The School of Athens

This art can be a mirror of society because it shows how people, their thinkings and interests, and architecture were like back in Renaissance period. First of all, it shows Renaissance people were really interested in Science and philosophy since some people are looking at the Earth and seem to be discussing about its orbit and scientific facts about it, and there are two well known, significant philosophers in the middle talking to each other. It shows they followed Greek Culture as well, because the elegant sculptures carved on the school and the style of building (school itself) look like Greek's and the sculptures are indicating Greek Mythology.

If I were part of the painting 'The School of Athens', I would be Plato because I can say he's the most significant and important person in this painting. He's right in the middle and everyone's basically all around him. He was one of the most famous philosopher who studied about philosophy and science. He found the Academy in Athens, an educational organization of philosophy and other sciences as well. He ran it by himself. His works on philosophy, mathematics and politics were very effective.

Da Vinci

Da Vinci was especially good at Arts, Architecture but he was obviously more than just a painter. He was really interested in the world around him that he wanted to learn about it as much as he could. He had same attitudes for each new subject. He observed them closely and carefully, then recorded what he saw. At that time, Renaissance took it as a quite 'new' way to find out about the world. Da Vinci got involved in many areas, and applied his incredible intelligence, skills and interests into wide range of problems. He was talented and knowledgeable. He surely affected, impacted, helped a lot towards a concept of "reborn" or "rebirth", Renaissance.

Woman's Rights

Women's Rights

by Annie Louisa Walker

You cannot rob us of the rights we cherish,

Nor turn our thoughts away

From the bright picture of a "Woman's Mission"

Our hearts portray.

We claim to dwell, in quiet and seclusion,

Beneath the household roof,--

From the great world's harsh strife, and jarring voices,

To stand aloof;--

Not in a dreamy and inane abstraction

To sleep our life away,

But, gathering up the brightness of home sunshine,

To deck our way.

As humble plants by country hedgerows growing,

That treasure up the rain,

And yield in odours, ere the day's declining,

The gift again;

So let us, unobtrusive and unnoticed,

But happy none the less,

Be privileged to fill the air around us

With happiness;

To live, unknown beyond the cherished circle,

Which we can bless and aid;

To die, and not a heart that does not love us

Know where we're laid.

This poem was written by Annie Louisa Walker, a British woman, and she's claiming that not only men should have rights for everything but also women. She was the brave woman to write about racism between different genders, and go against and oppose to it. In this period, men were the only ones who were respected in an appropriate way and allowed to go to school; get a proper education, because of prejudice. Annie operated a school for ladies to let them have a good education. We can notice that she growed in an unfair environment. In this poem, she is saying women must live happy lives as well as others. This is very important because the men and women's values must be all equivalent, even now. Thus, gender discrimonation shouldn't exist in this world, and instead, men and women must be treated equally.

About Love

Love

Love ambles into the room

Yet feared, but with a flutter of its dress

It pauses and awaits another pair

Love is something like a faith and destiny. Santiago in the Alchemist falls in a real love with Fatima, and believes that he and Fatima are born for each other, which makes love to be seen as a faith. So there is a 'pair' waiting for everyone for love. And you also have to achieve 'love' like achieving your 'destiny' in order to find a perfect pair. Love is relevant to all time periods because whenever the period is, there are perfect pairs for love and people who don't get it right away have to try to achieve it. It's same for any culture as well. Thus, love is a force that's really significant, and achievable for anyone, at anytime, anywhere.

How I'm a Participant in My Destiny

What the Heart Believes, It Can Achieve

“My heart has its dreams, it gets emotional, and it’s become passionate over a woman of the desert.” (Coello p.123) In The Alchemist by Paulo Coello, Santiago, a young shepherd boy starts his journey from Andalusia in Spain, all the way to the Great Pyramids in Egypt in search of treasure to fulfill his dreams. He realizes that he has to listen to his heart in able to achieve his destiny, and to figure out what a true love means. During his travels, he encounters a series of obstacles, meets many benevolent supporters and receives enlightenment from them. In this soul-searching journey, he learns more about his own self and desires, in which he recognizes the fact that his heart holds great dreams and ambition, and that being human, he may tend to be irrational and emotional. He also falls in love, becoming passionate over a woman, thus in a sense, giving her his heart. In the end, Santiago finally successfully achieves his destiny through determination, passion and an adventurous spirit.
Santiago’s determination helps him achieve his dreams and his destiny. At one time during the journey, Santiago becomes befuddled and troubled when he meets Fatima, a woman of the desert. He falls in love with her and believes that they are soul- mates; born for each other. He’s almost overcome by the desire to just stay with Fatima in the desert and to give up his dreams, but he is able to conquer it because he is determined to continue his quest. He knows that seeking his treasure and achieving his destiny are the most important things for him to do at that time, and that he can return to Fatima later, so he keeps on travelling. He also appears determined when he thinks to himself, ‘It’s in the desert that I have to search for my treasure. If I don’t find it, I can always go home. I finally have enough money, and all the time I need. Why not?’ (p.62) Santiago is determined to find treasure and to fulfill his dreams. He believes that his destiny will be accomplished once he finds his treasure, and this staunch belief ignites a passion within him that cannot be doused. He also shows determination when he decides to earn more money and start a new life, continuing his journey, after a stranger deceives him and later absconds with all his money. He could have just given up everything and been depressed all day, but he was determined enough to make a wise choice. Thus, determination and passion combined gives Santiago the strength and courage to continue his odyssey and to face any obstacles that he may encounter.
Santiago’s passion propels him forward, encouraging him to never admit defeat. He has a passion, and a yearning for getting to know new things that are related to his dreams, destiny and desires. He repeatedly asks Alchemist, “Why do we have to listen to our hearts? … Well, then, why should I listen to my heart?..,” (p.123) as he tries to understand why one should follow one’s heart. “Every second of the search is an encounter with God,” the boy told his heart. “When I have been truly searching for my treasure, every day has been luminous, because I’ve known that every hour was a part of the dream that I would find it. When I have been truly searching for my treasure, I’ve discovered things along the way that I never would have seen had I not had the courage to try things that seemed impossible for a shepherd to achieve.” (p.125) Santiago ponders over this, and it shows his great passion because he honestly believes that every hour of his life is being spent in pursuance of his dream and that it will definitely be realized, and he would somehow eventually find his treasure. It’s this passion that makes him realize that his heart holds many desires, and it makes him determined to achieve everything his heart longs for. His heart wants not just the treasure, but also the love of Fatima. Thus, his passion also manifests in the form of love. Santiago resolves to seize every opportunity that comes his way. He moves steadily and resolutely towards his destiny with passion, but he is also fearless and adventurous, always looking forward towards his dream.
It is his adventurous spirit that launches Santiago’s quest. “That wind had brought the Moors, yes, but it had also brought the smell of the desert and of veiled women. It had brought with it the sweat and the dreams of men who had once left to search for the unknown, and for gold and adventure-and for the Pyramids. The boy felt jealous of the freedom of the wind, and saw that he could have the same freedom. There was nothing to hold him back except himself. The sheep, the merchant’s daughter, and the fields of Andalusia were only steps along the way to his destiny,” (p.27) because he’s adventurous, he boldly abandons his life as a shepherd and plunges into another world unknown for his destiny and a treasure, in which the consequences are uncertain. Even after losing all his money, he persists by getting himself a job to earn whatever that was lost. It had crossed his mind to simply give up and go back to being a shepherd, but his adventurous spirit overcame his fears and he went on to continue his mission. Later, even when he could have remained in the safety and comfort of Fatima’s companionship and love, he chooses instead to continue his journey in fulfilling his dream and destiny with an adventurous spirit. “I’m going away,” he said to Fatima. “And I want you to know that I’m coming back. I love you because…” Santiago loved Fatima a great deal but he couldn’t give up pursuing his destiny because he was adventurous. Hence, Santiago, being adventurous, was able to accomplish his quest and destiny auspiciously.
Santiago actually ends up in the same place where he began after his long journey, which was an Andalusian countryside. He finds out that the treasure he was seeking is buried beneath a sycamore tree, at a ruined church, and in the end fulfills his dream. To have come all the way here, it was Santiago’s deep determination, relentless passion and tremendous spirit of adventure that propelled him to accomplish his destiny and dreams. All these combined gives Santiago the courage and strength to continue on his journey and also to vanquish any obstacles in order to fulfill his dreams. Therefore, anyone can achieve their destiny, as long as they have determination, passion and a sense of adventure, or even just the desire for it with a true and sincere heart.

I'm open-minded. Being open-minded allows me to participate well in my destiny, because it gives me many chances and lets me listen to my heart without any doubt. Listening to your heart to acieve your destiny is rather important, so I always try to listen to it and it is easy for me because numerous things are possible for me to do with ease when my mind is 'open'. I get many opportunities as well because open mind makes me positive and optimistic, so I try out or endeavor anything that I think would be good or helpful for achieving my goals, dreams, and destiny. For example, like in school, when a teacher suggests me to do something new or something that really challenges me, I always accept it because I don't know the outcome yet. My heart just tells me to try out and that 'I' can do it. Therefore, I'm open-minded and that helps me realize the significance of listening to my heart and how to do that; it surely propells me to accomplish my dreams, destiny.