Final Draft

One of the many sculptures outside the Sheldon Museum of Art, “Willy”, was made in 1962 out of welded steel by a man named Tony Smith. This abstract piece of art is differs from those surrounding it. A vast majority of these pieces show portions of humans or contain similarity with other well known objects. However Tony Smith’s piece of art is something unique. It argues a different perception of art and a way nature, time, and the audience influences each other. This piece of art shows that anyone can become part of art and how art can fit in with our everyday life. Tony Smith’s background in art, the elements of “Willy”, and the environment in which it is placed all give us insight into the connections between artist, audience, elements, and environment.

Tony Smith was born in South Orange, New Jersey into an Irish catholic family. As a child he was stricken with tuberculosis. While being quarantined from his family, he started making models from small medicine boxes (New Angles on Art). Later in life he did paintings and worked in architecture. However, he became frustrated when clients wanted to keep changing his ideas. So he instead focused more on art. An idea for his first sculpture came to him while teaching a course on basic design (Time Magazine). His students were creating basic designs using cigarette boxes when he noticed a black file box behind them (Time Magazine). As a result, his first work of art was a metal box which simply enough he named “Black Box”. After this he began to create more geometric works of art, which displayed some of his architecture background. These pieces would later go from inside museums and later break outside of them into the outdoors.

This break from the confines of a museum into nature shows how expansive art can be. It proves that to experience art you do not have to enter a building to view it, or possibly pay money to view it. With sculptures outdoors, any person can be exposed to it. For example, “Willy” is placed on a campus where students from all sorts of backgrounds and intelligences walk by. With sculptures and other forms of art being placed outdoors, you have a more vast audience you are not limited to just people with a background in art, or old couples getting out and around. Everyday people can now try to relate to it. Ironically, Tony Smith named this piece of art after the character Willie from Samuel Beckett’s play Happy Days. In this play, Willie is a character that crawled as a mode of transportation. In the same manor you could say that “Willy” crawled his way out of traditional art viewing into a more exclusive way for viewers to experience. This change creates a greater bond between audience, sculpture, placement, and artist. Tony Smith felt that America was growing and expanding with sky scrapers and other buildings, so he wanted to create sculptures that would be more to scale with this change (Time Magazine). He did just that. He made a definite connection between audiences that were expanding their lives in conjunction with the growing society, and created large works of art that would stand out for audiences to become a part of.

Like many of his other works of art, Tony Smith had a unique way of piecing elements together to get an expansive and incredible work of art. His pieces were welded steel formed into geometric shapes. Any signs of welding were smoothed over. This made the piece seem more natural and took people away from focusing on the lines connecting each piece to the larger structure he had created. Geometric shapes can allow an audience member to relate their background in shapes like triangles trapezoids and others that are implemented into his work. Most of audience members, in other words passer byes, remember dealing with these sorts of shapes in some point in their life. This addiction of geometric shapes can bring you back to the simplicity of childhood, and the emotions and memories that go with it.

Most importantly, “Willy” is greatly influenced through the nature in which it was placed and the surrounding environment in which the statue is presented. When “Willy” was placed outside the doors of the Sheldon Museum of Art, it was placed in a more open space than those in the surrounding area. When put in an area like the one “Willy” was placed in it is more susceptible to the nature, weather, and objects surrounding it. In addition to this it gives the opportunity to walk up to it, touch it, and view it in a much closer proximity. When you stand close to this sculpture in the more sunny times of the year you can see a reflection of the colors you present. It is like you are meant to influence this sculpture in even a minimal way. The way you place yourself in relation to the sculpture affects the perception you get. This sculpture, with its large size, allows you to move around it and through it. So you can get a really broad and diverse feeling for it. In addition, the different seasons have an effect on “Willy”. With the sun beating down on this piece you not only get reflections of various colors, but “Willy” also casts obscure shadows beneath and around it. This causes the image of “Willy” to be in a constant change. The Earth is constantly moving around the Sun, making it change positions constantly. As seasons come and go the relationship between sculpture and weather changes. During fall months, the background of this piece of art changes. The grass that was once a luscious green has faded into a brown colored landscape. In the same way the trees transition through color schemes. They move from green leaves to more bright reds, oranges, or yellows; eventually the leaves fall off the tree all together. This gives the whole background a deader look. With the color of “Willy” being black, it doesn’t really clash with any of the colors of seasons. It is one basic color that goes with almost any. In transition from the dead of fall, the winter months bring snow to the campus. This gives yet another look and environment for Tony Smith’s “Willy”. Snow will cover some of “Willy” while most will fall at its base. Nature causes the makeup, view, and perspective of the sculpture to change.

Tony Smith composition of “Willy” has shown audiences the connection between artist, audience, elements, and environment. It has also shown that when a sculpture is placed outside it takes on a new meaning. Audiences of different types and backgrounds are able to see them in a way that relates to them specifically. Also with it being outdoors, more people are able to see it. Tony Smith wanted to have a larger scaled piece of art to relate it to the growing size of the world’s skyscrapers and life in general. His larger than life sculptures allow viewers that may have no background in art to now be able to relate to it. I feel that Tony Smith has changed sculpting from the original “art” to which we are familiar, and turned into a more modern form that many people can relate to. With sculptures like his out in the open, many people from different backgrounds can be exposed to it and create their own feeling. “Willy” dares people to think.




Statement of Purpose

WP3 Rough Draft

Works Cited:

(n.d.). Snapshot: tony smith. Retrieved from http://www.nga.gov/education/classroom/new_angles/bio_smith.shtm


(1967, October 13). Sculpture: master of the monumentalists. Time Magazine, Retrieved from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,837402-1,00.html

Authors Note

The task of finding rhetorical appeals shown within a sculpture was difficult for me. Prior to this project, I had no experience with this form of art. Thus, it made it hard for me to even begin thinking about this project. I felt that my sculpture, “Willy”, was going to be difficult to analyze due to its abstract form. Looking at all of the sculptures around the Sheldon Museum of Art many of them had human-like forms. “The Fallen Dreamer”, “A Woman Lying Down”, “Story”, are examples of these sculptures. When we first started this assignment, I felt like I was given the short end of the stick. I felt that I was going to have one of the hardest times finishing our final writing assignment. However when I looked past my frustration, I realized that this abstract form of artwork gave me a more open slate. It allowed me to explore past arguments focused on man and man’s actions or thoughts.

With this open slate it was still a very hard task for me to come up with a possible argument to present about this sculpture by Tony Smith. When given class time to sit with our sculpture and free write I got many ideas, however none of them supplied me with a good argument I noticed first the geometric shapes throughout the whole sculpture. I then clung to that idea. When our first pre-write assignment came around I found that though I picked out the rather obvious point of geometric shapes within the piece, I did not come up with anything to tie it to. I made the mistake of trying to make that piece work for that particular post. Looking up the background of Tony Smith and looking deeper into the creating of “Willy” was a bit difficult for me; however after searching I was able to find the meaning behind the sculptures name and Tony Smith’s background. To my pleasure, this helped me in searching for an argument. Finally after more class time with my sculpture I was able to find an argument.

For my argument I felt that “Willy” showed an alteration from what we see as traditional art to an art that the audience itself could relate and contribute to. I tried to fit this argument into an essay in the best way. At first I felt it was rather choppy and had no cohesiveness. It seemed to me that I was just rambling about nothing. I hit my backspace button quite a few times during my rough drafts, trying to find the right words and way to present this argument. When it came time for peer reviews I was given tips of what I should add, keep the same, or change. In my conclusion I had failed to make a “So what?” statement. And my peer suggested I replace one of my hyperlinks with a Wikipedia page that gave information about Tony Smith. I took this advice and revised my conclusion, tried to add some more emotion to my piece, and change my hyperlink.

WP3: Rough Draft 2

One of the many sculptures outside the Sheldon Museum of Art, “Willy”, was made in 1962 out of welded steel by a man named Tony Smith. This abstract piece of art is differs from those surrounding it. A vast majority of these pieces show portions of humans or contain similarity with other well known objects. However Tony Smith’s piece of art is something unique. It argues a different perception of art and a way nature, time, and the audience influences each other. This piece of art shows that anyone can become part of art and how art can fit in with our everyday life. Tony Smith’s background in art, the elements of “Willy”, and the environment in which it is placed all give us insight into the connections between artist, audience, elements, and environment.

Tony Smith was born in South Orange, New Jersey into an Irish catholic family. As a child he was stricken with tuberculosis. While being quarantined from his family, he started making models from small medicine boxes (New Angles on Art). Later in life he did paintings and worked in architecture. However, he became frustrated when clients wanted to keep changing his ideas. So he instead focused more on art. An idea for his first sculpture came to him while teaching a course on basic design (Time Magazine). His students were creating basic designs using cigarette boxes when he noticed a black file box behind them (Time Magazine). As a result, his first work of art was a metal box which simply enough he named “Black Box”. After this he began to create more geometric works of art, which displayed some of his architecture background. These pieces would later go from inside museums and later break outside of them into the outdoors.

This break from the confines of a museum into nature shows how expansive art can be. It proves that to experience art you do not have to enter a building to view it, or possibly pay money to view it. With sculptures outdoors, any person can be exposed to it. For example, “Willy” is placed on a campus where students from all sorts of backgrounds and intelligences walk by. With sculptures and other forms of art being placed outdoors, you have a more vast audience you are not limited to just people with a background in art, or old couples getting out and around. Everyday people can now try to relate to it. Ironically, Tony Smith named this piece of art after the character Willie from Samuel Beckett’s play Happy Days. In this play, Willie is a character that crawled as a mode of transportation. In the same manor you could say that “Willy” crawled his way out of traditional art viewing into a more exclusive way for viewers to experience. This change creates a greater bond between audience, sculpture, placement, and artist. Tony Smith felt that America was growing and expanding with sky scrapers and other buildings, so he wanted to create sculptures that would be more to scale with this change (Time Magazine). He did just that. He made a definite connection between audiences that were expanding their lives in conjunction with the growing society, and created large works of art that would stand out for audiences to become a part of.

Like many of his other works of art, Tony Smith had a unique way of piecing elements together to get an expansive and incredible work of art. His pieces were welded steel formed into geometric shapes. Any signs of welding were smoothed over. This made the piece seem more natural and took people away from focusing on the lines connecting each piece to the larger structure he had created. Geometric shapes can allow an audience member to relate their background in shapes like triangles trapezoids and others that are implemented into his work. Most of audience members, in other words passer byes, remember dealing with these sorts of shapes in some point in their life.

Most importantly, “Willy” is greatly influenced through the nature in which it was placed and the surrounding environment in which the statue is presented. When “Willy” was placed outside the doors of the Sheldon Museum of Art, it was placed in a more open space than those in the surrounding area. When put in an area like the one “Willy” was placed in it is more susceptible to the nature, weather, and objects surrounding it. In addition to this it gives the opportunity to walk up to it, touch it, and view it in a much closer proximity. When you stand close to this sculpture in the more sunny times of the year you can see a reflection of the colors you present. It is like you are meant to influence this sculpture in even a minimal way. The way you place yourself in relation to the sculpture affects the perception you get. This sculpture, with its large size, allows you to move around it and through it. So you can get a really broad and diverse feeling for it. In addition, the different seasons have an effect on “Willy”. With the sun beating down on this piece you not only get reflections of various colors, but “Willy” also casts obscure shadows beneath and around it. This causes the image of “Willy” to be in a constant change. The Earth is constantly moving around the Sun, making it change positions constantly. As seasons come and go the relationship between sculpture and weather changes. During fall months, the background of this piece of art changes. The grass that was once a luscious green has faded into a brown colored landscape. In the same way the trees transition through color schemes. They move from green leaves to more bright reds, oranges, or yellows; eventually the leaves fall off the tree all together. This gives the whole background a deader look. With the color of “Willy” being black, it doesn’t really clash with any of the colors of seasons. It is one basic color that goes with almost any. In transition from the dead of fall, the winter months bring snow to the campus. This gives yet another look and environment for Tony Smith’s “Willy”. Snow will cover some of “Willy” while most will fall at its base. Nature causes the makeup, view, and perspective of the sculpture to change.

Tony Smith's composition of “Willy” has shown audiences the connection between artist, audience, elements, and environment. It has also shown that when a sculpture is placed outside it takes on a new meaning. Audiences of different types and backgrounds are able to see them in a way that relates to them specifically. Also with it being outdoors, more people are able to see it. Tony Smith wanted to have a larger scaled piece of art to relate it to the growing size of the world’s skyscrapers and life in general. His larger than life sculptures allow viewers that may have no background in art to now be able to relate to it.

Works Cited:

(n.d.). Snapshot: tony smith. Retrieved from http://www.nga.gov/education/classroom/new_angles/bio_smith.shtm

(1967, October 13). Sculpture: master of the monumentalists. Time Magazine, Retrieved from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,837402-1,00.html

WP3: rough draft 1

One of the many sculptures outside the Sheldon Museum of Art, “Willy”, was made in 1962 out of welded steel by a man named Tony Smith. This abstract piece of art is differs from those surrounding it. A vast majority of these pieces show portions of humans or contain similarity with other well known objects. However Tony Smith’s piece of art is something unique. It argues a different perception of art and a way nature, time, and the audience influences each other. This piece of art shows that anyone can become part of art and how art can fit in with our everyday life. Tony Smith’s background in art, the elements of “Willy”, and the environment in which it is placed all give us insight into the connections between artist, audience, elements, and environment.

Tony Smith started his career building architectural work. However, he became frustrated with clients making changes to all of his designs (New Angles on Art). So instead he focused more on art. An idea for his first sculpture came to him while teaching a course on basic design (Time Magazine). His students were creating basic designs using cigarette boxes when he noticed a black file box behind them (Time Magazine). This sparked Tony Smith’s zest for sculptures. He was able to create structures with his own desires in mind and not have to worry about it being changed. His first work of art was a simple metal box which simply enough he named “Black Box”. After this he began to create more geometric works of art, which displayed some of his architecture background. These pieces would later go from inside museums and later break outside of them into the outdoors. This break from the confines of a museum into nature shows how expansive art can be. It proves that to experience art you do not have to enter a building to view it, or possibly pay money to view it. With sculptures outdoors, any person can be exposed to it. For example, “Willy” is placed on a campus where students from all sorts of backgrounds and intelligences walk by. With sculptures and other forms of art being placed outdoors, you have a more vast audience you are not limited to just people with a background in art, or old couples getting out and around. Everyday people can now try to relate to it. Ironically, Tony Smith named this piece of art after the character Willie from Samuel Beckett’s play Happy Days. In this play, Willie is a character that crawled as a mode of transportation. In the same manor you could say that “Willy” crawled his way out of traditional art viewing into a more exclusive way for viewers to experience. This change creates a greater bond between audience, sculpture, placement, and artist. Tony Smith felt that America was growing and expanding with sky scrapers and other buildings, so he wanted to create sculptures that would be more to scale with this change (Time Magazine). He did just that. He made a definite connection between audiences that were expanding their lives in conjunction with the growing society, and created large works of art that would stand out for audiences to become a part of.

Like many of his other works of art, Tony Smith had a unique way of piecing elements together to get an expansive and incredible work of art. His pieces were welded steel formed into geometric shapes. Any signs of welding were smoothed over. This made the piece seem more natural and took people away from focusing on the lines connecting each piece to the larger structure he had created. Geometric shapes can allow an audience member to relate their background in shapes like triangles trapezoids and others that are implemented into his work. Most of audience members, in other words passer byes, remember dealing with these sorts of shapes in some point in their life.

Most importantly, “Willy” is greatly influenced through the nature in which it was placed and the surrounding environment in which the statue is presented. When “Willy” was placed outside the doors of the Sheldon Museum of Art, it was placed in a more open space than those in the surrounding area. When put in an area like the one “Willy” was placed in it is more susceptible to the nature, weather, and objects surrounding it. In addition to this it gives the opportunity to walk up to it, touch it, and view it in a much closer proximity. When you stand close to this sculpture in the more sunny times of the year you can see a reflection of the colors you present. It is like you are meant to influence this sculpture in even a minimal way. The way you place yourself in relation to the sculpture affects the perception you get. This sculpture, with its large size, allows you to move around it and through it. So you can get a really broad and diverse feeling for it. In addition, the different seasons have an effect on “Willy”. With the sun beating down on this piece you not only get reflections of various colors, but “Willy” also casts obscure shadows beneath and around it. This causes the image of “Willy” to be in a constant change. The Earth is constantly moving around the Sun, making it change positions constantly. As seasons come and go the relationship between sculpture and weather changes. During fall months, the background of this piece of art changes. The grass that was once a luscious green has faded into a brown colored landscape. In the same way the trees transition through color schemes. They move from green leaves to more bright reds, oranges, or yellows; eventually the leaves fall off the tree all together. This gives the whole background a deader look. With the color of “Willy” being black, it doesn’t really clash with any of the colors of seasons. It is one basic color that goes with almost any. In transition from the dead of fall, the winter months bring snow to the campus. This gives yet another look and environment for Tony Smith’s “Willy”. Snow will cover some of “Willy” while most will fall at its base. Nature causes the makeup, view, and perspective of the sculpture to change.

In addition to nature’s affect on this sculpture, time has also taken its toll on “Willy”. When I looked closer at the metal on Tony Smith’s sculpture, I found faint lines of dirty streaking down his sides. With “Willy” being composed of steel, it makes it more resistant to weathering. But it will show any dirt or dust that is blown around it.

Tony Smith composition of “Willy” has shown audiences the connection between artist, audience, elements, and environment. With sculptures in general, when it is placed outside a whole different perspective is given. Audiences of different types and backgrounds are able to see them in a way that relates to them specifically. Also with it being outdoors, more people are able to see it. Tony Smith wanted to have a larger scaled piece of art to relate it to the growing size of the world’s skyscrapers and life in general. His larger than life sculptures allow viewers that may have no background in art to now be able to relate to it.




Works Cited:

(n.d.). Snapshot: tony smith. Retrieved from http://www.nga.gov/education/classroom/new_angles/bio_smith.shtm

(1967, October 13). Sculpture: master of the monumentalists. Time Magazine, Retrieved from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,837402-1,00.html

WP3: Statement of Purpose

This semester we have been exposed to analyzing rhetorical elements of objects. We began by analyzing photographs and followed this by analyzing comic strips. For our final writing project we were selected a sculpture outside the Sheldon Art Museum and were asked to analyze it. I was assigned “Willy”. This sculpture was created out of welded steel in 1962 by sculptor Tony Smith. Unlike sculptures with definite resemblances, “Willy” allows its audience to interpret it in a different way. With art objects that show an exact replica, a picture of an apple for example, don’t let the audience to expand their minds and enjoy the art and view it in your own way.

The context in which “Willy” is placed hints at a possible argument. It is placed outside the confines of the museum within the nature surrounding the museum. Its large size and color made me think about possible arguments that could be established through this piece of art. I tried to break down each part and aspect of this sculpture to come up with ideas. My initial observation was the geometric shapes that it consists of, however I felt that was too basic and looked also at its surroundings. I walked through it, touched it and noticed its hollow sound.

“Willy”, though a seemingly simplistic sculpture, uses the space and nature surrounding it to emphasize its aspects. Its black color and the texture of the metal allow it to reflect the colors and light that surround it. While walking around “Willy”, I noticed that even the color of my clothes could be seen reflected on its surface. This shows how the audience, art object and the context all work together when it comes to this particular piece of art. The sculpture argues the affect that each thing in life has on the other. The weather had altered parts of “Willy” as well. With the windy weather, dirt had been blown on to its surface giving it subtle brown lines running down the sides. I addition to this, the outlook of the sculpture was constantly changing. As each minute passed, the sun moved in a different position in relation to the piece. This made the shadows cast by “Willy” become constantly altered. Each minute, day, season, and year will make this sculpture different in at least a small way. Tomorrow it could be casting shadows, winter it will be covered in snow, and in a couple more years more weathering of the metal will be noticeable.

Many of Tony Smith’s sculptures are located outside and are made to the same scale and others even larger than “Willy”. He makes his art seem larger than life and allows it to work together with the natural environment letting it change the outlook and appearance of each piece. Although the weather and its surroundings have an effect on “Willy”, the welded steel he is composed of is resistant to any rusting rain or snow may cause. This can argue that the relationship with art, time, and nature is strong.

When I researched Tony Smith for one of the previous blog posts, I did not look to deeply into his background or information. I also did not find too much about “Willy”. However for this blog post I was able to find more information on both artist and sculpture. When a child he was put in quarantine structure behind his house after being diagnosed with tuberculosis (New Angles on Art). He spent much of his time building models out of medicine boxes. He found his skill of building thing from the family’s tool building business. After spending years in architecture, he became frustrated with people making changes to his work. So he left architecture however he did not keep it from influencing his work.

Tony Smith often found objects in life that he could turn into an idea for his sculpture. For example, one of his earlier sculptures was created after he noticed a file cabinet behind one of his students. He would start with building his models from cardboard and worked from there. I found it interesting that with my deeper research I found that in fact many of his sculptures are described as anthropomorphic in nature (New Angles on Art). I read in the Sheldon Art Museum’s Brochure that Tony Smith’s sculpture “Willy” was influenced by the character Willie in Samuel Beckett’s play Happy Days. Willie spends most of his time crawling around his wife who is buried waist deep in a mound of earth. Like the character in Samuel Beckett’s play Happy Days, “Willy” looks as to be a object crawling.

With this new knowledge of Tony Smith’s “Willy” sculpture, I am better able to interpret or get a better sense of its purpose or argument. Now that I know the relationship between the sculpture “Willy” and the character Willie from the play, I see that my original interpretation of his piece of art is not as accurate as I had originally thought. Instead, I now see how it somewhat resembles a crawling creature. In my original posts I was unable to see any resemblance of his art to anything but geometrics. But instead I now see that his art uses geometric shapes to create a unique form of anthropomorphism in “Willy”. In addition to the combination of geometry and anthropomorphism, I can now understand that the name that Tony Smith gave to this particular sculpture was of importance to him. It is now more evident to me that sometimes to get the full interpretation of a sculpture, or any piece of art really, you must also try and see the background or meaning behind it. We must step back and try to imagine different purposes. After learning more about Tony Smith himself and the artwork he produced you can see how he parallels his love of architecture with his talent in building sculptures. His works of art were, and are still, seen as “monumental, grand, spiritual, anthropomorphic, elusive, exploring infinity, geometric, biomorphic, complex, simple, multifaceted” (New Angles on Art).


Works Cited:

(n.d.). Snapshot: tony smith. Retrieved from http://www.nga.gov/education/classroom/new_angles/bio_smith.shtm

Intensification Writing Project

During our past two classes we have been exposed to different forms of “music” if you will. The two artists we were exposed to had two different definitions of music. John Cage felt that the silence and everyday noises was music. He points out that those everyday noises are never the same, unlike some music that is composed, it does not try to imitate things. In contrast, Wayne Coyne from the Flaming Lips wanted to expand the idea listening and composing. Thus he created an album that must have all four cd's playing at the same time to get the desired effect of the composer. He created it so that each cd was playing the same song but was featuring alternate parts.

In the same way, Tony Smith has created his own view of sculpture and art. He expands off of the idea of geometry and geometric shapes. When I first think of geometry, I think of drawing the shapes we learned in class on a piece of paper for the teacher to examine. These one dimensional shapes were distinct and did not strike me as any sort of art. Tony Smith combines aspects of geometry into his works. He incorporated his background in architecture with the knowledge of everyday shapes. “Willy” is an expansion of geometric shapes. When an audience looks at Tony Smith’s Sculpture they first see a black metal mass that is almost awkwardly formed to sit on the ground in front of the Westbrook Music Building. However the audience must look deeper into each section of the sculpture.

While thinking of a way to properly answer the questions, or topic, for this post I had to keep in mind the idea of intensification. I remembered the way each cd was as important as the next. So I needed to step back and think of ways in which Tony Smith would try and expand the simplicity of sculptures and create an expansive and more intricate piece of art. As I looked at “Willy” I noticed that you could break him down into things as simple as squares or parallelograms. Each shape worked together to create others. When looking at the sculptures around it I noticed that most of them were mate of smooth edges and had very little segments or parts that could be taken apart to find another work. “Will” is also one plain color; black. However this seemingly normal color stands out in its surroundings, intensifying the color’s appeal. Not only to the parts or segments if you will, of “Willy” work together to create the sculpture; the environment in which it is placed also adds to the piece. When looking at “Willy” from one angle you can see the buildings surrounding him; Architecture Hall and Westbrook Music Building for example. From a different angle you can see more of a nature centered background with the Sheldon art museum in the background. This expands on how “Willy” could fit in more than one situation.

WP3: Prewrite assignment 3

For this blog post we were asked to question the reason of the placement of our sculpture. Why it was placed outside the confines of a museum or if it is a replication of other artwork like it. Quite a few of the sculptures placed outside the Sheldon Museum of Art have anthropomorphic qualities to them. However Tony Smith’s sculpture, “Willy”, is one of those that differentiate in the sense that it has no human qualities. It is more abstract and keeps the onlooker interested to find out what it resembles. Each way you look at “Willy” you are exposed to more types of geometric shapes.

The incorporation of “Willy”, a highly geometric shape, in the outdoors may signify mankind’s incorporation into nature. Humans are thought to dominate the nature around them, removing all traces of natural life in an area and settling down in that region. We make large, geometric objects, sharp, angular and symmetric objects. Nature, while not necessarily angular, also presents symmetry. Snowflakes, for example, have their own unique symmetry, even though each one is different from another, as humans are. The integration of a manmade, angular sculpture may represent man’s desire to place himself amongst nature, and “Willy” may be an attempt to signify the bridge human’s should make with nature. In other words, a sculpture placed outdoors may be an attempt of the artist to put man back outdoors, into nature, to see nature’s beauty as well as that of the sculpture and to be in nature, rather than cooped up in some stuffy building.

Tony Smith incorporated geometry into each of his sculptures. An onlooker is able to look at his art from different angles and break it down seeing simplistic shapes that we learned when we were small children. He had a background in architecture and incorporated his knowledge of structure and angles into these pieces. Although “Willy” was placed outdoors, it was put in an area that was less of the “traditional” form of nature. It was placed around buildings and in a more materialistic portion of the nature surrounding the Sheldon Museum of Art. This placement plays off of Tony Smith’s architecture background. “Willy”, like some of his other works, is a “larger than life” sort of artwork. As Tony Smith created more and more of his pieces, he made them larger and expanded out of museums and out of buildings to the outdoors where his art could expand and match the scale of America’s cities (Time Magazine). His pieces also challenged the art of his time. His work took sculptures of clay and turned them into metal. His art tended to resemble the geometric shapes and designs that architecture is based off of. The makeup of Tony Smith’s art pieces can argue the relationship between architecture and art. Tony Smith’s background in architecture highly influenced his work. “Willy” is placed amongst buildings, in other words architecture, this shows how his artwork can work with these buildings to enhance its features.

Works Cited:

(1967, October 13). Sculpture: master of the monumentalists. Time Magazine, Retrieved from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,837402-1,00.html

Pre-Writing assignment #2

For our third writing project we were assigned a sculpture that is displayed at the Sheldon art museum. My sculpture was created by Tony Smith in 1962 and is composed of welded steel. “Willy” is an abstract piece of art that was placed in the back of the museum with other sculptures of the museum. However unlike many of the sculptures located in the same area, it was in a more open section of landscape.

“Willy” is a seemingly simplistic shape of art. It contains three points at which it is held above the ground. Like many of his other works of art, these portions of smooth metal are sculpted with sharp edges and defined points. Its black steel shows more of a geometrical shape that lacks curves of any kind. If you look from different angles, what you thought was the basic shape or structure changes into a whole different perspective. In a way, Tony Smith caused what initially thought was rather simplistic into a work of art that makes you think about the purpose. The title of this sculpture “Willy” gave me a bit of confusion. At first, I felt the name “Willy” had no purpose or relation to the sculpture itself. I looked up possible definitions of the word to try and bring more sense of it. Most of these definitions related the word back to willow trees and some related to the name William. Most of these definitions referenced back to willow trees. One talked about willow trees that are characterized by their tough and pliable twigs or branches. I felt that this had some relation to Tony Smith’s sculpture in some way. “Willy” is made out of welded steel. Steel is a strong modified metal. It has traits of elasticity, hardness and strength based on its heat treatment. It made me think of willow branches and their pliable and tough nature.

Tony Smith has created other sculptures that are quite similar to “Willy”. The concept of the rhetorical element, logos, is presented through visual unity, visual hierarchy, and how many visual elements are presented in the sculptures themselves. Unlike some of the sculptures around “Willy”, Tony Smith decided to use a limited amount of elements in this work of art and in each of his sculptures. “Willy” contains welded steel formed into the desired shape, and colored black. This keeps the audience from wondering which part of the art is the one to be focused on. There is also a sense of visual hierarchy in this piece of art. When you get passed the big picture of the sculpture with sharp edges and bent pieces, you can start to divide up each portion into smaller pieces. As I was walking around “Willy” to get a better sense of the sculpture, I noticed that I could identify different geometrical shapes within the art piece. There were triangles, a hexagon, rectangles, squares, and parallelograms. All these pieces work together to make this sculpture. This visual unity of each piece makes the sculpture the way Tony Smith intended.

WP3: pre-write #1

In regards to artwork and sculptures, I have very little experience. Though I have no experience, I do enjoy going to museums or looking at sculptures I see on vacations. Unfortunately, prior to this project I have not taken into consideration the rhetorical aspects of them or the purpose of its shape or color.

Throughout my life I have been taken to museums that show peoples artwork from the distant past to present. My grandfather has a passion for history not only in text books but seeing tangible evidence of things in the past. Like my grandfather, I was always interested in each art piece and respected, and sometimes envied their skill. My uncle is even an artist and musician whom I idolized for quite a long time. However as I grew older I saw him less and less. The school district I was in did not really push us towards art much either. We were required to take three art courses in middle school and needed to take one semester of either a music class or art class in high school. In concurrence to this, I also became very involved with sports and other activities with friends, church, band, and school. This made it difficult for our family to take trips or take time to visit museums with my grandfather like we used to. So as of late I have not seen or been exposed to art objects or paintings.

I was very happy to be able and think through the different aspects of Breach during class. I seemed to have a small idea of how to analyze the sculpture but I knew that I had a lot of improvement to make. I think that abstract artwork will be especially difficult for me. With my lack of exposure to art sculptures I will have to expand from just my view of the sculpture and try to think of ways others might see it. I am rather excited for this project; however I am anxious for my analysis.

WP2 Final draft

Anthropomorphism has been used through religion, mythology, literature, and now in popular culture. It is the act of giving human characteristics to non-human beings (Wikipedia). In religion certain animals, or half human and half animals, are symbols of gods. In early literature anthropomorphism was a well known literary device. For example in Aesop’s Fables, animals and weather were used to illustrate moral lessons (Wikipedia). Anthropomorphism has since been used to add humor in cartoons, literature, and even our television shows. In the past our culture found anthropomorphism humorous when it was placed in entertainment. For example in the comic strip Garfield, he talks to his owner John like it is an everyday conversation. We don’t think twice about the fact that he is talking in the first place. But as time has passed, it is not seen as something unusual anymore. We know it is not true in real life, but when we dive into literature or comics we put that aside and it is a common and natural thing. This comic strip plays off of the idea of the cat chasing the dog, but also attempts to remind us about anthropomorphism. Anthropomorphism is shown through the context of the image, the typography, and the aesthetics placed throughout the comic.

In this scene, a cat is standing in front of an open dryer. In between the washer and the wall, the dog is hiding. He has formed a plot to make the cat climb in, or reach, the dryer. He has even written directions on the door leading into the laundry room, the floor, and the dryer itself. The dog is using the statement “cat fud” to lure the cat to his desired location. In the background the dog is pleading to himself saying “oh please, oh please…” He is hoping that his plan will succeed.

The context of this comic strip is the dog chasing cat or predator vs. prey theme. Many cartoons and comic strips have used anthropomorphism to make more interesting ways for the theme to be carried out. In Wiley Coyote and the Road Runner, Wiley is tries to find any possible way to catch and eat the Road Runner. Traps, bombs, parachutes and more are all used my Wiley like it was no big deal. He sometimes chases after him with a fork and knife in hand and a bib around his neck, licking his lips and hoping he reaches his goal. In my chosen comic strip the dog is standing on his two hind legs hoping he won’t be seen. Interestingly enough, Wiley runs on his hind legs like a human is generally able to. In another cartoon show called Tom and Jerry, the mouse Jerry runs away from Tom on his two hind legs. He carries cheese on his back like it is luggage and even sits cross legged while he watches Tom get in trouble. Animals don’t normally move around on two legs, stand around, or walk or chase things while only using two legs. In these cartoons, anthropomorphism is used to make the animals literate. I Wiley Coyote and the Road Runner, both Wiley and the Road Runner are given the ability to read. Wiley has to be literate to read the instructions for each of the “ACME” objects he uses against the Road Runner, while the Road Runner is able to read signs put in place by the coyote. Just like in other predator vs. prey comics and shows, Tom and Jerry is a show about the different ways in which Tom, a cat, tries to catch the mouse Jerry. Each time these cartoon predators try to strike, it all backfires or plans don’t go the way they intended. And yet they still include anthropomorphism. These anthropomorphic animals blush when they are embarrassed, have steam blowing out of their ears, or even stomp off mad when their plans fell through; these are things that never happen outside of comic animals that don’t normally move around on two legs are running around chasing others with items or ideas that humans would use.

In Compose Design Advocate (pg. 279), typography is defined as the study of how letter shapes work rhetorically and functionally. It enables the artist to add emotion and enhance their ideas. Typography is used in this comic between the two forms of dialogue. We can once again relate Gary Larson’s comic back to Wiley the Coyote and the Road Runner by using typography. Instead of using a formal script, the lettering is handwritten. His letters are unevenly sized and have a fun font that makes it feel mischievous in the same manor; Gary Larson’s comic gives you different emotions based upon the two sets of dialogue. The “chicken scratch” that is written on the floor and doors makes the dog seem literate and able to form ideas and put plans into motion. Yet there is one flaw in the dogs “literacy”, he is unable to spell out such a simplistic word as food. This starts to undermine the dog’s intelligence and makes the viewer question his motive. When looking closely at the writing on the box, it is slanted and looks like it was hastily written on the side. Inside the thought bubble, the dog’s thoughts are written in a much neater script. It makes the reader think about whether the dog’s thoughts are slightly scatterbrained or not.

Finally, the aesthetic elements in the comic reinforce the predator vs. prey theme and combine it with anthropomorphism. This comic strip is set in what viewers would believe to be a laundry room. He pieces in seemingly pointless and common details into the picture, however each element works together to give the viewer more insight. The directions and written words give the idea of a plot made to draw the cat into the laundry room. Not only is this giving him/her human-like qualities, it is also representing some sort of intelligence in regards to the dog. With the cat standing in front of the dryer with the text on the door, our assumption becomes clearer in that we can now bring to consideration that his plan is to make the cat crawl into the dryer to have the door shut on it. At first glance, you see the box on top of the washer as cat food that the dog probably used to try and lure the cat into the dryer. However, the cupboard door above the washer and dryer is open. This cupboard is, in most cases, where most people keep their detergent for their laundering needs. Detergent, as we know, is not meant for consumption in any case. A dog climbing up to get the detergent from the cabinet and putting it into the dryer is not seen as a big surprise. Another element in this image is the word “ACME” written on the front of the detergent box. If we go back again to the Wiley Coyote and the Road Runner cartoon, we can see that every object that Wiley uses to try and capture the Road Runner has the same word written on the box or item itself. When you combine the fact that the box not only comes from a detergent cabinet, but is also labeled “ACME” you can come to the conclusion that it is meant to kill or injure the cat. Just like in the other predator vs. prey comics or cartoons, the dog has gained the intelligence and plotting ability that is well known to humans. And even further, with the placement upon the washing machine viewers can assume that it was put into the dryer for the cat to eat. This set up is made into a Wiley Coyote and Road Runner relationship between the cat and dog and instills once again the well known cat chasing dog idea.

In conclusion, Gary Larson has used elements in this comic that show the dog chasing cat theme. Like in older cartoons and comic strips the artists enhance their characters through anthropomorphism. However, it is now shoved under the rug like it is common everyday occurrences to have a dog talk to its owner, or run around on its hind legs to get to a desired goal. Larson presented this argument through his many animal characters in his Far Side comics to try and bring back the humor of animals being able to use characteristics of a human.

Works Cited:

(2009). Anthropomorphism. Wikipedia. Retrieved (2009, November 17) from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropomorphism

Wysocki, Anne, and Lynch Dennis. Compose, design, advocate. New York: Pearson Education, Inc., 2007.

Links

Statement of Purpose

1st Rough Draft

2nd Rough Draft

Author's Note

When asked to pick a comic to analyze for our second writing project I had issues trying to decide what comic would yield the most potential for an analysis. In the end I decided to use a Far Side comic. I felt this one was rather humorous. I also had a personal connection to it. Growing up, my mother received a coffee mug with my chosen comic on it. My brother and I would fight over who got to use it. I felt like my comic held potential for the project I was supposed to present. I did however find it difficult to find an argument that was developed in this comic. I had to look into the aesthetics of the comic and try to see the meaning in them. In the last project we worked on, I was the one who placed an argument in my own work using aesthetics. However, this time around I was supposed to find how this artist used rhetorical elements to present an idea. This was a new experience for me to learn from.

While writing my analysis, I came across some barriers. When I was first writing my rough draft I did not come up with a strong argument. In all honesty I didn’t have an argument at all. I became very redundant and did not get around to making most of my points. My essay itself turned into a project that was struggling to get the word count and criteria, but not getting information on my comic specifically. For example, I said that my comic expressed the “dog chasing cat” argument. But when I received feedback and looked back through the elements of the comic. I found that it was not an appropriate argument to present to my audience.

For my revised work I had to reread through my rough draft and see what specific parts needed changing and where to begin with those changes. After I finished reading through my work, I felt that it would be best to, more or less, start from scratch with a whole new argument. After going in to get help finding an argument, I focused on anthropomorphism and how it has changed since its first uses. I did research on the background and details of anthropomorphism and tried to incorporate it within my paper. I felt that in order to help the audience understand my argument I would need to give examples from not only my comic, but the works of others as well. I felt that my argument was developed through the context of the image, the typography, and the aesthetics placed throughout the comic. Developing my conclusion also brought another hurdle for me to overcome. I needed to find a way in which to bring my analysis to a close while giving the audience an answer to the question “so what?” I decided to close it talking about how the use of anthropomorphism has changed. After receiving feedback from my second draft, I needed to work on my transitions and put in additional information about the use of typography. I went back to CDA and found ways in which the text helped the argument.

I feel that after doing this project I will have a better idea of how to try and find arguments in the works of others.

2nd Rough Draft WP2

Anthropomorphism has been used through religion, mythology, literature, and now in popular culture. It is the act of giving human characteristics to non-human beings (Wikipedia). In religion certain animals, or half human and half animals, are symbols of gods. In early literature anthropomorphism was a well known literary device. For example in Aesop’s Fables, animals and weather were used to illustrate moral lessons (Wikipedia). Anthropomorphism has since been used to add humor in cartoons, literature, and even our television shows. In the past our culture found anthropomorphism humorous when it was placed in entertainment. For example in the comic strip Garfield, he talks to his owner Jon like it is an everyday conversation. We don’t think twice about the fact that he is talking in the first place. But as time has passed, it is not seen as something unusual anymore. We know it is not true in real life, but when we dive into literature or comics we put that aside and it is a common and natural thing. This comic strip plays off of the idea of the cat chasing the dog, but also attempts to remind us about anthropomorphism. Anthropomorphism is shown in this comic through the context of the image, the typography, and the aesthetics placed throughout the comic.

In this scene, a cat is standing in front of an open dryer. In between the washer and the wall, the dog is hiding. He has formed a plot to make the cat climb in, or reach, the dryer. He has even written directions on the door leading into the laundry room, the floor, and the dryer itself. The dog is using the statement “cat fud” to lure the cat to his desired location. In the background the dog is pleading to himself saying “oh please, oh please…” He is hoping that his plan will succeed.

The context of this comic strip is the dog chasing cat or predator vs. prey theme. Many cartoons and comic strips have used anthropomorphism to make more interesting ways for the theme to be carried out. In Wiley Coyote and the Road Runner, Wiley is tries to find any possible way to catch and eat the Road Runner. Traps, bombs, parachutes and more are all used my Wiley like it was no big deal. He sometimes chases after him with a fork and knife in hand and a bib around his neck, licking his lips and hoping he reaches his goal. In my chosen comic strip the dog is standing on his two hind legs hoping he won’t be seen. Interestingly enough, Wiley runs on his hind legs like a human is generally able to. In another cartoon show called Tom and Jerry, the mouse Jerry runs away from Tom on his two hind legs. He carries cheese on his back like it is luggage and even sits cross legged while he watches Tom get in trouble. Animals that don’t normally move around on two legs are standing around, walking, or chasing things while only using two legs. In these cartoons, anthropomorphism is used to make the animals literate. I Wiley Coyote and the Road Runner, Both Wiley and the Road Runner are given the ability to read. Wiley has to be literate to read the instructions for each of the “ACME” objects he uses against the Road Runner, while the Road Runner is able to read signs put in place by the coyote. Just like in other predator vs. prey comics and shows, Tom and Jerry is a show about the different ways in which Tom, a cat, tries to catch the mouse Jerry. Each time these cartoon predators try to strike, it all backfires or plans don’t go the way they intended. And yet they still include anthropomorphism. These anthropomorphic animals blush when they are embarrassed, have steam blowing out of their ears, or even stomp off mad when their plans fell through; these are things that never happen outside of comic Animals that don’t normally move around on two legs are running around chasing others with items or ideas that humans would use.

In Compose Design Advocate (279), typography is defined as the study of how letter shapes work rhetorically and functionally. Typography is used in this comic between the two forms of dialogue. This “chicken scratch” that is written on the floor and doors makes the dog seem literate and able to form ideas and put plans into motion. Yet there is one flaw in the dogs “literacy”, he is unable to spell out such a simplistic word as food. This starts to undermine the dog’s intelligence and makes the viewer question his motive. When looking closely at the writing on the box, it is slanted and looks like it was hastily written on the side. Inside the thought bubble, the dog’s thoughts are written in a much neater script. It proves that his thoughts are not completely scatterbrained.

Finally, the aesthetic elements in the comic reinforce the predator vs. prey theme and combine it with anthropomorphism. This comic strip is set in what viewers would believe to be a laundry room. He pieces in seemingly pointless and common details into the picture, however each element works together to give the viewer more insight. The directions and written words give the idea of a plot made to draw the cat into the laundry room. Not only is this giving him/her human-like qualities, it is also representing some sort of intelligence in regards to the dog. With the cat standing in front of the dryer with the text on the door, our assumption becomes clearer in that we can now bring to consideration that his plan is to make the cat crawl into the dryer to have the door shut on it. At first glance, you see the box on top of the washer as cat food that the dog probably used to try and lure the cat into the dryer. However, the cupboard door above the washer and dryer is open. This cupboard is, in most cases, where most people keep their detergent for their laundering needs. Detergent, as we know, is not meant for consumption in any case. A dog climbing up to get the detergent from the cabinet and putting it into the dryer is not seen as a big surprise. Another element in this image is the word “ACME” written on the front of the detergent box. If we go back again to the Wiley Coyote and the Road Runner cartoon, we can see that every object that Wiley uses to try and capture the Road Runner has the same word written on the box or item itself. When you combine the fact that the box not only comes from a detergent cabinet, but is also labeled “ACME” you can come to the conclusion that it is meant to kill or injure the cat. Just like in the other predator vs. prey comics or cartoons, the dog has gained the intelligence and plotting ability that is well known to humans. And even further, with the placement upon the washing machine viewers can assume that it was put into the dryer for the cat to eat. This set up is made into a Wiley Coyote and Road Runner relationship between the cat and dog and instills once again the well known cat chasing dog idea.

Gary Larson has used elements in this comic that show the dog chasing cat theme. Like in older cartoons and comic strips the artists enhance their characters through anthropomorphism. However, it is now shoved under the rug like it is common everyday occurrences to have a dog talk to its owner, or run around on its hind legs to get to a desired goal. Larson presented this argument through his many animal characters in his Far Side comics to try and bring back the humor of animals being able to use characteristics of humans.

1st draft WP2

Gary Larson on January 1, 1980 and continued until his retirement in 1995. Ironically, his last comic strip was run on January first of that year. He told fans that he was afraid the comics would begin to get old or boring, and he didn’t want to continue writing similar comics that would be all to similar to others (Wikipedia). Unlike the multiple paneled comics of others, the Far Side comics were one panel. Gary Larson creates most of his comics with animals implemented and given human-like qualities, or anthropomorphically. For example some of his work included the way cows behave while humans are not watching or spiders driving in a family car (Wikipedia). And often the behaviors or qualities of humans are compared with those of the animals (Wikipedia). In addition his humor was also based upon uncomfortable social situations or searches for the meaning of life. These characteristics made Gary Larson’s comics unique.

In this comic, Gary Larson tests the stereotypical roles of common household pets. Any person can recognize or remember the “dog chases cat” scenario. It has been around since before many of us ever knew. It is like the Road Runner and Wiley Coyote cartoon we all grew up knowing; predator vs. prey. In this cartoon a dog is standing in between a washing machine and the wall while a cat stands in front of an open dryer. Through our past experiences or preconceived thoughts, we are able to form together our own interpretation or idea about the comic presented.

When most think of the relationship between cat and dog, they think of the constant battle between the two. In other comic strips, the dog is generally seen as the less intelligent participant of the situation while the cat is more mischievous and intelligent. We can base this knowledge off of things we have seen in the past. For example, we can take what we have previously seen in the comic strip Garfield. In this comic strip Garfield is always getting unsuspected Odie into trouble or having fun at his expense. Odie is portrayed as a dog that just runs around with his tongue hanging out and not really knowing what is going on. In Gary Larson’s Far side comic, the roles are somewhat altered. Instead, we are directed to believe that the dog in this comic has devised this plan to lure the cat to the desired location. This is something we would traditionally assume the cat would have done to a dog.

This comic strip is set in what viewers would believe to be a laundry room. He pieces in seemingly pointless and common details into the picture, however each element works together to give the viewer more insight. They can also propose more insight to an argument or claim the illustrator was trying to portray. By themselves each portion is meaningless, however when each element creates one broad image and idea. There are two main forms of dialogue in this comic. Based upon the other elements in the comic, we are led to believe that they both are coming from the perspective of the dog. Earlier it was mentioned that Gary Larson was pushing on the stereotypes or roles of cats and dogs in their rivalry. The directions and written words give the idea of a plot made to draw the cat into the laundry room. Not only is this giving him/her human-like qualities, it is also representing some sort of intelligence in regards to the dog. In Compose Design Advocate(279), typography is defined as the study of how letter shapes work rhetorically and functionally. Typography is used in this comic between the two forms of dialogue. This “chicken scratch” that is written on the floor and doors makes the dog seem literate and able to form ideas and put plans into motion. Yet there is one flaw in the dogs “literacy”, he is unable to spell out such a simplistic word as food. This starts to undermine the dogs intelligence and makes the viewer question his motive. The placement of his writing causes the viewer to follow the text just as the cat would have. The second set of dialogue is placed in a cloud shaped circle with smaller circles decreasing in size until they reach the top of his head. Us as viewers depict this simple form of typography to be the dog’s unspoken words or thoughts. It is in much neater handwriting than that of the text that we assume is the directions he set out. When we place together this text with the surrounding illustrations we get a still a more complex insight.

With the cat standing in front of the dryer with the text on the door, our assumption becomes clearer in that we can now bring to consideration that his plan is to make the cat crawl into the dryer to have the door shut on it. At first glance, you see the box on top of the washer as cat food that the dog probably used to try and lure the cat into the dryer. However, the cupboard door above the washer and dryer is open. This cupboard is, in most cases, where most people keep their detergent for their laundering needs. Detergent, as we know, is not meant for consumption in any case. It also has the word “ACME” written on the front of it. If we go back again to the Wiley Coyote and the Road Runner cartoon, we can see that every object that Wiley uses to try and capture the Road Runner has the same word written on the box or item itself.

When you combine the fact that the box not only comes from a detergent cabinet, but is also labeled “ACME” you can come to the conclusion that it is meant to kill. And even further, with the placement upon the washing machine viewers can assume that it was put into the dryer for the cat to eat. This set up is made into a Wiley Coyote and Road Runner relationship between the cat and dog and instills once again the well known cat chasing dog idea.

Now that we have an argument set out, it is important to keep in mind the reason artists create comics ranging from one panel to multiple. Comics can be used for a variety of reasons. Some people use comics as a way to criticize governments, leaders, ideas or other things. These comics are generally seen in the editorial section. While other comics, sometimes referred to Funnies, are located in the comic section of the newspaper are more are used for more of a care free kind of feel to allow people to relax or get a couple laughs. They come in a variety of topics, characters, and detail. Some can be as simple as stick people while others have more intricate detail and multiple panels. In terms of humor, artists can make the humor in their comic stand out while others make you think in order to appreciate the joke. In this context Gary Larson can present his topics in a setting in which they will be much appreciated. In comic strips even the simplistic details cause an idea based upon our past experiences and preconceived thoughts.

WP2: Statement of Purpose

I chose this comic for my personal background with it, and also for Far Side’s quirky way with comics. When I was younger my mother had a coffee mug with the same comic on the front. My brother and I would fight over that mug even though we vowed to never drink coffee in our lives. I would read it over and over each time I got a hold of the mug. This essay is important to show possible meanings of the comic and to analyze the aesthetic portions of this comic.

To pick out a comic that would fit with the objective of the project I had to sift through many sights to find a comic that I felt would fit and give me opportunities to find an argument that I would be able to present. The purpose for finding an adequate comic is to practice analyzing comic strips and presenting our findings as a grade to more or less argue that we know how, and are able to find the rhetorical objects in comics. I thought that the comic in which I chose would be presented so that my audience would see better my view of the comic.

In order to present an adequate essay involving this particular comic, it is important to keep in mind the audience. Although the majority of my audience will be composed of fellow class members, and my professor for feedback, it is still important to make it presentable to other audiences as well. Due to the fact that we post our written work on a blog for grading, that leaves room for a larger audience. It now widens the audience to those who visit our blogging site and essentially all those using the internet. I want the audience to see my argument. I believe it will be easier than most however. I want my audience to be able to relate to the age old cat vs. dog dilemma, and how it is represented in the comic itself. I must remember to focus on the important details so that the appropriate message is conveyed. There are countless people who have viewed this comic. Far Side fanatics, people just reading the newspaper, and other audiences.

The context in which I am another factor that can drastically affect my essay and the argument I present. Dogs are seen as “man’s best friend” while the cats are more the intellectual and intelligent animal in households that are constantly trying to get the dog to fail. This stereotype is shown by the misspelling of the word food and instead putting "cat fud". However the dog seems to be intelligent enough to come up with a way that can eliminate the cat from competition. The comic tries to bend the stereotype by showing these roles slightly reversed. Instead the cat is being targeted and the “protector” of the household is now seeking out revenge. The context in which I present this comic is important to show my interpreted argument of the comic.

In conclusion I am going to put into consideration my audience and the context in which I will be presenting my thoughts. I will need to alter my wording and adequately present ways in which my argument is shown in the comic itself and show proof shown aesthetically and rhetorically throughout.

Pre-write #2

Everyone remembers the random comics that gave you that “Ah-Ha!” moment. The simplistic ones like cows standing and talking until cars pass by. The Far Side comics are loved by many and continue to provide humor today. The author of the Far Side comics, Gary Larson, developed humor in his comics with many reoccurring themes. He used more or less simplistic panels and text that still evoked many people to laugh, causing them to come back for more.


Larson’s comics were mostly based on uncomfortable social situations, improbable events, the meaning in life and many other topics (The Far Side, Wikipedia). You could find many of his works featuring animals, aliens, cavemen, and people stranded on desert islands. Unlike many other comics that were produced over the years, there was no “main character” that was featured in every edition. They consisted of random every day people in weird situations or places, or animals with human qualities. The one paneled comics were printed from January 1, 1980 to January 1, 1995. It was carried by over 1,900 daily newspapers, and reruns are still printed (The Far Side, Wikipedia).


Larson used a combination of visual and verbal elements in each of his comics. The pictures would explain the type and in turn, the type also explained the picture. These comics would consist of text put at the top or bottom of the image as a header, explanation, or the dialogue itself; while some would have dialogue boxes in the picture itself. However many of them contained both to explain why the character in the panel was doing or saying something. Larson’s comics allowed a lot of room for the audience to interpret it in their own way. They tapped into what experience or knowledge you have with the topic and caused you to come up with your own response.


Taking away from the history or background of Larson’s comics and the topics and information from Compose Design Advocate, you can better understand some of the rhetorical and aesthetic elements that make up the chosen topic. The animals in this comic are given human-like qualities, like many of Larson’s comics. Readers know that in reality, dogs don’t stand on their back legs to behind a dryer and plot against the cat. We also fully know that a dog can’t write and a cat can’t read. But yet we interpret it and let the dog have the ability to develop a trap for the cat.


Typography allows us to look deeper into the text provided in the comic. The text written in each of the comics is able to adequately describe, explain, or give insight to the meaning and purpose of the comic. The combination of chicken scratches that misspell the word “food”, and the dog’s “Oh please, oh please…” thought bubble makes it easier for us to assume the dog hiding wants to cause the cat to jump in the dryer. Gary Larson combines the aesthetics of the picture, i.e. the dog and cats placement in the picture, and typography to influence the thoughts and interpretations of his comics.

Works Cited

Far Side. Wikipedia. Retrieved (2009, October 29) from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Far_Side

WP2: Comic Strip

I chose the Pickles comics, by Brian Crane, to select the comic in which I would use for my next writing assignment. Pickles has been one of the comics I have enjoyed since I started reading comics in the newspaper. My family never subscribed for the newspaper. So whenever my brother and I were able to get our hands on a newspaper, we went straight to the comics

Pickles follows a retired couple in their seventies. Earl and Opal go back and forth with bickering. Earl is a difficult and stubborn man, and Opal is more kindhearted. In this comic strip, Opal is trying to convince Earl to volunteer with her to give back to the community. Earl slings back saying that he has given back to the community by helping an old lady cross the street. By this statement he was trying to get out of the work and insulting his wife at the same time. Opal realizes this and gets upset with his remark. Readers that have never read the Pickles comic strip before are able to assume, from just a short four paneled comic, that Opal is a kinder individual that just wants to help those around her. On the other side it is also easy to see Earl’s behavior and individualistic emotions. The format of this comic allows for readers to pick up on the emotions and information from the simplicity of four pictures and four dialogue bubbles. Its simple background is made up of a couch and its foot rest. Opal and Earl are just sitting in what can be assumed as a living room, Earl with his paper and Opal trying to talk to him while he is focusing on his paper.

Each of the panels is able to connect together and thus work together to help the reader to relate to the comic and get the main ideas. They are also forced to look more at the two characters sitting in what the readers are made to believe is the living room because of the lack of other objects in view. When the comic starts out the view is more spread out and you can see both Earl and Opal, while in the two center panels you are focused on the face of Opal and then the face of Earl. This makes the reader focus on what the character is saying instead of focusing in on the whole scene. Then at the last panel the focus is then brought back out so that you can see the broader picture. When the reader is brought back to see both Earl and Opal they are able to see that Earl is no longer in the conversation anymore and has gone back to reading his paper and ignoring Opal.

The font in the dialogue bubbles makes the mood of the comic more care free and relaxed as opposed to a very blocky font that would evoke the thought of seriousness. Instead, readers are able to view this comic strip as a lighthearted comedy.

WP1: Final Project

Author's Statement

When thinking through aspects of our first writing project I had to decide from which side I wanted to present my project. I did the practice writing assignments with the rest of the class; however I didn’t feel I was adequately presenting the intended arguments of the photographers. I have a hobby for taking pictures of different types, normally pictures that do not include people. It was a great opportunity to experiment with this project and learn how points and arguments can be rhetorically presented through certain aspects of an image. So the choice of doing the photo essay was not all too difficult to decide. I was able to sift through pictures that I have taken, select a common theme and topic, and decide how I could manipulate each photo to better reach my point and argument.

After choosing a series of ten photos, I took into consideration my anticipated argument and used the parts of the photo that I wanted to alter to enhance the photo. Some of these I did initially when I took each photo, wanting to get the part of the landscape that appealed me most. I had to place them together in an aesthetically appealing way that would stand as the base of my argument. When I was finished with the placement, and captions, of the photos I needed to form an author’s statement and a conclusion. In these I needed to explain the purpose of my essay and how I manipulated each photo to present pathos, ethos and other rhetorical devices, I also needed to give explanation as to why I chose each picture.

When I received input from my rough draft of my essay I had confused, or mixed up, my conclusion. I needed to switch them around to better set up the essay. It was necessary to switch them to the appropriate places. The author’s statement is used to describe what you wanted to accomplish with the essay and give some background to what you did. I instead told the audience what I had done to the photos. I went back and tried to switch them back to the right format and made some of my wording more professional to readers. In my previous drafts, my words and sentence structures were elementary in a way. For example in my rough draft I said, “I then tried to mess with the saturation….” I changed them and reworded for my final draft. I was also told, for future reference, that my photos were unsymmetrical and drew away from the essay itself. I know now if I choose to do another essay like it, I need to make certain to fix each image to make it add to my argument rather than causing distraction.

I feel that my final draft has improved from my previous projects. Each suggestion, and reading over it, helped me delve through what I needed to fix with each section. It was a good learning experience for me. I was able to learn how to better choose photos and how to use technical and aesthetic aspect to my benefit.

Final Draft

I tried to form a sense of serenity and peacefulness in my photo essay. I took different portions of my trip this summer, to four different parks in western Nebraska, and put them into this photo essay. Each landscape, and the trip itself, reminded me of the simple beauty of nature and how some of the simplest things are in fact very complicated and intricate in their own way. Each rock and element work together to build the bluffs in Fort Robinson and Chadron State Parks. Each toadstool in Toadstool Geologic Park was shaped by a shallow river that passed through the area. This river exposed fossils and the different levels of rock on the edges of the river bed. Through this photo essay I wanted to expose the natural beauty and impressive result of weathering, and just pure nature. Also the simplicity of landscape that still manages to awe and inspire people is viewed in my pictures. I tried to form a sense of pathos by trying to allow my audience and opportunity to relate to my pictures and get a deeper sense of meaning out of each tiny piece of the natural landscape located right here in Nebraska.

During my week long trip this summer I went to four parks. Chadron and Fort Robinson State Parks, Toadstool Geological Park, and Agate National Park, all of which are in Nebraska. Each Park had portions of land that were intensely beautiful. Portions were altered for visitors to experience the beauty. Beyond the fort at Fort Robinson is the bluffs where you can look out over the valleys, buffalo, and antelope. You can look back and over the fort itself and see how small it is compared to the nature around it. Following the badlands of Toadstool Geological Park an expanse of a tall grassland spreads outward from your point of view. In the midst of Agate National Park, there are cliffs to walk on, and fossil beds that hold the past.

I used these parks to capture scenes of peacefulness and serenity. Then I took into account brightness, hue and saturation. Differences in brightness, hue, and saturation alter the emotions we perceive from an image. For example, take the two different shades of blue, one dark and one light, the darker shade of blue generally evokes the emotion of sadness or calmness. In contrast, the lighter shade of blue makes the emotion more happy or upbeat. For example, in my ninth picture I made sure to not only get the sand hills surrounding Toadstool, but also the storm front that was coming in over the horizon. I felt that in contrast to the light sand color of the hills, the shades of blue in the sky would peak interest. I noticed the change in the shade of blues from left side of my view to the right where the storms had originated. That change was something I wanted to capture, so I focused on to that portion of the landscape to document it. Also, in my fifth photo I altered the shot so that the rock formations framed the grass and brush in the foreground and opened up the background into the sky with one or two clouds spotted amongst the bright blue color. I then tried to alter the saturation of the photo to enhance the greens, browns, and blues. In these photos I tried to bring about a cheerful and serene feeling to the audience. I did this by brightening the colors in some photos while in others making them seem more simple and basic. For the majority of the photos, I wanted each individual color to stand out. I felt it would bring about the feelings of awe and admiration for the landscape that I experienced while taking each image. The colors of each image, enhanced or natural, adds to the overall pathos to my essay. I intentionally avoided implementing dark color into my essay. I wanted my audience to experience an uplifted feeling.

In order to shape, or direct, the audience's view of my pictures I had to frame or crop out portions of my photos. And I kept in mind the aspects I wanted to appear in my photos to be noticed. I decided to keep my pictures from being too crowded with elements. When too many objects are in the image, the audience can get distracted from the purpose of the photo itself.

Each natural, or enhanced, aspect of my images work together to give the photo essay the outcome I wished to create. Through my visual hierarchy and simplicity I was able to establish logos. And through the images’ and landscapes’ color, hue, and brightness I was able to create a form of pathos, thus shaping the viewers experience.

1. Road wrapping around the curves of a bluff in Fort Robinson State Park leading to the valley bellow.	2. Rock structure at the top of a bluff at Fort Robinson State Park.
3. Large valley in on the edge of Fort Robinson in Fort Robinson, Nebraska.	4. Different colors of the rocks at the base of one of the dunes at Toadstool Geological Park.
5. Rock formations outlining the curve of the large river bed in Toadstool Geological Park.	6. Small ravine branching off a river bed in Toadstool Geological Park.
7. The wisps and curves of a cloud hanging above Toadstool Geological Park before a storm rolled through.	8. A larger, more expansive view of the smaller toadstools at Toadstool Geological Park.
9. Storm rolling over the dunes at Toadstool Geological Park.	10.Creek branching through Agate National Park in western Nebraska

In conclusion, I made each portion of my essay work together to gather the correct perception. With the photos from Toadstool Geological Park I wanted to gather the structure of the toadstools from the closer and more detailed aspect, to the larger view with the clouds and sky spreading far and wide. In the same respect, I did this with the majority of my photos. I exposed the expansive view but then showed aesthetically, the smaller parts that also add to the serenity. Each aspect in my essay works together like building blocks to develop a sense of calm and serenity. In addition to cropping and framing my photos, I also manipulated the colors and brightness of the pictures. In the majority of my photos, I made the contrast between colors greater allowing for an affect of awe. Like in my personal favorite photo, number eight, you can see the expanse of a portion of Toadstool Geological Park. The colors are bright and the contrast between the sky and the rocks themselves evokes the desired sense that I intended for this essay. While in photos one, two, nine, and ten, I made the colors less contrasted to show calm.

By manipulating the photos' color and using framing and cropping, I was able to establish my argument and aesthetically present it in a beneficial way.

Statement of Purpose

First Draft

Second Draft