Category: English

Ideas:

In his second paragraph he talked about how art can reach people all across the world and even from different time periods. For an idea I commented that he should add a few sentences about cave paintings and how they have lasted all these years.

Evidence:

For a comment on evidence I said “Can you explain a time this happened to you” If he included his own story or experience it would provide more evidence, and help make his argument stronger. I also commented that he should add a quote in one of his paragraphs to make his point stronger.

Organization:

For an organization comment I suggested to put his idea and what his opinion on art is in the first paragraph and not just in the concluding paragraph. If he adds his idea in the beginning of the paper we would not have to guess till the end on what his opinion of art is.

 

I enjoyed that we took a whole class to explain and learn how to do global edits because throughout high school we did peer edits but we were not shown how to edit a peers paper. I also enjoyed that we got to read peers papers because it allowed us to see what other student were writing about and that their take and ideas were on the subject. Global edits are more helpful than I thought in the beginning of the class because we were shown how to make little comments that were most spelling and grammar adjustments, but global edits I believe are more important because they can change your whole setup of your essay.

I really enjoyed looking at my peers introduction paragraphs for their paper because you got to see the many different ways you could introduce a very similar topic. For example, one of my peers used the definition of art from google as her beginning sentence. One thing I have learned form my peers was to incorporate a personal experience or idea I have about my topic. I could incorporate an experience I had with art and then state my opinion on the topic.

For the Ted Talk I choose to listen to and dig deeper into was was Titus Kaphar. In his Ted Talk, Can Art Amend History? Titus Kaphar demonstrates and explains how African Americans were treated and depicted in art throughout history. Throughout his Ted Talk Titus refers to a trip he took to the museum with his kids. At the museum there was a statue of Teddy Roosevelt riding on a horse while on his left was a Native American and an African American. Titus’s son says “Dad how come he gets to ride, and they have walk” referring to the Native and African American. This question let Titus to think deeply about how african americans are depicted in art all throughout history. Another example from his Ted Talk was an image of an white family with an African American child in the background, but the child was kinda blurred in the background. The viewer didn’t really notice the African American child because he was depicted as part of the background like he was not even there. Titus Kaphar wants to be able to amend histories paintings to show that African Americans and other minorities are more visible.

 

The article “Is Art a Waste of Time” written by Rhys Southan demonstrates his views on art and the EA’s views. This article most demonstrated the views of the EA on the importance of life. The EA’s ideas are that you should give ten percent of your salary to people in need. One part of the article was explained how the EA believes people should be happy and not suffer, but then the EA explains how people should have high paying jobs just to give back to the poor and needy. The EA also believes that art is a distraction to the real horrors of the world. One quote stated “working hard to earn money and then giving as much of it as you can to the needy”, this is showing that the EA would rather people work and give money to be happy with their own job and life. At the ending of the article Southan states his own opinion by saying “I’m not ready to give up writing. I’m not ready to take up some high-paid job that I’d hate in order to reduce the world’s suffering”

I agree and disagree with both Rhys Southan and Titus Kaphar, throughout both their arguments. When Titus Kaphar demonstrates how African American people were mistreated I agree with that statement. I also agree with the EA’s views on everyone should be happy and people including myself should try and do what we can to help reduce the suffering throughout the world. Even though I agree with this, I disagree with the argument that people should have high paying jobs even if they don’t like it, just so they can give to the needy. Titus Kaphar demonstrates that we should amend histories artwork to fix how minorities are depicted throughout history, I found this very interesting but in my opinion we should start making new pieces of art that demonstrate everyone how they should be treated. I believe we should not try to change the past but learn from it instead.

When rereading Is Art A Waste of Time my views did not change about the topic I still disagreed with many ideas that the EA’s had. The EA believes that people should not suffer and be happy but their ideas revolve around people working high class jobs and giving 10 percent. The first time reading this article I had trouble distinguishing who’s idea was who’s, but when rereading this article in more depth and detail I understood that the EA’s views were different than the author. The author, Southan, notices that he and other artists are not doing everything they can for people but artists like him are not going to give up their happiness for a high paying job they hate.

When I was reading ” Is Art a Waste of Time” written by Rhys Southan I was very conflicted because I agreed with what he said sometimes but other times I completely disagreed. When Southan said “Simply put, EAs want tot reduce suffering and increase lifespan and happiness” I agree that we should do what we can for helping others that are suffering but it should not conflict with your happiness, that matters too. This passage reminded of the time I went to Nicaragua, in the summer and helped build a learning center for children that were unable to get the education they needed. When Southan also said “The idea is that the only good that counts is what you accomplish over and above what the next person would have done in your place.” This statement I disagree with because my whole school was open to this trip to Nicaragua but only 7 people went and in my opinion there might not have been a next person because other people may not be willing to give their time and effort.

Another statement form this passage that I completely disagreed with was when Southan stated “As EAs see it writing scrips and making movies demands reserves that in the right hands could have saved lives.” Making movies take a long time and alot of effort but it provides many people with jobs that may not have a job if it was not for movies. If movies and other art was not made those people would be on the streets needing more help. In addition, many produces, actors, and models with high paying jobs give to charity every chance they can. For example, Gisele Bundchen a model gave $1,500,000 to the Red Cross for Haiti Relief.