turning point in the fight for women’s equality in the forum of advertising.
Women are not always but often given the short end of the stick in the advertising world. In “Getting Dirty” by Mark Crispin Miller the female is the heroine. He writes an essay about a commercial for Shield soap. In the commercial, a man runs to his window half naked and frantic whining to his wife, who is below him trimming flowers, that she changed his soap. The wife, calm, cool, and in control, assures him that this new soap, Shield, is better. He reluctantly agrees. By the end of his shower, he is feeling quite good about himself. He approaches his wife, who is now arranging flowers inside, and thanks her for the advice. To the simple observer this may seem trivial and comical. But when put under scrutiny there are many things at work here. The psychology is that it appeals to the women’s desire to be dominant. They are suppressed so much everywhere else. “For instance, in this marriage it is the wife, not the husband, who gets to keep her name; and Gail’s name, moreover, is a potent one, because of its brevity and its homonymic connotation. (If this housewife were more delicately named, called “Lillian” or “Cecilia,” it would lessen her illusionary strength.)” (Miller 131) The man symbolizes impotence. They even put the man in a distressful position, perched high in a window like a Juliet figure awaiting her Gail, her Romeo, to help her. The woman is a savior. The flowers that Gail is cutting in the beginning of the commercial can also symbolize erect penises and by her cutting them she is controlling the testosterone, the masculinity, the man. At the end of the commercial, after he is satisfied with his new soap, he comes to thank her. She is now tending to a flower bowl which rests at the level of his crotch in the shot. The idea is that by putting the flowers into the bowl she is replenishing his masculinity. However, she cannot replenish it totally; otherwise, she will lose her monarchal state. As he moves in to be suave, Gail interjects taunting him with a limp flower. This shows that she still has the power, his manhood in her hands.
Although women have had rough times in the eye of the media and on the pages of advertisements, all hope may not be lost. Women all over the world are speaking up and making movements to advance women’s rights farther than they have ever gone before. There is going to be a rise in feminine influence in the decades to come. Perhaps, if we are lucky, this country may see a woman in the White House.





Works Cited.

Steinem, Gloria. "Sex, Lies and Advertising." Common Culture Reading and Writing about American Popular Culture. Eds. Michael Petracca and Medelein Sorapure. Fourth Edition. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2004. 137-153.

Miller Crispin, Mark. "Getting Dirty." Common Culture Reading and Writing about American Popular Culture.Michael Petracca and Medelein Sorapure. Fourth Edition.
Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2004. 129 - 135.

Pozner L., Jennifer. "You’re Soaking In It." Common Culture Reading and Writing about American Popular Culture. Michael Petracca and Medelein Sorapure. Fourth Edition.
Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2004. 119-127.

Steven Moller
Gene DiPilla
Midterm

Nicolas Poussin was a revolutionary artist for his time. He created many beautiful works of art. One such work was The Birth of Venus. This painting was created in 1635 and is an oil on canvas. It is a Baroque work. Venus has always been a popular subject in paintings over the years and Poussin captures her birth with a radiance and life that only he could bring to a canvas.
This work is very similar to most of Poussin’s works. One work it is similar to is The Rape of the Sabine Women. It is done in the academic style. Works done in the academic style are calculated and scientific. There are lots of angles and the paintings are stagnant, seemingly motionless although there may be lots of motion going on. He also uses, in both paintings, a technique called Figura Serpentinata, in which all the figures are intertwined like serpents. The colors in The Birth of Venus are similar to those found in The Rape of the Sabine Women. They are warm and rich. He uses Sfumato, which is when the foreground is clear and the background becomes blurrier the farther back you go, and Chiaroscuro, which is the blending of light and dark tones to create the illusion of three dimensions. (Janson, classroom lecture).
Poussin, like most artists, was influenced by other artists. Poussin was first influenced by the artist Titian. What caught his eye most about Titian’s work was the colors. The colors he used were very warm and rich. The effects of Titian on Poussin were most visible in paintings such as Cephalus and Aurora. Then Poussin fell under the influence of Raphael. Under the influence of Raphael, Poussin’s style evolved more into the Academic style that he has become so famous for.(Janson)
Color and line are important in any work. For Poussin’s work The Birth of Venus he chose a color palate that was mostly made up of flesh tones due to the abundance of figures in the image. Venus and two other figures have clothes that are waving in the air. They are painted in beautiful blue, pink, and orange. The colors are blended together beautifully in the technique of Chiaroscuro, making the two-dimensional figures seemingly three-dimensional. There is also the technique of Sfumato used. The foreground is clear and crisp and as the image fades away the background gets blurry. There is even a hint of Tenebrism, where there are dark values surrounding figures in the foreground that are painted in light values to make them stand out. The horses are painted in nearly the same tones of the people making them almost invisible at first glance. This is unfortunate because the horses are rendered so beautifully. Venus, the most important person, is placed in the center in a lighter value with two figures flanking her on either side painted in dimmer shades making Venus pop.(Philadelphia Museum of Art)
Poussin was trying to portray the image of a celebration of the birth of Venus. Venus is being ushered to the shore by a posse of excited men women and angels. Venus and a two other figures are waving clothes in the air with glee. Men and women are embracing with love and others are throwing their arms in the air in happiness. The angels are flying above Venus tossing flowers down. However, despite it’s titling, the theme of this painting is disputed. Some suggest that it may not be an image celebrating Venus being born, but rather her triumph. Others say it may not be Venus at all but rather Neptune, or the sea nymph Galatea. This debate shows that Poussin was not constricted by the iconography. He was able to take artistic licence and create an ambiguous image that would raise questions and eyebrows. (Philadelphia Museum of Art)
You cannot talk about Poussin’s the Birth of Venus without bringing up the Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli. Here, Venus is also being born from the water nude. Angels from the sky are ushering her in. The angels on the left are draped with a blue clothe just like the man on the left of Venus in Poussin’s work, and the woman to Venus’ right has an orange cloth also seen to the right of Venus in Poussin’s work. There are also flowers falling on Venus in both works. Both works also utilize Chiaroscuro and slight Tenebrism; in Botticelli’s work the woman on the right is surrounded by the darkness of the trees. (Janson)
It is no doubt that the famous work The Birth of Venus by Poussin is a timeless work of art. The image of Venus, no matter the scenario, is a classic and cherished image throughout the history of art. Poussin’s academic style set the trend for the artists that came after him and paid respect to those before him. It is no wonder this masterpiece is appreciated hundreds of years later and hopefully will be appreciated in the centuries to come.

Steven Moller
Gene DiPilla
Midterm

Edgar Degas’ work is nothing short of breath taking. His Impressionist style is unique to him and achieves a decadent balance of form and light. His airy brush and pastel strokes bring to life many scenes. He is most famous for his series of images dealing with ballerinas. In 1878 Degas took his obsession with the ballet to the next level with the creation of The Little Fourteen - Year - Old Dancer.
. Degas was a man obsessed with the Ballet. He frequented the studios and stages, watching the dancers practice and perform. He would often sketch them and take photos, then capture the images in paint or pastel. These images influenced Degas in the creation of his sculpture The Little Fourteen - Year - Old Dancer. One of his previous works that provided and influence for this sculpture was The Prima Ballerina. This work was created in 1876 and rendered in pastel. The sculpture echos the theme of the ballet that takes life in The Prima Ballerina. (Classroom lecture)
Like most artists before him, Degas took influences from his peers. Degas’ career flourished in the times of the impressionists. This style was very free and airy. Like the Impressionist style, his forms were implied and his works were in the open composition. Open composition means that the medium blends almost seemlessly into one another. If you were to section off a portion of the work, you could not tell what that little piece is in the grand scheme of things. Where as in a closed composition painting you could section off a portion and you would know exactly what everything is down to the smallest detail (classroom lecture). His Impressionist style also worked with the snapshot aesthetic which is a style of painting which emulates photographs in the way that figures and objects are cut off at the edges. (Classroom lecture) One of his peers that Degas drew influence for the fundamentals of his style from was Auguste Renoir. Renoir helped to create the Impressionist style of capturing the “heroism of modern life.” One example of Renoir’s work that can be compared to Degas’ is Luncheon of the Boating Party, Bougival created in 1881. This work uses the same whimsical brush strokes, vivid colors, and dancing lighting that Degas uses in his works.(Janson
Although Degas’ works are usually quite colorful, The Little Fourteen - Year - Old Ballerina is quite monochromatic. It originally was done in wax and then was cast in bronze after his death. The bronze sculpture however does have very unique line quality. Since Degas was an Impressionist, his style transferred to his sculpting. The finished sculpture’s surface is very rough and textured, even the artist’s fingerprints are visible. Sculptures traditionally were finished to perfection, most things were smooth. This sculpture was novel in its approach, it truly was an Impressionist sculpture. Degas also incorporated fabric into his design. The tutu of the sculpture is made of gauze and the ribbon in her hair is satin. This had never been done before. It provided a more natural flow to the fabrics creating more natural lines as it contoured to the figure’s body.(Janson)
This piece genuinely conveys the awkwardness of adolescence. The figure is a 14 year old girl. She is posed in an awkward stand with her arms clenched behind her back and her toes pointed in different directions. Her toes in different directions could possibly symbolize that she is in a crossroad in her life and she has different directions in which to go. Her head is seemingly looking up into the distance, her gaze set on a goal. Maybe this goal is winning a recital or perhaps, more metaphorically looking into her future as a woman. The soft satin wrapped around her coarse bronze can symbolize the conflict between the soft innocence and the harsh reality of adulthood.
Degas was influenced by the works of Rodin. One such work is Rodin’s The Thinker. The imagery of The Thinker is radically different than Degas’ The Little Fourteen - Year - Old Ballerina. However, the style of sculpting is similar. They both share the same rough texture and imperfect surfaces. They are both Impressionist style works in the fact that their shapes are implied. (Janson)
The works of Edgar Degas are as beautiful as they are influential. His sculpture was a novel approach to sculpting, blending a style of painting to an old tradition based art. This work is loved by many and will be treasured for years. Without it, who knows what the world of sculpture would be.

Steve Moller
English Composition 2
Mancuso
Wed. 12:30
Have you ever created a world of your own to lock yourself away in? Was there chocolate? For crazed candy man Willy Wonka this is the case. The book “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” by Roald Dahl, was released in 1965. A film version was released in 1971 starring Gene Wilder as the kooky chocolatier. However, the 1971 film entitled “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” was a far cry from the book it was based on. In the 2005 reinterpretation of the classic book and film, director Tim Burton and actor Johnny Depp bring new life and depth to Wonka. One of the main themes they focus on is that Wonka has a habit of running away from his problems. Running away from your problems is never a productive way of fixing them.

One of the things added by Burton and Depp was a back-story to Wonka. Dahl had always kept Wonka’s roots a secret. Burton and Depp decided to bring those roots to the surface. They decided that Wonka, as a child, was oppressed by his father. His father was a talented dentist who seemed to care more about Wonka’s teeth than Wonka himself. We see the poor boy walking around in this apparatus attached to his head and teeth, spreading his lips apart. He is not allowed most types of food, especially candies. The turning point comes on Halloween when Wonka brings home his bountiful bag of delectable delights. His father, disgusted by the sight of candy and thought of it ever destroying his son’s masterpiece of a mouth, tosses Wonka’s candy into the raging fireplace. It burns before his eyes. Later on, when his father is not present, Wonka notices a shimmer in the charred wood and mangled sugar. It would appear that there was a survivor of the candy coated genocide. Wonka mischievously looks over his shoulder to see if the coast is clear, unwraps his candy and eats it. This is his first piece of candy. From then on he eats all the candy he can find. After a while his father catches on and confronts him about it. Wonka reveals that he wants to be a candy maker. His father disapproves and says if he wants to be his son he must abandon the dream. Wonka, runs away from home. As a result of running away, he has lost all his support, a roof over his head, food, and everything else that comes as a package deal with being a kid living under your parent’s roof. He also destroyed the relationship with his father who, despite his oral fixation, most likely loved Wonka dearly. A possible solution to this would be that Wonka and his father could have talked it out. Perhaps Wonka’s father wouldn’t have seen his point of view, but at least Wonka would be standing up for himself and maybe on a fundamental level showing his father that he is not some child incapable of making his own decisions. Perhaps his father may have seen his point of view, however unlikely, but that will never be explored because he ran away instead of facing the issue.
Later on in Wonka’s life he opens the world’s largest and most advanced chocolate factory. He is a pioneer, creating all kinds of surreal candies some thought to be impossible to make. Such publicity is bound to get you enemies. Other candy companies, who have been suffering losses due to Wonka’s success, decided to send spies in to work at Wonka’s factory to get the secrets to his success. Needless to say, soon after there were Wonka wannabee’s everywhere. Wonka, disheartened by the cruelty of the people he thought he could trust, fired everyone and closed the factory, locking himself inside in isolation. It stayed closed for many years until one day smoke could be seen coming out of the stacks. Wonka was back in business. But no one was ever seen coming in or out of the factory. Someone, or something, was making the chocolate. It remained a mystery until one day Wonka sent out an invitation stating that five golden tickets were hidden in the wrappers of his bars. Five kids accompanied by one parent each could come for a one-day tour of the factory if they had a golden ticket. Before long, the tickets were found and the tour was to begin. Wonka appears deranged and nearly insane. His mannerisms are dated as are his references. He uses terms like, “Groovy” and “Let’s Boogie.” Throughout the tour he explains to the guests what each of the things in his factory does. Keep in mind, in all these years of isolation he has been busy as a bee on acid creating flamboyant machines and importing Oompa Loompas. Yet as he explains them he seems rather rehearsed and unknowledgeable. He even refers to note cards throughout the tour. He also cannot say the word parent. Most likely, Wonka knows what all these tools and machines do. But because he isolated himself he has lost all his people skills. Fundamentally the reason he isolated himself is not because he was taken advantage of by his workers, but because he was still running away from his problems. The betrayal of the workers is the same as the betrayal of his father in his mind. Instead of confronting his workers about the disloyalties, in which case he may have found the culprits and restored harmony to his factory, he cowered like a dog and closed the factory, The irony of that is that he set out to make this factory almost in spite of his father, and now indirectly because of his father the factory is closed. He is still running from his father hence why he can’t say the word parent. Parent for him symbolizes the ultimate evil, ignorance, and desire.

The rules were that at the end of the tour, the most impressionable child would receive a gift beyond imagination. Throughout the tour four of the five kids are eliminated by their flaws of greed, gluttony, and jealousy. But one boy remained noble, young Charlie Bucket. Charlie, who has nothing, is appreciative of the factory and is just happy to be there. He understands that there is no big meaning or point to the extravagance, its just for fun. That is the same principal Wonka has and he takes a liking to Charlie and they form a special bond.. At the end, Charlie is the only child left of the original five. Wonka tells Charlie that he has won the most amazing of prizes, his factory. Wonka wants Charlie to come live with him at the factory. Charlie is overjoyed but says he will only come if his family can come too. Wonka of course is not a fan of the family motif and says that’s not possible and takes his leave with his offer. Wonka is lonely and really wants a family. However, he is still running from his father. He doesn’t dislike Charlie’s family personally, but because he dislikes his father they are now blurred into one big impressionist painting of paternal rage. Wonka had the chance to have a family with Charlie but ruined that for himself. His selfishness also ruined an opportunity for Charlie and his family who are dirt poor and needed a miracle.
The miracle did come soon enough. Wonka finally began to see the big picture. He realized that his life was not what it could be because of his selfish crusade of fear. He confronts Charlie and Charlie convinces him to meet with his father, the root of all his troubles. Wonka goes back to his home, right to the very dental chair which started this whole train wreck. His father naturally didn’t recognize his face after all these years, but of course recognized his teeth. They reconciled their differences and the burden of all those problems lifted. But on the wall behind them, there are hundreds of newspaper clippings, all about Willy Wonka. Perhaps Willy is not the only Wonka who isn’t running anymore. However, would Wonka have been able to achieve the level of success that he did if he hadn’t have run away from his problems? If he had stayed at home, under his father’s mandate, he may have not created the factory at all; he may have succumbed to his father’s dental influence and perhaps grown up to be a dentist himself. This movie suggests that running away from your problems is not an acceptable way to deal with them. However, perhaps running away is the only way to achieve a fulfilling life.

Steve Moller
English Composition 2
Mancuso
Wed. 12:30

Have you ever created a world of your own to lock yourself away in? Was there chocolate? For crazed candy man Willy Wonka this is the case. The book “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” by Roald Dahl, was released in 1965. A film version was released in 1971 starring Gene Wilder as the cooky chocolatier. However, the 1971 film entitled “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” was a far cry from the book it was based on. In the 2005 reinterpretation of the classic book and film, director Tim Burton and actor Johnny Depp bring new life and depth to Wonka. One of the main themes they focus on is that Wonka has a habit of running away from his problems. Running away from your problems is never a productive way of fixing them.

One of the things added by Burton and Depp was a back story to Wonka. Dahl had always kept Wonka’s roots a secret. Burton and Depp decided to bring those roots to the surface. They decided that Wonka, as a child, was oppressed by his father. His father was a talented dentist who seemed to care more about Wonka’s teeth than Wonka himself. We see the poor boy walking around in this apparatus attached to his head and teeth, spreading his lips apart. He is not allowed most types of food, especially candies. The turning point comes on Halloween when Wonka brings home his bountiful bag of delectable delights. His father, disgusted by the sight of candy and thought of it ever destroying his son’s masterpiece of a mouth, tosses Wonka’s candy into the raging fireplace. It burns before his eyes. Later on, when his father is not present, Wonka notices a shimmer in the charred wood and mangled sugar. It would appear that there was a survivor of the candy coated genocide. Wonka mischievously looks over his shoulder to see if the coast is clear, unwraps his candy and eats it. This is his first piece of candy. From then on he eats all the candy he can find. After a while his father catches on and confronts him about it. Wonka reveals that he wants to be a candy maker. His father disapproves and says if he wants to be his son he must abandon the dream. Wonka, runs away from home. As a result of running away, he has lost all his support, a roof over his head, food, and everything else that comes as a package deal with being a kid living under your parent’s roof. He also destroyed the relationship with his father who, despite his oral fixation, most likely loved Wonka dearly. A possible solution to this would be that Wonka and his father could have talked it out. Perhaps Wonka’s father wouldn’t have seen his point of view, but at least Wonka would be standing up for himself and maybe on a fundamental level showing his father that he is not some child incapable of making his own decisions. Perhaps his father may have seen his point of view, however unlikely, but that will never be explored because he ran away instead of facing the issue.

Later on in Wonka’s life he opens the world’s largest and most advanced chocolate factory. He is a pioneer, creating all kinds of surreal candies some thought to be impossible to make. Such publicity is bound to get you enemies. Other candy companies, who have been suffering losses due to Wonka’s success, decided to send spies in to work at Wonka’s factory to get the secrets to his success. Needless to say, soon after there were Wonka wannabee’s everywhere. Wonka, disheartened by the cruelty of the people he thought he could trust, fired everyone and closed the factory, locking himself inside in isolation. It stayed closed for many years until one day smoke could be seen coming out of the stacks. Wonka was back in business. But no one was ever seen coming in or out of the factory. Someone, or something, was making the chocolate. It remained a mystery until one day Wonka sent out an invitation stating that five golden tickets were hidden in the wrappers of his bars. Five kids accompanied by one parent each could come for a one day tour of the factory if they had a golden ticket. Before long, the tickets were found and the tour was to begin. Wonka appears deranged and nearly insane. His mannerisms are dated as are his references. He uses terms like, “Groovy” and “Let’s Boogie.” Throughout the tour he explains to the guests what each of the things in his factory does. Keep in mind, in all these years of isolation he has been busy as a bee on acid creating flamboyant machines and importing Oompa Loompas. Yet as he explains them he seems rather rehearsed and unknowledgeable. He even refers to note cards throughout the tour. He also cannot say the word parent. Most likely, Wonka knows what all these tools and machines do. But because he isolated himself he has lost all his people skills. Fundamentally the reason he isolated himself is not because he was taken advantage of by his workers, but because he was still running away from his problems. The betrayal of the workers is the same as the betrayal of his father in his mind. Instead of confronting his workers about the disloyalties, in which case he may have found the culprits and restored harmony to his factory, he cowered like a dog and closed the factory, The irony of that is that he set out to make this factory almost in spite of his father, and now indirectly because of his father the factory is closed. He is still running from his father hence why he can’t say the word parent. Parent for him symbolizes the ultimate evil, ignorance, and desire.

The rules were that at the end of the tour, the most impressionable child would receive a gift beyond imagination. Throughout the tour four of the five kids are eliminated by their flaws of greed, gluttony, and jealousy. But one boy remained noble, young Charlie Bucket. Charlie, who has nothing, is appreciative of the factory and is just happy to be there. He understands that there is no big meaning or point to the extravagance, its just for fun. That is the same principal Wonka has and he takes a liking to Charlie and they form a special bond.. At the end, Charlie is the only child left of the original five. Wonka tells Charlie that he has won the most amazing of prizes, his factory. Wonka wants Charlie to come live with him at the factory. Charlie is over joyed but says he will only come if his family can come too. Wonka of course is not a fan of the family motif and says that’s not possible and takes his leave with his offer. Wonka is lonely and really wants a family. However, he is still running from his father. He doesn’t dislike Charlie’s family personally, but because he dislikes his father they are now blurred into one big impressionist painting of paternal rage. Wonka had the chance to have a family with Charlie but ruined that for himself. His selfishness also ruined an opportunity for Charlie and his family who are dirt poor and needed a miracle.

The miracle did come soon enough. Wonka finally began to see the big picture. He realized that his life was not what it could be because of his selfish crusade of fear. He confronts Charlie and Charlie convinces him to meet with his father, the root of all his troubles. Wonka goes back to his home, right to the very dental chair which started this whole train wreck. His father naturally didn’t recognize his face after all these years, but of course recognized his teeth. They reconciled their differences and the burden of all those problems lifted. But on the wall behind them, there are hundreds of newspaper clippings, all about Willy Wonka. Perhaps Willy is not the only Wonka who isn’t running anymore. However, would Wonka have been able to achieve the level of success that he did if he hadn’t have run away from his problems? If he had stayed at home, under his father’s mandate, would he have every been able to create the factory? Would he have succumbed to his father’s dental influence and perhaps grown up to be a dentist himself?. This movie suggests that running away from your problems is not an acceptable way to deal with them. However, perhaps running away is the only way to achieve a fulfilling life.

Steven Moller
English Comp 2
Mancuso
Wed. 12:30

“The Learning Revolution” by Claudia Wallis is an article discussing the benefits of technology being used to the fullest in classrooms. She takes her research to the prestigious Dalton School in Manhattan. There she is a visitor in classes that are prime examples of what technology can do for learning. The most Impressive of the classes was room 711, Mary Kate Brown’s sixth grade social studies class. The students, in groups, are working with a program called Archaeotype. Dalton developed the program themselves with the help of a $3.7 million donation from a wealthy realtor. The students dig through archaeological sites to find artifacts and in turn learn about the history. In another classroom, Jacqueline D’ Aiutolo studies Macbeth with the students. The students rely on computers to hunt down information and resources in order to look between the lines of the story. Images, bibliographies, and movie clips are but a few resources readily available to the students through the computers. In room 307, Malcolm Thompson’s students use a computer program called Voyager to study the universe. They are able to view any celestial body, from anywhere on the planet, at any time in history. Dalton also has its own network where students can debate issues, confer with teachers, and even talk with each other. The philosophy of all this is that students will learn more by seeking answers than being fed answers that have been regurgitated by a teacher. The results prove that this philosophy may be working. The school’s sixth grader were compared with another school of supposed equal merit and ,“Kids at Dalton were twice as good at devising an explanation of data and defending it.” Though Dalton’s new wave approach to teaching is a success, not many schools can afford or have the resources to adopt a system such as theirs Hopefully in the years to come all students will benefit from all computers have to offer.

Neil Postman’s, “Virtual Students, Digital Classroom,” supports the idea that technology is nearly a religion and we will weave our lives in and around it to accommodate its existence, but we need to be aware that technology may be harmful to us and that we need to walk into its embrace with our eyes open. He brings forth some concerns about computers in the classroom. Although he thinks having computers as a teaching aid is a good thing, he feels reason to be concerned that people will rely on computers to a point in which computers are raising our children. He quotes a doctor who suggests that technology will breed us, a new type of person. That suggests that technology integration is imminent. We will accept it for the benefits it supposedly give us because we feel we have to because society tells us that we should integrate things into our lives that are good for us. Neil feels perhaps there is too much information swarming into our lives and that perhaps subjecting our children to that is wrong, and that if our children are sucked into this world of programs, web sites, and information that they will lose touch with what is actually real and important. It is a story of evolution and soon he feels that the computer will create a surreal world for surreal people and surreal minds, and in turn creating a surreal God.

Richard A. Lanham’s article, “Undergraduate Teaching in the Electronic Age,” gives us a look into a world where computers can be innovatively introduced into the classroom environment. He asks the questions of what defines a classroom, a textbook, a lesson, and a curriculum? Richard suggests that if we introduce computers we can redefine all aspects of a learning environment. One major change he suggests is the integration of a large network, in which all teachers and all students can confer. The teachers would be able to post lessons and resources related to the lessons on this network and students could access it. Richard gives the example of a term paper, “You got a “C” and you feel robbed? Read some “A” papers to see what went wrong.” The concept is that teachers and students would be getting more involved in the learning procedure. Students having trouble with a concept in class or maybe how that concept relates to other ideas or subjects can consult a teacher who then can point the student in the direction of universally available resources. At the same time, the teacher can also call upon other teacher’s work to use as an example or to collate texts, or to use as a teaching aid in a field in which that teacher may not be familiar with, in turn making them a more proficient teacher. What he suggest is a collaboration of student, teacher, and technology and that these changes are beneficial and we should not fear them.