eng-blog-hlec

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[eng-blog-hlec]

-> "The Suicide of Dorothy Hale" by Frida Kahlo

I have chosen this artwork due to its connection to the global issue of the treatment of women on the basis of man.

I mostly approach it from the perspective of how society views a woman's importance in relation to their male counterpart. Frida had seen herself in the portrayal of Dorothy, of a woman screwed over by the patriarchal system, who's popularity was reduced to being the effect of her marriage to Diego.

I had also chosen this artwork due to its artistic attributes. The mystical feel to the painting conjoined with its quite vivid brutality and anguish. The intense eye contact that Dorothy keeps with the viewer as she's falling and also as she lays there dead. The extension of the painting created through the frame and its 3D allusion created by her foot dangling over the inscription.

It is a beautiful painting of a horrific and tragic scene. Haunting.

^ source of image of the painting

[eng-blog-hlec]

-> second Mock Oral reflections

For this mock oral I was a lot more prepared. I had composed an outline of what I wanted to say but kept it vague enough so that I just focused on what I wanted to express instead of trying to remember a script.

However, one of my main issues had been my incorrect math. For some reason I fixated that the intro should be two minutes long, because of this I had rushed through some parts -- mainly Kruger -- instead of having time to analyse it. I had also discussed in more detail the wider body of work instead of the actual chosen work. I should also really focus more on analysis of my fragments. I had focused too much on summarising the fragments instead of analysing them like I was supposed to. I should also expand my vocabulary and try to really avoid my overuse of the word like.

[eng-blog-hlec]

-> reflections upon viewing "Frida Kahlo: Her Art and Life" by Hayden Herrera

Three things which surprised me:

- I knew Rivera was toxic but not this toxic "Oh I dIdNT ReAlIZE hOw GoOD sHe WAs UntIL ShE diED"

- Her use of christian imagery in her paintings and how often it was used 

- So, so, so much pain... 

Two things to further explore:

- Her use of bodily wounds to represent her mental pain

- Her use of connections between the nature and the body, hybrid beings 

[eng-blog-hlec]

-> Annotated scene

I’ve chosen to present this scene as it has this dire feeling to it. There is this sense of inevitability in it, of what is to come, both from the betrayal from his closest person, this uneasiness and creeping danger coming from everywhere, Ben disappearing and Melanie not only being locked out of the country but also loosing her father. I also was taken by the description of Stanley, of the phrase “was an artist of survival”.

[eng-blog-hlec]

-> Notes on André Brink

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-> Notes from lesson on the 15th of May.

[ Notes from documentaries titled “The Stasi and the Berlin Wall | DW documentary” and “The Berlin Wall - How it worked | DW documentary”. ]

[ What was the 1953 Uprising and who was Enrich Honecker ]

[ Notes of first mock IO ]

[eng-blog-hlec]

-> Potential Challenges with Paper 2 / IO / HL essay

One of my biggest challenges is structure. My thoughts are usually quite chaotic and all over the place, especially under stress, so trying to piece everything cohesively may pose a problem.

My vocabulary is not quite vast and I have a hard time checking my spelling during exams.

As previously mentioned, my thoughts are usually very chaotic and disorganized, so it is not unusual for me to jump to conclusions and make lapses.

An issue I have always been struggling with is time management, and unfortunately this may become my downfall in both an exam scenario as well as in long term tasks such as the IO or HL essay.

Sentence structure.

[eng-blog-hlec]

-> Othello fragment + global issue

[ Fragment from Act 4 scene 3, dialogue between Emilia and Desdemona ]

This fragment mostly interested me due to the showed contrast between Desdemona and Emilia as female characters. Desdemona in her almost innocence to the world, devoted to her husband and convinced of of a pure form of love, not understanding how any woman could cheat on their husband. Emilia, however, is presented as viewing love in a more logical and practical way, as well as commenting on how it is usually the husbands fault for their wives "acting out". This difference in perspectives also emphasizes their class difference, with Desdemona coming from a "proper" family, raised in very specific ideas of how a woman should act, while Emilia being more understanding of how the world actually works and that nothing is just black and white.

[eng-blog-hlec]

-> Marlboro Man ad analysis

This ad, from around the 1970s, showcases one of the Marlboro Cowboys, this one being slightly older than the typical Marlboro Man but still having the stereotypical masculinity and western beauty standard to him. The man is donning a white cowboy hat, a worn leather jacket and gloves, and is lighting up a cigarette in the snowy weather. The ad is mainly constructed by diagonal lines, which are created through the edges of his cowboy hat, his jawline and cigarette as well as the angles on his coat. Due to these lines, the viewers' eyes are naturally guided through the whole image, leading to the signature, which in this case are the two Marlboro cigarette boxes that are located in the right lower corner. Another important placement of a feature in the ad is the product itself – the cigarette – which is placed on the centre horizontal line of the image, with its own leading lines created by the arm placement, coat, hat and background object, as it emphasizes the importance of the product in the viewers' eyes. The slogo – a slogan that has become just as iconic as the logo of a brand – is placed right below the horizontal line and right above the signature as an additional call to action to the viewer.

The ad’s main purpose was to attract any man that wanted a taste of freedom and let them know that it’s really that simple. The men that these ads were directed to had a longing for the “good old days”, which was just an illusion of a solution to a problem they had to face. The people behind the campaigns saw an opening in the market and with a carefully constructed fantasy, they were able to speak to the minds of thousands. It is also important to note that the hyper-masculinization of cigarettes, or specifically Marlboros, came mostly due to the rise of studies showcasing the negative effects smoking may bring, especially to pregnant women. This was especially harmful to sales, as the cigarettes were mostly advertised to women beforehand. However, they found that changing the main demographic from women to men could be beneficial mostly as they could use the message that “only weak men fear death” to further their campaign. With the creation of the Marlboro Man, and his successor – Marlboro Country – the company found an unexplored goldmine, making the association of Marlboros to cowboys almost obvious, forever changing the cigarette market.

[eng-blog-hlec]

-> Notes on advertising

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-> Notes on Othello

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Cavafy 1 -> Questions and Explanations, Text 2 answers

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Cavafy 3 -> notes from presentation ( part 2 )

[eng-blog-hlec]

Cavafy 2 -> notes from presentation ( part 1 )

26.09.2022