[thoodleoo]

she's a 10 but she keeps turning my crewmates into swine with her magic potions

[fuckyeahwallpaintings]

Artist’s Sketch of a Swallow, Thebes, Egypt, ca. 1479–1458 B.C.

Limestone, today at Metropolitan Museum of Art, 6.6 x 10.6 cm 

Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art / internet archive / public domain

[m1male2]

The temple of Bacchus, Baalbek, Lebanon commissioned by Emperor Antoninus Pius (between 150 and 250 years) is a colossal construction of Roman imperial architecture that still stands 1,800 years later.

[aletheyass]

the thought of modern technology being available to ancient romans is truly terrifying and i'm not even talking military aircraft or atomic bombs i'm talking what if cicero had access to whatsapp voice messages

[onetrueharem]

[skodasforge]

Cato demanding Caesar post that text he just got in the groupchat to prove he isn't talking shit and Caesar posts his sexts from Cato's sister

[everythingfox]

Rescued baby seal’s first swim lesson

(via)

[evermore-fashion]

The Atelier by Professor Jimmy Choo Spring 2022 Bridal Couture Collection

[domina-suggestions]

If my boyfriend left me to found Rome I’d just sleep with his enemies. RIP to Dido but I’m different

[googlemenot-deactivated20230921]

[insomniac-arrest]

tag yourself, I’m “this employee has reached rock-bottom and shows signs of starting to dig”

[finelythreadedsky]

nausicaa daughter of high-hearted alcinous, if you’re out there: marry me

[silvaris]

A light in the forest by Anders Wätterstam

[catcrumb]

catcrumb in captivity

[byzantio]

Detail of the Mosaics; St Mark’s Cathedral, Venice.

[medievalvisions-blog]

[kendallroy-deactivated20210425]

idk who needs to hear this but when your english teacher asks you to explain why an author chose to use a specific metaphor or literary device, it’s not because you won’t be able to function in real-world society without the essential knowledge of gatsby’s green light or whatever, it’s because that process develops your abilities to parse a text for meaning and fill in gaps in information by yourself, and if you’re wondering what happens when you DON’T develop an adult level of reading comprehension, look no further than the dizzying array of examples right here on tumblr dot com

[kendallroy-deactivated20210425]

this post went from 600 to 2400 notes in the time it took me to write 3 emails. i’m already terrified for what’s going to happen in there

[kendallroy-deactivated20210425]

k but also, as an addendum, the reason we study literary analysis is because everything an author writes has meaning, whether it was intentional or not, and their biases and agendas are often reflected in their choice of language and literary devices and so forth! and that ties directly into being able to identify, for example, the racist and antisemitic dogwhistles often employed by the right wing, or the subconscious word choices that can unintentionally illustrate someone’s bias or blind spot. LANGUAGE HAS WEIGHT AND MEANING! the way we communicate is a reflection of our inner selves, and that’s true regardless of whether it’s a short story or a novel or a blog post or a tweet. instead of taking a piece of writing at face value and stopping there, assuming that there is no deeper meaning or thought behind the words on the page, ask yourself these two questions instead:

1. what is the author trying to say? 2. what does the author maybe not realize they’re saying?

because the most interesting reading of any piece of literature, imho, usually occupies the space in between those questions.

[icescrabblerjerky]

Analyzing text is literally a life skill, y’all.

[golvio]

Also:

3. What are you, personally, bringing to your analysis of the art?

Art is, fundamentally, a dialogue between artist and audience. You’re going to have a very different take on the work if:

You have an intense emotional reaction to the work because it hits a bit too close to home/there’s other stuff going on in your life that you somehow connect to this work.

Your own personal context either lets you in on a shared experience with an author who has something in common with you/gives you a totally different perspective because the writer’s identity is totally different from yours. Did the author get certain things wrong? Is the author writing about something you’ve never personally experienced before?

A couple of things you should ask yourself before dropping that hot take:

Are there particular biases or beliefs that are blocking your ability to analyze the work accurately? Is your interpretation based more on your initial gut reaction to the story and characters than what’s actually in the text? Can you collect and provide evidence from within the text to back up your own interpretation beyond just how it made you feel in that particular moment?

Is this your own opinion of the text, or are you unwittingly mirroring the opinion of someone else whose analysis you saw before getting into the text yourself?

Do you recognize your own interpretation is unique to you and that others might see the same artwork differently? If other people disagree with you, do you understand why they disagree with you?

Analyzing the work, trying to guess the author’s intent, and backing up your arguments with evidence from the text are essential skills. However, recognizing your own role as audience and that you’re not necessarily a passive, unbiased observer is important if you want to take the next step towards more nuanced analysis and criticism.

Something a lot of the half-baked takes that everyone makes fun of have in common is that they say a lot more about the critic than the work itself, so that self-awareness can help you avoid falling into that trap. There’s no such thing as a totally objective critic, but recognizing and owning that your experience is subjective can lead to much more meaningful critiques of art because you can more clearly explain why a piece made you feel the way it did without pretending your take is The One True Take.

[plant-scans]

Barn owl, Life on Earth, David Attenborough, 1979

[samhorine]

the eternal city - july 2016

[fy-theladymorgana]