An Interpretation of "This is a Family Living in Harlem" by Jacob Lawrence

Per our class discussion on Tuesday, I decided that today's blog post would take a look at another example of Harlem Renaissance art. The painting above, by Jacob Lawrence, is entitled "This is a Family Living in Harlem."

The most prominent feature of this photo seems to be the slimness of everything. Even the vertical alignment of the painting seems to emphasize. In particular, the table where the family sits does not take up much space in the room. The narrowness of the painting seems to accentuate the bareness of the apartment. On the walls hangs only a simple, small black coat and a rickety-looking broom leans against the wall. These items show that the family works and works tirelessly. The curtains appear slightly tattered at its edges and frames the bleak purple-gray outside the window. Perhaps this dim color could represent the hopelessness that closes in upon the family, upon the apartment. The family sits around the table with a fairly meager meal. The mother and father seem tired with hunched postures. While her family eats, the mother coddles her baby in her arms. Her work is not done. She is not at rest, none of them seem to be. Although they sit and eat, even the children look as if they are performing a chore. Their lives seem to be filled with chores. There is no life in this photo. If we could hear the conversation going on at this table, I believe this too, like the apartment, would be sparse and tired. Perhaps, the baby would be crying.

But, yet, I see hope in this painting. Even though the family appears downtrodden and the apartment lacking in life and fullness, I am encouraged that they sit together and share a meal. This is a priority for the parents, being together with their children and providing what they can for them, even if this is a meager meal. Despite the commotion of their lives, they sit together every evening (perhaps) and share each other's company. They struggle, but they struggle together.

The title of the painting, "This is a Family Living in Harlem," seems to me like it is announcing a PSA. It suggests that this is only one example of a black family living in these poor conditions in Harlem, that if one were to look through the windows of any Harlem apartment, he/she would see this same scene. It bids the audience, "Look at this situation. This should not be happening. Do something about it."

Photo Credit: http://www.bandagedear.com/category/world-culture/african-american-culture/african-american-family-art

Letter to Myself, a Freshman Belle: Balance and Breathe

Dear Freshman Belle,

Breathe. College seems overwhelming, but your experience depends on what you want to get out of it and where you devote your time. It seems as if things are coming at you for every which way and you cannot control any of them. New classes, new peers, new roommates, new meal plan, new home-- all of that comes at you is new. Don't get me wrong, many, many things about this year are in fact new to you. However, if you take the time to look around, you will hopefully see that even if some things appear differently, there are some things that have not changed. For example, a hard workout and a long nap will do wonders to stress. Balance holds the key to your success.

Don't feel as though you must hastily squeak by in a schedule of running here and there, every which way. Take control of your schedule. Take control of your time. This is the most precious tool you have to succeed. And this does not mean you should spend every waking hour in the library. But it also does not mean you should spend hours and hours on Netflix or goofing off with your roommates. Both these activities-- work and play-- are important and should be balanced because one without the other will only lead you down a rabbit hole of more stress. Breathe.

Don't feel as though you have to meet your besties right away. You will find them when you open yourself up to opportunities and allow your real personality to show through. In this new place, everyone wants friends. This is of course a good thing, a wonderful thing. You will find people who you will come to love and cherish, people that you will stay up all night talking to because you've lost track of the time, people who will read over your papers, people who will treat you to frozen yogurt and listen to you when something has gone wrong. You will find your besties. However, it may not happen right now and those people might not be who you first expect. Be open and be you. Breathe.

Many, many amazing experiences await you. Learn courage to put yourself out there and act on the opportunities that come your way. Learn wisdom to know the difference between gold and its impostors. Learn patience to maintain peace within yourself and enjoy the present moment. You will learn many things over the course of your college career. You will be inspired, you will fail at times, you will depend on others at times, and others will depend on you.

Wake up each day with joy and gratitude. Call Mom and cry when you need to. Pray daily. Reach out to the people around you. Go out on a limb. Smile and have confidence to grow. Breathe

All is well, Freshman Belle,
Elizabeth

"Girl, Interrupted": Patchwork of Interpretation

Suzanna is a girl, displaced.

When she arrives at the psychiatric ward, Suzanna feels as if she doesn't belong. This new place feels unstable, the other young women and girls who surround her seem to be in their own little worlds. Suzanne denies that she  However, as we had seen in previous scenes, she does not feel as if she fits into the world outside the ward either. She searches for connection wherever she can find it. Before being admitted to the ward, she has slept with two men, one of whom is a friend of her parents. Oftentimes, she gazes off from the action of realtime. Similar to the other young women in the ward, she appears trapped in her own little world on certain occasions moments. At her high school graduation, her thoughts distract her and she fails to hear the principle calling her to the stage.She tends to draw inward and retreat to the world inside of her, neglecting the world outside of herself.


Suzanna is a girl, misunderstood.

The therapist diagnoses her with Borderline Personality. Convinced that they do not understand her, Suzanna refutes their ideas and diagnosis. Yet, she too, does not understand herself. As if the cloudy air which surround her head mirrors her internal confusion, Suzanna constantly smokes and is rarely seen without a cigarette. Her habit reveals her agitation and internal distress. Upon first meeting her roommate, Georgiana, Suzanna glances over at Georgiana and sees that she reads a book entitled The Patchwork Girl of Oz. In the moment, Suzanna believes that the other patients at the ward are this way, "patchworks." Yet, she appears to convince herself that she is not this way, a patchwork, someone who "deserves" to be misunderstood, that there is no reason why she should be ousted and disconnected from reality.

Suzanna is a girl, interrupted.

As the taxi car drives her from the ward, we see a clear change in this young woman. She has become more connected, developed friendships, and learned to channel her thoughts into her passion (writing). Yet, she is still a girl, interrupted. She remains a "patchwork" and her borderline personality disorder has not simply disappeared into thin air. Her story simply accentuated the human experience of misunderstanding and interruption. In reality, we are all "patchworks" and conglomerations of various identities and experiences. Similar to every person who wakes up in the morning, Suzanna faces confusion and distraction. Temptation to hide away from difficulties she encounters bids her to fall into this trap. She desires to stow away within herself, feeling constantly interrupted by the outside world. Yet, through the friendships and experiences she has had during her year-long hiatus at the ward, her tendency to turn blindly inward and ignore the outside world, has been interrupted. Her experience has refreshed her perspective.

Close Reading for "The Yellow Wallpaper"

Step 1:

The speaker is a woman, perhaps in her 30's. Her and her husband, John have rented a summer home. She journals about the house. She has recently had a child and suffers from postpartum depression. Continually, those around the woman tell her that she must rest and do no work, that she must restrain her intellectual activity. These messages especially come from her husband who often uses patronizing language when he speaks to her, such as "little girl." However, this lack of activity only makes her depression worse. She grows entranced by the wallpaper and begins to believe that there are many women hiding in there, creeping around her. At the end, John walks in and is horrified by the site of her imaginations, thought to be real by her. He faints and she must "creep over him."

Step 2:

Just as the narrator becomes deeper and deeper in her head and her imaginations grow into convictions, the tone of the story becomes more and more narrow and the emotions heighten. The reader notices how the woman depression become worse. At first she is in-tuned with the world outside of her, noticing various details of the house. Yet, her disease continues to progress and she turns inward and focuses in on the wallpaper. She makes this secretive and becomes possessive of it. She convinces herself that there are women hiding in the wallpaper. As she "[creeps] over [her husband]" at the end of the story, she becomes likened to these women of her imaginations.

Step 3:

Charlotte Perkins achieves the effects that I mentioned in the previous steps mostly through her use of language and through the narrator's relationship to other characters in the story. In the beginning of the story, aside from the moments when she comes right out and says that she has a nervous disorder, there are subtle hints of her nervousness. For example, she says "I meant to be such a help to John, such a real rest comfort, and here I am a comparative burden already!" She has some anxious moments like this in which she relates her nervousness to the other characters. However, as the story continues on, her nervousness turns inward. She grows possessive over her imaginations of the women in the wallpaper. She does not want John and her sister in law to find out. At this point she distances herself from them. She goes even so far as to lock the door to keep the other characters out of the room. Rather than finding pleasure in being in communion with other characters, he focus turns to the women she imagines in the wallpaper. In fact, she becomes one of them at the end.  

Step 4:
The narrator has become engulfed by her depression. This has become her world. At the end of the story, she is no longer an active player in the world. Rather, to this world she is passive, a part of the wallpaper. She creeps about, disconnected and isolated.    

Give Her Some Room

A room of one's own and 500lbs. This is what Virginia Wolf insists that all women need in order to be able to write fiction. But, as we discussed in class, these three factors (a room of one's own, 500lbs, and fiction) can an are different depending on the person. Each person carries with him or her a different combination of talents, experiences, tendencies, etc. Thus, the path, then can never be the same. Sure, there may be similarities from path to another, but each is never exactly the same. You may be thinking, "I've heard this before. Yes, we already know that each person is unique. Yada yada yada." But, I'd like to discuss this idea as it pertains to women. It is important to state that women don't all want the same things. We each have different goals. However, it is equally important to note that we all desire, that it's only the "something" which differs from person to person. Given that we all desire, we must back each other up (help a sister out).

Sometimes, it is women who limit and underestimate other women's capabilities (sometimes even our own), not always men. 

As women continue to achieve and break glass ceilings, we must recognize what Virginia did, that we hold the power to change our circumstances and gain what we want out of life. For Virginia, this meant publishing fiction. For another, it could mean any number of things. Yet, as women, we have to have enough respect for one another to encourage those various desires, to offer one another a room of one's own and 500lbs. The rest is up to each woman.

Favorite Place: Assisi

I walked down the street. The streets of Assisi winded, inclined, and declined. The cobblestone beneath my feet mirrored the brick and stone houses and shops surrounding me on all sides. When I looked above I saw the clear blue sky and felt the sun’s rays soak into my sink. Though the stone walls appeared similar from building to building, each door had a distinctive exterior. Most stood rather short. Some dazzled with ornate wood carvings and handiwork, others seemed more simple. I never knew how many ways to decorate a door there actually were until I came to this city. I felt as though time had reversed itself. 

A simple plane ride could take me to another city filled with electronic signs and brightly lit advertisements adorning nearly every glass and cement building in sight. Here, in Assisi, I could feel a peace wash over me as I continued to walk down the street, nearing the curve. I wondered what laid beyond that curve. The welcoming sense of mystery excited me. Somehow, I felt untouchable, in a place where the pace was as sweet and as slow as the honey being mass produced in factories around the world that very minute.   

As I rounded the corner of the street, the majestic hillside landscape entranced me. The fields appeared spotted here and there with farmhouses. This astounding view mesmerized my eyes and its serene aura filled my soul. This place must be a dream.