MyHumanitiesStudio Exercises


1			Modern Literature (pp. 390-392) Literature > Poetry > Imagery http://www.mhhe.com/HumanitiesStudio/5/7/2.html Poetry can often prove more difficult for readers to appreciate than prose because poems tend to be written in a more elliptical and impressionist manner than prose. Many poets challenge readers by evoking moods and suggesting ideas rather than making concrete statements. Analyze Yeats's landmark poem "The Second Coming" (p. 390). What is this poem about? What does it describe? What mood does it evoke? What symbols does it use to convey its meaning? Compare this poem to Frost's "The Road Not Taken" (p. 391) and Hughes's "Harlem" (p. 387). Which poet uses the most concrete imagery? Which poet's images are most obscure? In the case of "The Second Coming," does obliqueness enhance or detract from the meaning of the poem? Which of these three poems is the most "modern"?




2			Modern Art (pp. 393-408) Art > Shape > Defining Shape > Figure/Ground http://www.mhhe.com/HumanitiesStudio/1/1/2/2/1.html In the twentieth century, avant-garde artists such as Pablo Picasso abandoned attempts to produce photorealistic images of the natural world or even the less defined impressions made by movement and light. Examine Picasso's famous painting Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (Fig. 14.8). What does this painting suggest about modern views of reality and human perception of it? How does this piece define the shapes of its subjects? What is the effect on the viewer of the rendering of the subjects as composites of simple shapes? Why might some of the figures in the painting be more distorted than others? How does this painting anticipate later cubist developments, such as Picasso's own Man with a Violin (Fig. 14.11) or Duchamp's cubist-influenced Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 (Fig. 14.15)? How distinct are these three works from non-objective pieces such as Malevich's Suprematist Composition: White on White (Fig. 14.18), Kandinsky's Panel for Edwin Campbell, No. 1 (Fig. 14.17), and Mondrian's Composition with Large Red Plane, Yellow, Black, Gray, and Blue (Fig. 14.19)? Does all modern art succumb to the Dadaists urge to undermine art and meaning? If not, what meanings are to be found in nonobjective artwork?

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