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Welcome! Welcome!. Walking Together/June 2007 with my son Haipeng, MA in Architecture. MFA in English Creative Writing (Prose Fiction) Ph.D. in English (Literature) Chinese Language Cultural Studies Students’ accomplishment. Interdisciplinary Writing 134.
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Walking Together/June 2007 with my son Haipeng, MA in Architecture • MFA in English Creative Writing (Prose Fiction) • Ph.D. in English (Literature) • Chinese Language • Cultural Studies • Students’ accomplishment
Interdisciplinary Writing 134 • Visual Intelligence & Verbal Intelligence • Thinking always includes, but not limited to, both visual and verbal dimensions. • They are not always explicit and may need to be teased out.
Visual Intelligence & Verbal Intelligence • Art, visual or verbal, explores issues and ideas that are relevant to us; • Ideas (propositions) come from making connections; • Connections are made by juxtaposition (apposition) and sequence, between parts & Whole, etc.; • Meaning is generated from careful connections/juxtaposition; • Sequence entails consequences;
木 Tree/Wood 林Grove 森Forest Chinese Radicals (Latin Radix for Root)Visual Hint/Connection
A Character Is not a Box; Instead, It Is a Doorway… Level 1— 杉 松 枫 橡 shān sōng fēng xiàng Fir Pine Maple Oak Level 2— 桃 李 梨 杏 táo lǐ lí xìng Peach Plum Pear Apricot Level 3--- 床 桌 椅 柜 chuáng zhuō yǐ guì Bed Table/Desk Chair Cabinet
Chinese vs. English • In CHINESE writing, you can SEE the clue on meaning: Example: MU • In ENGLISH, you have to VISUALIZE • Imagine a TREE, recall what THINGS look like • Your Third Eye/Mind's eye: the human ability for visualization, i.e., for the experiencing of visual mental imagery; in other words, one's ability to "see" things with the mind.
Unexpected JuxtapositionPulitzer-Winning PhotographKevin Carter, 1993
Approaching Visual TextsCompositional/technical • Juxtaposition between vulture and baby? • Visible and invisible information/cultural knowledge needed • What is the nature of this juxtaposition: harmonious or paradoxical? • Sequence/order: can we switch the position of the vulture and baby?
Montagein Film Editing • The juxtaposition of images to create new (additional) meaning not found in either individual shot by itself--1 + 1 = 3 (Russian School) • Imagine if the vulture and the baby were shot individually… • The unusualness lies in the inherent conflict between the vulture and the baby; to juxtapose them together is paradoxical; to juxtapose the way as Carter has done is even more alarming—Sequence creates consequence; if the sequence is changed, consequence will be different.
Emotional and Intellectual Dimensions in a Visual Text • “Emotion and intellect are not separate analytical concepts but intertwined strands in the living painting. A painting, like a book or a so’nata, has a life to share with us.” William Kloss • So’nata is a composition for one or two instruments, typically in three or four movements in contrasted forms and keys.
Compositional Analysis • Perspective • Foreground/midground/background • Proportion and scale • Contrast in baby herself: the head vs. the body; • Contrast between the vulture and the baby girl • Color scheme: complementary or contrastive?
Description & Analysissummative/evaluative • Description (Ch. 5) • Logical sequence in organizing your description • Spatial Relationships • Five senses • Details • Analysis (Ch. 4) • Break down • Meaning/theme/subject • Organization/form/ • structure • Explanation • Reflection • Interpretation • Evaluation
Approaching a Visual TextContextual/Historical • The Creation of Adam is a section of Michelangelo's fresco Sistine Chapel ceiling painted circa 1511. It illustrates the Biblical story from the Book of Genesis in which God the Father breathes life into Adam, the first man. Chronologically the fourth in the series of panels depicting episodes from Genesis on the Sistine ceiling, it was among the last to be completed. • Types of information; relevance
Biographical note on the artist • Velazquez, Diego Rodriguez de Silva y (1599-1660): One of the greatest Spanish painters and a master of realism. He was the court painter at Madrid and is known for his landscapes, mythological and religious paintings, genre pictures, and portraits, as well as for his brilliant illusionism and unique interpretations of subjects. • Types of information; relevance
Marginalia/Description • Marginalia: • Notes in the margin • Samples in Frames of Mind; • Types of Notes • Diction • Syntax • Contexual/Historical • Crux: something pivotal but perplexing • Description • Descriptive paragraphs convey how something looks, sounds, smells, tastes or feels. • Transitional words and phrases mostly clarify spatial relationships. • Describe the picture • in a logical manner
(Structure) Juxtaposition Creates Meaning • Isolated, the two images remain inert (Alfred North Whitehead,1861-1947, in his book The Aims of Education, 1929); connected, they come to life; • The artistic eye (Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham 1915); • What does Carter suggest through the vulture/girl connection/juxtaposition? • What difference does it make if we swap the position between the vulture and the girl? • Narrative quality in visual art; • Critical dimension in a visual text;
Structure/JuxtapositionAppositional/Oppositional • Juxtaposition, • an act or instance of placing close together or side by side, esp. for comparison or contrast; the state of being close together or side by side. • Harmony • Tension • Unexpectedness in artistic juxtaposition • Defamiliarization—Russian formalism
Sequence/ConsequenceNothing is random in art • Placement CONTROLS ATTENTION. • Connections by ELEMENTS • Connections by Sameness & Difference • Connections by FORM • Connections by ASSOCIATION
Description/Larger PurposeDescriptive Language • Descriptive paragraphs convey how something looks, sounds, smells, tastes or feels. (126) • Transitional words and phrases mostly clarify spatial relationships. • Spatial order—establishes the perspective from which readers view details. For example, an object or scene can be viewed from top to bottom or from near to far. Spatial order is central to descriptive paragraphs.
Juxtaposition: The Last KissFeng Zikai(1898.11.9-1975.9.15)
Double-Column NotebookWhile A to B is like this, C to D is like that • Mother vs. baby • Textual details (patches) • Impersonal touch in adoption/ orphanage business • Mother Dog vs. Puppies • The second frame functions as commentary on the first frame • Appositional
The Block Structure (360)vs. the Alternating Structure (361) • The Block Method: discuss one work in its entirety before taking up the other one; • The Alternating Approach: moving back and forth between two works; offer point-to-point analysis
Constructing an ArgumentBased on textual Evidence • Steps in collecting data (inductive) • Evidence • Warrant • Claim • Juxtaposition generate meaning • Steps in presenting the conclusion (deductive) • Claim • Evidence • Warrant • Counterpoint • Recap
IntegrationHistorical/Biographical • Adoption was handled in an impersonal manner in the old days in China; • Documenting the sources • According to… • Feng Zikai’s bio • Google Feng Zikai • By author • By subject • By key words • By title • By combination • Fish the book
Pulitzer-Winning Photograph by Kevin Carter 1993/The Last Kiss by Feng Zikai(1898.11.9-1975.9.15) Dr. Weizhi Gao
The Steerage is a photograph taken by Alfred Stieglitz in 1907. It has been hailed as one of the greatest photographs of all time because it captures in a single image both a formative document of its time and one of the first works of artistic modernism. The Steerage by Alfred Stieglitz published in 291 in 1915/Internal FramingTwo worlds separated by a gangway bridge Dr. Weizhi Gao
Upper Deck vs. Lower Decktwo worlds separated by a gangway bridge • Contextual/historical • Biographical • Compositional/technical analysis • Interpretation • Drawing your claim/conclusion • Google Alfred Stieglitz • Juxtaposition/apposition/connection • Sequence and consequence • Cultural knowledge: better view • Critical/cutting edge • Authorial intention
Review • 1. Thinking always has verbal & visual elements • 2. ALL IDEAS COME FROM CONNECTIONS • --by IMAGE ELEMENT (visible appearance) • --by CONCEPTS (many things share a concept) • --by MOTIF (element that links several things) • --by THEME (many things ABOUT same issue) • --by STRUCTURE (hierarchy, strategy, shape) • --by ASSOCIATION (emotion, events, etc.) • 3. All ARGUMENTS depend on SEQUENCE • 4. All COMPOSITION depends on a HISTORY.
Young Girl/Old Woman Switchhttp://mathworld.wolfram.com/YoungGirl-OldWomanIllusion.html Dr. Weizhi Gao
Navigating class website • http://uwch-4.humanities.washington.edu/~WG/~134/134%20Workbook/
Save your homework online • Use Catalyst via MyUW • Two copies required: • Hard copy • Electronic copy
Essay Format • http://uwch-4.humanities.washington.edu/~WG/~134/MLA%20Sample%20Paper.pdf