art imitates life

By Stephanie Palacios

English 102

Second Major Writing Assignment

Art Imitates Life

Arguments and What They Do

Not a yelling match between two or more opinions

• Should be fair and balanced

Should make your audience consider your argument, or re-assess their position

• You do not have to change your opposition’s mind, but you should be able to convince your audience that you make a valid argument

Makes a strong claim

• Aided by a lot of support

The Question: Does Life Imitate Art or Does Art Imitate Life?

The Opposition

• Some, like Oscar Wilde, believe that life imitates art

My Claim

• However, I believe that art imitates life

The Opposition

• Art influences life because it influences people to take action

Why the Opposition is Fallacious

• The opposition’s point of view, that life imitates art, is fallacious because it must be assumed that art is created for no initial reason

• This means that art cannot serve any purpose

• Art like this does not exist; art always seeks to express something

• *Note: We can be influenced by art, but the art is initially created as an imitation of life

My Argument

• Art imitates life

• Art always serves a purpose; usually to get an audience to feel an emotion which will influence him or her to take action

• Even when art is “just for fun” or “just for beauty” it is still imitating a part of life

Examples of Art Imitating Life

• The following slides are photos of art which are among the “10 Most Famous Paintings of All Time” according to touropia.com

Examples of Art Imitating Life

The Scream

Examples of Art Imitating Life

The Creation of

Adam

Examples of Art Imitating Life

The Last Supper

Examples of Art Imitating Life

Starry

Night

Examples of Art Imitating Life

Mona Lisa

Examples of Art Imitating Life

• The following examples of art are of non-paintings

Examples of Art Imitating Life

Notre

Dame

Examples from V for Vendetta

• Mask represented a universal face, fear, power and unification

• Created in response to life struggles

Real Life Use of the Guy Fawkes Mask

• 13 year old Meldoy wore

Guy Fawkes mask to show her

refusal to have her fingerprint

taken into school lunch system

Conclusion

• Art Imitates life

• Life cannot imitate art initially

• Life must occur first because that is where the inspiration for art comes from

• If life imitated art, art could not be created for any reason, and it could not express feelings

• Art can inspire us, but will have been initially created as an imitation of life

Sources Cited

1. How to avoid arguments & how to deal with arguments [digital

image]. 2013 Aug 24 [cited 2014 Mar 10]. Available from:

http://www.turquoisemoon.co.uk/blog/how-to-avoid-arguments-

how-to-deal-with-arguments/

2. Thinking man statue [digital image]. 2012 Mar 27 [cited 2014

Mar 10] Available from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-

progress/2012/03/27/how-to-develop-5-critical-thinking-types/

3. CORBIS. Christopher Columbus meets the natives as he lands

in the New World [digital image]. 2010 Aug 03 [cited 2014 Mar

10]. Available from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/steve-

jones/7923782/Human-population-our-brushes-with-

extinction.html

Sources Cited Continued

4. Oscar Wilde [digital image]. 2005 Aug 12 [cited 2014 Mar 10]. Available from: http://www.cmgww.com/historic/wilde/photo6.htm

5. Vermeer J. The girl with a pearl earring [image]. 2012 Aug 10 [cited 2014 Mar 10]. Available from: http://www.biographyonline.net/artists/famous-paintings-top-10.html

6. Higgs C. Young critic engaging with John Lavery’s “Portrait of Anna Pavlova” (1911) [digital image]. 2013 Feb 22 [cited 2014 Mar 10]. Available from: http://christopherhiggs.tumblr.com/

Sources Cited Continued

7. Silva J. Photo of The Scream [digital image]. 2014 Jan 21 [cited 2014 Mar 10]. Available from: http://www.touropia.com/most-famous-paintings/

8. Tripleman. Photo of The Creation of Adam [digital image]. 2014 Jan 21 [cited 2014 Mar 10]. Available from: http://www.touropia.com/most-famous-paintings/

9. The Creation of Adam [image]. 2010 Mar 29 [cited 2014 Mar 10]. Available from: http://www.openculture.com/2010/03/a_virtual_tour_of_the_sistine_chapel.html

Sources Cited Continued

10. The Last Supper [digital image]. 2014 Jan 21 [cited 2014 Mar 10]. Available from: http://www.touropia.com/most-famous-paintings/

11. Tasnaphun T. Photo of Starry Night [digital image]. 2014 Jan 21 [cited 2014 Mar 10]. Available from: http://www.touropia.com/most-famous-paintings/

12. Mona Lisa [digital image]. 2010 Jun 8 [cited 2014 Mar 10]. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mona_Lisa.jpg

Sources Cited Continued

13. The Moldau album cover [image]. 2012 [cited 2014 Mar 10]. Available from: http://www.musicmotion.com/Music-Appreciation/getting-to-know-classical-masterpieces-smetanas-the-moldau.asp

14. Cummings R. Description of the Moldau. ALLMUSIC [Internet]; date unknown [cited 2014 Mar 10]. http://www.allmusic.com/composition/vltava-the-moldau-symphonic-poem-m%C3%A1-vlast-no-2-jb-1112-2-mc0002450313

15. Kubina J. Lincoln memorial statue. 2014 [cited 2014 Mar 10]. Available from: http://www.veteransmemorialstatues.com/2011/07/sculpture-facts/

Sources Cited Continued

16. Thomas A. Notre Dame de Paris [image]. 2012 Mar 31 [cited 2014 Mar

10]. Available from:

http://www.wondermondo.com/Countries/E/France/IleDeFrance/NotreDamePa

ris.htm

17. V in V for Vendetta [digital image]. 2013 Jun 14 [cited 2014 Mar 10].

Available from: http://www.clydefitchreport.com/2013/06/the-dystopia-i-think-

is-better-than-1984/

18. Kirstie. Melody, 13, protesting the United Kingdom's policy of obtaining

biometric data from minors at school [image]. 2014 Feb 11 [cited 2014 Mar

10]. Available from: http://digitaljournal.com/news/world/13-year-old-defies-

big-brother-and-refuses-to-be-fingerprinted/article/370009

19. King J. 13-year-old defies ‘big brother’ and refuses to be fingerprinted.

Digital Journal [Internet]; 2014 Feb 11 [cited 2014 Feb 25]. Available from:

http://digitaljournal.com/news/world/13-year-old-defies-big-brother-and-

refuses-to-be-fingerprinted/article/370009