The Body as Media

Contortionists are a wonderful example of using the body as media. Their performance relies solely on the ability of their body to shock and contort. They can also involve elements of dance in their performance as well. This activity demands that the practitioners have complete control over their bodies, and is a field that calls for life long dedication and training.

Aside from just the physical training involved, they must also deal with the idea of presenting themselves in front of an audience. This produces a sense of vulnerability, which must be overcome by the contortionists. This mental preparation is directly related to the physical practice, and is equally important to keep in mind. All performance art produces this vulnerability.

Contortionists have the ability to entice the audience, and draw them in by forcing them to put themselves in that position, and images how it would feel.

-Dylan VanWormer, Trisha Ram

Day of the Locusts

This story starts out with kind of a banal feeling to me, it reminds me slightly of the Great Gatsby. Faye Greener sounds like Daisy and both stories share the same kind of lust and has a certain kind of forbidden love affair. Tod Hackett gets caught up in the world of it all he becomes part of his painting the Burning of Los Angela's, waiting to die. The violence draws me back to Candide by Voltaire most disturbing viloent scenes carried out by humankind. The ending scene too is not a happily ever after and Tod does not get the girl.

Ideology

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a divided country. There is a social order that exists and a clear distinction between the good and bad (wicked), but the Emerald city is located in the center of the country and stand in for a neutral point of view or the capital of this country of Oz. Oz himself is a fake and uses the trick of the eye to elevate himself up into being either feared or well liked, much like many of our own politicians today. Fear is a huge tool that will sway the people into doing almost anything.

The Situation of the Reader:

As a reader I can have two different experiences; I can choose to be merely the audience and outsider or put myself into the story and become immersed within it. Reading aloud has always been most beneficial to me in order that I retain the information longer and with more understanding. When I do read aloud I read with different tones and sometimes according to the text facial expressions appear and I get into the reading. I prefer to hold a hard copy in my hand rather than reading everything off from a screen, and I usually end up with a dictionary/ thesaurus. Re-reading is one way I found that works for me, and expanding my vocabulary.

I strongly believe that a book has the power to transport a person to another world and open our imagination to unknown avenues of our brain.