Jacob O’Neill

English 110

Professor Emerson

April 14th, 2018

                                                 What is Your Beauty?

In today’s society media is used to display numerous forms of mainstream ideals. Through media we get many different portrayals of beauty displayed continuously in all aspects of our life. As a society we have grown complacent, accepting what media projects as beautiful. I believe this may be the problem with our society. We neglect to search for a true understanding of beauty in our personal experiences which inhibits us from discovering the potential we have for improving ourselves. In today’s world, having a complete understanding of beauty is a essential to raise our ability to live our best life.

Once we are able to understand the interconnections of our brain and what causes our attraction to an object and our appreciation of an experience we can greater understand the aspects of life that bring us joy. Schiller has created a theory on how the brain processes beauty and Armstrong discusses this idea in his article, La Bella Vita,  his theory is centered around the idea of the two drives in human nature that work together to determine what is deemed pleasing. The sense drive is fed by our desire for instant gratification. This drive is responsible for our appreciation of the moment. The form drive however is used to interpret “rational order and abstract understanding” (Armstrong). The sensation that we receive from our experience of beauty derives from the relationship between our two drives. Schiller expresses this sensation in his essay through his words, “When we find something beautiful, we are called towards a vision of harmonious perfection.” (Armstrong). Schiller believes this sensation of harmonious perfection comes from our experience of true beauty. In Schiller’s words, “true beauty is whatever speaks powerfully to both sides of our nature at the same time.” (Armstrong). Once true beauty is able to be identified the observer may now use this understanding to dig into what it is that brought them this sensation. By pinpointing the aspects of an object that are beautiful in your eyes you now can use this information to determine what elements of the human experience that you should surround yourself with in order to live a life that brings you constant peace and happiness.

Many intellectuals have used Schiller’s theory of  the psychological drives in humans to provoke new theories on why an object is perceived as beautiful. Many American citizens struggle internally to meet these expectations of beauty set by our society. Our struggle stems from our tendency to overemphasize the aspects of beauty that are visible at the surface level and dismissing the aspects of beauty that are not visible to the eye. If we are able to understand the beautiful aspects of an object on a deeper level we will be able to apply this skill to our lives by finding the aspects of beauty that speak to us on a personal level to help us achieve true happiness.

It is often thought that beauty and wealth will result in a happy life, however I feel this is a mistake. Rather it is how we are able to understand this beauty and use it to apply to our lives that will bring us happiness. we should focus on the make up of what it is that is bringing us happiness in beautiful objects in order to live a joyful life. In The School of Life’s video they introduced their stance on the process of finding an object beautiful. They feel that when we are exposed to an object the sense of harmonious perfection we feel from the object is derived from a characteristic the object, and thus is a desire in our own lives. They explain this by saying the beauty we interact with,  “is not only a quality in the object, but a longing in ourselves.” (The School of Life) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sn0bDD4gXrE . So in a sense if you are drawn to the structure of a piece, perhaps integrating more structure into your life would benefit your mental well-being. In a project by Parker Belsky and Nick Scarfo, they discuss the pyramids in Egypt, their geometric nature, and the effect it had on its creators. They depict its effect through their words, “The pyramids are considered a symbol of power for the pharaohs who ordered them built, and for the people constructing them”. By building these great masterpieces the people of Egypt felt a sense of pride and power through the beautiful architect of their pyramids, which are now considered one of the 8 wonders of the world. The power and pride that came from their creation was important to their health and prosperity. Now I challenge you to take your interaction with beauty beyond your past experiences. No longer should you let the moment pass. The next time you experience beauty I simply request that, don’t disregard the beauty for what it is and learn something about yourself from the experience.

If you are able to appreciate your personal beauty rather than attempting to conform to society’s portrayal of beauty you will experience less sadness and failure and more happiness. Beauty through the lense of society is constantly changing and progression towards even more impractical standards. The majority of society doesn’t fit this standard of beauty and media uses this to push products to their viewers and make millions of dollars a year selling products that are promoted to improve beauty. Daily society members struggle internally to accept themselves because constantly they are being told how to look and what it means to be beautiful. Can you imagine how this can wear on your wellbeing? If you had a circle hole would you try to fill it with a square peg? Of course not, Then why do we constantly compare ourselves to the standards set by our celebrities and our media. The world is filled with individuals and that is what makes our race so great. We are all unique in our makeup. Every person you cross paths with is an individual and that is why it makes no logical sense why we are expected to conform to a blanket portrayal of beauty. Finding our individual beauty is the only way we can be happy and comfortable as ourselves. Discovering ourselves will bring us peace and understanding to our interests and goals as an individual.

In closing, if as individuals we are able to step out of our comfort zones and disregard societal pressures we will better appreciate the aspects of our being that are beautiful. The power will be in our hands if we are able to develop our own understanding of beauty and use it to improve our life. We now have the power to decide for ourselves what is important to us and forget what our cookie cutter society wants us to be like. This new found power will raise our happiness and passion for life. Overall we would benefit as individuals and as a whole world to reform our understanding of beauty .

Works Cited:

Armstrong, John. “Can Beauty Help Us to Become Better People? – John Armstrong |          Aeon Essays.”  Aeon, 25 Apr. 2018.

“Misrepresentation: Beauty Defined.” The Odyssey Online, Image. 7 Nov. 2017.

Scarfo, Nick, and Belsky, Parker. “Let’s Talk About Art.” 26 Mar. 2018, University of  New England.

“What Is Art For?” Youtube, uploaded by The School of Life, 21 Sept. 9, 2014.

I’d have to say that my favorite revision strategies are peer discussion and reacting to the text. I find reacting to the text allows me to effectively record the pieces of text that strike me as interesting. I also enjoy reacting to the text because it makes it easier for me to look back on my notes and remember the emotion or point that I want to associate with that piece of text. I also enjoy using a peer discussion during the brainstorming process. I find that during discussion I am able to use the points that my peers have made to push my argument to a new level. Peer discussion can also prove beneficial when thinking about a naysayer paragraph and often times I find that using the points that against my argument that my peers provide helps me strengthen my argument. I learned that often the more time I spend discussing with my peers the more narrow I’m able to make my scope when it comes time to write my essay because I have a better grasp for what truly my stance is on the matter. These tactics have been useful in other aspects of life and not only in school related activities. When discussing politics or important social issues peer discussion is a powerful tool to hear all stances on the matter with an open mind.

Goals: The biggest goals I have to complete this essay center around grammar. I have developed a strong thesis that I feel I can support throughout the essay. During this revision process I am going to focus on meeting word count while sticking within the parameters of my thesis. I used my rough draft as an opportunity to put all the paths I could take to support my thesis and now that I have a good list of arguments I plan to search for useful pieces of evidence that will cooperate with my ideas to strengthen my essay.

Plan to construct a strong essay: In my rough draft I didn’t use a project from our “lets talk about art” class just to allow my brain to process through the question at hand and form my own opinion. However now that I have planted the seed of my idea in the essay I plan to go back and incorporate a project to in a sense water the seed and help it grow into a strong piece of work.

Biggest Challenge: I feel my biggest challenge will be limiting the length of my paragraphs. I don’t have a good sense for when my paragraph is on the verge of repetitive so I plan to rework my paragraphs multiple times in order to make sure that I have trimmed any unnecessary baggage from my argument.

Resources: “Lets Talk about Art”

Photos from magazines

Ads for beauty products

With this coming draft I have been brainstorming many different forms of media to use for evidence for my draft. I plan to use a magazine cover and possibly a painting or photograph so I can use two pieces of art to compare societies perception of beauty along side the individual’s perception of beauty. I am going to research the MLA formatting for citing a magazine cover and the other forms of evidence that I plan to use. I hope my choice of evidence of beauty will be useful to juxtapose within my essay in order to create a contrast between societal and individual views on beauty.

For my outline I plan to center my thesis around the idea of beauty being within the eye of the beholder and I plan to use many different forms of evidence in order to give as many examples of uncommon forms of beauty as I can in order to shine light upon the aspects of beauty that are often overlooked. Often we experience beauty in our daily lives but don’t make a conscious connection between the two so naturally when asked about the definition of beauty we resort to the societal expectations of beauty that have been engraved In our human nature.

Nowadays In our society beauty is often generalized to what is portrayed in media. Throughout history our definition of beauty has seen changes. It hasn’t always been seen as beautiful to be fit and have straight teeth with makeup covering up your imperfections. In the past being overweight has been an appealing look and a desired look. As our values in society have changed so has our idea of what beauty is. However I don’t believe popular perception on beauty is the most accurate depiction of beauty. Armstrongs words, “To regard beauty as a luxury adornment or a social signifier was to miss the true potential of the experience”. I was walking back from the library last night and it nearly stopped me in my tracks due to the pure beauty that the saco river held. The water stretched out forming almost a sheet of glass stretching from one rocky shore to the other. The light being emitted by the stars that filled up the night sky allowed enough visibility to see the rugged silhouette of the woodline just beyond the shore creating a divider between the almost dark purple sky and the deep blue water. There is definitely more to beauty than what is portrayed in popular media. This experience speaks directly to Armstrongs words,”true beauty is whatever speaks powerfully to both sides of our nature at the same time”. I think this is a powerful idea because it gives power to beauty in the sense that it is able to be experienced through many different life events. 

Jacob O’Neill

Prof. Emerson

Lets Talk about Art

Rap and Hip-Hop despite being a relatively new form of art has taken the world by storm and created a revolutionary way to express the issues that plague our cities. Following raps introduction into media in the 1970’s artists have jumped at the opportunity to get their hands in the Rap world. Rap is a form of art that uses a new form of poetry as a means for human expression.

The flood of interest in the art of rap sparked a rebirth in the interest among young adults and children in the fields of poetry and lyricism. When interviewing my friend Jordan for this assignment I asked him if he would consider rap a form of art, his response, “Rap is a form of art in the sense that it shares important issues through human expression”. Rap has effectively generated a way for young americans to voice the gruesome issues in their communities and has given the artist the power to create a change through the power of their verses. Rap, like many other forms of art uses juxtaposition in order to create a link between the emotional and logical aspects of human connection using lyrics. With growing tension regarded the racial discrimination and abuse of power by law enforcement many argue that rap is the cause of cultural violence when in fact rap is the product of  our cultural violence. Rappers such as J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar have created a new wave of change by using their fame and skills as an artist to create an awareness for the struggles of growing up in oppression and the significance of the pressure that society has placed upon its individuals. In J. Coles song, “Crooked Smile” he voices his opinion on the issue of appearance shaming in american media. In his lyrics,

“Love yourself, girl, or nobody will

Oh, you a woman? I don’t know how you deal

With all the pressure to look impressive and go out in heels

I feel for you

Killing yourself to find a man that’ll kill for you

You wake up, put makeup on

Stare in the mirror but its clear that you can’t face what’s wrong

No need to fix what God already put his paint brush on

Your roommate yelling, “Why you gotta take so long?”

What it’s like to have a crooked smile”

Cole’s lyrics strike home to many listeners as he uses his lyrics to paint a vivid picture of the influence society on our mental health. By spreading awareness through his music J. Cole prevents important issues from going unnoticed.

Rap is being used as a form of communication for the critical issues holding our less fortunate from reaching a common ground of respect and equality. For many lower class citizens the systematic, economic, political oppression has stripped them of their voice, but through rap the oppressed have been able to take the mic back. The vulgar nature of rap and hip hop is exactly what makes it such an effective mode for expressing the harsh and concerning issues in our culture. Rap uses its powerful messages to raise awareness and prevent the dismissal of the real news that affects the lives of american citizens daily. Logic’s “Soul Food” contains one of my favorite verses:

Little Bobby, just a youngin’, skating was my hobby

Tryna stay out of trouble, my homie in jail for robbery

Welfare, food stamps, and stealing from the store

Come home and see an eviction notice taped to my door

Can’t take no more, momma on drugs, daddy M.I.A

What can I say? I just wanted to be a kid and play

I appreciate this verse because I feel the way this verse illustrates the oppression that lower class citizens face from an early age. His ability to express how individuals are set up to fail before they have begun provides an interesting perspective and a powerful message that resonates with the listener and influences a reform to the ways of our society. I asked Jordan what he believes has made rap such a successful method to remodel social issues, his response was interesting, “It has proven to be an effective way to display the issues that upper class individuals may not be exposed to.” The ability of the artist to share their experience allows the listener to form empathy towards the artist help them understand what it is like to walk in their shoes.

Rap has had an impact in the short time that it has been incorporated in our society which is what makes me believe it is an important form of art in american culture. As Jordan stated, “Rap is beneficial for culture, it allows the connection of experiences through a diverse audience.” A common understanding of the struggles of societal issues is vital to our recognition and resolve of issues preventing our progression as a whole.

1. In the Essay “Necessary Edges: Arts, Empathy, and Education” the author, Yo-Yo Ma discusses arts role in the world and the balance it brings to our brain and its affect on our ability to be well rounded thinkers. The essay was originally published in January of 2014.
2. I believe the imposed context has much to do with the fact that this is the education system I grew up in and to think that an aspect of intelligence such as the arts was deemed unnecessary for me leaves me questioning why I was not able to make a decision on whether I wanted to be educated on the arts or not.
3. The essay is focused around the importance of the arts and the aspects of education and critical thinking that are lacking due to the absence of the arts in the public school curriculum. Its purpose is to open the readers eyes to the limitations the school systems have imposed on us while also showing how important arts are to critical thinking.

unknown words:

interface- a point where two systems, subjects, organizations, etc. meet and interact

empathetic-showing an ability to understand and share the feelings of another

invigorate- give strength or energy to

In Southans words, “ does your good deed make as much of a difference as simply handing over the money? If not. How good of a deed is it really ?” the message is clear, but is there movement limited to people who have a large enough income to support donating to a cause?

Southan depicts the EA’s values through his words, “ does your good deed make as much of a difference as simply handing over the money? If not. How good of a deed is it really ?” The EA movement bases the worth of donations on the monetary value of the donation rather than the amount of happiness it brings the people who receive it. 

In fact when Sam Hilton, a member if the EA, was asked about the ability of art to save lives, he replied,  “ The idea that someone’s book, film, painting, or dance could be their way of to reduce the world’s suffering struck Hilton as bizarre, almost to the point of incoherence.”  But how could it? Has he never been emotionally moved by a picture or film? Art holds power, its ability to move human expression through a broad range of emotions displays arts ability to change lives.

In fact when Sam Hilton, a member if the EA, was asked about the ability of art to save lives, he replied,  “ The idea that someone’s book, film, painting, or dance could be their way of to reduce the world’s suffering struck Hilton as bizarre, almost to the point of incoherence.”  The EA views ending world suffering one way when its a more complex issue that is multidimensional and can be cured with many acts of human nature and is not limited to sharing your fortune with the less fortunate. 

Following the peer revision I have determined that I am going to need to go through the texts another time and look for quotes to use as evidence to support my claims. I’m also going to look for another example of art making a change in history. I also need to put more supporting claims in my third paragraph where I make a debatable point about how art can make a change in society and save lives. My biggest struggle with the free draft was evidence so I need to look for more examples in the text and also online or in the news that will drive my point home in relation to the EA movement. Another struggle was word count and by getting more evidence it will lengthen paragraphs and spark new ideas which could stem into new paragraphs. I believe that I will be able to find ideas through the media which would help me meet my goals. I also am going to look into restructuring some of my paper as I was given ideas about switching certain sentences. I’m hoping that this will help polish up my paper and make a smoother flow of my thesis driven by evidence through the entire paper. I’m also planning on looking for quotes about art ending suffering so I can directly compare it to the EA’s mission statement. I’m also planning on rewatching the TED talk in order to get a deeper grasp on Titus Kaphar’s message so I can better represent it in my essay. After I have an abundant amount of evidence I can then comb through my essay and weed out any information that isn’t relevant to my message.

Ideas-  I thought this was a great use of a historical figure for evidence in order to further the authors argument and support their thesis. 

“For example, propaganda was big during World War II. Citizens and soldiers alike were influenced by the posters of Uncle Sam and Rosy the Riveter, among other patriotic and nationalistic posters.”

Evidence- Good use of posing a question while simultaneously supporting the message the author is supporting and challenging the ideology of the EA movement.

“If propaganda back then had that influence, then why can’t people like Kaphar and Southan do the same thing today?”

Organization- I commented this is a quote is a possibility for a closing argument as it takes the EA’s argument and uses it to counter itself while supporting the authors thesis.

“Sometimes artists paint the world burning, however sometimes they paint houses and change people’s world.” 

My experience prioritizing global edits over local edits was rather uncomfortable as my entire life teachers have pushed the importance spelling, grammar, and organization. It was interesting to switch my focus to stretching and pushing the authors argument in order to strengthen the paper as a whole. I found it is not only helpful for the author that you are assisting but also for yourself as it opens your mind to new ideas. While helping to strengthen my peers argument I was able to discover the missing pieces to my own argument.