Reflection Prompt

A Work That Says What Words Cannot

Finding a value in a work of art you already know

This unit claims that the arts do something no other field of study does: they do not just talk about values, they make values visible, audible, or tangible. A painting does not argue that war is terrible; it shows you what the terror looks like. A song does not explain grief; it lets you feel it. This reflection asks you to test that claim on a work you already know.

The prompt

Choose a work of art that has mattered to you. It can be a song, a film, a painting or photograph, a building, a poem, a dance, or anything else that counts as art. It should be a work you have actually experienced, not one you have only heard about.

In your reflection, do the following:

  1. Name the work and describe, in specific terms, one moment or detail that affected you.
  2. Name the value the work makes visible (for example justice, grief, freedom, loyalty, fear, wonder) and say why you chose that word.
  3. Explain how the work's form (its structure, not just its subject) makes that value hard to ignore. Could a plain statement of the same idea do the same job? Why or why not?

The third part matters most. It is easy to say a song is sad or a painting is powerful. The work of this course is saying what the work does, in particular terms, to make you feel it. If you cannot find a difference between what the work shows and what a sentence could say, you may have found the exception that tests the rule. That is a good result too.

If you need a starting point, look back at the Gallery for this unit and choose the work you reacted to most strongly.

Your Reflection

This is a thinking space — your response is not saved or submitted. Copy your work if you want to keep it.