Journal Entry (Week 3)

Journal Entry of Videos
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Institution
Today, I watched several videos for our journal history research paper. I am glad to have watched; Acts of the Apostles, Desert and Oasis, The Beauty of Geometry, and discovering the Humanities–Ch. 4 since they have interesting and attracting historical story lines. The videos have always been my best in stories regarding art, literature and even architecture.
To start off, I wanted to understand the pieces of art expressed as well as evaluated in the videos. St Peter healed a crippled beggar; this shows love for people and passion of helping (Saldarini, 2009). However, the scripture was painted to give an account of how Christianity got roots to the life of many people. I realized the struggle which the author experienced to come up with a written document that is being read today.
On the other hand, Desert and Oasis video reveals the art of distributing people by use of Islamic map. This was for the purpose of equality. I’m very much pleased to learn how early people lived in harmony. Also, I enjoyed watching the art of works in ‘The Beauty of Geometry.’ The language of symmetry used is amazing (Booth, 2012). It addressed several mathematical problems that are used in the modern days. I realized most of the mathematical solving methods were painted on walls and in caves like that of Hexagon Triangle Geometric Painting. Modern people found them and tried to use in solving problems. They proved to be genuine and hence giving modern man motivation to print them in books.

In the Discovering the Humanities–Ch. 4, I realized there several ways of identifying world’s experiences (Jewell, 2010). Through, visual arts one can easily realize what seems meaningless and hence helps many people recapture feelings. Paintings give an explanation of past events. One picture can worth a thousand words. However, many people prefer watching or viewing pictures. I realized reason why most artists prefer addressing their issues using painting. I learned that communicating through images is more easy and efficient rather than conducting a speech.
In addition, I learned about music and how it was used to communicate issues in all the videos. In ‘Acts of Apostles’ music was used to communicate to God; people would come together and sing while being directed by a soloist. I guess by people singing praises and worships brought them more close to the almighty. Therefore, several artists wrote songs which are used even today. ‘Desert and Oasis’ music made me to realize the importance of respecting and honoring one cultures.
It’s like Islamic people based their cultural activities on music. They used to hold several festivals where traditional music was played. I’m pleased to see how various issues were addressed through songs. Apart from using pictures to realize world’s experiences, artists use music. I realize the combination of visual and audio has changed the face of the world. People usually communicate grievances from all corners of the world through music.
In addition, the videos helped me to understand literature and how it has been used to address various issues. I could imagine how people used to address their issues trough words of mouth. There were no means of writing and hence people would address their grievances and ideas through Latin Language. When English language was introduced, several writers changed documents into it and hence allowing easy communication.
References
Jewell, R. (2010). Experiencing the Humanities. Retrieved from: http://www.CollegeHumanities.org/Saldarini, A. (2009). Atlas and Outline of the Acts of the Apostles.E Haenchen. Harrison, E.F Retrieved from: http://www.mb-soft.com/believe/txs/acts.htm/Booth, N. (2012). Foundations of landscape architecture: integrating form and space using the language of site design. Hoboken, N.J. Wiley. Retrieved from: http://www.eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470635053.html/