Senior Quote!

"There's no combination of words
I could put on the back of a postcard
No song I could sing
But I can try for your heart" -Jack Johnson

...some call it art?

What makes art, art? Although a seemingly simple question, the topic of justifying art as art brings up many other questions, as made evident through our entire class period arguing back and forth about the matter. My belief of art is personal, similar to the postmodern reasoning. I come back to a quote which I kept hearing over and over.

"Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder"

What one may see as trash may be another person's treasure. If one calls their work art, I'll be one to give them the benefit of the doubt and agree, even if I think it's absolutely atrocious. I don't believe that a certain standard must be met in order to justify someones work as art. Art is meant to show feelings and emotions and it is useless wasting our time pondering about what is art and what is not when we could be creating our own.

She (un)names them WV

God and the Universe
"You and your father lent me this—gave it to me, actually. It's been really useful, but it doesn't exactly seem to fit very well lately. "

• Eve is given the ability to unname God's creation, which He and Adam had previously named. Eve seems to be using her given powers to in a way overrule Adam and God's judgment.

Humanity and Identity
"The yaks could truly say that they had a name"

• Unlike most of the animals in the story that could part with their names if they so wished, the yaks were one of the few animals who found their name fitting.
  

Conflict and Suffering
"One of the reasons for doing what I did was that talk was getting us nowhere"

• Eve feels the need to unname the animals, in order to get her point across. She tries to justify her actions in hopes of solving the present conflict between Adam, God, and herself.
  

Hope and Redemption
"This was more or less the effect I had been after"

• Throughout this story, Eve's motives are evident to the reader. She keeps trying to get Adam to pay attention to her. While he seems preoccupied with other matters, Eve, in hopes of recognition from her husband, unnames the animals but still doesn't feel important.
  

Values and Relationships

• It is obvious that the relationship between Adam and Eve is no longer one of unbreakable partership. This is evident through Eve as she unnames the animals which Adam had once already named. Also, many of the animals in the story do not value their names and wish to be unnamed. This idea of being unnamed is ultimately postmodern thought, because it changes the natural order of what was already in existence.
  

Truth and Reality
"I had only just then realized how hard it would have been to explain myself. I could not chatter away as I used to do, taking it all for granted."

• The reality of the matter is that Eve is saddened by Adam's lack of awareness of her and all the things she does for him. She realizes how meaningless names and words have become. She forgets about God and his intent for the names, but simply surpasses all thoughts of Him and his ultimate dominion over creation. It seems as if for a while Eve forgets that she is the created and not the creator.

In conclusion, this story holds a world view of postmodernism because of the lack of meaning for words and names, and ultimately distancing herself from God, while she replaces Him by overruling his dominion.

American Pie analysis

God and the Universe
"The father, son, and the holy ghost,
They caught the last train for the coast"

"And a voice that came from you and me"
- God is gone, and replaced by the self
Humanity and Identity
"A generation lost in space
With no time left to start again."
-we are uncertain of our existence
Conflict and Suffering
"Oh, and while the king was looking down,
The jester stole his thorny crown."

"I saw satan laughing with delight
The day the music died"

"The music wouldn't play"
-music has died
Hope and Redemption
"Can music save your mortal soul,"

"The marching band refused to yield"

"The church bells all were broken"
- music is the only thing that can save us
Values and Relationship
"But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died."

"Can music save your mortal soul"
- music is the only thing we value
Truth and Knowledge
"Fire is the devil's only friend"

"this'll be the day that I die,
this'll be the day that I die"
-When the music dies, our purpose is no more.

In conclusion, Don McLean's symbolic song "American Pie," it seems as if the world view is Secular Humanist because of the reliance on the self and the glorification of music as the only important thing.

Paradise Lost: Hope and Redmption

When looking at hope and redemption through a Christian world view, one should ask a few questions: What is the answer to the human struggle? How are we doing? Where will we continually look for hope?

With loss of Eden, till one greater man
Restore us, and regain the blissful Seat, [ 4-5 ].

Among the Nations round, and durst abide
Jehovah thundring out of Sion, thron'd
Between the cheribum. [385-387]

Were always downward bent, admiring more
The riches of Heav'ns pavement, trod'n Gold,
Then aught divine or holy else enjoy'd
In vision beatific: [681-684]

Of once they hear that voyce, thir liveliest pledge
Of hope in fears and dangers, heard so oft
In worst extreams, and on the perilous edge [274-276]

WV in WOZ

Although a case could be made in support of the Christian world view in The Wizard of Oz, the story contains the fundamentals of postmodern literature. For example, as the story unfolds, Dorthy finds herself living in an alternate reality. This "reality" is a human invention, therefore linking the story to postmodernism. The postmodern ideas are essentially rooted in atheism. When looking at any worldview, they can be compared to a pair of eye glasses which may either help us make sense of reality, or on the other hand distort us from seeing the truth. The alternate reality in which the Wizard of Oz takes place, makes the text essentially from a postmodern point of view.

worldview HW

If we realize it or not, it is true that world views are all throughout l;iterature. A discerning reader should try to identify the worldview from which the story is being told. In literature, we can more easily identify the story's world view if we look for a few key topics revealed through the reading. One factor, may be portrayed through an explanation of the human condition. Another may be the determination of right or wrong. Also, another distinctive aspect is the knowledge of what one believes and the reason for their belief. These identifying factors of world views in literature are often hard to discern, but when one of these factors is mentioned in a story, one can sometimes infer the perspective or world view within the piece of literature.