Essay 3 Final

Jodie Crutchley

November 2, 2014

English Writing Skills Workshop

Professor Rasheda Young

Draft of Essay 3

Timeless Beauty

            We have found things in our history that we define as beautiful. But what makes something beautiful? Landforms, works of art, and simple human actions are just a few things that we may find beautiful. Philosopher, Denis Dutton, hosted the show Ted Talks where he talked about "A Darwinian theory of beauty.” He mentions an abundance of things that people find beautiful with an explanation of why that is. Dutton believes that beauty is not "in the eye of the beholder…. It is deep in our minds it's a gift,” says Dutton. This more simply means that beauty is timeless. What we see in natural landforms, works of art, and simple human action creates a sensation feeling of beauty that continues without end.

TED is a non-profit organization that features powerful talks and spreading ideas. Ted Talk topics range anywhere from business to global sciences. TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and today covers almost all topics. The talks are even featured in over 100 languages! Denis Dutton's Ted Talk was particularly interesting to me because it didn't talk about beauty involving just human appearance. Dutton described art, landforms, and actions being beautiful as well. 

Beauty is all around us. It can be found anywhere you look. It is commonly found in nature. Many people are drawn to the landscapes of the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, and Mt. Everest. “Consider briefly an important source of aesthetic pleasure, the magnetic pull of beautiful landscapes.” The Grand Canyon is a site that people still find beautiful today that has rocks dated back 1.8 billion years lying at the bottom of the canyon according to Rene Smith, the creator of Science Kids. “This landscape shows up today on calendars, on postcards, in the design of golf courses and public parks and in gold-framed pictures that hang in living rooms from New York to New Zealand” Dutton says about landscapes that people find beautiful. But why do we continue to find these landscapes attractive? Dutton believes it is do to our culturally conditioned mind that we continue to marvel over landscapes.

Niagara Falls landscape is similar to one that Dutton feels is a landscape everyone finds beautiful, complements of our ancestors. “People in very different cultures all over the world tend to like a particular kind of landscape, a landscape that just happens to be similar to the Pleistocene savannas where we evolved.” The view of water, large trees, and animal life is a place Dutton feels is desirable to people around the world. Regardless of the fact Niagara Falls dates back 5,500 years people still view the landscape with emotional intensity and pleasure that you would feel by viewing something or someone that is beautiful. Our ancestors found landscapes similar to this beautiful because this meant water to drink, potential food source. Our culturally condition eyes’ perception of beauty is timeless, so are the sites it views.

These Landscapes are timeless because of the way they made our ancestors feel years ago. “The trees, by the way, are often preferred if they fork near the ground, that is to say, if they're trees you could scramble up if you were in a tight fix.” Mt. Everest which stands 29,035 feet above see level has large trees surrounding its lowest part. This extravagant mountain is said to be over 60 million years old. Dutton’s perception of the perfect landscape, leads to the suggestion that we find this mountain beautiful because of the trees. Trees large enough to climb to get your self out of a particularly unwanted situation. The beauty of all of these marveled landscapes is timeless. Year’s later people are drooling over the amazing view of a regularly visited landscape. Other then natural landscapes, people also view constructed art to be beautiful. 

       Where there is natural beauty, there is also constructed beauty. Works of art can be characterized as constructed beauty and also natural beauty. “People agree that paintings or movies or music are beautiful because their cultures determine a uniformity of aesthetic taste” says Dutton. King Tut's sarcophagus is considered to be an amazing form of art that we find beautiful because of the history and detail put into someone’s’ tombstone. People even find that the works of Pablo Picasso are beautiful, even though his work features very odd shapes and figures that do not make much sense to the naked eye. Some of the oldest forms of art, cave paintings, are considered to be the most beautiful of all. Of course you would think that a couple of stick figures on wall of a cave doesn't take too much talent to construct, but you have to look deeper into the art the to find the true beauty of it. Most of the time, it isn't what makes a piece of art look beautiful, but it’s the meaning and history behind the artwork that makes it apart of timeless beauty. Human action is another form of timeless beauty.  

        "Beauty of style, and harmony, and grace, and good rhythm depends on simplicity" a quote by Plato. Human actions can be considered beautiful and timeless. The actions in sports from catching an uncatchable throw in the Super Bowl to winning the a gold medal in the Olympics for rowing or skating are timeless and reflected upon and viewed as beautiful moments in history. “A stunning match winning goal in a world cup soccer match” Dutton describes as something people see as beautiful. Human actions can also be seen beauty in the way of creating and being able to play music. Works by Beethoven who lived into early 1800's are still listened to and admired today by people all over the world. “Beethoven is adored in Japan,” says Dutton. The simple fact that we still watch and marvel over certain human actions proves that they can also be seen as beautiful.

       The sight of natural landforms, works of art, and simple human actions give a sensation of beauty that lives throughout time. “This brief list includes human beings, natural landforms, works of art and skilled human actions,” Dutton lists. Dutton believes beauty is not just inside of people but also inside of our culture, our art, even our lands. Beauty is timeless. This is evident through the landforms we see and admire today that developed thousands to billions of years ago. This is also evident through art that was constructed at the beginning of our existence that is praised in museums to this day. As time goes on, art through action becomes a part of history. Art through action can be seen through Babe Ruth's baseball legacy, and Beethoven's musical genius. “Taste for both natural beauty and for the arts travel across cultures with great ease. Beethoven is adored in Japan. Peruvians love Japanese woodblock prints. Inca sculptures are regarded as treasures in British museums, while Shakespeare is translated into every major language of the Earth. Or just think about American jazz or American movies -- they go everywhere. There are many differences among the arts, but there are also universal, cross-cultural aesthetic pleasures and values,” says Dutton. Everywhere people are finding certain things beautiful, and the beauty of them has never vanished, despite the fact that many of the examples of beauty are traveling many years into the past. People will strive to create and beat people with esteemed legacies to develop a legacy of their own. Time can put no restriction on beauty. 

Works Cited

"Denis Dutton." TED: A Darwinian Theory of Beauty. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2014.

Smith, Rene. “Earth Facts, Mount Everest Facts.” Science Kids. 24 July 2014. Web. 19 Nov. 2014

Smith, Rene. “Niagara Falls Facts.” Science Kids. 24 July 2014. Web. 19 Nov. 2014

Smith, Rene. "Grand Canyon Facts." Science Kids. 24 July 2014. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.

Essay 1 revised

Jodie Crutchley          

English Writing Skills Workshop

Professor Rasheda Young

September 11, 2014

Identity

            “Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armor yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.” George R.R Martin. Preservation of your identity is crucial. In “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldua, she would do anything to protect her identity. I feel my own identity can be described through items I own. To Gloria her language is what defines her, and to myself my field hockey stick and blanket define me. Having your own identity is important because it molds us to be who we are, identity acts as a constant, Gloria can learn a new language but she will always be Hispanic and I will always be an athlete who grew up attached to a blanket, and we choose to embrace what we are and what defines us. Gloria’s stubborn tongue remained impenetrable. Her Chicano Spanish was what defined her and she wasn’t going to let anyone take it away from her. She was right to defend her identity, because identity defines who you are, it is the most important thing about yourself.

            Identity is most commonly defined as, “the state or fact of remaining the same one or ones, as under varying aspects or conditions”. Saying this, identity can be compared to how scientists use constants in their experiments. For example, in a scientist named Pavlov did an experiment with a dog where he would use a tuning fork to tell the dog he was about to eat. After the dog associated the sound with food he would ring the tuning fork and not feed the dog. After not feeding the dog after ringing the tuning fork the dog unassociated the sound to being fed. The constant in the experiment was the tuning fork. The sound of the tuning fork never changed, and was rung every time Pavlov tested on the dog. Constants are things that remain the same when other elements are being changed.

            Ever since I was born there was only one thing that would never leave my side. It may sound a little out of the ordinary, but I used to be drawn to a blanket. The thing that made this blanket special was that it had already been used. New blankets have a hard feeling to them. I didn’t like having a blanket that was brand new, fresh from Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I needed it to be soft and worn before I would latch onto it. Do not compare me to Linus from the Peanuts. Even though I actually drag my blanket behind me everywhere I go. My blanket defines me in a way that not many people can understand. It is a sign of my affection, not only toward my blanket, but to everyone that have been “broken into” my life and heart. It is the side to me that makes feel vulnerable. A blanket cannot push others away it invites them. When I feel sad or lonely, I go to it with open arms to keep me warm and safe.

            Unlike my blanket, I can be compared to my field hockey stick. My stick is my Excalibur. My stick is a TK (brand) and is black and silver. My stick comes up to about my waste, which is shorter than most people usually get. It’s extremely light in weight. The weight of it is comparable to a broomstick without the broom part. It is what helps me triumph over my opponents and tells others that I am not a person to mess with. With my stick, I will find a way to get the ball into the goal. Just like no other blanket can replace my blanket, no other stick could replace my stick. These two objects define me with almost a Ying and Yang type of feel; my blanket makes me soft and vulnerable, while my stick makes me tough and rough around the edges. Unlike myself, attached to items, Gloria Anzaldua defines herself through her language.

            “Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no ones definition of your life, but define yourself.” This quote by Harvey Fierstein fits best for the story of Gloria Anzaldua who fought for her language and for her to be able to speak up and let her accent and Chicano Spanish to be heard. She embraced the very thing everyone seemed to want her to get rid of, her language. Chicano Spanish is considered a disgrace to the purist of Latinos and Latinas. Yet Gloria sees her language as evolution. “So, if you want to hurt me, speak badly about my language. Ethnic identity is twin skin to linguistic identity-I am my language”. Gloria’s fight for her identity helps prove that identity is important. Her stubborn tongue did not give up who she was and was meant to be. Her language, identity, was something worth fighting for.

Protecting your identity is because it is who we are. Who have you become? Does it really matter as long as you’re happy with yourself? The way you grew up. Your story will remain yours and only yours forever. The discovery of your identity, every twist, turn, and bump in the road brought you here and made you the type of person you are now. Choose to embrace your identity for it is important. The items I hold so dear to me helped me find myself, they showed me the materials that make me. The strengths and also the weaknesses. My stick is mine, no one else's. I carry it with me with pride. It often protects me from other sticks and I reward it with goals. Goals that will remain the stick’s forever, no other stick I may ever own will be able to claim the goals that my stick has touched, hit, or drove in. Just like no other blanket can ever have the tears and the nights of sleep that my blanket has had. Gloria will not change herself for the satisfaction of others, because Chicano Spanish is as much of her as she is it, Chicano Spanish lives in her. Her stubborn tongue will remain resistant to others opinions and efforts to silence what she is. No one will ever be me or take my identity, and the things I've done away from me. No one will ever take away Gloria’s’ language. Identity is important because it is a constant for who you are. You are someone that does not change under varying aspects or conditions. Identity is you, and you are your identity.

Beauty Is Timeless-Essay 3 Draft

Jodie Crutchley

November 2, 2014

English Writing Skills Workshop

Professor Rasheda Young

Draft of Essay 3

Timeless Beauty

        

         We have found things in our history that we define as beautiful. But what makes something beautiful? Landforms, works of art, and simple human actions are just a few things that we may find beautiful. Philosopher, Denis Dutton, hosted a Ted Talk where he talked about "A Darwinian theory of beauty". He mentions an abundance of things that people find beautiful with an explanation of why that is. Dutton believes that beauty is not "in the eye of the beholder", but "it's deep in our minds it's a gift" says Dutton. This more simply means that beauty is timeless. What we see in natural landforms, works of art, and simple human action creates a sensation feeling of beauty that continues without end. 

        TED is a non profit organization that features powerful talks and spreading ideas. The talks range anywhere from business to global sciences. TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and today covers almost all topics. The talks are even featured in over 100 languages! Denis Dutton's Ted Talk was particularly interesting to me because it didn't talk about beauty involving just human appearance. Dutton described art, landforms, and actions being beautiful as well. 

        Beauty is all around us. It can be found anywhere you look. It is commonly found in nature. Many people are drawn to the landscapes of, the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, and Mt. Everest. The Grand Canyon is a site that people still find beautiful today that has rocks dated back 1.8 billion years lying at the bottom of the canyon. Niagara Falls landscape is similar to one that Denis Dutton feels is a landscape that everyone finds beautiful, complements of our ancestors. The view of water, large trees, and animal life is a place Dutton feels is desirable to people around the world. Niagara falls dates back 5,500 years. Mt. Everest which stands 29,035 feet above see level is another place commonly visited and seen as beautiful throughout the years. This extravagant mountain is said to be over 60 million years old. Many people today make climbing this enormous mountain a goal to a bucket list. The goal will always remain popular throughout time while people pass on but the mountain itself will live on. Other natural landmarks people also view constructed art to be beautiful. 

       Where there is natural beauty, there is also constructed beauty. Works of art can be characterized as constructed art and even beauty. We find works of art beautiful because it helps us express ourselves. King Tut's sarcophagus is considered to be an amazing form of art that we find beautiful and amazing because of the history and detail put into someones tombstone. People even find that the works of Pablo Picasso are beautiful, even though his work features very odd shapes and figures that do not make much sense to the naked eye. Some of the oldest forms of art, cave paintings, are considered to be the most beautiful of all. Of course you would think that a couple of stick figures on wall of a cave doesn't take too much talent to construct, but you have to look deeper into the art the to find the true beauty of it. Most of the time, it isn't what makes a piece of art look beautiful, but its the meaning and history behind the art work that makes it apart of timeless beauty. 

        "Beauty of style, and harmony, and grace, and good rhythm depends of simplicity" -Plato. Human actions can be considered beautiful and timeless. The actions in sports from catching a thought to be uncatchable throw in the Super Bowl to winning the a gold medal in the Olympics for rowing or skating are timeless and reflected upon and viewed as beautiful moments in history. Human actions can also be seen beauty in the way of creating and being able to play music. Works by Beethoven who lived from the late 1700's to the early 1800's are still listened to and admired today. This shows actions by humans can also be beautiful. 

       The sight of natural landforms, works of art, and simple human actions give a sensation of beauty that lives throughout time. Beauty is timeless. This is evident through the landforms we see and admire today that developed thousands to billions of years ago. Also through the art that was constructed at the beginning of our existent that is praised in museums to this day. As time goes on art through action becomes a part of history. Similar to Babe Ruth's baseball legacy and Beethoven's musical genius. People will strive to create and beat the people with esteemed legacies to develop a legacy of their own. Time can put no restriction on beauty. 

Ted Talks

Can Beauty Be Honest?

Jodie Crutchley
Writing Skills Workshop
October 25, 2014
Can Beauty Be Honest?      

Two Types of Beautiful 

         Beauty is dishonest. Beauty is honest. You may be born beautiful and you may also construct yourself to be perceived as beautiful. Being born beautiful is honest beauty. Honest beauty is a naked face and body untouched by needles. Natural is the best word to describe honest beauty. Dishonest beauty is similar to construction. Fixing what someone thinks is not attractive. Examples including nose reconstruction, botox, impacts, and much more. Beauty can be both honest, and dishonest.
       Babies are an example of honest beauty. Their faces untouched by any kind of makeup. As people get older they find that in the world we live in today their is a lot of constructed beauty. Everyone is wearing makeup. Many people are getting "work done" on their faces and bodies. Honest beauty is very hard to come by. The worlds expectations of beauty are high. Most people wish that instead of being their beautiful selfs to be a barbie.
      "The first ten years of a girls life is spent playing with Barbies and the next ten years are spent trying to look like one". This quote is very similar to dishonest, or constructed beauty. Women do whatever it takes to be seen as beautiful in the eyes of others. The construction of beauty can not be honest. It is altering your appearance. For example, makeup is dishonest. Makeup is meant to alter your appearance to make you look better but when the makeup is removed you're a different person. I'm not implying that women who wear makeup are not beautiful. I am simply saying that if a person appears differently with makeup on then without than they are considered a dishonest beauty.
         The video below is a video from Ted Talks. This one in particular a model named Cameron Russel. Her career  is to pose as a model for what beautiful looks like. She explains the pictures they take of her are not her but something someone has constructed. Hair, makeup, wardrobe, all play parts in the efforts to create the perfect girl. A picture of before she had even reached her menstrual cycle really shows how they had constructed the picture in the magazine to MAKE her look beautiful, older and sexy. The girl in the pictures is a constructed beauty. Cameron Russell is a beautiful woman. She is a naturally beautiful person but the worlds standards are higher than her natural honest beauty. So the media has created a new beauty, that isn't Cameron, that is almost impossible to reach without making changes to your natural appearance.