Close Reading: Ophelia

Step 1) This is a painting depicting the death of Ophelia from Shakespeare's Hamlet. She is laying dead in a stream or river, wearing a dress, holding flowers and there are bright, luscious landscapes surrounding her.

Step 2) Even though this painting is depicting suicide, which is usually gruesome and sad, Ophelia looks serene and peaceful. She is wearing a very extravagant gown. Her hands are facing outwards, in a passive and offertory positioning. It is interesting that there are such bright and bold colors in an image that represents something so dark.

Step 3) The beauty of the flowers are associated with the beauty of a woman. In the historical era of this painting, women were subservient to men. They were supposed to "stand there and look pretty." Even in her death, Ophelia is made to look beautiful. The passivity in her hands shows that this is for someone  else. She is as delicate as the flowers she is holding in her hand.

Step 4) I think that the main message of this painting is that women were supposed to be lesser than men- even in death. Ophelia's beauty, extravagant gown, and serene setting are all images of beauty that would be desirable to man's eye.

Courage

Virginia Woolf tells us we need the courage to write exactly what we think, essentially because we are women hear us roar. Her message was rooted in feminism and women standing up for their rights, highlighting the fact that women need to write their own history. True- but that message doesn't stop there. It's a feminist issue. It's a race issue. It's a class issue. It's an issue that is omnipresent. Now the question is, what is the "it's?" What could that vague pronoun (okay, pronoun + contraction) possibly stand for? The simple answer: it doesn't matter. What matters is that you have the power to change whatever cause you believe in, no matter how big or small. You have the power to mean something. You have the power to leave a legacy. You have the power to do anything... as along as you have the courage to write exactly what you think.

The Hill

I'm from Darien, Illinois. And if you're not from another western suburb of Chicago, that name probably means nothing to you. But Darien is one of the smallest, least exciting towns in the Chicagoland area. Where nearby towns have downtown areas with restaurants and shops, our highlights include WalMart and TGI Fridays. And one of the corners of the "Four Corners Shopping Centre." But if you take out the Home Run Inn and Jo-Ann Fabrics, it is arguably the worst corner. So I've made myself clear: Darien isn't pretty. It isn't glamorous. It isn't fancy. But it's motto is "A Nice Place to Live" and there could be no truer words about my home sweet home. Darien isn't special, but my neighborhood, Smart Oaks Glen, is my favorite place in the world. More specifically the "hill" in Smart Oaks Glen.

put hill on quotes because anyone who passed through the neighborhood looking for the hill would drive right past it. I guess a better description would be an "accidental decrease in land" but there's not an exact word for that so we will stick with hill. The hill is so important to me because it carries with it some of my favorite memories of my childhood. This snowy winter weather takes me right back in time to those days spent on the hill. In our neighborhood, all the families built houses around the same time, moved in around the same, and conveniently all had kids around the same age. I always had a friend. The hill was our snow day haven. Before the recorded voice message of school cancellations even ended, all of the neighborhood kids would be dressed in gear ready to be on the hill for the day. We would squirt Capri Sun on the fresh snow, and lick up our homemade slushies. We would build ramps to sled over. Do somersaults and body rolls to race to the bottom. There was nothing we weren't capable of doing on that hill. It's is a symbol of carefree childhood freedom that we often lose sight of as the years go by. And that is why it will always hold such a special place in my heart.