A Girl with Kaleidoscope Eyes

Cellophane flowers of yellow and green
Towering over your head
Look for the girl with the sun in her eyes

And shes gone...

As I read this stanza from The beatles famous song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, I realized it went right along with our reading Lucy. From this reoccurring vision of yellow and the feelings it provokes to this brightly burning sun in her eyes.

As we've noticed this color yellow in multiple medias in class, we see that it carries many different meanings. In Jaws, a sign of caution. In Girl Interrupted, a sense of insecurity, but again a warning for bad things to come. In The Yellow Wallpaper, a sign of anxiety. In Lucy its a vision of beauty (not to be confused with perfection.) It is clear to us that yellow is dominant in provoking a feeling, it's just not always used to provoke the same feeling.

The other part of this verse that is reminiscent of Lucy is this girl with the sun in her eyes. In the novel lucy really struggles with fitting in. She didn't fit in with her past and she doesn't fit in with her present. She experiences a sense of nostalgia when she first sees the sun in her new city. Not because its similar to what she's used to, but quite the opposite. She talks about the sun in her new setting and how it is faded as opposed to back at home where its vibrant and stingy, so stingy it makes the objects in its light curl at the edges.

Parallels like these allow us to make better sense of our readings and enjoy them more. And novels like Lucy allow us to really bite into this juicy text and use these connections to better analyze the reading.

*I thought it was also funny that this was a song done by a British band, in connection to the influence England had on Lucy's life as well as the lives of all the other people living in the West Indies during that time period.

"O"

After discussing in class the relationship between the doves and hawk with the characters of the movie/play, I decided to do a little more researching. Although the symbolism of hawk and dove is only represented in "O," I believe it ties in well with the themes of the play. The dove, to me, represents Desdimona (Dessi). A dove is symbolic of innocence, harmlessness, gentleness, faith and marital affection. It also is known to be one to quiet troubled thoughts. If these qualities seem familiar, its probably because in the play/movie desdimona represents them. She is portrayed to the audience to be the fair virgin. Her innocence and gentle ways in loving Othello shows how harmless she is and how she truly fits her "dove-like" description.
The hawk of the movie is depicted in somewhat of a hazy manner due to its possible representation of two characters in the movie/play. At first you may think Othello (O) due to the hawks strong, dark, powerful nature. Also with his leadership, intensity and guardianship. Hawks are extremely protective of their family, which is reminiscent of how Othello is of Desdimona. However if you look deeper into the characteristics of a hawk you will find greater similarities between that and of Iago (Hugo). Iago is known throughout the play to manipulate peoples views of others. He goes around telling false stories so he feel empowered by controlling the lives of others. Hawks are known to be messengers awakening your soul purpose, giving you a reason for being. They also have very keen eyesight allowing them to hunt for prey. Iago, like a hawk, is a messenger searching for victims to spread his fallacies to. The hidden symbolism of the birds in the movie related to the characters in an intriguing manner. It makes me wonder in what other ways could one symbolize the characters of the movie if the storyline of "O" had been different.

coincidence? I think not

A thought struck- these two circles representing self and reputation oddly relate to the point of ocularity we are discussing. Could there be a connection? In class we like to not only find meaning within the pages, but the meaning that lies on the pages as well. Having this thought in mind I figured there must be a connection here as well. The inner circle represents self(the pupil), where the outer circle is a representation of reputation(the iris).
At first glance you notice the iris. The color is striking and grabs your attention. It's interesting and leaves you wanting more, but never reveals it. When someone acquires a certain reputation the same thing happens. People gossip and want to find the story behind the story but it's not always revealed. The iris is the facade of a person, its beauty -or lack of- to an outsider. In othello the "iris" is of most importance. The characters face many struggles due to the reputations that they acquire. If they would focus more on the pupil they would see that these reputations are far from truth.
The inner circle of the diagram represents self and the pupil. This part of the eye is much more hidden. It exists in everyone, but is not always seen by others. Although they are often ignored they carry a lot of importance. They are the structure of the eye. Without them, the eye, in whole, wouldn't make sense. We use them to see out of. We use them to make judgements of others-to establish their reputations. The reputations that we give others speaks a lot of ones self. The two need eachother to work. The pupil to view the world and the iris to see how the world views us.

Romare Bearden

http://www.beardenfoundation.org/artlife/beardensart/collage/artwork/maudell_sleet_i.html

Romare Bearden was a man of many talents. With his wide range of scholarly interests and knowledge- including music, literature, the performing arts, history and world art- he became quite the fine artist himself. While attending NYU he became known for his cartoonist pieces in the monthly journal, The Medley. Bearden published many journal covers during his university years and the first of many texts he would write on social and artistic issues. After joining the Harlem Artists Guild, Bearden began his lifelong study of art. He gathered inspiration from famous western artists such as Duccio, Giotto, de Hooch, Cezanne, Picasso and Matisse. Bearden also used African art-particularly sculpture, masks and textiles as inspiration for his work. His success as an artist was recognized at his first solo exhibition in Harlem in 1940 and his first solo show in Washington, DC, in 1944. His pieces were then exhibited throughout the United States and Europe. His collages, watercolors, oils, photomontages and prints are filled with visual metaphors from his past in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Pittsburgh and Harlem and from a variety of historical, literary and musical sources.

I chose the piece “Maudell Sleet’s Magic Garden.” It struck my attention right away with all of the bright colors present in the piece. It doesn’t look like a typical collage but I liked how the colors look like different layers. At first glance you eyes are drawn to the foreground of the piece where the garden lies full of vibrant reds, yellows, oranges and greens. Tending the garden is a woman (Maudell). Her sky blue dress is complimentary to the colors in the garden. Due to the easy flow of the colors, the woman looks as if she is not only tending her garden but growing with it as well. Because of this, the piece evokes an all over feeling of growth from the garden to the stretch of trees in the background. It also brings to mind a feeling of comfort and joy. Although the bright colors used would usually represent anxiety, in combination with the softer and duller colors it makes you feel happy. Overall,this is a strong piece because of its use of vibrant fun colors that presents the viewer with a sense of bliss and content.