~The Scholar's Lounge~

As a spinoff of The Writer's Lounge, this thread is for everyone to come share their essays, summaries, research papers, reviews and other forms of writing that doesn't pertain to fiction writing.

Please post all works either in this thread or The Publisher's Desk (if the latter, please post a link to the exact post ).

Again, to discuss the other kinds of works not mentioned here, do so in The Writer's Lounge

Enjoy and have fun discussing your works here

A special thanks goes out to ParanoidAni-droid for this idea

 

My gratitude goes out to our two Ampitheatre Mod's RMCOY and Rogue 1 1/2 for their input and help in creating this thread. The following is what I wrote over in the Writer's Lounge:

This is a thread where people can post their essays, commentaries, criticisms, etc. I don't know about others but I've retained many of my papers, inluding the advice added by professors and I wouldn't mind sharing my information with other JCers. This thread would serve two purposes:

1. It is a place for the JC to pool its knowledge so people can get help in terms of research on various essay topics.

2. JCers will be able to hone their writing skills by reading other people's papers and seeing how their professors have responded to them with feedback (notes, grades, etc.).

Posters who've submitted their work to this thread could then provide a cohesive list of links in either the Writer's Louge or they could be edited in to the first post this thread by a Mod.

I should have my first batch of sumissions some time soon.

~PAd

 

Aha! Well, I posted in the Writer's Lounge a little writing called "No Rungless Ladders". I think that's on page 2. I would love to get some feedback on it, and discuss it...

-sj loves kevin spacey

 

Solojones brings up a good point, this thread, much like the others, can be geared towards critiquing works in progress.

To start, here are a couple of mine. The first is a brief anyalisis of a Lawrence Alma Tadema painting and the second is an essay on the nature of knowledge with various qoutes from litrature sources. Bon apetite!


Lawrence Alma Tadema Report:

The work of modern art that I chose to evaluate was ?Spring? by Sir Lawrence Alma Tadema, which was first completed and ready for display in 1894. It is said to be among the painter?s most famous works and he spent four years producing it. In this paper I intend to cover all of the various stylistic and aesthetic components to this painting as well as its relation to other painter?s work, reference of cultural history and social ramifications.
Tadema was often associated with and a heavy contributor to what was commonly
known as the ?Decadent Movement,? which implemented the medium in a way that
emphasized sensual and erotic themes. While this concept is not directly evident in the
subject matter of the painting I chose to analyze, it most definitely manifests in Tadema?s signature style. What may have been a cold and callous portrayal of old Rome in other painter?s hands becomes something organic and immensely textural in Tadema?s.
First and foremost, I will deal with the history and factual information of the work. ?Spring? is a representation of the Victorian custom of sending children into the country to gather flowers on the first of May. The procession taking place is of servants of the Temple of Flora who are celebrating the Roman festival of ?Cerealia.? By setting the scene in the antiquity of ancient Rome, Tadema suggests the festivals deeply rooted origins. Furthermore, in my studies, I have found the old world to be a favorite subject of Tadema?s work which was not necessarily so with other painters of the Decadent
Movement.
Having layin some of the ground work from which this painting was founded on, I
will now discuss stylistic mannerisms in the work. Above all else, it would seem that
Tadema chose too make this procession the focus of his painting because its romantic
setting offered him the means to employ his love of capturing textures ranging from
bronze, marble, cloth, fur, flesh and, of course, flower petals. He pulls off his ambitions with a remarkable sense of almost surrealistic physicality. The vibrant clarity to the flurry of colour and textures appeals to the eye like a parade marching through our dreamscape.
Much of the paintings visceral appeal is lost in facsimile transfers. Seeing the painting up close had a highly engaging quality to it due in part to the application of Tadema?s paint to the canvas. Its layered and textural presence is a sure precursor to later
Fauvist and Expressionistic styles in the sense that the paint is almost crudely applied to the canvas. This three-dimensional quality to the work is all lost in facsimiles which simply do not do it justice on many levels including those of size. The original work stands as tall as any man.
As I had mentioned earlier, seeing the painting in person was very engaging, and
another reason why this is so is due to the epic nature of the work, elongated and
panoramic, which looms over the gallery like an archaic tyrant in antique gold framing.
There is an inscription on the frame which would lead one to believe that it was intended to be a gift for someone?s home. The inscription is a verse from Algernon Swinburne?s poem, Dedication, which reads: ?In a land of clear colours and stories, In a region ofshadowless hours, Where earth has a garment of glories And a murmur of musical flowers.? This adds an appropriate final touch to the work, like a punctuating note to emphasize the coming of a new spring.

ESSAY #2:

Is there knowledge we should not seek? Or is all knowledge inherently a
good thing, and can only the person be harmful?

The refrain to