La Casa Azul
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For me, Frida’s personal story will forever be an inspiration. Unfortunately, I haven’t studied art to sufficiently recognize the genius of her painting, but in reading her story, I’m drawn to her strength and courage to live each day to the fullest. She lived a life on her terms. This semester, my students and I will…
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This spring I hope to incite Fridamania in a few of my classes. It is for this reason: many of my past students have (happily) chosen to base their research papers on the strength, courage, and creative genius of Frida Kahlo. IT WORKS. In her life and her art, they all seem to find something…
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In English 201, we are developing research papers based on historical films. My students are investigating “the story behind the story.” They are comparing what they see on screen with what they see in their academic research. Many are reading about the horrors of the Holocaust and the systematic extermination of six million Jews. They’re…
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Go University of Missouri Football Tigers! Congratulations on their courage to stand up for what counts. This week my students are writing about prejudice. We’re talking about events in the news: "Injustice Anywhere is a threat to Justice Everywhere." Last night I read a fictionalized account of Sylvia Plath’s last days. It is told from…
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This week we are putting together film/history comparisons. I’ve asked my students to compare what they see on screen from a historical film to what they see in their historical research. I have more than a few writing about the Holocaust: Schindler’s List, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, The Pianist. They’ve watched their movies;…
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Frida Kahlo’s art is dominated by self-portrait. “I paint myself,” she once said, “because I am so often alone.” In most of her paintings, you can count on vast, bare landscapes or empty, cold rooms, but these self-portraits helped her develop her sense of individuality and inner-strength. I’ve assigned my students a “tuff-stuff” cause and…
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When you read, do you ever tap your foot? Does music ever spark an idea in your head? Can you come up with a song or an artist that blends music and literature? Joyce Carol Oates wrote one of her most enduring works of short fiction after hearing Bob Dylan on the radio. In English 009,…
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Everywhere we go we are bombarded by visual text: television, advertising, web pages. There is no escape. In the following spaces, my students are to explain the persuasive power of visual rhetoric. They are going to explain how specific images push us into action. Once, upon a visit to Frida Kahlo’s Blue House in Coyoacan,…