This week we discussed Freud and dreams. One assignment we had was to interpret a person's dream. I really enjoyed doing this. I used to try to interpret the dreams of mine and my friends. I also used to keep a dream journal but it became a hassle to maintain every morning I woke up. Even though symbols in dreams are not universal, I used this website to get a basis for dream meanings.
Astrolabes are magnificent combinations of science and art. First used in the 13th century, these pieces of engineering were used primarily to tell the time. One would pick a star in the night sky, align their instrument with the particular star's location in the night sky, calibrate the astrolabe with the time of year, and then find the star on the tool and the time would be able to be found. Astrolabes started out very simple looking but over time they became very artistic and were an amazing combination of the arts and sciences. Chaucer wrote the first treatise on how to use an astrolabe. Tom Wujec hosted a TED Talks describing how to use an astrolabe and explaining the uses of it. It can be found by clicking here.
Memorizing is pretty difficult. This week I had to memorize the balcony monologue from Romeo & Juliet. Honestly, I am still trying to memorize it at the time of writing. By the end of class I will have recited the monologue to the class flawlessly, hopefully. In class yesterday we went through a few different ways to help memorize our material. We just read the lines. We recited the lines aloud. We wrote the lines. We acted out the lines. Of these, my favorite is just reading with reciting aloud in a close second. I'm very surprised at the speed some people memorized their lines. I wish I had a better memory as it seems pretty amazing to learn lines so fast.
Pico della Mirandola talks about how great man is. He tells of all the freedoms mankind has and the ways in which we are superior to the mortal creatures of the world. According to Mirandola we are in above the beasts but are below angels and the Creator. I agree with him when he says that man has free will and can choose to do what he wants. I do not agree with the statement saying it is the action that determines if something is man, not what the thing is biologically. Man is dignified by his free will and intelligence; the ability to think and act freely is what gives man dignity.
According to Michael Taft, art can influence sensory responses. For example, looking at food can cause a person to grow hungry. Likewise, a picture might be able to cause a person to physically feel disgusted. Leonardo da Vinci's Madonna on the Rocks gives a feeling of peace as it depicts Mary sitting gracefully in a grotto. Da Vinci's Mona Lisa gives the audience mixed feelings as the woman looks calm but it is very stormy in her background. Art can appeal to everyone and invoke emotion and sensory responses no matter what time period.
Kingdom of Heaven. What an excellent movie. Though there are a large number of accuracies in the movie that showed that the amount of research from the filmmakers, there are still a number of inaccuracies in put into the movie for theatrical purposes. For example, there were no flaming rocks or arrows. There were, however, showers of arrows onto soldiers. The Templars would not have been punished the way they were punished in the movie, however they did commit many crimes and took advantage of their power. When Balian's father died, he said he regretted all but one if his sins. This would not have actually been said as the medieval Christians had a very strong fear of hell. The movie also implied that Saladin was not merciful, when in reality he was very compassionate toward the Christians. Kingdom of Heaven, while an amazing movie, has a number of inconsistencies with factual historic events.
This week in Humanities we discussed how long it would take to write a 100-page book. I think it would take me 100 days to write the book as I would want to write 1 page a day. This rate of writing would make me feel like I was making slow but steady progress with my writing. It would feel like a relaxed pace but I would still get work done in my writing. If I was able to do this, I would feel like I could finish any project if I put forth effort.
Medieval architecture is very intricate and complicated. Seeing the cathedrals that still stand to this day show how much attention to detail the architects and engineers put into their buildings. Older Roman buildings are very bulky and dark but gothic architecture is very tall, thin, and filled with light. These buildings were kept together using mainly pressure and mortar.
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