Friday, August 20, 2010

American Gothic




In class today we discussed using small but significant clues to sneak your way into a "text." Please peruse the above painting, titled "American Gothic," and respond to the following questions:


1. How would you describe the relationship between the subjects of this painting, and what clues helped you figure this out?


2. Why do you think the painting is called "American Gothic"? What image of America does this painting create? Do you agree with this image?


Remember to read the other posts to avoid repeating someone else word for word. Instead, focus on having a conversation with your classmates. Posts are due by 10 pm Sunday.

29 comments:

  1. 1. The two subjects of the painting appear to be married or possibly brother and sister and they do not look happy to be working together.

    2. I think the painting is called the American Gothic because the home behind the subjects looks like old fashion Gothic architecture.

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  2. 1. The two subjects are probably married, but looking at there facial expressions, they don't look happy with eachother right now.

    2. I think it is called "American Gothic" because the subjects are wearing some dark clothes and the window behind them is Gothic style. This painting creates the image of America being farmland. That doesnt portray America well.

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  3. 1. The two people in the image look like they're married, the woman looks angry at the man.
    2. I think the painting is call American Gothic because the two people look american and the clothes that they're wearing are dark.

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  4. 1. I think that the older man and women are married or have some relationship not know. I do not think that the couple is happy because of the lady's facial expression. I assume that the two people are farmers because the man is holding a pitch fork and he is dressed like a farmer. I do not think that the couple is sad i think that they are just run down because of all the hard work they do.

    2. I think it is called "The American Gothic" because it represents the hardworking American farmer who supplies the country with food and gets little return for it.The gothic part is the fact that they are not very happy people because they do not get anything in return for their hard work and al of the sacrifices they make.

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  5. 1- I think that this painting represents the relationship between to people who own a farm during the 30's or 40's because they look old and the things in the back ground look old to and the clouthing there wareing.

    2- well I think its called "American gothic" because its not the happyest painting and also the people in it dont look happy they look mad or something els.

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  6. 1. I think that the man and woman are married. I believe this because they look around the same age and in the backround there is a house. Probably theirs. They look kinda sick of each other so they might be brother and sister. If this is so, then i can understand why they have the expressions on their face.

    2. I beleive that the reason this picture is called " American Gothic" is because besides the big city i beleive alot of people around the world think that America is mostly farmland. And the man and woman dont look happy so that could also help tital the picture name.

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  7. 1. I believe that the subject in the painting are husband and wife. I think this because they are on a farm together and the couple looks to be relatively old.

    2. I think this is called American Gothic because the farmer is holding a pitch fork and looks to be growing his own crops which is only allowed in America. Also the window is shaped in a Gothic window style.

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  8. 1. I think the two are married but are not mad at each other. I think the man does a lot of farming and the woman works inside the house because or the way they are dressed.

    2. I think it is called American Gothic because it shows the life outside of big cites and the two do not look very happy.

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  9. 1. The two people in this painting look like they are married. They look married because they look like they are the lame age and they look like they are the only ones living in the house behind them.

    2. I think this painting is called American Gothic because the house behind them looks like a gothic design. I think this painting shows the farm life because the man has a pitchfork in his hand and the building on the right side looks like a farm house.

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  10. 1. The two subjects in this painting seem to be an old married couple who are working on a farm because the old man is holding a pitch fork and has farm clothes on under his coat, and there is a barn looking building behind them to the right. They look unhappy but I don't really know because back then everyone looks so serious in photos.

    2. I think that they call this painting "American Gothic" because the couple is standing in front of their house that looks like it has Gothic architecture. This makes them seem religious. The image of America that this painting creates is that the typical average American is religious, works really hard to get his job done, and is worn out after all the hours they put in. I agree with this painting because sometimes we work really hard for something and in the end we get nothing.

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  11. 1. The two people dont look like the happiest couple. The woman looks mad at the man and the man doesnt know what to do with the womans anger towards him.

    2. I think they call it "American Gothic" becasue this was the tipical american family. A farmers family. After a long day of work the couple is just tired and wants to be done.

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  12. 1. I think the two subjects in this painting are married and have lived together for a long time. They do not look happy which could be because of all the work they have to do, or they have just been with eachother for so long they just don't care anymore about impressing one another. They look like they're together because the house in the back and the farm look like they own it because of the pitchfork in his hand.

    2. I think the call it the "American Gothic" because this was painted in 1930's which was during the great depression and it shows that they have to work very hard for themselves. It was a very hard time. This painting creates the image that America is hard working even when the people are old.

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  13. I think that the two peole are husband and wife,because it looks like maybe they live at a farm together and there house is behind them.

    It looks like they are american, and i agree with tommy because by looking at there clothes and the way they look it looks like they could be from the 50's. That is probably why they called it the "American Gothic " , the two people are american, and the great depression was a dark time, and gothic could almost stand for dark.

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  14. 1. I Think that the relationship between the chaecters is that they are a married couple. Clues that made me belive this is the house in the background and the way that they are standing next to each other leads me to bleive they own the property and live there. 2. I think that it is called American Gothic becasue of the two different styles of the man and woman. I think that the image shows a good american image becasue it shows you may live on a farm type of land but you dont have to act like it and everyone has there own views.

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  15. 1. I think the two people might be married or they could even be father and daughter. They might be married because they own a farm together. Or they might be father and daughter and the daughter grew up on the farm.

    2. I think its called American Gothic because its a hard time in American history and this is a time when money is not easy to come by. They dont look to happey either like the crop was bad that year or something else like that.

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  16. 1. I think the relationship the two people have is that they are married. I think this because they look they same age and live in the same house. 2. I think this painting is called American Gothic because it shows a average hard working family american family but they get very little in return so they are always upset, also the house in the background of the house seems like gothic archtecture.

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  17. 1. They are married because they are right next to each other in front of their farm.

    2. It is called American Gothic because of the house's architecture and the dark clothes the couple are wearing. The image shows of poor American farmers and I do not agree with how the painting portrays America as poor.

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  18. 1. The two Americans standing outside an old-fashioned looking home appear to be married and guessing by the pitchfork in the man's hand, they are farmers. The lady and man look content with one another as if they have been married for a long time. They must have been married for a long time because they both seem to be hitting an age of senior citizens and it isn't common for senior citizens to marry. Also, since they are so content with one another that is a clue they have been married for a long while and newly wed couples are usually tremendously happy. One last point, the woman in the painting has a straight face along with the man which proves they are neither happy nor sad towards one another.

    2. I believe this painting is called "American Gothic" because the married couple's clothes and house are a Gothic style. Based off of the clothes in the picture, this couple could be from the early 1900's or even earlier than that. This image depicts an average senior citizen couple living in America. I agree with this art work and what message its trying to get across. The picture does a good job capturing the life of a senior married couple from the early 1900's.

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  19. 1. I believe the couple in the painting don't have a very good relationship because they both have looks of annoyance towards each other and they just don't look happy to be with each other.

    2. I believe this painting is called the "American Gothic" because this is what everyone portrayed America to be like in the early 1900's and that is not always a happy portrayal. This image creates the picture that the couple in this painting are in the class of the hardest working people in the country but still get paid less than the business men that work much less but get paid much more. I agree with this because at the time that was the situation that a lot of Americans were in at the time.

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  20. 1. This is a photo of a man and his wife in the early 1900s, where most marriges were based off of a persons finacial rank, not love, so they couple may be married, but it doesnt seem like they chose so because of their love for one another.

    2. I think this painting is called "American Gothic" because the fact that in the early 1900s most Americans in rural farmland had hard lives and expected to work hard most of their lives and didnt have much fun. It is a painting of a traditional photo as the man is dressed in work clothes and the woman is dressed in very bland but traditional clothes, and she was to take care of the whole family. Today most families look and try to look happy in their pictures but back then it was the opposite.

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  21. 1.It appears that the painting is of a farmer and his wife in the late 1800's or early 1900's. They don't appear to be very happy though.
    2. This painting is called "American Gothic" because it depicts the normal American in the late 1800's. A farmer who has to grow his own crops, wears overalls and uses apitch fork. You can see his typical American house in the background and his wife who is wearing typical American woman's clothing.

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  22. 1.I think the relationship in the painting looks like they would be a married couple.
    2.The painting is called American Gothic Because of there cloths they are wearing, the cloths look old and they look like farmers.

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  23. 1. The relationship between the two people is husband and wife. Clues to thin are the way they are standing, how they appear to be close in age, and how the woman is looking at the man.

    2. This painting is titled "The American Gothic" because of the gothic- style window on the top of the farmhouse. This painting is a symbol of America's work ethic and showing that Americans will work for everything. I think this symbol is partially incorrect. It used to be true, but the world is a smaller place now and why grow food and work hard when you can buy it easily?

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  24. 1. My first impression of this photo was that the two people appear to be a married couple living on a farm. I believe this because it looks like the building behind them is a farm that I'm assuming they own together.

    2. In my opinion this photo is titled "American Gothic" because it looks like a typical American couple that lives and works on a farm.

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  25. 1. The relationship between eachother doesn't appear to be happy because they aren't smiling and they are starting to get a bit older and maybe are worrying about the future.

    2. I think the photo is titled "American Gothic" because of the style they were living in with the window in the background. The painting symbolizes how hard Americans had to work for objects such as wood for houses and etc. I agree with the painting because Americans had to work for everything they recieved, for example building houses, fires, and clothing. Clothing took exceptionally long without machinery.

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  26. 1. I think that this two people are married because they are standing rather close to one another.

    2. I think that this is called "American Gothic" because people in America work rather hard like farmers and people don't really take that into consideration how hard they work. I also think that this shows how hard working Americans can really be and how much respect isn't earned by do the hard work we do.

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  27. 1. I think the couple is married and it doesnt seem like there happy with there facial expression
    2. I think the picture is called "American Gothic" because when America was discovered farming was the big thing and farming still big but not as big back then

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  28. 1. I think that these people are of relation because in my grand parents photos they never smile.

    2. The picture depicts that all Americans are farmers that are not happy with where they are. the life of a farmer is hard but it was much needed to keep the economy up.

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  29. 1. I think that the couple is the typical farmer wife and husband. on a farm its all about work and the couple looks like they did a ton of work to the point were they lost there feeling for each other.
    2. I think the American Gothic painting shows the stereotype of American farmers at that time. i think i would agree with this painting because at that time they didn't have the technology that we have now which makes our jobs easier so they might be worn out and not happy.

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