Maria Amparo Ruiz De Burton

Biography
• Born July 3 1832 in Baja, California.

• “Raised as a Heiress, she was the granddaughter of Don Jose Manuel Ruiz, who was the commandant of the presidio in Baja California ”

• “During the Mexican-American War, Ruiz de Burton witnessed the American invasion of La Paz that began in 1846.”

• “Married Henry Stanton Burton in 1849, who later became an Army General. They had two children Nellie and Henry. Her husband died of Malaria during the Civil War.”

• Published two books: Who Would Have Thought It? in 1872 and the Squatter and the Don in 1885. She published a play Don Quixote de la Mancha: A Comedy in Five Acts: Taken From Cervantes' Novel of That Name in 1876

• “She published her first novel as "Mrs. Henry S. Burton" and her second one anonymously as "C. Loyal," an abbreviated form of Ciudadano Leal, "Loyal Citizen," a conventional method of closing official letters in nineteenth-century Mexico that Ruiz de Burton uses ironically to demonstrate her Mexican loyalties and signal her criticism of the corruption of American political ideals.”• Her books “are the earliest written in English by a Mexican-American in the United States.”

• “Her major themes were race, gender, and class.”

• “Ruiz de Burton spent roughly the last twenty years of her life fighting legal battles to assert her right to her family's land in California”

• Died Aug 12 1895

Who Would Have Thought It?

• In Who Would Have Thought It?, she “satires East Coast attitudes toward race during the Civil War.” “Ruiz de Burton uses irony and satire to mock American political discourses and practices by ridiculing socio-political structures of the period.”

• “The experience of Lola Medina, the supposed protagonist of the story, mirrors many aspects of Ruiz de Burton's own life. The character of Lola is a daughter of an aristocratic Spanish family from Mexico, who is adopted by a respected New England doctor and taken to the East Coast. Lola is well educated, perfectly fluent in Spanish and English, good mannered, yet disrespected by the doctor's protestant, white family and friends. Lola is ostracized due to her appearances.”

• “In Ruiz de Burtons own life, she was married young to a respected East Coast protestant man, yet always felt herself to be an outsider in New England, despite her education, wealth, and European lineage. Her appearance and name always gave her away.”

• “After publication, it remained relatively unnoticed for over one hundred years in American literary studies, demonstrating Ruiz de Burton's exclusion from American literary history and more broadly the marginal importance that Mexican-Americans had in American history.”

The Squatter and the Don

• “The Squatter and the Don is a historical romance that details not only the repercussions of the Land Act of 1851 after the US invasion of California but the rapid rise of the railroad monopoly in the state.”

• “The book is a historical novel about the relationship between Mercedes Alamar, the beautiful daughter of an aristocratic Californio family, and Clarence Darrell, an American who is affiliated with the Anglo squatters trying to claim the Alamar family's land”

• “In the book, the aristocratic Don Mariano proposes a plan that rests on cheap Indian labor to benefit himself and the Anglo squatters who have settled on his ranch.”

• She wrote: “By right, San Diego is the terminal point of a transcontinental railway and San Diego ought to be the shipping point for all that immense country, comprising Arizona, Southern California and Northern Mexico.”

• The Squatter and the Don “was inspired directly by her own experiences in the disputes over her land claims, and sought to contest official American histories of the conquest of California.”

Don Quixote de la Mancha: a Comedy in Five Acts: Taken from Cervantes's Novel of That Name

• “Many scholars interpret Ruiz de Burton's rewriting Cervantes' novel, Don Quixote de la Mancha, as an effort to reclaim her cultural heritage on California lands”

• “Don Quixote's character is transformed from a Hidalgo into a Mexican-American, who rides through stolen lands believing that he is a Spanish savior who must right the wrongs that have injured his people and end the enchantment imposed by the occupiers.”

Critiques of Her Work
• “Some critics claim that Ruiz de Burton ‘sympathized with the defeated Confederacy, seeing in the South's defeat a mirror of the defeat of Mexico in 1848, and in Reconstruction, a clear imposition of Yankee hegemony on the Southern states.’”

The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County

Mark Twain’s The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County is well written in its character and plot description. Twain captured the heart of the south, and makes you feel like you are actually in the bar with Simon Wheeler, listening to his story about Jim Smiley and the frog, Dan’l Webster.

I liked the description for how Simon Wheeler spoke: “Simon Wheeler backed me into a corner and blockaded me there with his chair, and then sat down and reeled off the monotonous narrative which follows this paragraph. He never smiled, he never frowned, he never changed his voice from the gentle-flowing key to which he turned his initial sentence, and he never betrayed the slightest suspicion of enthusiasm.”

I liked the character description Mark Twain used for Smiley’s mare: “the boys called her the fifteen-minute nag, but that was only in fun, you know, because of course she was faster than that—and he used to win money on that horse, for all she was so slow and always had the asthma, or the distemper, or the consumption, or something of that kind.”

It is almost like the reader has to imagine reading this with a southern accent, especially during the lines: “Well, thish-yer Smiley had rat-tarriers, and chicken cocks, and tomcats and all them kind of things, till you couldn’t rest, and you couldn’t fetch nothing for him to bet on but he’d match you.” I can picture the narrator hearing the words with a southern drawl attached.

I also liked how he made the story end abruptly, leaving us to wonder what happened to Jim Smiley when the other fellow found out about his cheating by weighing down the frog. I think this is the first story I have read where the narrator didn’t want to continue and know the rest of the story. Usually it is the reader that gives up on a story, not the people in the story.

Emily Dickinson

This past week for my English class, we have been reading poems by Emily Dickinson. here is my favorite poem:

441 by Emily Dickinson

This is my letter to the World
That never wrote to Me —
The simple News that Nature told —
With tender Majesty

Her Message is committed
To Hands I cannot see —
For love of Her — Sweet — countrymen —
Judge tenderly — of Me

Emily Dickinson’s writing “about death confront its grim reality with honesty, humor, curiosity, and above all a refusal to be comforted.” Her lines about death in poem 479: “Because I could not stop for Death, he kindly stopped for me,” give the indication that she had a sense of when her own mortality would end, because her “final decades were marked by health problems.”

When Emily Dickinson was releasing her thoughts to the world and trying to make a name or place for herself in society when she writes her first lines of her poem 519: “this is my letter to the world/ that never wrote to me,” seem like a prophetic message about the future when the poems were transcribed by Mabel Todd after Dickinson’s death.

Since Emily Dickinson’s poetry “focused on the speaker’s response to a situation rather than the details of the situation itself,” Dickinson put in many lines about her nervousness of her writing being read by her peers like the last line in 519: “For love of her- Sweet- countrymen/ Judge tenderly- of me.” She wanted people to enjoy reading her writing when she was gone as much as she enjoyed putting her thoughts to paper: “The simple News that Nature told- with tender Majesty.” Emily Dickinson definitely imagined people reading her poems for the first time and what they would think of her: “Her Message is committed/ to hands I cannot see.”

Dickinson knew what it mean to be a fan of someone’s writing and had admired Ralph Waldo Emerson’s, but “did not go next door to meet Emerson in 1857 when he stayed at the Evergreens during a lecture tour- preferring the Emerson she could imagine to the actual presence.” She preferred imagining what the world was like instead of being realistic about it, which is why she was thought of as “a reclusive, eccentric, death-obsessed spinster.”

For an assignment, we had to write a parody of a Emily Dickinson poem so here's the one I wrote:

I saw a ship in harbor
Glass elevators in the aft
Orange lifeboats dress for battle
Uprising waves of matter

Boats rocking from East to West
Rocks vowing to take soldiers
Those who came off tendering
New lands viewed by broken eyes

Lulu and Jimi

So last night, I went to the Peery's Egyptian Theatre to see the movie Lulu and Jimi with my art class.

  The movie was about a German girl who falls for a Black American boy, and what lengths her mother will go to keep them apart. It was kinda cheesy and weird, with subplots of mind control and electric shock therapy. The were some funny moments and some disturbing moments in it as well. At the end we had to hand in a ballot giving it a grade. I gave it a B.

New Frontier Installations Exhibit

Today, as an assignment for my art class, My Dad and I went to the New Frontier Installations exhibit on Main Street in Park City. This exhibit was unique and interesting, and had many things I liked and many things I didn’t. I really liked the photo walls with the different people and places, including the guy in the t-shirt that said “No One Cares About Your Blog,” the girl with the magnetic poetry on her face with one in the middle saying “I’m Not Crazy,” the hand with bloody fingers, and the one that said “You are the victims of the rules you live by.” I liked how they added ones that said “Image Unavailable” as well. The pictures below were my favorites from the exhibit:

Agency of Time by Leighton Pierce
Form: These digital video screens from long-exposure photography portray blurred images of trees, bodies, rocks, red gloves, red huts and different things you would find in a park or nature itself.
Meaning: I think the message of this art was to look at things in nature in a different way and not be so consumed with time going fast, because as they slowed down or sped up gave you a new way of looking at it.
Success: This instillation was the most interesting to me, because I’ve never seen anything like this before. I’m used to seeing painting and still photographs hanging on a wall, but never digitally moving like I was actually in the park viewing them. This took the most effort with between taking photographs to video screens, to printing the pictures at a standstill to display on the walls, so I appreciate the effort they took.

Exiles of the Shattered Star by Kelly Richards
Form: In this large digital video screen, flaming red balls fall out the clouded sky into the lake between the green mountains. The screen has speakers next to it, which displayed soft and loud bird chirps.
Meaning: I took it as the sky was falling, a sign of the future apocalypse, and the clouds were dark and grey, because of the events that were going to happen. I read on the plaque that the artist, “Kelly Richardson uses cinematic language to create part real/part imagined landscapes which offers a wavering hybrid of fact and fiction that are visual metaphors for our modern reality.”
Success: It caught my eye with its bright colors and visually stunning landscape. It was the biggest piece of art in the entire room.

Endless Pot of Gold CD-Rs by Nasty Nets
Form: This was two computer screens with graphics and animation with headphones next to them. On the first screen, there was an animated man wearing a red t-shirt, a black long sleeve shirt, and jeans, looking at different white walls with computer screens, with red and green lines (solid and dotted) moving in the background. On the second screen, a scrolling web page with different artist’s names and words scrolled together.
Meaning: The first screen was symbolic of me looking at the screens, while the man on the screen was looking at the same thing.
Success: I though the top screen was interesting because it was like a recreation of what was actually happening in the room, but I didn’t care for the bottom screen, with the explicit words. There were only a few pictures on the sidebar and the rest was mostly words.

Mother + Father (Father) by Candice Brietz
Form: Six screens displayed horizontally on the wall in a row, with six channels in a pitch black room, showing clips of films with Harvey Keitel, Dustin Hoffman, Donald Sutherland, Tony Danza, Jon Voight, and Steve Martin as single dads talking about their ex-wives or children.
Meaning: Some single fathers have just as hard of time raising their children as single mothers do, because of the clips they showed.
Success: I thought this was one was sad and an important one, because of its message that I thought the darkness in the room made what was happening on screen a little more important.

Living with Art

What does it mean to be creative?

For a person to be creative means the person uses all five of their senses, while being aware of their surroundings. They also need to create something original and be flexible. They need to step out of their comfort zone and be daring to express themselves and their emotions, in ways they haven’t done before.

Should technical skill be a prerequisite for judging a work of art?

I think technical skill should be prerequisite for judging a work of art, only if you are judging the artist’s technique, such as brush strokes, shading or color schemes. Not all art should be judged the same way, because every piece of art is different. This goes with the idea “art is the eye of the beholder.”

Is “having the idea” perhaps more important than actually executing it?

Having the idea is not more important than actually executing it. You definitely need an idea, but you also need to be productive, because society can’t see the painting or drawing that’s hidden inside your mind. How can you share what you want to, if you keep it bottled up? People certainly don’t benefit from their talents, if they don’t share it with others. They not only need to have an idea in mind, but follow through with productivity based on what they are trying to say.

Is the creative act meant to be solitary, painful process a la Vincent van Gogh?

I think the creative process can go either way. You definitely want to use art as a way to express your emotions, but not just the painful and sad ones. You want to express the times where life gives you joy and happiness as well. You can be creative, as long as something inspires you.

What distinguished the profession of ‘artist” from other professions?

Well certainly, there are other professions that use art. The profession of artist is a profession which displays art, sells their work, and uses their work as a way to work with other professions, whether it is designing graphics for their website, hanging their art on the company’s walls, or creating ads for their company.

What is the artist’s responsibility towards society?

The artist’s responsibility towards society is to show people different view points and walks of life other than the one they are used to seeing. It’s also their responsibility to make a statement about what they think about the world and either its current state or history with art.

What is your role as the viewer, the observer of art?

The viewer of art should give every art work a second look before moving on their way. They should also be respectful to the artist, and not vandalize or damage the art in any way. The viewer should take something away from observing art and be inspired by other people’s work and want to make art for themselves. Even if they disagree with the artist’s message and find it controversial, they should not try to censor the art, and let everyone have the right to come up with their own opinion.

Do you believe the truism that “art is in the eye of the beholder?”

“Art is in the eye of the beholder,” because some pieces of art won’t be viewed in the same way by two people with different backgrounds and opinions. One person could think that the painting is brilliant, while another could or couldn’t feel the same and could have no idea what it is the artist is trying to say. Art is open for interpretation.

1. Internet Site 1 (www.sgg.ch)

I thought this website was pretty unique. I haven’t really experienced a website like this before. I usually clicked on the first thing that caught my eye. I liked how it was kind of a maze clicking on one thing such through each page, taking me to the next page. Even though it seemed like a long process of clicking, it was worth it. I liked the shade and the blurred lines he used for the “Heaven Hell Engravings.” I liked the telescopes and the different maps of Anatomy, telescopes, botany, and bridges. I thought “The Fine Old Bridge at Alcantara in Spain Built by Trajan” was cool, because of the great texture he used for the clouds and the river. When I got to the Civil Architecture pages, I was really intrigued by the one with the faces at the top of the columns.

2. Internet Site 2 (www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/)

Yves Tanguy’s Indefinite Divisibility (1942) was certainly eye catching with the use of inanimate objects placed together to look like machine equipment with a ballerina and moon on the top of the larger one. I also liked the use of the light blue color scheme, with several darker colors in the forefront, and his use of the negative space in the background.

Adam Elsheimer’s Flight into Egypt (1609) uses a lot of dark color for the trees, with hints of a bright moon and in the middle a bright red, that almost make the people look like they hiding in caves. I really liked how he painted the sky to contrast the darkness of the trees.

Moon Pine and Plum Estate (1857) by Ando Hiroshige stood out for me because of how he curved the tree branches. I like the contrast between the red sky and the green ground, as well as the green and the blue in Moon Pine. I like how he added the detailed blossomed trees in the background of Plum Estate.

I studied William Blake in my British Literature class last semester, and was impressed by his writing and his artwork. The one of his that stood out to me was Whirlwind of Lovers, which almost has a fantasy element within it, with all the bodies being swept up into the sky and the bright light above the other person’s head. I thought it was visually moving and unlike anything I had ever seen before.

Ron B. Kitaj‘s flipped color scheme in The Oak Tree (1991) stood out for me. I like how he painted the tree blue and painted the background bright colors that might be typically used to color the tree. It’s a perfect example of when the book tells us that artists “create extraordinary versions of ordinary objects, refresh our vision, and help us to see the world in new ways.”

3. Internet Site 3 (www.craigfrazier.com)

It’s amazing how much modern technology allows us to show our art in a new way, such as making a video with art in motion, that we can load to the World Wide Web and have a bigger audience, than if we just showed it in an art gallery. Craig Frazier’s art is simple, but yet visually stunning with bright colors moving along to the music. I liked the blue dot one called Swisscheese, because in every frame, the dots appeared as something different, like rain coming down, to balls, to steps uprising with every take. In Wildfire, I like the pattern they used for his hair and the flames effect in the different colors. Bladerunner creeped me out, because I don’t like snakes, but I liked how he made the snake to look like a cutesy creature I would typically see in a Disney film. I liked how they made the lawnmower cut the grass in the shape of the snake as well.

What is art?

What does it mean to be creative?

For a person to be creative means the person uses all five of their senses, while being aware of their surroundings. They also need to create something original and be flexible. They need to step out of their comfort zone and be daring to express themselves and their emotions, in ways they haven’t done before.

Should technical skill be a prerequisite for judging a work of art?

I think technical skill should be prerequisite for judging a work of art, only if you are judging the artist’s technique, such as brush strokes, shading or color schemes. Not all art should be judged the same way, because every piece of art is different. This goes with the idea “art is the eye of the beholder.”

Is “having the idea” perhaps more important than actually executing it?

Having the idea is not more important than actually executing it. You definitely need an idea, but you also need to be productive, because society can’t see the painting or drawing that’s hidden inside your mind. How can you share what you want to, if you keep it bottled up? People certainly don’t benefit from their talents, if they don’t share it with others. They not only need to have an idea in mind, but follow through with productivity based on what they are trying to say.

Is the creative act meant to be solitary, painful process a la Vincent van Gogh? I think the creative process can go either way. You definitely want to use art as a way to express your emotions, but not just the painful and sad ones. You want to express the times where life gives you joy and happiness as well. You can be creative, as long as something inspires you.

What distinguished the profession of ‘artist” from other professions?

Well certainly, there are other professions that use art. The profession of artist is a profession which displays art, sells their work, and uses their work as a way to work with other professions, whether it is designing graphics for their website, hanging their art on the company’s walls, or creating ads for their company.

What is the artist’s responsibility towards society?

The artist’s responsibility towards society is to show people different view points and walks of life other than the one they are used to seeing. It’s also their responsibility to make a statement about what they think about the world and either its current state or history with art.



What is your role as the viewer, the observer of art?

The viewer of art should give every art work a second look before moving on their way. They should also be respectful to the artist, and not vandalize or damage the art in any way. The viewer should take something away from observing art and be inspired by other people’s work and want to make art for themselves. Even if they disagree with the artist’s message and find it controversial, they should not try to censor the art, and let everyone have the right to come up with their own opinion.


Do you believe the truism that “art is in the eye of the beholder?”

“Art is in the eye of the beholder,” because some pieces of art won’t be viewed in the same way by two people with different backgrounds and opinions. One person could think that the painting is brilliant, while another could or couldn’t feel the same and could have no idea what it is the artist is trying to say. Art is open for interpretation.

1. Internet Site 1 (www.sgg.ch)

I thought this website was pretty unique. I haven’t really experienced a website like this before. I usually clicked on the first thing that caught my eye. I liked how it was kind of a maze clicking on one thing such through each page, taking me to the next page. Even though it seemed like a long process of clicking, it was worth it. I liked the shade and the blurred lines he used for the “Heaven Hell Engravings.” I liked the telescopes and the different maps of Anatomy, telescopes, botany, and bridges. I thought “The Fine Old Bridge at Alcantara in Spain Built by Trajan” was cool, because of the great texture he used for the clouds and the river. When I got to the Civil Architecture pages, I was really intrigued by the one with the faces at the top of the columns.

2. Internet Site 2 (www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/)

Yves Tanguy’s Indefinite Divisibility (1942) was certainly eye catching with the use of inanimate objects placed together to look like machine equipment with a ballerina and moon on the top of the larger one. I also liked the use of the light blue color scheme, with several darker colors in the forefront, and his use of the negative space in the background.

Adam Elsheimer’s Flight into Egypt (1609) uses a lot of dark color for the trees, with hints of a bright moon and in the middle a bright red, that almost make the people look like they hiding in caves. I really liked how he painted the sky to contrast the darkness of the trees.

Moon Pine and Plum Estate (1857) by Ando Hiroshige stood out for me because of how he curved the tree branches. I like the contrast between the red sky and the green ground, as well as the green and the blue in Moon Pine. I like how he added the detailed blossomed trees in the background of Plum Estate.

I studied William Blake in my British Literature class last semester, and was impressed by his writing and his artwork. The one of his that stood out to me was Whirlwind of Lovers, which almost has a fantasy element within it, with all the bodies being swept up into the sky and the bright light above the other person’s head. I thought it was visually moving and unlike anything I had ever seen before.

Ron B. Kitaj‘s flipped color scheme in The Oak Tree (1991) stood out for me. I like how he painted the tree blue and painted the background bright colors that might be typically used to color the tree. It’s a perfect example of when the book tells us that artists “create extraordinary versions of ordinary objects, refresh our vision, and help us to see the world in new ways.”

3. Internet Site 3 (www.craigfrazier.com)It’s amazing how much modern technology allows us to show our art in a new way, such as making a video with art in motion, that we can load to the World Wide Web and have a bigger audience, than if we just showed it in an art gallery. Craig Frazier’s art is simple, but yet visually stunning with bright colors moving along to the music. I liked the blue dot one called Swisscheese, because in every frame, the dots appeared as something different, like rain coming down, to balls, to steps uprising with every take. In Wildfire, I like the pattern they used for his hair and the flames effect in the different colors. Bladerunner creeped me out, because I don’t like snakes, but I liked how he made the snake to look like a cutesy creature I would typically see in a Disney film. I liked how they made the lawnmower cut the grass in the shape of the snake as well.

The Philosophies of Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman wrote that he is “the poet of the Body and the poet of the Soul,” which is the basis for many things that inspired him to write, such as life, death, love, God, and war. He was inspired by the Opera, “he would later say that without the ‘emotions, raptures, uplifts’ of the Opera he could never have written Leaves of Grass. For him Leaves of Grass was an organic creation responsive to the fluctuations of his life.”

Whitman’s writing was based on the people in his life as he writes in Song of Myself: “People I meet, the effect upon me of my early life or the ward and city I live, or the nation.” He wrote about his loneliness and his admiration of other people in his work Crossing Brooklyn Ferry: “Crowd of men and women attired in the usual costumes, how curious you are to me!” Whitman believed that all people were equal: “For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.” He shares his joy at being connected to something like humanity when he writes: "And that all men ever born are also my brothers, and the women my sisters and lovers.”

Walt Whitman’s life was very affected by the Civil War. He was very involved in turning “his attention to the wounded,” because he believed actions speak louder than words: “Writing and talk do not prove me.” He shows how he was affected by it, by writing: “the dead, the dead, the dead, our dead.” He writes about death with a surreal reaction: “The suicide sprawls on the bloody floor to the bedroom, I witness the corpse with its dabbled hair, and I note where the pistol has fallen.”

Whitman mentions his beliefs on the subject of God: “I hear and behold God in every object, yet understand God not in the least, nor do I understand who there can be more wonderful than myself.” Whitman seemed confused about the reason he was on the earth: “A child said 'What is the grass?' How could I answer the child? I do not know what it is any more than he. And what is the reason? And what is love? And what is life?” Even though he has questions, he’s come to a place of peace with it, writing: “I exist as I am, that is enough.”

Whitman believed in following your natural instincts: “I think I could turn and live with animals, they do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins, they do not make me sick discussing their duty to God.” “During the late 1850s Whitman wrote a group of twelve poems, ‘Live Oak, with Moss,’ that seems to recount his passionate love for another man. His writing was very controversial at the time and he even was fired by James Harlan, because he objected “to Whitman’s frankness about bodily functions and heterosexual love.”

Whitman wrote of the importance of having your own voice: “My voice goes after what my eyes cannot reach; with the twirl of my tongue I encompass worlds and volumes of worlds.” He “experimented with form and prosody” wanting to make himself unique to other poets who came before him. Whitman emphasizes his belief in free will when he writes: “The same old role, the role that is what we make it, as great as we like, or as small as we like, or both great and small.” He wrote pieces he though the world needed to hear: “my words itch at your ears till you understand them.”