Sunteți pe pagina 1din 4

Tanya Jackson 407099 BSocScYth CS 300: Christian Spirituality & Philosophy Mr Ray Overend Aesthetics APA Style 2 September

2009 618 words

Introduction:
Art is subjective and everyone has a different taste in what they find aesthetically pleasing. What one person may define as great art, another may find it simply good or even not to their taste at all. Here are three examples of what one person would define as good art, great art or bad art. Art in this case being literature.

Great art:
The book thief (Zusak, 2005) is, for me, an example of great art. It tells the story of a young girl growing up in Nazi Germany and the trials and tribulations which she faces. She has just been separated from her parents (who were communists) and sent to live in a strange town with foster parents. It is an extremely well written and presented book and the author has a way with words that makes one feel that they are experiencing the joys and heartaches along with the characters. The thing that makes this a great piece of literature rather than just a good piece is that it presents a bigger picture than just the story of a girl balancing on the edge between innocence and maturity in a world gone crazy. It presents the issue of all of the children growing up in war torn countries who do not know any different way of living and have no way of changing anything that they perceive as cruel or unjust. It offers a greater picture than just a nice novel and leaves one contemplating issues that they may not have thought about before.

Good art:
Jane Austens books are an example of good art. They are well written, have a good storyline and likeable characters. She has a way of writing that makes one forget about time and want to read for hours. The reason that I would classify this as good and not

great, is because it was just a story. There was no greater purpose for it. It has a good storyline, but once the book is finished, it is easy to put it out of your mind. There is no emotional attachment to the storyline and no greater purpose to be contemplated.

Bad art:
There is a book that has been published that is an excerpt of Friedrich Nietzsches works called Why I am so wise (2004). While some may find that this is a great piece of work, it does not appeal to me. It comes off as being written in an arrogant tone with which the author tends to come off as believing that he is right and superior to others. After reading it, if left me with a feeling of discontent, of feeling not worthy and like I had just received a lecture for something I did not do. This piece of work for some might be classed as good or great because it may have a truth for them however is struggled to find any or if I did, it was pushed aside by feelings of discontent and like I had read something that I should not have.

Conclusion:
For me, the difference between great, good and bad art would be a mixture of what I feel when I read a piece of literature or see a painting and the feelings which I am left with afterwards. A great piece can leave me thoughtful, where as a good piece is simply nice to read or look at but there is nothing beyond that.

Reference:
Nietzsche, F. (2004). Why I am so wise. London, UK: Penguin Books. Zusak, M. (2005). The book thief. Sydney, Aus: Pan Macmillan Press.

S-ar putea să vă placă și