Anazlyzing Middle Passage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Anazlyzing Middle Passage - Essay Example However, in the absence of this art of fictionalizing history, Middle Passage would represent a mere narrative about a sea journey rather than a philosophical narrative about the African-American’s journey through history. Rutherford Calhoun, a recently freed slave in 1830 with a somewhat checkered past stows away aboard the Republic, a ship docked in New Orleans. Calhoun’s goal is two-fold. He hopes to secure employment aboard the Republic as a cook and also hopes to avoid creditors as well as a forced marriage. Ironically he ends up running into problems that far surprise the unpleasant matters associated with outstanding debts and undesirable marriages. Unknown to Calhoun the Republic is en route to Africa to collect a cargo of slaves. Moreover, the journey is characterized by a mixed bag of characters and disturbing storms and misadventures. Calhoun’s observation is very clearly out of historical context as it raises a twenty-first century concern. It was not until this period that physics was applied to examining the link between religion and science. This anachronistic observation serves a symbolic purpose as does the journey on board the Republic. Somewhere at the nexus between consciousness and experience a person forms an identity. Through Calhoun’s experiences as narrated the modern reader follows Calhoun’s evolution from a thoughtless rogue-like character to a man of awareness that permits him to embrace the â€Å"countless seas of suffering.†(Johnson, p. 209) This is a contrast to the young man who at the onset of the novel whose observations were lacking in consciousness. He said: Calhoun’s evolution is certainly out of time. His rejection of stereotypes and indoctrination represents the black consciousness of the twenty-first century. Johnson however uses the Middle Passage as a means of bringing the modern reader to the realization that it was primarily the black experience that gave rise to this latter-day

Expressionism in Art Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Expressionism in Art - Assignment Example The paper "Expressionism in Art" gives a detailed information about expressionism art. The primary objective of the expressionist style was to registerthe subjective responses that the artists harbored in context of events or objects. Expressionism never intended to project a realistic and true to life picture of the objects as they existed. It always had more to do with the delicate world of feelings and emotions then to attempt a literal interpretation of the real worldly forms and events. Expressionism relied for its strength and potency on the subtle sensitivity of an artist. Vivid colors, two dimensional subjects lacking a depth or perspectives and distortions turned out to be the hallmarks of the expressionist art. The goal of the expressionist art was to capture potent, extreme and distorted emotions that originated in an artist’s sensitive mind as it come in contact with the varied events and forms in the real world. The quintessential premise, on which expressionism w as based, was the belief that an artist’s response to the real world objects and events happened to be so intense that it left an indelible mark on the form of art. In expressionist art, the artist enjoyed a sense of freedom to exaggerate or distort the surface elements in consonance with the subjective pressures being experienced by the artist. Expressionism not only allowed an artist to express oneself, but also aspired to generate an emotional response in the viewers. Expressionist art happened to be a reflection of its times.