Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Picasso and O'Brien



**Pablo Picasso's work, Guernica, is one of the most famous depictions of war. Your task is to:

With a partner go to google images and find a picture of Guernica. Your job is to: (A) analyze and explain at least 12 different things you see in the painting, (B) explain what you see as Picasso's message (C) discuss how the color choice helps enhance his message, (D) explain at least 5 connections you can make between this painting and O'Brien's book. I recommend you do this on a separate sheet of paper. When you are done, post your response.



**After, visit www.legacy-project.org/index.php?page=exhibitions. Click on the link to Picasso's page and answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper.


1. What is the real significance of the word Guernica that people tend to forget?
2. Why was the attack "well planned" from Franco's point of view?
3. What was the reported temperature of the group the day of the massacre?
4. What is unique about this particular "war painting"?

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

A. We see a bull surrounded by people reaching out and crying to someone. We see deformed and crippled people lying on the floor with their hands spread out. We see a candle and a light bulb. We see a horses tail and it's hooves. A sword is lying on the ground grasped in someone's hands. We see the sun shining down and an angry dog with it's wide mouth open ready to attack. We see big feet and bulging eye balls. We see a man dying in the arms of a close friend. We see a bird that is white and a bull's tail that looks like it is on fire. Also inside of the angry dog's mouth we see a sword.B. We think that this picture reflects something negative. We think that his message is concerned with the war.
C. We think that the colors make the entire pictures pop out in many ways. D.
1. death/ loss of loved ones
2. people are very emotional
3. fighting
4. tragedy
5. vengeance
6. based on the war
7. buffalo- (water buffalo)





The name of a Spanish Basque village savagely destroyed from the air on the order of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco.
The attack is scheduled for Monday - market day - when the normal population of 8,000 swells to 10,000. At the peak of the attack, the ground temperature reached 3000 degrees. It is not a representation of the combat of armies, but the slaughter of innocents

Anonymous said...

The picture looks like there in War.
There’s dead people in it with swords in there hands.
There’s either a dog or a horse.
There is a flower.
A candle.
Light bulb
A bird
Cow
A bunch of broken people
Somebody yelling
The horse dies from getting stabbed
Theres a spear going through the horse
Women holding her kid that died

In Picassos message I believe I see a buffalo and a horse surrounding people. I think the picture is like a tribe being taking over by another or a war between two types of places that don’t like each other. They get attack and lots of people and animals were killed.

I believe the color choice help enhance his message because it was something bad that happened. And I believe that colors mean joy and this was a bad time of death.

This is related to the book The things they Carry because in the story Rat Kiley had killed a buffalo. And this shows an example of Curt lemon dying because people are dead in the image. Its like a war in the picture and in the book.

~JefF~

Anonymous said...

The painting Guernica symbolizes war, and horror among the people in the picture. After viewing this picture it is understood that the people were in fear of their lives. They use horses for war and there are many people dying. the people show anguish on thier faces as they peer up to the sky and seem to be looking for help. There are also knives within this picture and one of the men holding it has a flower in his hand. There is a faint bird in the picture, the mother holding her dead baby, the man holding a candel, a bull like figure, and the light fixture or sun are all seen in this painting. These all portray extreme emotions during a time of tragedy. This relates back the The Things They Carried, because they both are about war, not only among people, but among oneself. The painting is also done in black and white because it creates a certain emotions. The painting shows the peoples faces when they died and you can interpret how they were feeling, which is also seen in the novel. This also relates to the novel because all the characters in the book fear the war and the outcome, which clearly the people in the painting fear the result. The animals in the picture could also relate to the baby buffalo in the story, because there are random animals dying as a result of war.

Anonymous said...

A) Twisted animals, wide eyes, screaming people, injured people, woman holding her dead child, watching in horror, jagged edges, depressing colors, dead bird, building on fire, spirit coming out of a window, broken house on fire.

B) We view Picassos message as he wanted to show an exaggeration of war and violence.

C) His color choice enhances his message because it's dark and sad which shows how war or violence might feel when your involved.

D) The first connection we saw between the painting and the book was the exaggeration of things and how O'Brien always went more into detail than what the truth actually was. Another connection was the war and how in the picture, it looks like they're in the middle of a battle and the book was about being in the war. The picture also shows a man dragging his leg which connects back to the book because O'Brien explains how a grenade blew up a man and his body parts went everywhere. Another connection is all the animals fighting and getting hurt in the painting relate back to the water buffalo that got killed in the book. The last connection we found was the injured people in the painting relate to the injured soldiers in the book and how a lot of people risked there lives and got hurt during the war.


- Jessica and Brittnee

Anonymous said...

1. All the people are looking up screaming afraid of something.
2. There is a broken sword
3. There is a bull doesn’t seem to notice what’s going on around it
4. The horse looks like it’s in pain and scared
5. There is a woman holding a dead baby
6. There is a sun with a light bulb
7. It is really dark
8. There is a man holding a candle
9. There is a bird in the back ground
10. A man is running from something
11. There is a flying head
12. The bull’s tail looks like fire.

The color helps enhance the message because if it was bright you might think it is a happy thing but it’s dark so you know it is bad.


1. this shows how bad war is which the whole books is about
2. the fire on the bulls tail is similar to fire the soldiers use to burn villages
3. the upset woman is like the men after someone dies she is upset
4. the bull not caring is like America sending people to war not caring how many die for a cause not many people believed in
5. the screaming people are like the men in battle afraid that they might not live

Zack Shaw

Anonymous said...

(A)Everything is all jumbled together. The people in the painting have wide eyes filled with terror. There are people with missing limbs. There is a mother holding a dead child. There is a combination of people and animals. There is a man reaching up to the sky. There is a dead bird in the background. The peoples limbs are all sliced and scratched. There is a man holding a candle. There is a flower and an arrow. There is a sword lying on the ground in someones hand.(B) I think Picasso is trying to show how devestating and terrible the war was. This painting doesnt show any positive things about the war.(C) The colors used are neutral. There are no bright or "happy" colors used. The colors give the painting a kind of sad feeling. (D)1. The painting shows the terror and fear that was described in O'Briens book. 2.It shows the damage that was caused in the war. 3. It mixes people and animals. This shows the kind of animal instinct that comes out in the war; either kill or be killed. 4. Everything is all jumbled together. The war was chaotic. 5. There are people witnessing other people being killed.

-Courtney

Anonymous said...

A. I see a lot of people who are in pain. Many of the people in the picture are disfigured and are brutally wounded. The animals in the picture look like that have also been hurt the one gut has a sword that is lying on the ground I see a light bulb that inside of a sun and buildings with a man carrying a candle, the bull has a disfigured head with the horns offset on their hand.
B. I see that Picasso is depicting the horrors and brutality of war, and the effects that people must suffer trough.
C. I think the black and white of the picture enhance the image by the darkness showing the evil and darkness of war.
D. 1. In the painting they show the pain and suffering in war as they do in the book.
2. The fire is like the villages burning in the book.
3. The animals suffering is like when rat slaughters the water buffalo.
4. The darkness is like the when its night time in the book.
5. The people who are being slaughtered is like the people in the book who are getting slaughtered.
Steve Flannery

Anonymous said...

In Pablo Picasso’s drawing Guernica shows a bull which is a vicious leader. It then shows a woman with her child crying because it is dead. Then there is a soldier on the ground which represents a dead soldier in a crucifix position. Then there is a wounded horse that looks as if it is dieing from battle. There is then a lady he comes swooping down into the portrait. She is holding a light that lights up the darkness in the portrait. Then there is a lady that is portrayed as a beautiful lady who looks happy but never will be because she will never live a happy life. The lady on in the top right is being burned alive. The paper under the two horses looks like a ripped up war document. The volcano in the top left represents the country blowing up because of war. The door in the top right is to leave the war or get away from the trauma. The sun is trapped in the room because of the war. The flower on the ground represents there hopes that things will get better.
My partner and I see Picasso’s message as a complex view of a war in his country. The picture contains many things surrounding a war. These things are seen in the painting as death, sadness, hope, and the look for freedom.
The colors in the portrait are light and dark through out the painting. These colors represent what is important and what is not as important. The colors are dark on sadder parts and lighter on parts of hope.
There are many connections you can make between Picasso’s painting and Tim O’Brian’s book. The first one is the dead soldier. O’Brian’s book is about soldiers dieing and this is in the painting. The next connection is the mother weeping. She is dieing over a dead child like many mothers did over their sons dieing in Vietnam. A third connection is the door in the top right. It is surrounded by darkness and seems like there’s no way out alive besides a little hope. This is a strong connection with O’Brian’s book because many of the soldiers feel like there is little hope they will make it out of Vietnam alive or in one piece. Another connection to O’Brian’s book is the lady who appears happy but is sad inside because she knows she will never live a happy life. This is like many of the soldiers when they come home. They appear happy but inside they are dead because of the events that they have lived through. The last connection between O’Brian’s book is the lady in the right being burned alive. This is a strong connection because the soldiers had to burn villages and some village people were killed. Tim talks little about this but it is an event that happens because when ever they are humping they are told to burn any village down and clean them out.
By Mike & Darren

Ashlee & Savannah said...

Ashlee Perrotta
May 16, 2008
English, C
Guernica Painting





A. In this picture there were many things that I saw, a few things I saw were…
• There are people that seem to be getting trampled by the animals.
• There is a horse, and on the horse’s back right leg, he has a shoe on his hoof.
• There is a duck on the wall, and it seems to have a fish inside of its belly.
• The man that is underneath the horse has a flower and a broken baseball bat in his right hand, and seems to be holding another object, that of which I have no idea what it is.
• There is an arrow pointing to the right, right under the horse.
• The woman to the right has a band aid underneath her right breast.
•On the left, there is a woman and it looks like she is carrying a dead baby.
•Every single person and animal in the painting has one slanted or different sized eye than the other.
• On the ceiling there is a light bulb which looks like it is on.
•The light bulb could also be a symbol of the sun which also gives off light.
•There is a window on the top right corner of the room.
•The room itself looks like a barn, and the bull at the left looks like her is blocking the exit for these people to get out.

B. What I see in Pablo Picasso’s painting is that the animals are torturing the people. They look like they are killing the men and keeping the women trapped in. The bull is blocking the door but the woman doesn’t look like she is being hurt by him, but she looks like she is in agony. A reason why it could be that she was in agony is that she is holding a dead baby, in her arms. The message I think that Picasso is giving off in this photo is that you should picture yourself in someone else’s shoes.

C. The color choice they used was dark colors with some lighter shades. It makes you feel like you are in a dark and evil place. It looks un kept.

D. There are many connections in this photo that link back to the book, The Things They Carried, By Tim O’Brien. They used a very dark theme. In the book, they also use a very dark theme. They like to give you gruesome and gory details throughout the reading just so you can get a good idea on what is going on, but in the picture, Picasso is literally illustrating, what a writer would want you to vision as you read. The theme also looks a little violent like, The Things They Carried.

Anonymous said...

A. 1. A sun with a light bulb
2. A horse being controlled by a man's arm. 3. A headly ghost 4. People being stepped upon 5. A man holding a broken knife 6. Dead people 7. People yellowing for help 8. Everything close together
9. People looking helpless 10. A random bull 11. A candle being help my a single hand 12. People pleading for help
B. The message that we see is that pain is caused upon by old memories that haunt you.
C.The color choice expresses dullness, and strong emotion that is past between the past and future.
D. The book and painting are both exaggerating, expresses how old memories can bring back horrific thoughts. Also, mayhem is being expressed, dead people is in both subjects. Lastly, suffering is brought about in the text and painting.

Anonymous said...

A) dead bodies
floating head
everyone looks helpless
guy holding a nife
horse
bull
everone is yelling
stepping on bodies
window
madness
lamp
grey

B) The message is that war is madness

C) It is grey and dull

D) Mayhaem, people dying, madness, helpness, war

Anonymous said...

Their both about war. In the picture you can’t tell what’s what, also in the book you can’t tell what’s true and what’s false. The picture looks like it is telling different stories. In the book, each chapter tells something different that happened. Overcoming struggle is something that takes place in both the book and the picture. Also there seems to be some kind of obstacle in the way of things in both.

-- bri c., michelle, samm c

Anonymous said...

A-1. Horse-wounded
2.Bull-disaster/chaos destruction
3.woman with child-exhaustion
4.fallen solider- killed soliders
5.running woman- crying unhappy life
6.women with lamp- shinning light on darkness
7.burnt-burning building being burned alive.
8.Shadows- death
9.Light bulb-hevan
10.Door- opening 2 world
11.Cut arms-inflicted wounds from battle
12.Broken sowrd- courageuos battle

B.Death/agony/sorrow/down side of life
C.Color is dark-sorrow darkness and gloomy
D.1.Dead soliders- People die in battles when they go to war
2.Wounded horse- Wounded while fighting a battle while away @ war
3.Woment with child-Exhaustion from the war.
4.fallen soldiers- what happens when they fight sometimes
5.running women- running away from problems

Anonymous said...

^^ THATS D

(A) Analyze and explain at least 12 different things you see in the painting.


The painting depicts
• People
• Animals
• Buildings
• Doors
• Violence being committed
• emphasizes chaos of war
• there’s a lot of eyes as if everyone is watching
• lack of colors representing tough and dark times
• agony
• struggle
• defeat
• courage







(B) Explain what you see as Picasso's message.

When we look at Picasso’s picture we see many different events happening. One significant detail in this picture is the struggle agony and chaos in the war.



(C) Discuss how the color choice helps enhance his message.

The color choice helps enhance his message because, it is all dark and dreary. It intensifies the detail that is taking place.

(bri, michelle, samm)

Anonymous said...

A
Cow
Horse
Crying naked lady
Light
Dead guy holding a sword
Arm holding a candle
Baby
Teardrop head
Person throwing their arms up
Woman on one knee
Arrow
Horse shoe

B
Picasso’s message is that war is really destructive. There are tons of people and animals in the painting and they all are in great pain. He is showing the horrors of war.

C
The grey, black, and white enhance the images because it shows that war is bleak. It wouldn’t be as effective if it were in pastels.

D
There are many connections that can be made between The Things They Carried and the painting. Each deals with the horrors of war. They also show that both people and animals die in war. The novel and painting also portray people that are not killed by war and may not even be injured but each work shows that these people too are effected by war. Besides one person in the painting, all of the people are civilians and the novel also deals with the deaths of civilians in Vietnam.

-Dom and Hoyle

Anonymous said...

A.1. A horse shoe that symbolizes good luck
2. A hand holding a candlestick
3. A flower
4. A sailboat
5. A light bulb
6. An arrow
7. Topless women
8. A large bomb in the horse’s mouth
9. A sun/ceiling light
10. Heads with no body
11. Arms with no body
12. Bamboo
B. I believe that Picasso’s message is that war is very chaotic and frightening, and while one event is happening, many other things are going on.
C. Picasso uses cool colors, blue, black, and purple, to help show the sadness and depression that occurs during a time of war.
D. One connection between this painting and O’Brien’s book is that they both have death in them. This painting has people dieing in it and O’Brien’s book tells the story of people’s death. Another connection is the story of the baby buffalo. O’Brien tells a story of how some men captured and tortured a baby buffalo, and in this painting there is a buffalo. Bamboo is also a connection between the two. There is a wall of bamboo in the top right hand side of the painting and there is also bamboo in Vietnam. Another connection between Picasso and O’Brien has to do with people’s perspectives. People look at Picasso’s painting and see many different things that are neither right nor wrong. Also, people tell stories in O’Brien’s book that could be true or completely made up, but are neither right nor wrong. Finally, the mood of the painting and the mood of the story have a connection because they are both sad and depressing.

Anonymous said...

Ashley and Liz


A.I see: a bull, a hand with a broken sword, a hand holding a candle, a sun/light bulb, a boat, a volcano, a flower, a horseshoe, horse/ dragon, newspaper, an arrow, faces, dead people, eyes

B. He is trying to say how chaotic war is and also how many lives and things are affected.

C. The dark and grayish colors he uses help to portray a dark sullen atmosphere.

D.
1. There is a connection between anguish in the painting and the same anguish on the battle field described in the book.
2. There is a connection between the dead people in the painting and the people who died in the book.
3. The volcano in the painting helps to portray a foreign place, like how Vietnam was the setting of the war and it was a foreign place to the American soldiers.
4. The hand holding the broken sword represents how the war was using violence to solve a problem and ended up not working and showing that weapons don’t just destroy things they can be destroyed in the process as well.
5. There is also a connection between the hand holding a candle which represents the people in the war looking for the light.

Anonymous said...

Devin and Nick
A.
1. Horse
2. A bird coming out of the Horse
3. Bull
4. A person with a kid
5. A fallen soldier
6. A person burning
7. A person
8. A lamp
9. A person running
10. Fighting
11. A broken sword
12. Fire on the bulls tail
B.
We see a lot of destuction and chaos. The people in the painting have a lot of emotion. He wanted to exaggerate the war so that he could get his point across.
C.
The color makes the picture look almost distressed, and puts an feeling of sadness in the painting. It also has some parts of the painting stand out.
D.
1.Bull- The bull seems like it doesn't know whats going on.
2.Person burning- The person is burning alive in a building.
3.The fallen Soldier- Represents murder.
4.The women with the baby- Represents exhaustion, and suffering.
5.The exageration with the picture and the book are similar.

Anonymous said...

A. There is a bull on the left hand side of the picture, standing in the middle of people dieing. There is an outline of a horse in the center of the picture stepping on a man , who is holding a sword. There is a screaming women holding a baby. There is a hand comming through the window holding onto a candle. There is also a lightbulb that resembles an eye. There is an arrow pointing to the left of the picture. There is a flower growing out of the floor. There are other crippled looking people in the room. There is also an open door.

B.We see Picasso's message as war being very chaotic. It shows the different things that happen during the war and the many people it can effect.

C. The color choice changes his message to make it negative, it makes it feel gloomy and dark.

D.One connection is that in the painting it has a lot of chaos going on and O'Brien explains that in Veitnam is a lot of choas happening. A second connection is that the anmials in the painting relate to the innocent baby buffalo that Rat Kiley killed in the book.A third connection is in the picture it shows a lot of innocent people dieing, and alot of innocent people died in the novel.A fourth connection is how things are over exagerated in the picture, things are also exageration in the book. A fifth connection is the random body parts spread everywhere , it is similiar to when Tim O'Brien killed the man and he went into detail about how he looked.

-Katy and Christine

Anonymous said...

A)eye with a light bulb
sailboat
horse
mother with a dead baby
arm with a stick
something burning
a window
women witha broken leg
guy getting stepped on by a horse
arm holding candel
a flower

B)all i see is mornfull people that look like they are going ti die.it seems like the buliding is on fire, but there is no way to escape, also it seems like romeo and juliet,when they both die.
C)the colors make it seem more depressed, also it helps you find the hidden images.
D)1.obrien and his attitude towards life.
2.scenes throughout vietnam
3.bombs get dropped in this pic town also bombs dropped in vietnam.
4.people look high just like that guy in TTTC
5.there is a boat in the pic also travel to vietnam mainly by boat

-chris hamel and eric brown

Anonymous said...

1. Light bulb
2. A woman crying
3. Arrow
4. Sword
5. Horse
6. Bull
7. Candle
8. Bird
9. A dead baby
10. A dead man on the floor
11. Smoke
12. Star

The painting shows many different aspects. The picture shows fright and panic. The animals are going wild and hurting the people in the image. 

B.
1. This shows imagery
2. Shows how depressing war is
3. Item of war
4. Item of war
5. Transportation
6. Transportation
7. To see light
8. Nature
9. War is very depressing
10. War is dangerous and depressing
11. very difficult to see
12. to wish

C. The color choice helps enhance his message because the colors are white, gray, and black. These colors are dark and the image looks evil. 


D.
The painting is related to the book The Things They Carried because it resembles war and violence and the matter of survival. Also Rat Kiley killed a buffalo and there was a buffalo in the painting. Curt Lemon died and in the painting contains dead bodies. We notice the book was during the battle and the painting was after war. They both show the damage in the war.


--Sam V. Jill Bri F.

Anonymous said...

1. Light bulb
2. A woman crying
3. Arrow
4. Sword
5. Horse
6. Bull
7. Candle
8. Bird
9. A dead baby
10. A dead man on the floor
11. Smoke
12. Star

The painting shows many different aspects. The picture shows fright and panic. The animals are going wild and hurting the people in the image. 

B.
1. This shows imagery
2. Shows how depressing war is
3. Item of war
4. Item of war
5. Transportation
6. Transportation
7. To see light
8. Nature
9. War is very depressing
10. War is dangerous and depressing
11. very difficult to see
12. to wish

C. The color choice helps enhance his message because the colors are white, gray, and black. These colors are dark and the image looks evil. 


D.
The painting is related to the book The Things They Carried because it resembles war and violence and the matter of survival. Also Rat Kiley killed a buffalo and there was a buffalo in the painting. Curt Lemon died and in the painting contains dead bodies. We notice the book was during the battle and the painting was after war. They both show the damage in the war.


--Sam V. Jill Bri F.