Berger’s "Ways of Seeing" VS. My Own There are numerous ways to "see" a picture. One person’s life can‚ and will affect the way in which they view the painting. I do not agree with Berger’s way of thinking throughout "Ways of Seeing". I feel that his opinions are contradictory‚ and opposite of mine. One reason I don’t like this reading is because he notes‚ "The way we see things is affected by what we know or what we believe. In the middle Ages when men believed in a physical existence in Hell‚ the
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anything such as icons‚ images‚ tokens‚ and etc. The use of symbols can have two sides to it‚ depending on how a person interprets it. In the book “Seeing Ourselves” by John Macionis‚ a Professor of Sociology and Prentice Hall Distinguished Scholar‚ Peter L. Berger makes a statement that meaning is socially constructed by a society. According to Berger‚ people act accordingly to the meaning they assign to objects‚ symbols‚ or events. Basing off of Berger’s theory‚ symbols are only valuable when they
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In this essay‚ I will discuss chapter’s five and seven of John Berger’s book “Ways Of Seeing”. Section one will look at what Berger means when he talks about power in chapter five of the book. In section two‚ we will discuss his ideas on imagination and envy‚ as outlined in chapter seven. In chapter five‚ Berger talks about oil painting being more of an art form than a technique. While he concedes that the technique has been with us for centuries‚ his argument is that it came into prominence when
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M A R K T WA I N Two Ways of Seeing a River (1883) This passage is excerpted from Mark Twain’s 1883 book Life on the Mississippi‚ in which he shares his experiences as a river steamboat pilot and explores the many facets of the great river. As you read‚ consider his masterful use of language as he reflects on his changing relationship with the river. Now when I had mastered the language of this water and had come to know every trifling feature that bordered the great river as familiarly as I
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In Chapter 3 of his book‚ “Ways of Seeing”‚ John Berger argues that in western nude art and present day media‚ that women are largely shown and treated as objects upon whom power is asserted by men either as figures in the canvas or as spectators. Berger’s purpose is to make readers aware of how the perception of women in the art so that they will recognize the evolution of western cultured art. Berger begins by claiming that in nude art the “presence” of a man is that of an actor who asserts
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see nature are Annie Dillard and John Burroughs. Dillard’s more sensational view on nature differs greatly with Burroughs more knowledge based views‚ but even though they have a very different view on seeing nature they also have a lot of commonalities. In the first paragraph of Dillard’s “Seeing” Dillard shows how she has always had a keen sense for details. This amazing sense for detail that she illustrates directly relates to how she sees nature compared to nature. Dillard sees nature in the
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Berger’s “Ways of Seeing‚” his use of artist jargon makes it difficult for the casual reader to comprehend a lot of the points he makes. A section that demonstrates this can be found in the first full paragraph on page 145. Berger uses phrases such as “compositional unity” and “harmonious fusion” when analyzing the paintings Regents of the Old Men’s Alms House and Regentesses of the Old Men’s Alms House. His language can be understood by different readers in drastically different ways‚ which makes
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Analysis on Two ways of seeing a river by Mark twain Now when I had mastered the language of this water and had come to know every trifling feature that bordered the great river as familiarly as I knew the letters of the alphabet‚ I had made a valuable acquisition. But I had lost something‚ too. I had lost something which could never be restored to me while I lived. All the grace‚ the beauty‚ the poetry had gone out of the majestic river! I still keep in mind a certain wonderful sunset which
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environment to fulfill certain needs and desires‚ such as Dillard in the forest‚ who hid pennies underground and drew arrows for others to find her coins. In the forest‚ she also describes hundreds of migrating blackbirds. The eye is a major component in Seeing. Dillard further describes cataracts which blinded many (which was later treated through surgery and return their eyesight.) One may call his or her eyes the “window of souls‚” because happiness‚ sadness‚ fear‚ love‚ and other emotions can be read
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John Berger’s “Ways of Seeing” is a short commentary that seems to be about how different classes of people perceive art‚ how its meaning has changed through the ages‚ and how the introduction of technology has affected it. Berger seems to be an extremely controversial art critic‚ based off opinions of him that range from “stimulating” to “preposterous”. He has been praised numerous times‚ yet condemned just as much. His writings can seem extremely complex and difficult‚ even cryptic at times; but
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