Septemer 11 Terrorist Attacks

This image depicts the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. This image is so powerful to me, it captures the instant of impact of the aircraft, while symbolically marking the beginning of the War in Afghanistan and Iraq. This event was so devastating, not only for the city of New York, but for America as a whole; it left us vulnerable for one of the first times in our young history. This would eventually lead to the stock market plummeting and the economy dropping lower and later into a depression. The attacks are by far the most memorable event in my lifetime, I can still remember sitting in my class in 5th grade early in the morning and hearing about this event (later to watch it on TV and seeing the second plane hit live!) and not really knowing what the World Trade Centers were, let alone the enormous severity of the situation that was about to unfold for the years to come. This is something that I will share with my children and grandchildren for years to come.

Reflection - Arab-Israeli Conflict

To be honest, before learning about this material in class, all I truly knew about this conflict is that it was between Israel and Palestine and that the United States took a pro-Israeli standpoint on this whole ordeal. I did not personally have the opportunity to present my material during class due to being out for tennis, however I was one of the leading researchers for my group, and my research lead to me take a pro-Palestinian standpoint on the situation. It seems as though the Israeli's basically came into the land inhabited by the Palestinians and virtually kicked them out and dubbed the land to be their own. This, to me, is surprisingly similar to what colonials did to the Native Americans here in the United States and throughout North America. I believe that this was simply out of an act of power prevailing over what should have actually been the natives land in the first place. I suppose that it truly is not fair for this to happen to anyone, but it has happened throughout history all over the world.

Connection Across Time

The above image depicts Tsutomu Yamaguchi, the only known survivor of both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. Yamaguchi, an engineer working in Hiroshima at the time of the first bombing, suffered terrible burns, only to return to Nagasaki a few days later to experience the second bombing. Yamaguchi is the only known person to survive both bombings and in my eyes is perhaps one of the luckiest people in history. A few months ago, however, Yamaguchi died of stomach cancer. In the months and years before his death, Yamaguchi became a very vocal person against nuclear disarmament.

Rape of Nanking

This picture truly demonstrates the severity of the Rape of Nanking. This image shows Chinese men, women, and CHILDREN, left dead on the streets of Nanking. The Japanese soldiers who tortured, raped, and killed these innocent civilians could car less about how brutal the scene throughout the streets appeared.
Thanks to the essay that Miss Herman supplied for our class, I believe that I have a good grasp on how terrible the Rape was. It disturbs me that many people (especially in the United States) is completely unaware of this event in history, and I believe that this is a topic that should be covered much more in schools across the nation. Mostly, when it comes to atrocities and genocidal events, all we hear about is the Holocaust, however, The Rape of Nanking ranks up there with some of the most horrible massacres in human history.

Iwo Jima

This is a picture was taken by Joe Rosenthal on February 23, 1945. In the picture there are six men; five of them are United States Marines and one is a US Navy corpsman. These men are putting up the American flag on top of Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima. This picture became so popular and it won the Pulizter Prize in Photography the same year that it was actually printed and released to the public.
My father, being an ex-marine (well, once a marine, always a marine) told me that this was one of the pictures that kept him motivated to fight for our country during the Persian Gulf War. I love this picture, and have seen this picture cemented and erected at Parris Island South Carolina at the Marine base in person.

Soleil Levant - Claude Monet

Of all of the art that we have studied throughout the past week or so, this painting has stuck in my mind the most. Monet portrays a very solitary, serene landscape, with the sunset cascading down upon the water. By doing this, Monet incorporates his general ideology of capturing the momentary overall feeling, or impression of light falling upon a real life scene before your eyes. This picture is very simple, and it is because of this that it is so realistic. One could easily sink deep into the scene and imagine themselves in this very situation that Monet is depicting.

My Power Point Presentation

I presented my power point presentation last week, however I really haven't had the chance to blog about it until now. I did my powerpoint on various artists from the 19th and 20th centuries, including: Paul Cezanne, Henri Matisse, and surrealists: Claude Monet, Pierre August Renoir, and Camille Pissaro. I was very intrigued at the various techniques they used that made them impressionistic painters, and those that made them separate and unique from anyone else. Without all of these great painters (who are all French!), modern art as we know it would be totally different. These forefathers laid the foundation for the amazing development of modern art. The color combination and artistic schemes that they develop in their work is simply amazing.