Honey To MY Oreo's

How Can Art Be a Mirror of Reality?

Art could be a mirror of reality by having the technique of realism. Realism depicts the true actions of everyday life such as going to school and reading and emotions like curiosity and seriousness. In the painting 'School of Athens' the mirror of reality there is the likeliness of a real school. Like in real school life, the painting has cliques or groups of people who are interested in different things. Also it is the mirror of the Renaissance because of the interest and the thirst for knowledge. This reflects the thirst for knowledge because in the painting, you can see a man in a turban, which means that he had traveled all the way from wherever he came from to Athens just to study and learn. So, art can be a mirror of reality with the experience that the artist has with the surrounding world around them.














Where would I fit in 'THE SCHOOL OF ATHENS'

I don't really think i would exactly fit well in the School of Athens. I think this because all these people have done great things and most of these great works have influenced the world, but what they learn and study, to me is pretty boring and if Rafael would paint me in the School of Athens, I would somewhere of to the side falling asleep. Poetry, writing and literature is like the honey to my oreo's and just to tell you that I don't like honey and that I love oreos.

Modern in the Past

Leonardo Da Vinci was a tue Renaissance man, because he was not taught in the was of the Roman or Greek. Da Vinci was self educated by observing the world around him, which is really the point of the Renaissance. Da Vinci was the most advanced man in that era, due to the fact that he had thought and invented inventions that didn't even came into existence three centuries later.

1483, Da Vinci


1907, Paul Cornu

Stay Positive Through The Bad Times

Optimism

I fight a battle every day
Against discouragement and fear;
Some foe stands always in my way,
The path ahead is never clear!
I must forever be on guard
Against the doubts that skulk along;
I get ahead by fighting hard,
But fighting keeps my spirit strong.

I hear the croakings of Despair,
The dark predictions of the weak;
I find myself pursued by Care,
No matter what the end I seek;
My victories are small and few,
It matters not how hard I strive;
Each day the fight begins anew,

But fighting keeps my hopes alive.

My dreams are spoiled by circumstance,
My plans are wrecked by Fate or Luck;
Some hour, perhaps, will bring my chance,
But that great hour has never struck;
My progress has been slow and hard,
I've had to climb and crawl and swim,
Fighting for every stubborn yard,
But I have kept in fighting trim.

I have to fight my doubts away,
And be on guard against my fears;
The feeble croaking of Dismay
Has been familiar through the years;
My dearest plans keep going wrong,
Events combine to thwart my will,
But fighting keeps my spirit strong,
And I am undefeated still!

The ideas that transcend through time and culture are that you should conquer your fears and always stay positive. We wouldn't have technology that was this advanced if it wasn't for a few failures that happened. Walt Disney also had failed but stayed positive to the criticism from people about his imagination and kept improving his drawing and imagination. Successfully, Walt Disney made a world wide business and is very succesfull.

The Slumbering of Adventure

Adventure slumbers within a cave,
Shrouded in darkness,
He patiently lingers to be unearthed.

Adventure is waiting to be awakened and discovered by the people who are destined to be adventurous. I used Adventure is in a a cave, because a cave would be a place that people have to be adventurous enough to go to. Also i used a cave, because normally, not many people go in caves, and so a cave isn't where a lot of people go to all the time, which makes them unadventurous. Adventure is relevant to all cultures and time periods, in a way that it helps create benchmarks of time, events and places. A place that was known for adventure was Mount Everest, which was a challenge climbers would take for the feel for adventure. The first person to climb Mt. Everest was Sir Edmund Hillary, and this was a remarkable ting to do, because when he acchieved in climbing the mountain other started climbing Mt. Everest too. As long as it takes you to find your adventure, and that same adventure will wait for you to unearth it from its slumber.

Participants of Our Destinies

Listen and Pursue

“It’s true; life really is generous to those who pursue their destiny” (Coelho 160) In the Alchemist, Santiago, a boy from a city in Andalusia, possessed two recurring dreams, spoken in the language of God to him, about a treasure buried under the Pyramids of Egypt. In his meeting with the King of Salem, Santiago is informed about his treasure. He was also told to read the omens and to follow his true destiny. So, Santiago leaves Andalusia and embarks in his journey to find his treasure. In the course of his journey, Santiago achieves an optimistic attitude towards life, overcame his fears with his bravery, and opened his mind to new ideas. At the end of it all, Santiago achieves his destiny and receives his treasure, but he also gets much more.

On his journey, Santiago encounters obstacles that slow him down, but he learns to be optimistic and to look on the brighter side of things. For example, Santiago was robbed and stranded in Africa with not a cent in his possession. The following day, when Santiago wakes up and finds himself alone in a foreign land, he thought to himself that “He no longer had to seek out food and water for the sheep; he could go in search of his treasure, instead.”(40) Being robbed was an unfortunate event for Santiago; however he managed to turn it into something positive. By selling and giving his sheep away in Andalusia, and by losing all his possessions in Africa, Santiago could better concentrate on finding his treasure. When Santiago is still stranded in Africa, he decides to earn money and continue his journey. Santiago found a job as a crystal merchant’s assistant but that job wouldn’t have made Santiago happy for the rest of his life. Santiago with his optimism saw it as a good opportunity to earn money. Santiago even stayed positive during the time he was earning money in the shop, even though it took him 11 months and 9 days to earn enough money for a caravan ride to the Pyramids in Egypt. Later, Santiago meets the Alchemist and through the tests that the Alchemist gives Santiago, the Alchemist decides to make Santiago his disciple. During Santiago’s journey with the Alchemist, he told the Alchemist that his heart was agitated. The Alchemist explained that people get apprehensive whenever they choose to follow their destiny, and that people should listen to their hearts. When Santiago listens to his heart, it tells Santiago that it is fearful of the future. Even though Santiago’s heart was agitated and fearful of what will happen through Santiago’s journey, Santiago understands that his heart is alive when his heart is having emotions of love and fear. Santiago also understands that his heart tells him about his treasures and will lead him to his treasure, because his heart could connect to the soul of the world. Santiago has been optimistic through his journey so far but he needs more than optimism to conquer his fears.

In order for Santiago to conquer his fears, Santiago must have bravery to surpass obstacles that will stop him from reaching his treasure. When Santiago was at the Oasis, he had read the flight of the hawks which he interpreted as an attack from the armies. The camel driver told Santiago to tell the Tribal Chieftains of what he had foresaw, but Santiago was afraid that they would laugh at him. Santiago overcame this fear by thinking about the safety of Fatima, the woman who he truly loves. During the night time as Santiago was walking back to his tent, he was blown down by a forceful wind conjured by a mysterious man on a horse. When the mysterious man withdrew his blade and lowered to Santiago’s forehead, Santiago didn’t move because he was afraid. Instead of fleeing, Santiago stood there and conquered his fear, because Santiago was actually filled with joy due to the fact that he was content with what he has accomplished so far in his destiny and that he had met the love of his life. Another fear that Santiago encountered was the fear of failing. Santiago’s heart has heard of stories from the Soul of the World that some men who have searched for their treasure have not succeeded. Santiago became fearful that he might not succeed in finding his treasure, and that he will die in the desert and lose everything he has gained and accomplished so far. Santiago overcomes this fear by listening to his heart and his heart told him that it was happy and it said “Even though I complain sometimes, it’s because I’m the heart of a person, and people’s hearts are that way. People are afraid to pursue their most important dreams, because they feel that they don’t deserve them or that they’ll be unable to achieve them.” (124) Santiago now understands of his heart’s fears and is brave enough to listen to his heart more and understand it. Through Santiago’s journey so far, he has gained optimism and bravery nonetheless Santiago wouldn’t have made it this far without acknowledging new and different ideas.

Without being open minded to new and different ideas, Santiago would have still been in Andalusia, tending to his sheep and traveling aimlessly until he was unhappy. Luckily Santiago met with the Gypsy who interpreted his dream and got Santiago’s mind rolling with the thought of treasure that lies in Egypt. Santiago didn’t really believe in destinies at first but then he met with Melchizedek, the King of Salem. Melchizedek told Santiago about his treasure and gave Santiago the stones of Urim and Thummim. When Melchizedek gave Santiago the stones, he also told Santiago to read the omens sent by god in order to prevail in his destiny. The first omen that Santiago saw was a butterfly that flew between him and Melchizedek. This according to Santiago’s Grandfather is a good omen to have. The second revelation that Santiago had was when he was working with the crystal merchant to earn money to travel to Egypt. Santiago has helped the crystal merchant a lot to gain money and the crystal merchant said an unfamiliar term to Santiago. “Maktub” was the term that the crystal merchant used. Later in his journey Santiago truly understands what Maktub meant. Santiago understands Maktub as, that God knows all and that God knows the destinies of people and their outcomes. Santiago states “You old sorcerer, you knew the whole story. You even left a bit of gold at the monastery so I could get back to this church” (160) Technically Santiago is referring to the Alchemist, but the alchemist can converse with the soul of the world, which as Santiago understands is also part of God’s soul. The Alchemist has parts of the Soul of God in him, which means he is a vessel for God and can carry out his duties to help people like Santiago to find their destiny. The third time Santiago accepted a new idea was when he met with an Englishman during his caravan ride to Egypt. Santiago and the Englishman decided to switch roles, and instead of Santiago paying attention to the caravan he read the books of the Englishman, while the Englishman started to pay attention to the caravan and his surrounding. During this time Santiago was receptive to alchemy and was interested in it, but the problem is that Santiago couldn’t understand the writings and the codes in the books. The Englishman told Santiago that it’s supposed to be hard to understand. If everybody could transform normal minerals into gold with the Philosopher stone, it would lose its value. On the day that Santiago and the Englishman had exchanged back into their normal roles, Santiago had learned that the world has souls and if people could understand it they could also understand the language of the world. These new ideas will help Santiago converse with the Soul of the World and be enlightened and to be closer in reaching his treasure.

Accomplishing his destiny and with a bit of irony, Santiago discovers his treasure in the same place he had had come from. The treasure was found in the ruined church under the sycamore tree in the Andalusian countryside. However the journey Santiago had taken wasn’t only for the treasure but more for the experience, the enlightenment of the soul and true love. This was all possible for Santiago to achieve, because he had an optimistic personality to usually see through the bad times and to stay positive. Bravery also helped Santiago, because with bravery Santiago overcame his fears and the different emotions in his heart. For Santiago, it all started with a dream, a dream that was sent from God, dreams that anyone could have, and a dream that you should listen to and pursue.

How am I a participant of my destiny?
I am a participant in my destiny by being determined and fight for what i believe in.