Invisible Cities

The novel Invisible Cities has a story line, but it is somewhat hidden between detailed descriptions of what seems to be presented as random cities. Once Italo Calvino has finished all of these descriptions, his intent is to wrap everything up. The novel as a whole can be interpreted in many ways depending on personal experiences and previous thoughts. Calvino presents the final italics in this same way. It seems to be a straightforward conversation between Kublai Kahn and Marco Polo, but individual readers are each able to take away a different aspect depending on their point of view. I thought this was interesting because some of the cities discussed (Like Cities of the Dead 2) expressed that previous memories and experiences affect how we see things and how we interpret meanings.

Throughout Invisible Cities, Kublai Kahn searches for the perfect city, and constantly questions what he must do in order to achieve a perfect kingdom. Marco Polo concludes their conversation by stating that there is no perfect city. “…and I think that, setting out from there, I will put together, piece by piece, the perfect city, made of fragments mixed with the rest, of instants separated by intervals, of signals one sends out, not knowing who receives them,” explains Polo. One of his final statements to Kahn is that there is no Utopia or New Atlantis, but rather pieces of cities that are great mixed with pieces of cities that are flawed. There is no perfect city, but each city has fragments to be proud of.

Milk

Jeff Wall began his career in the 1960s creating documentaries. These allowed him to express everyday life through both text and words. This idea did not last long and he moved on to just dealing with photography. Wall was inspired by advertisements using a special lighting, and decided to portray everyday life through this medium.

Jeff Wall’s art, Milk, shows a man sitting on the sidewalk with an exploding container of milk. He is off centered to the right, and the left of the picture shows a window with blinds behind bushes. The colors are very vibrant, and although the background is mostly neutral, each shade pops out because they are placed directly next to a contrasting color.

This picture shows a lot of movement. Not only does this show the obvious movement of the milk exploding, but also the movement of the blinds. That was put there to even out and balance the picture more. Also, part of Wall's intent was to show that the shape of the milk is ordinary yet not describable. As we look at this picture, most people would say that the white blob is milk. Yet why would do many people say that when we do not have a specific shape set in our minds of milk exploding. The man's body is very tense. You can see especially when you look at his arm and see his tightened muscles. This shows a lack of movement on his part, and contrasts with the object he is holding in his hand.

After looking at this picture for a very long time, all of the art techniques that Wall used stand out and the picture is definitely unique and creative. However, it is hard to find a "meaning" within it. I began to research Jeff Wall more to see if maybe it had some sort of significance to his life or a past experience. Instead I found a quote: "I don't have a hugely interpretive view of what I do. In fact, I'm trying not to have. ... If I had to choose, I'd say that I think the quality of the work is more important than its meaning. Because if it's good enough, it will be meaningful, somehow." After reading this, I realized that even Wall did not have a specific reasoning or meaning behind this picture. His stylistic interpretation of this man on the sidewalk is purely showing a fairly ordinary action. Yet his contrasts with motion and indescribable shapes make his photograph intriguing.

Cities and Desire

Many of the chapters in Invisible Cities seem to describe a specific city, person, or something else representative of a place. Cities and Desire 3 caught my attention because the purpose seemed much different. Instead of a animate object, it seemed to describe a feeling of discontent. It describes the feeling of wanting what you can’t have. The camel driver sees the city as looking like a boat. To him, he has land but wants an escape. The sailor sees the city as looking like a camel. To him, he has the seas but he wants land. I thought this was interesting how a place could be described by the desires of the people rather than a material object. Each entity within the city is described in great detail but completely differently depending on the person you are talking to. This relates directly to everything we have been learning in art class about point of view. The same city is being described, but each building and each landmark has a completely different meaning for each person who steps foot into the city.

I thought this picture was interesting and fit in with one of the overall themes of Invisible Cities. The part of the picture on top of the glass is portrayed one way, but when you look at it from a completely different angle, the entire scenery changes. It all has to do with your prospective and point of view on the subject.

Girl Interrupted

Typically in a movie the title has something to do with the main character. Girl Interrupted does not stand out to have one apparent and single meaning. This title does relate to Susanna, but in more ways than one. Her suicide attempt seems to be the main interruption in her life. It forces her to stop what she is doing and recover. Then, every person she meets within the ward causes an interruption in her life. Suddenly she has a woman watching her shaving. She now has girl friends instead of her usual provocative boy friends. She is forced to admit things to herself that she had previously been hiding and keeping away from the surface. I also think that the title Girl Interrupted pertains to Lisa. Until the very end of the movie, she was set in her ways. She runs away, but always comes back. She has blocked emotion from her life because numerous times she has witnessed the girls around her fail to recover. This is when Susanna goes from being the Girl Interrupted to the interrupter. She causes Lisa to think about an outside world and want to get better. In this way, I think that every girl at the ward has been impacted and Susanna has successfully interrupted everyone's lives.
My first thought after watching this movie was to try to relate it to other things we have been going over in class. Of course it could relate to feminism and how women have the power to do recover and do not always have to follow a man in life. But on a less obvious level, the concept of time in both Girl Interrupted and The Yellow Wallpaper seem to be skewed. In the short story, it is never actually clear if the narrator is writing as things are happening or after they have already occurred. Things seem to go back and forth and from the present to the past. Images like the wallpaper already being ripped up question if that was her or if it had been like that already. You are never sure which point in time you are experiencing. In the movie, Susanna has flashbacks of memories which were either important or memorable for some reason. They do not seem controlled, because she usually looks scared when she recovers back to the present state. This back and forth sequence of events in Girl Interrupted reminded me of the writing style of The Yellow Wallpaper, and the lack of a grasp on time.

Disturbing the Flow

Around the confusing diction and different style of writing, Virginia Woolf has shown her views on spaces as a display of equality and a personal right. When spaces have been blocked off from her use, she tends to disrupt this warning and proceed with no caution. However, through this stream of consciousness style of writing, it is easy to see her every thought throughout the process. She does not seem to think about the disruption before she steps right into it. But after she goes against the rules anger comes out and she becomes frustrated with the limitations men put on women. I think it is interesting that she does not realize that she is mad until she looked at her own sketch of Professor Von X. Then she realized that anger had taken over her and come out through her writing. Observations such as these only prompt her to raise more questions, which is quite frustrating as a reader when the answers are always either left open or hidden within metaphors or comparisons. This writing is so hard to understand!!

Writing To Me

1. Throughout the first part of high school, my English teachers mostly focused on the structure of an essay. Of course, we were taught to write in the typical five paragraph format and keep within the firmly cut out guidelines. Only as we strayed from these rules were we marked down. Although since then we have been taught to vary our writing styles and create unique formats, this stage of learning clearly defined the fact that you need an overall structure. Whether it is five paragraphs or twenty, the structure of my writing has greatly improved and has become one of my biggest strengths. Also, although at the time everyone was greatly opposed to having to go through this step, teachers made us write out a whole outline. Even after we were no longer forced to make these, I found that my writing advances and develops more and more as I plan out and continue to expand my thoughts.

2. The thing I need most in order to improve my writing is multiple opinions from outside sources. I go through and edit my papers numerous times, but when I read my own writing I always miss errors that need to be fixed. The biggest tool I could use is other people to help me rephrase sentences and correct my many grammar mistakes.

3. The aspect of my writing which most needs to be improved this year is my grammar. Typically through the many grammar quizzes and tests throughout grade school my scores have been above average. However, when it comes to applying these skills to the real world, I retain little knowledge. Grammar is a major weakness of mine. Also, my introduction and conclusion paragraphs need a whole lot of assistance. I never know how to create in interesting enough opening paragraph to draw the reader into my paper, and my conclusion always just ends up repeating my boring introduction.

4. For me, writing is like pole vaulting. There is much preparation and practice, and techniques get better and better over time. In addition to the groundwork done beforehand, there are steps and phases that must be performed before each and every time you begin the process. In pole vaulting, distances must be measured individually in order to ensure the vaulter lands safely on the mat. In writing, outlines must be formed to map out topics in the general order most appealing to the reader. As the vaulter takes off down the runway, the writer begins a first draft. It starts off slowly, but picks up speed with every step. As the jog turns into a run, a first draft is formed and the editing begins. When the pole is firmly planted in the box, the main idea has come across clearly to the reader, and they are hooked with interest. With grace, the vaulter flies in the air, no longer controlled and limited to where her feet can place her on the ground. The sky is the limit as the writer takes off with the topic and reels in new and interesting ideas to support her topic. Just as the vaulter twists herself over the bar, she pushes the pole behind her, and begins her ending. She falls elegantly backwards as the writer wraps up the final comments in her concluding paragraph. The fall on the mat is one of relief and safety as the paper is finally complete and all those who watch the final product stand in awe and amazement.