Norman Rockwell's "The Runaway"

The 1950s were a time of great change, both in culture and perspective. The American people were not all best friends, and America was no longer on top of the world. We were at war with Korea, and there were a lot of issues in society at that time. However, Norman Rockwell's painting "The Runaway" forgets all this. His painting sugar coated the American society in the 1950's and left the social uprisings behind. "The Runaway" overlooks the fundamental rift that was rising in America throughout the 1950s- an emerging counter culture that was not concerned with how things were, but how they are.

The Beatles: "Across the Universe"

1. - Images of broken light which dance before me like a million eyes.
    - Sounds of laughter shade my life
    - Shines around me like a million suns
2. The million suns is a symbol for all the love that is around him, and nothing can penetrate that.
3. One symbol that I always view as a symbol in the American flag, which I always took to stand for our bravery, our democracy, and every citizen within its borders. Every time I see the flag it reminds me what the stripes and stars stand for, what it took to shape America, and all the men and women fighting overseas.

Shuggie Otis- "Inspiration Information"

-The feel of this song is happy. It put me in a good mood, made me smile, and gave me the feeling that I needed to wash a car.
- The guitar and the keyboard really give this song a funky and happy feel, and without them, this song just wouldn't be the same. Also, had the lyrics been more pronounced, and the focus of the song was not on the music, the audience would have listened more to the lyrics and probably wouldn't have gotten that same feeling of mellow happiness.

Diego Rivera- "Semeadores"

S- The subject is Mexicans working, digging.
O- I think it is a time when Mexicans were enslaved, or had to work very hard.
A- Mexicans who struggled, and those who made them work.
P- To inform of Mexican's hard labor they endured.
S- Diego Rivera
T- Sorrowful

- The meaning of this piece of art is that the artist wants you to think about the hard labor Mexicans had and have to go through, as shown by the man digging, and the colors that make it look like it is very hot.

Wilco's Approach

1. Wilco's approach is to build a song, and then deconstruct it to see all the other options, and then seeing what ways you can make the song better.
2. My writing process is that I like to think of what my topic is, and then ways to support my topic. After that, I come up with a thesis, do a prewrite sometimes, and then sit down to write a draft. Next I re-read it, let others read it, and then improve upon it.

American Grafitti Soundtrack

1. Nostalgia is a feeling you get when looking back at times when you were younger, or look at something that gives you a warm, yearning feeling for what used to be. This feeling of nostalgia can be triggered by an object, song, sound, smell, or almost anything.
2. When I hear this music, I think of people in the '60s dancing together at a fast pace. I also think of the movie Grease, and the singing and dancing they do in a little diner.
3. My childhood is associated with my family and friends. I specifically remember playing with my cousin at his house when we were younger, and hanging out by the pool at my grandparent's house. We would go over there to swim and then eat together, watching the sun go down as we played in their huge yard or sat around and talked.

"The Pinch of Poverty"

1. Contributing factors of poverty include where you work (if your work), where you live, the type of government you live under, as well as others.
2. This artist portrays poverty in a negative light, as shown by the dark colors and gloomy faces.
3. I think the artist's message is that it is a hard life living in poverty, and can happen to anyone.
4. The artist uses dark colors and a certain dreariness about the painting to create a dark and bleak setting, which emphasizes the hard life of poverty. He or she also uses perspective as he puts the focal point on the baby to show that poverty can affect anyone, even a small child.