Gender Role Behaviors: Biology and Society Share Responsibility Essay

There are many different facets to the nature versus nurture argument that has been going on for decades. One of these, the influence of nature and nurture on gender roles and behaviors, is argued well by both Deborah Blum and Aaron Devor, both of whom believe that society plays a large role in determining gender. I, however, have a tendency to agree with Blum that biology and society both share responsibility for these behaviors. The real question is not whether gender expression is a result of nature or nurture, but how much of a role each of these plays. Both Devor and Blum can agree that society plays a large role in establishing gender identity. In his article â€Å"Gender Role Behaviors and Attitudes,† Devor states, â€Å"Gender role characteristics reflect the ideological contentions underlying the dominant gender schema in North American society† (Devor 571). Deborah Blum agrees to an extent in her article â€Å"The Gender Blur: Where Does Biology End and Society Take Over?† As stated in her article by behavioral endocrinologist Mark Breedlove, â€Å"We’re born with predispositions, but it’s society that amplifies them, exaggerates them† (qtd by Blum 574). It is clear, however that the two disagree on the extent of the societal role in determining gender role characteristics. Devor’s statement, and entire article for that matter, point to a clear belief that biology has no effect on gender roles. Instead, he believes that our views of the â€Å"natural† behaviors of males and females are based solely upon the society that we live in, that we have been conditioned to see certain characteristics as â€Å"feminine† and others as â€Å"masculine†. This ideology sparks from the belief that biological factors make males more aggressive and dominant than fem... ...logy or society? Nature or nurture? In this case, I would say that the answer is that both biology and society have great influence on how males and females behave in their roles. The only question now is, to what degree do each of these play a role? For this answer, we may have to wait. The key thing is to know that nature starts the process, and nurture helps that process along.  Works Cited Blum, Deborah. â€Å"The Gender Blur: Where Does Biology End and Society Take Over?† Signs of Life in the USA: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers. 6th Edition. Sonia Maasik and Jack Solomon. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009. 573-580. Print. Devor, Aaron. â€Å"Gender Role Behaviors and Attitudes.† Signs of Life in the USA: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers. 6th Edition. Sonia Maasik and Jack Solomon. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009. 567-572. Print.

Kite Runner †Religion Roles/How Political Events Effect Characters Essay

3. In the novel The Kite Runner, the author Khaled Hosseini rarely mentions religion, but in a way, it plays a big role in the growth of the main character, Amir. In the beginning of the novel, Amir first questions his religion. Either he can listen to a â€Å"mullah† who taught that drinking was a sin, or he can listen to his more westernized father who thinks that religion is meaningless and drinks for his enjoyment. As one works their way through the novel, religion at first appears as a minor role, and eventually evolves into a much greater role in the life of Amir. The first important instance of Religion, appears in chapter three when Amir learns about sin and drinking. â€Å"Mullah Fatiullah Khan†, a teacher who taught Amir about Islam, said that â€Å"Islam considered drinking a terrible sin†, and that drinkers would one day answer for this on â€Å"the day of Qiyamat, Judgment Day†. Amir tells Baba, Amir’s father, about what he learned and Baba responds by saying that Amir has â€Å"confused what [he’s] learning in school with actual education†, says that â€Å"no matter what the mullah teaches, there is only one sin†, and that one sin was theft. Killing, cheating, lying, were all variations of theft. Amir blames himself for killing his mother, and believed that Baba hated him for this. Many people seek forgiveness through religion, but at this point of the novel, Amir has no idea which religion he should turn to. This young Amir seems as if he is indifferent toward Religion, and maybe might not care for it as a traditional follower of Islam would. Even though it seems this way, he will carry religion with him throughout the novel and will become a greater part in his life as he matures. In chapter twenty-four of The Kite Runner, Amir talks to the American Embassy about adopting Sohrab, Hassan’s son that Amir rescues from a Taliban official, and a man says that Sohrab is going to need to go to an orphanage again. Sohrab did not like the idea of being in an orphanage again and tries to commit suicide by slitting his wrists. Amir is able to get Sohrab to the hospital, then finds a white bed sheet and locates west so that he could pray. When he puts his forehead to the ground, he remembers that he hasn’t â€Å"prayed for over fifteen years† and has â€Å"long forgotten the words† but it did not matter to him. He then speaks the words he still did remember. In his prayer he says that he can now see that â€Å"Baba was wrong† and prays for forgiveness of his sins, betrayal, and lies. Amir promises to become a good follower and for his last words he asks for one last thing and says, â€Å"My hands are stained with Hassan’s blood; I pray God doesn’t let them get stained with the blood of his boy too. † I stated previously that many people seek for forgiveness through religion. For most of Amir’s life, guilt was carried with him and was never able to forgive himself. When he was in times of need, like his father’s diagnosis or Sohrab’s suicide attempt, he sought to his faith. This shows that Amir unconsciously also carried his faith throughout his life. Amir is a very introverted main character, but when he turns to his faith, the reader is truly aware of his feelings. Amir needs to believe in god to provide an agent for forgiveness. His faith will finally allow him to forgive himself, and will ultimately make Amir become more mature, and a man like his father. Months later on a Sunday morning, Amir gets out of bed and prays the â€Å"morning namaz†, and did not â€Å"have to consult the prayer pamphlet†. He says that â€Å"the verses came naturally now†. This shows that Amir has now accepted his faith and has grown from it. Amir’s religion and guilt played hand in hand with another. By reconciling and coming to terms with his betrayal of Hassan, he can finally now embrace Islam. 2. In the years of 1978 and before, Afghanistan was a peaceful country. The citizens relatively had freedoms, but with the arrival of the Russians and Taliban, these freedoms were to diminish. These political changes in Afghanistan have a direct effect on the characters lives in The Kite Runner. In chapter five, one reads about the first shootings that Amir hears. There were gun shots and explosions in the streets that lasted less than an hour. Those were â€Å"foreign sounds† to the Afghan people then. â€Å"The generation of Afghan children whose ears would know nothing but the sounds of bombs and gunfire was not yet born. † Amir then states that â€Å"The end, the official end, would come first in April 1978 with the communist coup d’etat, and then in December 1979, when Russian tanks would roll into the very same streets where Hassan and I played, bringing the death of the Afghanistan I knew and marking the start of a still ongoing era of bloodletting. † This is the part of the story where everything begins to change for the characters in The Kite Runner. The communist takeover of Afghanistan would drive Baba and Amir, along with other privileged class, into exile. The political situation in Afghanistan had led to a point where â€Å"you couldn’t trust anyone in Kabul anymore† and â€Å"for a fee†¦ people told on each other†. Dead bodies would turn up on the sides of the streets with bullets in their heads. Baba had to then make arrangements for him and Amir to flee to Pakistan. Baba and Amir would have to leave their old life behind them. Baba would have to leave his life of luxury and wealth. Amir left behind his childhood life, and left his betrayal of Hassan in Kabul, which will carry with him throughout the novel. Amir states that â€Å"For me, America was a place to bury my memories. For Baba, a place to mourn his. † When they settled in Fremont, California, Baba has a hard time fitting in and would eventually become unhappy working at a gas station. Amir on the other hand will have the opportunity to go to school and graduate college. The move to America is a set back for Baba, but for Amir, it will allow him to grow as a man. Amir would eventually return to Kabul in search for his nephew Sohrab. When Amir sees the streets of Kabul, he noticed that they are flooded with beggars. â€Å"They squatted at every street corner, dressed in shredded burlap bags, mud-caked hands held out for a coin. † The shocking thing here is that these beggars are mostly children, no older than six or five sitting at the laps of their mothers. Amir states that â€Å"the wars had made fathers a rare commodity in Afghanistan. † Hosseini paints a picture of the living situation that Amir’s half-brother Hassan was stuck to live with. Hassan was not privileged enough to flee, and had to live in this war torn Afghanistan. Amir’s nephew Sohrab is one of the unfortunate children that is born into a life of gun fire, explosion, and poverty. It is up to Amir to become a man and find â€Å"a way to be good again. †

Gun Control Laws Should Not Be Legal - 946 Words

â€Å"Gun Control†, pertains to laws dealing with the use of firearms in America. Whether one believes it or not, guns are trying to become outlawed in America, due to an out number of killings and other crimes. As the Bill of Rights states â€Å" A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms should not be infringed† [160]. Many argue that if more citizens were armed, the crime rate would dramatically drop. Guns to become illegal in America does not need to happen, in order to not start unnecessary problems. Gun control laws will not eliminate crime, only gun owners can eliminate crime. Furthermore, a twelve year old boy brought a shotgun to school, and injured two of his classmates in New Mexico. The boy had easy access to the gun, due to his family being highly involved with hunting. The young boy having easy access to the gun indicates danger, but does not mean that guns should be taken away from citizens for their own safety. Mental health may have played a huge part in this incident, or even too much knowledge about guns at such a young age. If the family will be willing to allow for the child to handle the gun, proper training should be given, and will not hurt the situation, only make the outcome more positive. For example, the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting. A male drove to the school, and killed twenty kids between the ages of six and seven. Innocent, young children with their whole livesShow MoreRelatedGun Control Laws Should Be Legal1250 Words   |  5 PagesToday in the United States, few gun control laws are strictly enforced, allowing many dan gerous citizens to easily obtain firearms. With guns in the hands of the wrong people, there is a constant threat to others. Well over half of the population in the United States own a firearm of some sort. There are over one-hundred and fifty laws in the United States, this includes state and government laws. These laws are very strict when it comes to carrying guns and handling them in public, but the problemRead MoreGun Control Laws Should Be Legal Essay1345 Words   |  6 PagesGun control has been a hot topic in your society recreantly everyone has a different view on gun control. There are two sides to the argument people that are for gun control and people that are against gun control. The media talks about the two biggest factors the National Rifle Association and the Second Amendment the right to bear arms. But the most important question is whether gun-control laws actually reduce gun crimes or murder rates in general. Most people believe that having a fewer numberRead MoreThe Issue Of Gun Control949 Words   |  4 Pagespolicy issues have some legal components to them. For me a policy issue that comes to mind would be Gun Control, because I am a gun owner who is a supporter of the second amendment. With shootings and other gun related trouble happening all over our country those who create and maintain our gun laws have a big responsibility to take care of. The policy issue of gun control has both people who support the right to bear arms, while there are others who think all guns should be done away with, and thisRead MoreGun Control Will Not Reduce Crime Essay1532 Words   |  7 PagesIn Just Take Away Their Guns, author James Q. Wilson argues that Legal restraints on the lawful purchase of guns will have little effect on the illegal use of guns (Wilson 63). Wilson points out that it would be tough to remove all legally purchased guns from the streets and nearly impossible to confiscate illegally purchased guns. Gun advocate J. Warren Cassidy argues that The American people have a right to keep and bear arms. This right is protected by the Second Amendment to t he ConstitutionRead MoreThe Importance Of Gun Control1587 Words   |  7 PagesThe ability to own guns is a privilege, not a right. Once a person or group of persons has abused their privilege, they do not deserve to carry on without a reduction or disbandment of the privilege. Gun control needs to be stronger to protect the people of the United States, to protect people from themselves and so much more. Constitutionally, gun control is legal and should be enforced due to the recklessness of the people. â€Å"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free StateRead MoreGun Control And The Possession Of Guns1247 Words   |  5 PagesGun Control is more like a ban on the possession of guns and other arms. Laws and Policies are defined to reduce the concept of gun possession from society. The efforts are made in wake of a real threat to the lives of many people and also to control illegal activities like terrorism, robberies and killings. Those times are long gone when a gun was possessed in an order to keep the flocks of animals arranged or to guard the cultivated lands. Now the guns are becoming a real threat to human life.Read MoreThe Battle Of Gun Control847 Words   |  4 Pages Gun Control  refers to laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms in order to  control  crime and reduce the harmful effects of violence. (http://definitions.uslegal.com/g/gun-control/) US Legal Definitions. The gun control debates and issues started hundreds of years ago. First, in 1873 the State of Georgia passed a law to ban handguns and this law was thrown out, because it was ruled unconstitutional. Second, in 1865 several SouthernRead MoreThe Issue Of Gun Control1454 Words   |  6 Pageswhether gun control is needed in this time period. Passing of strict laws is creating a tension between people who believe Americans have the right to bear arms against those who think guns kill people and need to be controlled. Who should Americans believe? First you have to understand that gun control laws could be very helpful in stopping certain crimes..certain. For example, in Tennessee, One of the most gun owning place, has put a ban on guns in certain places. The Tennessee law, which takesRead MorePersuasive Essay On Gun Control1687 Words   |  7 Pagesayehu Yitbarek Levell English 121-325/S25 04/20/2017 Gun Control Gun control is a controversial and important issue all over the world. A gun, as a weapon for defense and protection, has been misused by many resulting in unlawful acts. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, dedicated protect public health and safety, in 2010, there were roughly 31,670 gun-related deaths in the U.S. About 11,100 were homicides (35%) and about 19,400 (61%) were suicides (Jim). Every day, a lotRead MoreShould There Be Stricter Gun Laws and Should All Drugs Be Made Illegal?1129 Words   |  4 Pages Should there be stricter gun laws and should all drugs be made illegal? This topic is something I think we have all heard before, for years many states have went back in forth making drugs illegal then legalizing it for medical purposes only. The same goes for the debate with whether or not there should be stronger gun laws or should it just remain the same. On December 14, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut an armed gunman entered Sandy Hook Elementary school and performed a mass shooting. Unfortunately

The Call of the Wild, by Jack London - 985 Words

London introduces the only other companion for the man on the trip, the dog—a native husky with a heavy coat of fur, which has adapted to survive the dangers of the cold wilderness. Unlike the man, the dog does not have a â€Å"sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the man’s brain,† but instead the â€Å"brute had its instinct† (London 630). London contrasts the man’s intelligence with dog’s instinct, which doesn’t use human measurements to show temperature. The man pities the dog who was depressed by the cold and knew nothing of thermometers. But, for the man temperature is just meaningless way of communicating coldness passed through his generations, since it does not affect the man’s judgment. The dog’s instinct, inherited knowledge from generations prior, is able to make the practical judgment that it should not continue in the harsh weather. The man and dog are in a battle of survival of the fittest and must adapt to the environment in order to live. The dog and the old-timer have been given survival resources adapted over many generations. The old-timer relies on wisdom passed down from his ancestors who have learned to endure the harsh cold of the Yukon, by traveling with another companion. If the man wished to succeed in the harsh conditions, it would have benefited him to listen to the words of the old-timer. â€Å"The man did not know cold. Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold, of real cold† (London 632). The man isShow MoreRelatedJack London: The Call Of The Wild550 Words   |  2 Pages Jack London: The Call Of The Wild Well the main character is buck. He was born on a judge’s ranch in Mexico. He was the king of the ranch, everyone loved him. Them one day a gardener took him for a walk, and he was sold. He fought the man that bought him; he was stuffed in a cage. Buck is a huge half breed saint Bernard, and Scottish shepherd. He Is sent to Alaska and sold for a sled dog. He goes through several different owners. The story takes place in the late 1800’s, during the gold rushRead MoreCall Of The Wild By Jack London1448 Words   |  6 PagesCall of the Wild is a novella written by Jack London that is ironic about life and the way we look at it. We look at life as humans and other things are just living in our world, that nothing else has a say in the world because we do not speak the same languages. Example of this is how we â€Å"own† dogs, cats, horses, etc; we do not â€Å"own† them, they are their own being with goals of their own. We may not be able to understand what they are saying or what they are thinking, but as London explains throughoutRead MoreThe Call Of The Wild By Jack London802 Words   |  4 PagesThe novel The Call of the Wild is written by Jack London. The novel is known as an adventure fiction; it is known as an adventure fiction because it is based on an adventure by London, but is put into a fictional reading. This novel is told about a dog and his life struggles, but it is based on an adventure taken by London. This novel is important to us because it gives us an insight on how important it is to fight for what you want, and defend your place in life. The theme of this novel is to workRead MoreThe Call Of The Wild By Jack London1396 Words   |  6 PagesThe Call of the Wild is a novel by Jack London, and is a very interesting fiction novel that contains elements of happiness, sadness, failure, and triumph(with a hint of anger). This book shows the strong bond between man and beast, and helps the reader understand the strong loves shared(and lost). This book can show how change affects someone, and how it can affect the people around them. This book has a lot of important morals, which can teach the reader patience, sorrow, and true compassion. TheRead MoreJack London and His Call of the Wild1150 Words   |  5 Pagesof the parts of his nature that were deeper than he, going back into the womb of Time. - Jack London, The C all of the Wild, Ch. 3 (Jack London Quotes). This quote summarizes the success of Jack London’s writing career in one simple sentence. London’s success and inspiration for his naturalist style can be accredited to the way in which he was raised, and his experiences during his lifetime. Jack London, was born John Griffith Chaney on January 12, 1876 near San Francisco, California. His motherRead MoreCall Of The Wild By Jack London1386 Words   |  6 Pages Two of Jack London’s most famous stories are Call of the Wild and To Build a Fire. Call of the Wild is a novel about a dog named Buck, who is stolen away from his home in California and sold in Canada to become a member in a dog sled team. Then Buck learns the law of club and fang, and he becomes the leader of his team and eventually breaks away from captivity to become a wild dog roaming forest. To Build a Fire, on the other hand, is a short story about a man who is traveling through Canada inRead MoreThe Call of the Wild by Jack London Essay1143 Words   |  5 PagesThe Call of the Wild by Jack London The title of the book is The Call of the Wild and was written by Jack London in 1903. He was the son of an Irish-American astrologer and his mother was Flora Wellman, the odd one out of a well to do family. They lived a life of poverty in Pennsylvania. Jack read a lot and at the age of fifteen left home and travelled around North America as a tramp. On charges of vagrancy, he spent 30 days in prison. After educating himself he managedRead MoreSummary Of The Call Of The Wild By Jack London1908 Words   |  8 Pages Ms. Stone English 10 H 11 November 2016 Journal Entry #1: The Call Of The Wild, by Jack London 1. Section Summary A large dog, named Buck, lives on a big estate in the heart of Santa Clara Valley. While in the midst a famous gold rush in Klondike, Canada, many men need sled dogs to get around on the snow. Buck does not realize the great fear that he is in while living during this time. Manuel, a gardener on the estate that Buck lives on, gambles Buck to another man and loses. Buck beginsRead MoreAnalysis Of Jack London s The Call Of The Wild 1306 Words   |  6 Pagesdifferent literary movements. Authors choose the writing style they want, and whether or not to be in a movement. Jack London was one of these authors. He chose to be a part of the naturalism movement. Naturalism is a literary movement with the belief that humans and animals being shaped by their environment. He then chose to use indirect discourse in one of his most popular books The Call of the Wild. Free Indirect Discourse is when the reader knows the thoughts of the main character while having a thirdRead MoreWilderness in Ca ll of the Wild by Jack London Essay573 Words   |  3 PagesSymbolism Many of the characters in The Call of the Wild symbolize specific qualities. One example of this is Mercedes. She represents greed and being spoiled. Mercedes enters the wilderness clueless to what toll it will take on her. â€Å"†Undreamed of!† cried Mercedes, throwing up her hands in dainty dismay† (73). This quote shows that she was expecting (and hoping) for a more pampered way of life out in the Klondike. Mercedes could also represent the unpreparedness of most of the people going to

The Problem Of Anxiety Disorders - 1261 Words

Anxiety becomes so frequent and forceful, that it begins to take over people s lives. However, there are many different forms of anxiety such as panic attacks, phobia and social anxiety. Symptoms of having a panic attack may include sweating, nervousness, heart racing and attacks of fear. A panic attack usually lasts about ten minutes. Within those ten minutes a person can experience difficulty of breathing, chest pain, dizziness, nausea, tingling and numbness in your body. â€Å"Studies of patients with panic disorder reveal that 18% of first-degree relatives (i.e. parents, offspring, siblings) have the same disorder† (Malcolm Thomas, 2006).What causes panic disorder may be passed down from parents, or can be abnormalities in the brain,†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"Her doctor had prescribed antidepressants that seemed to improve her mood a little and she felt more energetic, but she still felt very debilitated† (Timothy, 2009). Most of all relaxation techniques such as breathing and having positive visualization during a panic attack can help a person. Phobias is a disorder where it’s a continuous fear of an object or situation. People with phobia usually have countless fears that it’s hard for them to keep up with their daily lives. â€Å"Avoidance behavior interferes with occupational or usual social activities, or relationships with others, or there is marked distress about the phobia† (Malcolm Thomas, 2006). Having phobia is feeling stressed out and having fear when being near the object. People who have phobia usually avoid what they are afraid of so they won’t feel afraid and stressed out. Different types of phobia can be afraid of clowns, natural storms, blood injections, afraid of blood, needles, and flying. Furthermore, phobias can be passed down from previous family members. People may also have phobias because they have had something traumatic happen to them. Or they had a panic attack while being in an elevator and seeing others being afraid of what others are afraid of. People who have phob ia usually start having the disorder as a child or a teenager. Children usually have phobias with animals and weather storms. Situational

Developing and Maintaining Skills for Everyday Life Free Essays

As a carer your role is not to do things â€Å"for† the individuals you care for but to do things â€Å"with† them. Your role is to work in partnership with the individual and support their decisions, regarding their care and support them to do as much as possible for themselves. If you provide too much care for an individual they can lose skills, not learn new skills and do not regain skills they have lost. We will write a custom essay sample on Developing and Maintaining Skills for Everyday Life or any similar topic only for you Order Now By providing active support and encouraging the individual to participate in their daily living needs you are helping them to develop and maintain their skills for everyday life. Individuals may have an evaluation to assess their physical skills. This may be carried out by an occupational therapist who will assess how well an individual can function in daily life and participate in their environment. The OT will assess what equipment and adaptations are appropriate which might assist an individual to remain as independent as possible. Occupational therapy has been shown to be successful for the elderly population with many medical conditions and surgical recoveries. Therapists work with individuals to improve their strength and regain or maintain necessary life skills. Occupational therapists working with the geriatric community counsel families, groups in the community and local governments, to make sure that each sector is doing its part to help the elderly to maintain their independence. Occupational therapy also helps geriatric clients and patients with other activities to assist in diminishing the possibility of social isolation and its unpleasant side effects. They do this by helping elderly clients and patients continue social activities they know and encouraging them to get involved in new ones as well as showing these folks ways to continue to learn in spite their limitations. Occupational therapy also promotes mind stimulating activities. These mental gymnastics give the seniors feelings of self-worth and may help them avoid getting dementia. Encouraging individuals to join local clubs and activities can also help them to maintain and develop their skills. How to cite Developing and Maintaining Skills for Everyday Life, Papers Developing and Maintaining Skills for Everyday Life Free Essays As a carer your role is not to do things â€Å"for† the individuals you care for but to do things â€Å"with† them. Your role is to work in partnership with the individual and support their decisions, regarding their care and support them to do as much as possible for themselves. If you provide too much care for an individual they can lose skills, not learn new skills and do not regain skills they have lost. We will write a custom essay sample on Developing and Maintaining Skills for Everyday Life or any similar topic only for you Order Now By providing active support and encouraging the individual to participate in their daily living needs you are helping them to develop and maintain their skills for everyday life. Individuals may have an evaluation to assess their physical skills. This may be carried out by an occupational therapist who will assess how well an individual can function in daily life and participate in their environment. The OT will assess what equipment and adaptations are appropriate which might assist an individual to remain as independent as possible. Occupational therapy has been shown to be successful for the elderly population with many medical conditions and surgical recoveries. Therapists work with individuals to improve their strength and regain or maintain necessary life skills. Occupational therapists working with the geriatric community counsel families, groups in the community and local governments, to make sure that each sector is doing its part to help the elderly to maintain their independence. Occupational therapy also helps geriatric clients and patients with other activities to assist in diminishing the possibility of social isolation and its unpleasant side effects. They do this by helping elderly clients and patients continue social activities they know and encouraging them to get involved in new ones as well as showing these folks ways to continue to learn in spite their limitations. Occupational therapy also promotes mind stimulating activities. These mental gymnastics give the seniors feelings of self-worth and may help them avoid getting dementia. Encouraging individuals to join local clubs and activities can also help them to maintain and develop their skills. How to cite Developing and Maintaining Skills for Everyday Life, Essay examples

Andy Warhol Electric Chair Analysis Essay Example For Students

Andy Warhol Electric Chair Analysis Essay Andy Warhol, the American painter, printmaker, illustrator, and film maker was born in Pittsburgh on August 6, 1928, shortly afterwards settling in New York. The only son of immigrant, Czech parents, Andy finished high school and went on to the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, graduating in 1949 with hopes of becoming an art teacher in the public schools. While in Pittsburgh, he worked for a department store arranging window displays, and often was asked to simply look for ideas in fashion magazines . While recognizing the job as a waste of time, he recalls later that the fashion magazines gave me a sense of style and other career opportunities. Upon graduating, Warhol moved to New York and began his artistic career as a commercial artist and illustrator for magazines and newspapers. Although extremely shy and clad in old jeans and sneakers, Warhol attempted to intermingle with anyone at all who might be able to assist him in the art world. His portfolio secure in a br own paper bag, Warhol introduced himself and showed his work to anyone that could help him out. Eventually, he got a job with Glamour magazine, doing illustrations for an article called Success is a Job in New York, along with doing a spread showing womens shoes. Proving his reliability and skills, he acquired other such jobs, illustrating adds for Harpers Bazaar, Millers Shoes, contributing to other large corporate image-building campaigns, doing designs for the Upjohn Company, the National Broadcasting Company and others. In these early drawings, Warhol used a device that would prove beneficial throughout his commercial art period of the 1950s-a tentative, blotted ink line produced by a simple monotype process. First he drew in black ink on glazed, nonabsorbent paper. Then he would press the design against an absorbent sheet. As droplets of ink spread, gaps in the line filled in-or didnt, in which case they created a look of spontaneity. Warhol mastered thighs method, and art dire ctors of the 1950s found in adaptable to nearly any purpose. This method functioned provided him with a hand-scale equivalent of a printing press, showing his interest in mechanical reproduction that dominates much of his future work. Such techniques used for almost all of his works derived from his beginning in the commercial arts. His pattern of aesthetic and artistic innovation, to expect the unexpected, began with his advertising art in the 1950s. Much of his future subject matter can be placed in the realm of such common, everyday objects, that were focused on in these early times. Nearly all of Warhols works relate in one way or another to the commercially mass-produced machine product. Hence, Warhols future artwork and techniques were greatly influenced by his rather humble beginnings. Although Warhol did receive recognition for much of his commercial illustrations during those times, he was constantly pursuing another career as well-that of a serious artist. Unfortunately, W arhol was not so successful at first in obtain this goal. His delicate ink drawings of shoes and cupids, among various others, had no place in a decade dominated by such heroic artists as William de Kooning and Jackson Pollock. Warhol And Pop ArtPop Art emerged in the US in the early 1960s, at first completely unacknowledged. During its beginning, Pop Art was often seen as an insult to the roles of such artists as Pollock and de Kooning, who were leading a revival of Abstract Expressionist, an abrupt and conspicuous dialectical reaction to a great wave of abstraction, at mid-century. Emerging with considerable fanfare, mainly condemnation, but by 1963-64, it suddenly began being extensively exhibited, published, and consumed as a cultural phenomenon By the early 60s, Warhol became determined to establish himself as a serious painter, as well as to gain the respect of such famous artists of the time such as Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg, whose work he had recently come to know and admire. He began by painting a series of pictures based on crude advertisements and on images from comic strips. These first such works, such as Saturdays Popeye'(1960) and Water Heater(1960), were loosely painted in a mock-expressive style that mocked the gestural brushwork of Abstract Expressionism, and are among the first examples of what came to be known as Pop Art. Warhols works during the early 60s are among those for which he is best known for. He reproduced advertisements and cartoons, as well as such familiar household items as telephones and soup cans, often painting one image repeatedly in a grid design. Many of these works, such as his pictures of dollar bills and soup cans, as in Cambells Soup Cans 200(1962), show many ideas underlying advertising, as well as showing his interest in techniques that enabled multiplication of an image, such as silk-screen printing, techniques that dominated much of his work. Through these works Warhol gained his much desired recognit ion, becoming an instant celebrity, having gone from respected commercial illustrator to controversial and influential artist. Such Pop Art images as Warhols soup cans and Lichtensteins comic book panels jumped from the vast American consumer culture into the realm of high artistic and aesthetic recognition. It is not known whether Lichtenstein or Warhol was the first to displace commercial images from the media to modernist painting, but Warhol, of all the founding Pop artists, first and foremost, consistently hewed to the canons of Pop technique and iconography. These first Pop works, in their intentional exclusion of all conventional signs of personality, in their obvious rejection of innovation and their blatant vulgarity, were somewhat brutal and shocking, designed with the intention of offending an audience accustomed to thinking of art as an intimate medium for conveying emotion. Warhol further extended these concerns by using techniques that gave his images a printed appeara nce, using stencils, rubber stamps, and hand-cut silkscreens, along with in his choice of subject-matter. He used the shocking images of tabloids, as in 129 Die in Jet to money, in a series of screenprinted paintings representing rows of dollar bills, and to the products of consumer society, including Coca-Cola bottles and tins of Cambells Soup. Thus, the once struggling commercial illustrator transformed into one of the most recognized and influential artists of the century, considered the progenitor of American Pop Art. Death And DisasterIn the summer of 1962, Warhols friend Henry Geldzahler laid out a copy the Daily News while the two were having lunch. On the cover, the headline was 129 Die in Jet. According to Warhol, that is what began a series of paintings depicting rather gruesome images of human death and disaster, with subjects ranging from the personal focus of individual suicide, the banality of everyday disaster, death by legal execution, to the historical death of poli tical assassination, culminating with the most destructive instrument the world has ever known-the atom bomb. Together, these works are among the most shocking and disturbing works of art the world has ever known. In most of these works, Warhol displays death as an ever-present subject. His first silkscreened death and disaster paintings were of suicides and especially gruesome car crashes, such as in Ambulance Disaster and Saturday Disaster. the power and suffering shown in the images stunning viewers. Like the contaminated canned food shown in Tunafish Disaster, these images appear to represent a breach of faith in the products of the Industrial Revolution by showing consumes products embraced by the population that backfire and cause death. Warhol retained the images from clippings of newspapers, magazines, and photographs, altering them only slightly, as was his norm, to show the images as they were, everyday occurrences the public accepts yet forgets, forcing the viewer to take them at face value. They portray A stark, disabused, pessimistic vision of American life, produced from the knowing rearrangement of pulp materials by an artist who did not opt for the easier paths of irony or condescension. Among the most iconic Death and Disaster images in the Electric Chair.(1963) According to Warhol, his replication of this image, both within the single composition and from painting to painting, was intended to empty the image of its meaning. The electric chair is shown from the front, fully visible, showing a sign reading SILENCE, the sign exclamating the emptiness of the execution chamber. The image, the chamber empty , showing only the sign, represents death as an absence and complete silence, a complete void. This notion was characteristic of Warhol, who once said I never understood why when you died, you didnt just vanish and everything could just keep going the way it was, only you just wouldnt be there, and who often stated that he wanted a blank tombsto ne when he died. Many wonder why Warhol chose such imagery to focus on, and he himself gives little reason. For some of these works, in which he shows images repeated relatively unchanged, he was attempting to lessen the shock of the viewer, recognizing such events for their face value, as everyday occurrences. When you see a gruesome picture over and over again, it doesnt really have and effect. As in the Jackies, images of the recently assassinated President Kennedys grieving widow, were repeated to reinforce the obsessive ways that our thoughts keep returning to a tragedy, and stress the flash of fame these little known(suicides) victims achieve in death. This can be said to be consistent with Warhols claim that everyone will be famous for 15 minutes. In this, does he mean by tragedy? Others claim the initial context for these subjects was journalistic- as an artist trained in drawing and pictorial design, he was obviously predisposed to consider the front page of the news and ot her media items in visual , artistic terms-as a media junkie who continually pursued and collected printed matter, he was drawn into a network of sensationalized intimacies with the protagonists of the news. Regardless, there is a tie between these images and his celebrity portraits. Warhol took up the theme of suicide shortly after his first meditations on Marilyn Monroes death. While doing those works, he said to have realized that everything I was doing must have been death. Thus, the idea of death was not a new one for him, and thereby his choice of subject matter may not have been completely random. Throughout the Death and Disaster paintings, Warhol makes use of background color to serve various functions. Mostly, throughout the series, he avoids the use of primary colors, using mainly secondaries, such as oranges, lavenders, and pinks, the types of colors you would expect to find in a wallpaper store. His use of background color in the Death and Disaster paintings is mostly e xtrinsic to the content of the images. In some, such as Lavender Disaster, the background color seems to intensify the effect of alienation created by the realism of the visual content. In others, such as Atomic Bomb, the red-orange color serves a supporting role. The images Warhol selected for these paintings were gruesome, though he showed again his brilliant eye for such images so effective in shocking the viewer. With an eye for the eccentricity of an individual event, Warhols paintings capture the unpredictable choreography of death. Using a broad range of images, from car crashes, suicides, burn victims, funerals, riots, to the culmination with the atomic bomb, Warhol succeeded in giving the viewer what one expected of Warhol; to expect the unexpected. .u4609a5dd4d0762b41e3825cb2e5c2447 , .u4609a5dd4d0762b41e3825cb2e5c2447 .postImageUrl , .u4609a5dd4d0762b41e3825cb2e5c2447 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u4609a5dd4d0762b41e3825cb2e5c2447 , .u4609a5dd4d0762b41e3825cb2e5c2447:hover , .u4609a5dd4d0762b41e3825cb2e5c2447:visited , .u4609a5dd4d0762b41e3825cb2e5c2447:active { border:0!important; } .u4609a5dd4d0762b41e3825cb2e5c2447 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u4609a5dd4d0762b41e3825cb2e5c2447 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u4609a5dd4d0762b41e3825cb2e5c2447:active , .u4609a5dd4d0762b41e3825cb2e5c2447:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u4609a5dd4d0762b41e3825cb2e5c2447 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u4609a5dd4d0762b41e3825cb2e5c2447 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u4609a5dd4d0762b41e3825cb2e5c2447 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u4609a5dd4d0762b41e3825cb2e5c2447 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u4609a5dd4d0762b41e3825cb2e5c2447:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u4609a5dd4d0762b41e3825cb2e5c2447 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u4609a5dd4d0762b41e3825cb2e5c2447 .u4609a5dd4d0762b41e3825cb2e5c2447-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u4609a5dd4d0762b41e3825cb2e5c2447:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Grapes of Wrath - Rose of Shar Essay