The New Yorker Cover #2

Elements Noticed
-Research shows that this cover was painted using Apple Technology. (Brushes on IPhone or IPad)
-The shoes appear to be of two different designs, one a more modern looking and another that appears to be of an older style.
-The shoes are lying close to a heavy striped wall with a patterned molding.
-The carpeting is spotted with different shades of brown.
Patterns
-Wallpaper (assumed) shows patterns within the confusing lines of color.
-Wall molding has distinctive striped patterned of colors in blue and brown.
-Carpeting shows spotted pattern in various shades of tan, brown, and white.
-Noticable LACK of patterns in the brown and black shoe, except both have black laces.

My Description
   This magazine cover shows two types of shoes sitting side by side next to a wall. One type of shoe pair seems to be of an older design, my guess is from the 1940s or 1950s because of it's padded leather look and out-of-style tan color. The other ones looks like it's a more modern  looking business shoe with back leather and laces. They are resting next to a wall with an unusual pattern painted on it; the colors are in a pattern creating miniature triangles and rectangles within the wall with the blues and blacks overlapping and intertwining each other. The carpet is spotted with a random brown and tan spots covering up a white backround behind them. Upon further research, I discovered that this was painted using "Brushes" app on the "IPad," making a major impact in me. Covers like these are works of art and almost always created using tools and techiques passed down from artists over generations, but knowing that just about anyone can pick up an IPhone now and paint a beautiful cover picture really speaks to me on how the classic image of an artist is dieing out in our world of technology and progress. 

Interpretations of the New Yorker

   Based on the analysis provided in our textbook, the interpretation given in the book and my own analysis share quite a few similarites. Both of our analysis shows that some details given to the models other then Miss New York share quite a few details in common; the large eyes and barbie doll like face complextion, the connection to states with a reputation for a more layback lifestyle, the wide smile, and also the design of the swimsuits. Our analysis for Miss New York also turned up quite a few similarities in both her looks and symbolic meaning; from her white pale skin and dark hair style to her serious demeanor and attitude of being an individual.

   However, the way we interpretate these pros and cons are different to some extent. The textbook gives a feeling that the cover is a statement against traditional American values from history. New York was a major hub for immigrants entering the New World and invading the lands and customs of tradition northern European settlers. From my perspective, this indeed a message to America but not against traditional American values; this is an attack instead on the cookie cutter model for women sometimes associated with southern states. Miss New York stands proud and individualistic against the copy-and-pasted women shown standing at her side, almost a metaphor if you will showing New York's distiction from the rest of the Northeast and in the United States as well.

The New Yorker

Elements Noticed:-The setting appears to be taking place in some type of beauty pageant.
-I'm going to take a guess and say from the style of the other women's looks and swimsuits that this contest is taking place in the 1950s or early 1960s.
-The color appears to be in an older style.
-The women other then Miss New York seem to be of a cookie cutter model. These include blonde hair, large smile, big doll like eyes, etc.
-Miss New York seems alot more serious and alot less friendly then the other models.
-The outfits of the women seem to fit a prepurpose molding unlike Miss New York who dons a black bikini top and sports run way model serious look.

Patterns
-The other states all seem to end with the letter "A." (Major Similarity in Southern States)
-The other models all share a common blank stare with a major smile and blonde hair.
-The other models share a similar outfit. (Nothing to separate them from the others)
-"York" appears twice on the calendar.

My Description
 In this magazine cover, it appears to be of a 1950s beauty pageant. All the states shown appear to have nothing that separates them from the pack; they follow a cookie cutter recipe of tan skin, blonde hair, wide mouth, doll like eyes, and single piece bathing suit. They look like an assembly of life size Barbie Dolls glimmering for attention, like a child trying to pick which doll to play with today. But not all of these models follow the predetermined mold...

 Then we see Miss New York and she is her own individual. She dons black hair, white porcelain skin, eyebrows that streak across her face, a black bikini, and a stare that could cut through steel. For me, it is an excellent representation of New Yorkers. It show the sunshine states all looking so much like the other; a stupid smile on their face and a stepford wives body. Nothing is flashy or represents them as an individual, but Miss New York is her own person with a take no crap personality and no "beating around the bush" mentality. For me, her face just gives off a message like, "Hey, this is New York. If you want to get some serious work and wealth here then come, but don't expect to succeed if you come here with a sunshine state attitude and bobblehead career dreams." 

My Ranking

 I like to describe myself as a guy who is very nature oriented. For me, nothing is better then a day spent wandering in the wilderness by myself; given it's a picture that makes me sound like some kind of grizzly mountain creature, but I'm not a social shut-in who enjoys spending all my time in a remote cave either! I'm quite a sociable person, I just feel that I have always had a strong connection to nature. Therefore, I have taken most of my heuristic photos about the outdoors or having to do with nature in someway.

#6- The Park
 While I absolutely love the spot I took this photo from, I feel that this photo didn't do the beauty of this park justice. Taking it with a cellphone carmera left out that distictive rainbow on the mist, the bird's nest is barely reconizable from the green branches that only partically cover it, and finally the view of the large metal facade takes away from the natural simplistic view of the fountain.

#5- The Window
 In my mind I felt this photo would have more on an impact on me then it did. I had tried to convay the image of a lonely soul trapped in his own prison behind the glass window he stares out of. But now that I look at it again I feel like I missed the point. To me, now it looks like just a hand resting on the window. But I like the sentimental feelings it sturs with in, so I didn't make it dead last. =)

#4- The Morning Star
 As I stated before, I love the simplicity that comes with nature. So even if it may seem like a major hassle, some mornings I like to get up and watch the sun rise. It may be alittle painful at first, but seeing that first glimpse of light as the sun rises is something magical. Obviously this morning I was a tad late getting up and missed the full blown sunrise, but even these early morning rays have a way to bring a smile to my face.

#3- The Tower
 This photo for whatever reason makes me feel strong, like it has some mystical power to make me feel like I can take on the world. The stone exterior just oozes a sense of strength for me, the way this tower can withstand the reckless onslaught of winter and the heat of summer makes me feel like my problems are nothing compared to what this stone has withnessed over the years. It endures anything thrown it way, an opinion I feel can describe myself. It can adapt, it's unmoving, and it endures, like me. 

#2-The Tunnel Hallway
 I'll be honest, I dislike this photo more then anyother in my collection so far. But the message it speaks to me makes me rank it so high. The photo is of a long, empty, narrow tunnel I found under the school dorms. In my opinion, this represents everything I hate; it's so straightforward with no room for freedom of any kind. It's colorless and constricting, with no natural light or any contact with the outside avaliable. It's like a slow march to the inevitable future we all is coming, with a dimly flashing exit sign beckoning us to our predetermined destination.

#1-The Mist
This is my favorite photograph simply because it expresses all my passion for the outdoors. The sun's light just breaking through after an afternoon rainshower. The glass is still wet with the storms leavings, but the fountain continues to pump vapor into the air creating a fog that is just being burned away. Everything is sparkling like minature diamonds and the willow trees seem to be made of crystals as their tiny droplets are burned off as the temperature slowly rises. The grass seems greener, the sky bluer, and everything is quiet, peaceful. Places like this have a natural lulling effect on me, a place to just sit and reflect/meditate on the days events. 
 

My Heuristic Photographs

The Mist

This photo is of a beautiful, misting fountain on a late afternoon. The water is calm and smooth like the surface of a mirror. The sun is able to creep through the branches of the willow tree and shine it's soft rays on the clear water. The clouds are disappearing reveiling the bright blue sky behind them. This represents a sense of calmness for me.

The Park

This photo is of a quiet spot in a park I found not too long ago. The willow trees blow gently in the cool afternoon breeze as the light mist of the fountain wets the tips of your clothes. The gravel path crunches underfoot as the green grass glows slightly with the fresh coating of dew.

The Tower

This is a photo of the bell stepple at Hawkin's Hall. The mighty granite tower streches towards the peaks of the sky, determined to see the last glimpse of sunlight of the day. It's stone facade proudly deflecting the abuse of the elements to come in the cold months ahead. In it's shadow sits a few pieces of art to color the green expance of grass surrounding it's base.

The Morning Star

In this photo the freshly risen sun slowly creeps it's way over the tall buildings it shines down upon. It's glorious rays burning off the morning fog and dew that coats everything it touches. The trees lay motionless and glass on the dining room walls reflect it's glow in the form of colorful rainbows.

The Window

This photo is of a single hand trying deperately to (in my eyes) connect with the outside world. The sun is setting on this lonely soul as he stares with a longing to reach out beyond it's glass imprisonment. The streets maybe empty, but so is it's future alone.

The Tunnel Hall

This is a photo of one of the many underground tunnels that snake under the school dorms. They're long, narrow passageways have a feeling of dread and loneness for me. The walls have a way of seeming to close in around you. They put me on edge, make the hair stand up on my neck, and my teeth clench with anticipation. The sole exit light at the end my only source of comfort knowing that with each step my journey in this pit is almost complete. 

Carl Sandburg's Poetry: A Brief Overview

 Carl Sandburg is often quoted as one of the greatest American poets the world has ever known, sharing a spot of recognition alongside such legends as Mark Twain and Walt Whitman. For a brief overview of his life, Sandburg was born in a small near Chicago in January of 1878 to his Swedish immigrant parents August and Clara Sandburg. He spent most of his childhood working and by the eighth grade dropped out of school completely to work various odd jobs. By 1897, he was officially homeless and began traveling the US.

 It was during this time that Sandburg started his lifelong obsession with poetry; in between working what odd jobs he could find, Sandburg became fascinated by the stories and songs sung by his fellow homeless companions. Sandburg would then practice these at public speaking engagements along with his own poetic creations and found he had a natural talent. Sandburg continued to work odd jobs before finally setting down as a reporter for the Chicago Daily News and marrying his wife Lilian. Finally in 1914, a small group of his poems appeared in "Poetry" magazine and catapulted him into the legendary status he has today.

 Because of Sandburg's long time spend as a vagrant, he grew extremely concerned with the sharp contrast between the rich and poor that he experienced everyday on the road. Much of his poetry is spent dreaming of a way to escape your current situation and look to a better tomorrow, as shown in two of his more well known poems "In a Breath" and "The Bath." In "In a Breath", it is shown as hot day in a busy city. People are so uncomfortable that they seek solace in a local theater to escape their current surrounds. Inside they are shown pictures and clips of a tropical paradise with cooling waters and beautiful beaches, a image Sandburg most likely held onto when his own situation was uncomfortable. 

 In "The Bath", the poem is basically about a very depressed man despising the world around him. The poor soul sees life only as a cruel existent before the silence of death, a view perhaps Sandburg shared at times during his travels when all seemed lost. But then the man goes to a local concert and experiences the wonderful musical performances of a Jewish fiddler player; the music is able to break down the harden walls of misery clouding his judgment and he leaves the theater a changed man seeing the beauty in what he previously thought was a joke before death. Sandburg most likely felt the same way about the musical he experienced in his travels by fellow vagrants likely getting his inspiration by the folk songs sung probably daily. These folk songs were meant to tell of hope or a reward for the toils of the lowly, a message that would be deeply appealing to Sandburg being a homeless drifter and trying to survive day by day.    

 Carl Sandburg is without a doubt one of the most famous American poets of not only the early 20th century, but also out of American Literature history. Without the trying experiences he endured as a vagrant and drifter traveling the US, Sandburg would have probably never given us such great works of literature as "The Bath", "In a Breath", or any of his other fantastic writings; making the world a little darker without his uplifting stories of perseverance.   

Carl Sandburg's Poetry

"In a Breath" Sandburg appears to have set this poem on a hot summer day in a early 1900s city. Sandburg shows this by claiming to hear the hoofs of horses along with the humming of motors outside. As it is so hot out, many of the passers-by feel the need to cool off in what is assummed to be a theater.

 The theater is shows pictures and movies of cool, tropical places and the natural wonders experienced there. ( The fish, coral reefs, cool breeze, etc.) He pays particular attention to the movie playing of a group of fisherman wrestling a shark barehanded. He streeses how dangerous this type of fishing is by how the shark could easily kill the diver with a stroke of his tail; along with describing how deadly the sharks teeth are as he is taken in by the divers brothers.

 With the end of the poem comes the back track to reality that this is a world far away from the city the viewers are currently in. The poem fades out with the reenforcement of how hot the city is as the women are wearing such light clothing.

"The Bath"
 Sandburg has apparently made this poem at first about a deeply depressed man's view at the world. He despises his lot in life, claiming over and over again how nothing is true and life is nothing more then a long walk to death and silence. A horrible interuptation of life, but this all changes after the man goes to a concert on night.

 The medicine of beautiful music breaks down his misconceptions on life as he knows it. The music washes over him in waves of happiness and bliss. The sounds of Mischa Elman's fiddle rebuilt his shattered misconceptions of the world and left him so hungered for more he stuck around for 5 encores. When he left the concert physically he may have been the same person, but mentally he had a new outlook on the world. Where he sung with a fevered pitch and roses seemed to bloom in everything.

Why does it matter?
 In each of Carl Sandburg's poems, Carl gives the impression that each of these poems begin with a situation of uncomfortableness. One with a man with a depressingly pesimistic view of the world; where there is no good in the world anymore only the silence of death at the end of our existance. The other is a broader view of a neighborhood in the grip of a hot summer day, with many people flocking to find relief from the sun's rays.

 Each poem continues and soon both find a way to escape their respected unfortunate situation. In "In a Breath", the people of the city go into a theater to escape the heat and dream of a far away tropical paradise. A place with cooling beaches, blue waters, and natives living life as they have known it for centuries; truly a peaceful place to just relax. In "The Bath", it is through the music of a fiddle player that the depressed gentlemen can see the beauty of the life; at first he thought the world was so filled with despair and hopelessness that he never stopped to appreciate the beauty of the arts.

 It is in my opinion, these two poems are a way for us the reader to remind ourselves that the world as we see it is only a small sliver of whats out there to experience. The way we can see ourselves in society is like a drop of water in an olympic swimming pool, it's too huge to completely comprehend. So if we feel down or uncomfortable one day, cheer up cause it's only for alittle while.  

Brooklyn Heights

The author constantly brings up references about drugs, alcohol, and the loss of his childhood. Constantly saying "look at how far I've come" might be a reference as to how his life has not gone as he planned, along with the repetition of words with violent meanings behind them.  (Breaking, burning)

He also brings up that his friends also might have regretted the life they live now as he references them drinking and breaking bottles for fun. The poem constantly tells us how alcohol and drugs are everywhere when he describes his neighborhood.

The final thing I noticed the author repeat was what I felt was a tone of sadness over the situation of the blonde little girl in the poem. It seems like she is having fun now, but he hints that her future in Brooklyn will take her down the same wrong path he is on.