Final Reflection

Alexandra Querrard

Akelya Silver

Writing Studio

Final Writing

In Ms. Akelya Silver's freshman college writing studio, I have improved in my writing tremendously. I've improved from my writing to my spelling, to the fluency of words and to the lengths in which I can write. This semester has helped me improve in all aspects of writing.

In high school I was often very shy, I didn't speak much, and my writing was poor in the words of my high school teachers. They always have said that I have potential but have never really gotten a chance to out it on paper. While attending Ringling, my college writing studio professor Ms Akeyla Silver gave me motivation, she gave me compliments to help me move forward with my writing. She also helped lower my anxiety in front of the class during presentations slightly. I will always have anxiety but with the classroom environment it helped provide a place where I was less nervous in front of people.

One of my favorite assignments was the description assignment, the first formal paper. We went to the Ringling art gallery and observed Wendel Minors drawings and drew what we saw. It really helped with my descriptions on what I saw in front of me. It helped me expand on my observing paintings and drawings. With the help of my professor I gained what I information I needed to write the paper, and with my imagination and encouragement from my teacher wrote a successful paper. One paper I did not particularly like some of the discussion post online. Some of them were a little confusing and left me blank without any explanation as to what I had just read leaving it without a point to read it. I didn't understand the discussion some days the next day in class, so the online discussions were my least favorite out of the class.

In my blog for this final class review I decided to pick the pieces which best describe how my writing has improved as well as picking the ones which I find have the most valuable writing in it. I choose those pieces also because they were my favorite and most meaningful to my class time at Ringling's writing studio class. Ringling has and is helping me grow as a person and helping me find myself as well as helping me find what Im suppose to be doing in life. Ringling as a whole has meet my expectations and more. This school is really giving me chances, and giving me a opportunity to expand upon myself. As I go through my years at Ringling, and I keep writing throughout the years I will always remember Ms. Akelya Silver's freshman writing studio class and how it helped me move forward with my writing.

Blink Presentation

Blink

In Chapter four of Blink, the audience read and analyzed the chapter reading about certain situations people encounter and learn life decisions. In chapter four, there was a story about a game, a firefighter, and a hospital in Chicago.

I was to read and discuss about the section of the hospital story. In this story, it stated information about a hospital in Chicago that was very well used and very outdated. It consisted of mostly heart patients and the hospital had no way of diagnosing the patients with what they had. The doctors of the hospital had to go through many series of test to figure out what the patients needed and in the end there was a series of questions to ask and a machine to help get a correct diagnosis.

The final conclusion of the chapter was for people to make a choice that was very important. Would they want little information straight to the point or would they like a overload of information that would take time to read and after a while make the decision. The stories mostly related to the short amount of helpful information straight to the point because they needed to make a quick decision. In my opinion, it depends on what the situation is.

In Class Free Write

What is a word?

Words are used in many ways today in the world, we the people, live in. Most words are used to communicate, some words are used as descriptions, sometimes words give us a amazing feeling inside and sometimes used to hurt one another. Words are even capable enough to destroy a country or bring one closer together.

Words are a very important part of our way of living. We are born and raised to use words and we will die using words. Some words come in all shapes and sizes, and they even come in different languages. They are in every aspect in which we live. They are used to tell one another how we feel, or what we need, if we are in pain or if we are in danger and need help. Words make this universe a better, more unique place in which we exist in.

Words are a very beautiful thing in the world and everyone in this world, no matter what shape, size, color, and language all get to experience the art of the w-o-r-d! That's one thing that give us, the people of the universe, our humanity.

Sakai Post

1. The connections I can make between the book Blink and the story "The Artist of the Beautiful" is that you cannot judge something or someone by first appearance. In the book Blink, the author, Malcolm Gladwell, describes what is suppose to be a legit statue at first glance to be a copycat of a famous sculpture. This compares to the book because people of the town believe the artist to be incapable to create a simple creation but in the end creates this ingenious masterpiece.

4. "Are you alive, child of the sun and playmate of the summer breeze, after your dismal winters nap? Then it is time for me to worfor me to be at work!" This quotation really captured my eye because it tied in the conversation and the theme about the butterfly with the description of his slaughtered dream. It was perfect how he compares his dead dream to a slumbering butterfly. I thought it was quite creative and it defiantly caught my attention.

Third Formal Paper

New Shanghai Circus

The New Shanghai Circus, that took place on sunday November the 15^th of 2009, was an amazing show that incorporated culture, entertainment, and a familiarity of other cultures blended into one big show. The event that took approximately 3 hours with 15 acts and one intermission.

The show began with a prelude introducing the 18 cast members of the New Shanghai Circus, then the performance erupted with a rhythmic drum show that blew the audience away within the first 20 minutes of the show! They immediately introduce culture from the red shimmering costumes to the music playing in the background of the acts.

The way the bodies of the performers flow so elegantly and professionally into each act, it is as if the audience never for one instance loses interest. Act three would be plate spinning. Two performers mix the talent of the Shanghai culture with American circus culture to create amusement in the audience, which so happen-sly worked very well! Human strength was act four. The most amazing thing the human brain could comprehend was happening right in front of the crowd. Most people in astonishment saw one grown man lift and balance another muscular strong man, with two hands and full body length, above himself.

It seemed that one mind blowing thing after another was to appear on this one show in Sarasota, Florida. Act five, foot juggling was all about a woman juggling a young girl with her feet! How amazing one thinks to themselves that this is possible. As the crowd watch this woman flip a child with her feet, they were in amazement! The grown woman was on her back on a lounge looking chair. As the transition took place, men came in juggling large jars for the 6 act. With strength and talent these men were able to balance jars on their head, after tossing it onto their head! Act 7 was an amazing talent of the chinese yoyo. Young chinese girls tossed yoyo's high into the sky, and as the yoyo was in the air the young girls quickly and gracefully performed an amazing gymnastics talent. It stunned the crowd that such young girls were capable of such flexibility. Act 8 was the hoop diving, which was a serious of men leaping into a hoop gradually getting higher and higher with each leap they successfully completed.

As intermission was taking its time on the schedule, people gathered in the lobby talking in amazement and about the success this performance was and how thankful people of Sarasota county was to experience a once in a life time opportunity to many in the city. As the show continued onto act 9, the group of the performers joined on stage for a group performance with the many talents going on at once, people did not know which one to focus on. There was so much to be amazed by with no time to catch it all at once. Acts 10 and 11 which were Rolling walnuts and Shooting stars was a series of events that stunned the crowd with the amazing shimmering costumes, the music, and the galavanting performers running around stage the audience was in awe. Acts 12 and 13 were ladder balancing and the tight wire, a shanghai twist to the american circus. Beautiful costumes and breathtaking acts had the people of Sarasota to the edge of their seats. Act 14 which was a spring tide was a wonderful way to close the night. The beautiful sounds of the drum, caused the speed of the peoples heartbeat in sarasota to elevate. The drums, the attire, the flow of the rhythm captured Sarasota's heart on a silver platter.

Finally and unwillingly the show had to come to a close with a curtain call. All 18 performers ran on stage with their sparkling costumes and their props in hand to bow to the roaring sea of people admiring the talents of the young Shanghai performers. They will forever be remembered in the city of Sarasota, Florida.

2nd Formal Paper

Alexandra Querrard

Akeyla Silver

Writing Studio

28 October 2009

Time Being Discovered

In the paintings The Judgement of Paris and Time Discovering the Love of Venus and Mars, there is a lot of meaning and story to both the paintings. Artist from the times usually painted stories of people, culture, time periods or Gods or goddesses. Artist often found creative ways to tell important stories.

In the Judgement of Paris, painted in 1690 by Lodovico David of Switzerland that lived in Rome and Venice created the painting that included 3 female goddesses and 3 male gods, Paris, Cupid and the Messenger God. In this painting Paris has been given the choice to choose between love, money or the woman of his life, but he has made the wrong decision and is about to cause the Trojan war. The goddess of war is putting on her armor and the other goddess of love is putting her cloths back on as the other goddess Venus stands in the back of the painting with little Cupid holding her clothing up with a mischievous face. The colors are very vivid and tell a story in itself, such as white meaning angelic or pure, red meaning passion, purple meaning death or to foretell death, and green is usually greed or earthly. The dark sky in the painting also makes the painting a little more gloomy and dark giving more to the story and mood of war and a bad decision.

In the painting Time Discovering the Love of Venus and Mars, painted in 1640 by Simon Voulet of France but active in Rome and Paris painted a story. The painting is framed bringing the gods into view for the audience. The gods and goddesses included in this piece are Father time, the holiday New Years, Cupid being the god of love, and then there is Venus and Mars. Venus and Mars produces little Cupid with their love. Venus is wearing baby blue while touching Mars and turning his head romantically and passionately towards her. Baby Cupid is sitting on a long chair looking at Father Time looking at him. Father Time has Cupid in the corner of a net pulling the net towards him. The title of the painting being Father Time discovering the Love of Venus and Mars could be him discovering the child of the two lovers. The way Father Time is pulling the net is as if he was revealing something.

In these two paintings, painted in the same time period but painted by two completely different artist from two different places and times both paint with many similarities. They both paint stories of famous gods and goddesses from the same culture, they both paint stories of their lives, and they both paint with color revealing a little more information foretelling the next event to happen in the story. Artist from all different times all have a uniqueness about them and they all have a story to tell, all in a different way.

Work Cited

David, Lodovico. “The Judgement of Paris”. 1690. Ringling Museum of Art.

Voulet, Simon. “Time Discovering the Love of Venus and Mars”. 1640. Ringling Museum of Art.

Web Page With Artwork

http://emuseum.ringling.org/emuseum/view/objects/asitem/search$0040swgdepartment$$IS_STRICT$$EUROPEAN$0020ART$0020$0028BEFORE$00201900$0029/117/title-asc?t:state:flow=ad2660e8-0d61-4aef-b6d4-fb7bd13a9eab

http://emuseum.ringling.org/emuseum/view/objects/asitem/search$0040swgdepartment$$IS_STRICT$$EUROPEAN$0020ART$0020$0028BEFORE$00201900$0029/130/title-asc?t:state:flow=47a29706-03c5-4dd3-b616-9a67ab7dcc8d

Introduction

Welcome to Alexandra Querrard's freshman year writing studio portfolio. In this blog viewers will have a first hand chance to preview the authors journey through Ringling College of Art and Designs freshman writing studio course with professor Akeyla Silver. This Blog will consist of 7 parts. The introduction, second formal paper, another formal paper of the authors choice, sakai response, one in class free write, blink, & a final discussion. Enjoy the journey through the mind of Alexandra Querrard in Akeyla Silvers Writing studio freshman course.