Extra Credit - Joanna Klink

While attending Joanna Klink's poetry reading, several lines from her poem "My Enemy" stood out and were significant to me. Even though the poem had a negative sense or feeling to it, I was able to relate to a few of the lines in a postive way. One line read, "No talent is able to thrive without humanity." The definition of humanity is the quality of being human or having human nature. We all know that no one is perfect and everyone makes mistakes. This line shows that without being able to make mistakes and learning from those mistakes, you won't be able to thrive in any aspect. Many times throughout our lives we learn a lesson the hard way. Even though these struggles may be difficult at the time, we learn from our mistakes and human nature and those mistakes eventually help out our futures in the long run for being more prepared. Another line from the poem "My Enemy" was very simliar to this previous one and can be easily related. The line from the poem noted, "If you're lucky, your life will be free of grief." This is a statement that almost anyone can relate to, for life is not easy. Sometimes life is not fair and that is just the way it is. Even though there may be grief or disappointment in your life, those struggles sometimes end up making you stronger as a person. They may make you a more powerful or capable person if you are able to learn from your mistakes and apply that knowledge to the future. Though her poem may have had a completely different purpose, these lines really stood out to me because I could easily relate to them and apply them as learning opportunities to my everyday life.

21st Century Art Image

This mural of Barack Obama was painted by an artist named Koolhats and is located at the Sante Fe Art District in Denver, Colorado. The artwork is untitled. The art district features more than 40 galleries and also has shops and restaurants. There is everything from traditional art to contemporary and emerging art, including painting, sculpture, photography, mixed media, graphic art, and textiles.

This piece of artwork displays the now elected President of the United states of America, Barack Obama. It is a contemporary piece of artwork that highlights a quote that directly relates back to the people. "I'm asking you not to believe in my ability to bring out the real change in Washington. I'm asking you to believe in yours." Notice certain words of the quote are highlighted to exaggerate or stress a certain point. The cultural context in this image is very important, for during the time of the election, everyone is directly involved in a type of way. By making this statement that the people have the ability to makes those changes happen, it encourages people to become more active and participate in voting. By voting as Americans, people can fulfill their most upright duty as an American citizen and vote and put forth their beliefs. As the statment by Barack explains, the people have the "ability" to make those "changes" happen. This proves that the changes that do not occur through politics or government, but rather by the deomcratic government and the power of the people.

As you analyze the actual image of the mural rather than the quote, much can be taken from the physical gesture of Obama. He possesses a very serious, determined and focused facial expression. His chin is significantly raised, showing there is hope for the future. There is a contrast of colors in this artwork that symbolize what American is going through. The diverse colors prove that people of all kinds of racism can now be united as one. Being elected as the first African-American President is a very significant even in our country's history. Using many colors especially in the facial region is an effective strategy to prove that racism can be resolved.