response to blog #1

                                      Beauty of Art
 
     It's amazing how fashion can change the way we think something looks or give off a different meaning. Fashion is sure definitely a part  art and can all create different meanings, it really has a lot of value, in  some cases they even represent a whole tradition or beliefs.

     For me, as someone who like to to buy clothes and dress up of, fashion really is a big part of my life. It's a way to express myself  through clothing shapes, color, and pattern. It's one of the first thing that people see and can judge you on. For example when you are going to an interview, you would want to wear a professional suit to give off a professional energy.

In some places there a certain traditional wear use to represent a culture or tradition. These outfits from all these places around the world have different cultural meanings. Fashion/Clothes are also used to show off a social class, especially in events where the wealthy want to stand out from the other lower social classes

But for me, i feel as tough fashion is a part of me and always will be because, i like to dressw and go out and love to get compliments.i like to go somewhere and kind of stand out from the rest by wearing something new, creative, and unique. i would even go as far as to alter outfits by myself, just to make it look different from other people's outfit.

                                         
                                                    THE ARTIST AS SCAPEGOAT

         In the play "The shape of things"The play focuses on four characters whom are; Evelyn, Adam, Phillip, and Jenny. The person who lacks morals the most in this play is Evelyn. She violate ethnic principles, changes him to the point where it goes to the surgery level. Most shocking is when she reveals everything at the end of the story, and confesses all the lies she had told him publicly without shame.

       Evelyn is the most morally lacking of all the play members because she basically used someone as if they were an object throughout the whole story. As if all the changes and "sculptures" were not bad enough, at the end of the story she doesn't even apologize, neither feel any guilt for her actions. she knew all along that he was falling in love with her and was dong all the changes to please her, yet played girlfriend role when inside she knows she was only using him. She knows that hes's extremely likely to do something just because she suggests, and she would go as far as suggestions a nose job, which he gets done.

       In another way Adam could be seen as the most morally lacking for letting someones idea easily control him. All she would do is bring up the idea/ suggest without  directly pushing or forcing him to do so, and he will just do it. Whats even more morally wrong about that is the facts that he is doing things that are not like him and that he doesn't even  enjoy doing.  For example, when Evelyn asks "do you like doing it?" and he answers "honestly...no.i totally hate it!" and then quotes "because you suggested it..(page 19). It's really terrible to go through or do things that you don't like just because someone suggested it. There are suggestions everywhere, you just need to stop and think for your own self what is  actually beneficial to you. The part where i felt like he was really wrong out of all was when he actually agreed to give up his friends, i mean that a really big move right there, i wonder if he would have given up his family too is she asked. i know he's doing that because he loves her and wants to please her, but at this age he should know that people should love you the way you are, and if you are going under the knife for them, then you should really rethink about your relationship.
   
          But at the end of the day the most morally lacking person is Evelyn because she stirred it all, and planned it all along knowing very well that he is falling for her and shes just going to leave him at the end. Adam was also morally lacking but his way meant no harm, it was just out of love to please her that he easily did things that she suggested. But for Evelyn, it was intentional and sadly used him as a piece of artwork for her school projects. Of all things in the worlds, she used a human beings that only wanted to love her.

Response to blog #2

The play The Shape of Things asks a very important question.  Is Eve the villain of the play and is that a fair question to ask?  Eve takes a surprising interest in Adam, a true nerd at heart.  He never really had much luck attracting women, yet was able to get Eve's interest.  Why was this?

Eve used her attractive looks and nature to gain the trust of Adam.  Unbeknownst to him, she had decided to try and experiment on him.  She had been challenged to "change the world" as part of her college work.  Instead she decided to "change someone's world."  Once she gained Adam's trust, she used him to alter his looks by agreeing to have plastic surgery.  She got him to "dress better" than he used to.  She got him to "eat healthier" than he used to.  She was able to manipulate and change his physical appearance.  Once she gained Adam's trust, she also used that to change his friendships.  She broke up his best friends and got Adam to cut himself off from them.  Her efforts were all about her self gain and self interest in accomplishing her goal.  She had no regard for how Adam would feel in the process or the outcome.

Eve was not the villain of the play.  Adam was because he got taken in by a beautiful woman.  He lacked the self confidence to be who he really was.  He was easily manipulated and deserved the outcome he got.  Eve made him more attractive and a more interesting person to most people -  but Adam could not appreciate these things when Eve explained that none of her feelings for him were true.

Trust in someone does not come without a price.  Eve got Adam to trust her because of the things she said and did to him.  He believed in her.  He loved her.  He asked her to marry him.  One should not take another person's trust lightly.  Eve did.  She changed Adam to suit her needs, not his.  Eve starts with the letter e and so does evil.

Response to blog #1

Mountains are majestic.  They are one of Earth's art forms.  They are everywhere.  I was up north in New England.  I was amazed by their height and the amount of snow that had fallen all over them.  I am a skier and the mountains are so cool.  I was a little kid and felt so small being in the presence of something so large.  Mountains as art forms are calm and peaceful.  Being out in nature with my family was special.  I had no worries at the time other than to make it down the mountain in one piece.

Imagine lots of white snow.  Imagine towers higher than skyscrapers of snow.  Trees poke out from time to time.  There is a lot of silence.  Peacefulness surrounds you.  Picture yourself as a tiny speck compared to something so much bigger and taller than yourself.  Think about how high you are when at the top of a mountain you can practically touch the sky.

I am impacted by these art forms because they make me feel calm, like I have no worries.  They are so vast and make me realize that I know where I can find peace.  Mountains are beautiful when covered by pure white snow.  They help me personally find my happy place.  Mountains help me physically to exercise and think.

Mountains as one of Earth's art forms let me know things will be okay.  Peace surrounds me when I am there.

Blog Post #2

Myriam Al-jizani:

In the Shape of things the artist challenges and criticizes the concept " Don't judge a book by its cover" that is relatively used in todays society as a metaphor to express the importance of not judging a person by their looks because they could end up being a really good person. In this play Adam is the book being manipulated by Eve, and judged by his peers.

In the beginning of the play Eve compliments Adam by calling him cute, and yet soon after make a small critique on his persona. Adams self esteem is boosted a notch and then immediately questioned with doubt, which is the first trial and success for Eves conscious manipulation on Adam.

The artist constantly tried to make the reader focus on how characters reacted and commented mostly on Adam's physical improvements and changes. When Jenny realizes Adam has "changed" she makes it understood she meant mostly on his looks.

Another example scene, is when Phillip realized Adam had been wearing a new jacket on, instead of the old raggedy jacket he had been wearing since high school. Stating that the old jacket had lost them both many dates due to it and how he would still not take it off, demonstrating the amount of importance the jacket was and validating his anger. Although Adam was still the same person personality wise, Phillip focused on Adams "cover' [looks] and assumed because he had changed his look he had changed into a completely new person with questionable mortality.

The Artist reveals  at the end how hypocritical the human race can be. People say "Don't judge a book by it's cover" to make themselves feel better because they consciously know that they unconsciously do judge others by their looks before knowing their personalities. The metaphor is a way of saying "yeah I know I do it, but you shouldn't do it' makes shitty people think they are less shitty by saying fake nice things. The truth is if you are a shitty person, no matter what you say or do to try to cover it you are still shitty, and you consciously know it.

blog response 2

During the play there were many times when every main character is questioned on their acts of lacking morality. The question of who out of the four of them lacking the most morals is hard because they all commented acts making them seem no better than one another. The person I believe is lacking the most morals is Eve.

Throughout the whole play she does unethical things to toy around with Adam. What I believe makes a person unethical and evil is if they are doing acts of harm to others or lying to hurt someone, not help. Influencing someone to the point where it's effecting their life in a negative way is morally wrong. People see that Eve is evil makes sense because she had tricked Adam into believing a lot of different things that influenced him to do certain things. He started to change a lot just for Eve. And Eve let it all happen In the end of the play she admits that every single little thing was a lie to even her name. And of course, you can see why people would easily see this as a betrayal by Eve in all the lies she was telling Adam. He basically wasted his entire time and in the end, he did it for someone he doesn't even know one single thing about. At the end of the play Eve admits she never had  feelings for Adam and was using him only for her project.

    "The Shape of Things" is a play full of characters whose actions are controversial. Even though many people portray Eve as being evil, I personally believe Adam is the most immoral character.
At the very start of the play, Adam and Eve have their first encounter. In that scene, Eve tries to deface the statue in the museum. People who believe that Eve is the most immoral, provide this scene as an example. They claim that Eve is doing things that are against the law. They say she is aggressive and tries to have her way in everything.

    Others who think of Adam as being the most immoral, refer to his change throughout the play. Adam changes too much. From his face to how he dresses, he completely becomes another person. Reading the play carefully, however, Eve not even once pressures him into doing any of the things he ended up doing. She provided him with a choice, and he took all of them. His lack of self-esteem led him to be vulnerable to the influence that is thrown at him from different directions.

    Let us say a rock and a plastic bag were placed next to each other. If a strong wind blows at them, which one do you think will be misplaced? It is the plastic bag. The rock has a larger mass which provided it with a great foundation. This is a perfect metaphor to relate to Adam's conditions. If Adam had a strong self-confidence, he wouldn't have let Eve have power over him. He was easy to manipulate. Even when Eve tries to deface the statue, Adam decides to leave her despite his awareness of what she was about to do. He chose to irresponsible because he was attracted to her. Therefore, Adam is the most immoral character.