Berger’s Ways of Seeing

CRTW 201

Dr. Fike

YOU MUST HAVE BERGER'S TEXT TO PARTICIPATE TODAY. IF YOU DO NOT, PLEASE GO GET A COPY AT THE LIBRARY. YOU MAY REJOIN THE DISCUSSION IN PROGRESS.

DAY ONE

Quiz. You must have Berger's text to take the quiz.

Announcements:

• Our Wilson unit is quickly approaching. You must have The Future of Life with you on October 1 (TR) or October 2 (MW).

• 9:30 section: I will return the TR papers at the end of class.

• 2:00 section: Please remind me to return any MW papers that did not get returned on Monday.

Discussion of WA, chapter 6.

• The correspondence between "How To Interpret" on page 134 and Nosich's elements.

• Page 135: Note that hypothesis and theory are not the same thing.

• Two problems with interpretation: fortune cookie vs. anything goes. See page 141.

• Strong connections between chapter 6 and paper 2, especially on page 140 and 148-49.

• The importance of writing a summary at the end of each chapter. Share mine on page 149.

 Go over the quiz.

The following statement is highly relevant to Berger's point of view:

"For Marx and Engels, cultural texts are permeated with ideology, with the ideas and values of the ruling class. . . . Ideology legitimates ruling-class domination by making its ideas and norms appear natural, just and universal. . . . Certain cultural texts, like political treatises, contain ideologies which legitimate bourgeois institutions, ideas and practice. Marxist ideology critique discerns these ideologies and criticizes them, thus demystifying the ideological elements. Consequently, analysis of how texts advance class ideologies and viewpoints is an indispensable part of Marxist criticism."

From Encyclopedia of Contemporary Literary Theory: Approaches, Scholars, Terms, page 96

STEP ONE: PAN

Count off by 5 and move to sit with your group members.

See WA 213: pan, track, zoom: most general, more specific, most specific. Cf. area, topic, focus; purpose, Q @ I, and other elements; generalizations, arguments, illustrations.

WA 213: “The pan—The camera pivots around a stable axis, giving the viewer the big picture.”

In order to analyze and understand B’s text, you have to begin with its internal divisions: 5 sections, each with its own Q @ I. I will show you were the divisions come. Then you, in your groups, will fill out the following chart. Start with your assigned section and work down. 10 minutes.

(Reproduce this grid on the screen in MS Word.)

 Suggested answers.

STEP TWO: TRACK

WA 213: “The track—The camera no longer stays in one place but follows some sequence of action.”

Identify and list the following elements in your assigned section:

·       Concepts: What are the key terms?

·       Point of view: What "hats" is Berger wearing?

·       Assumptions: What ideas does he carry with him?

·       Conclusions: How does he answer the Q @ I?

 Homework: Reread your section and come prepared to work on STEP TWO next time.

DAY TWO

YOU MUST HAVE BERGER'S TEXT TO PARTICIPATE TODAY. IF YOU DO NOT, PLEASE GO GET A COPY AT THE LIBRARY. YOU MAY REJOIN THE DISCUSSION IN PROGRESS.

STEP TWO: TRACK

WA 213: “The track—The camera no longer stays in one place but follows some sequence of action.”

Identify and list the following elements in your section:

·       Concepts: What are the key terms?

·       Point of view: What "hat" is Berger wearing?

·       Assumptions: What ideas does he carry with him?

·       Conclusions: How does he answer the Q @ I?

Handout of suggested answers. How close are we?

STEP THREE: ZOOM

WA 213: “The zoom—The camera moves in even closer on a selected piece of the scene, allowing us to notice more of its details. . . . The zoom is the shot that enables you to do 10 on 1.”

Here we are looking specifically at information.

Use The Method and put the images through the appropriate elements, especially interpretations: How do the illustrations relate to and support Berger’s text? What points arise from these images? (FYI, they are all black and white in Berger's original book.) Small-group work for for 7 minutes, then large-group discussion.

·       Group 1: Pages 141-42, Magritte’s The Key of Dreams & the collage

·       Group 2: Pages 143-44, Hals’s paintings

·       Group 3: Page 149, the photo in the bottom right

·       Group 4: Pages 155-56, Van Gogh’s Wheatfield with Crows

·       Group 5: Page 158, the photo of the bulletin board

STEP FOUR

How would you complete this outline? Do you see any problems with it? Would you do it differently? If so, how?

Complete the following outline:

I.                 What is Berger’s theory of seeing (1 sentence)?

II.               What illustrations does Berger use to support point I?

A.     Hals's painting.

B.     Perspective vs.

C.     Images can serve different

III.             What solution does he propose?

STEP FIVE: SEE-Is for “history” and “culture”

S – History is “the relationship between past and present” (144).

E – In other words, it is reciprocal, subjective, and dialogical.

E – For example, Berger hates "those who wield power," so he is sympathetic to Hals, who was destitute and had to paint his benefactors' portraits.

I – It's like fine dining--the main dish has qualities of its own, but its relationship to other courses affects how it tastes.

S – Culture is the dialogue between societal artifacts and our individuality.

E – In other words, according to Berger, it is the medium of interplay between ourselves and the world.

E – For example, it includes a discussion of Hals, his subjects, his economic situation, and our own present--all as ways of seeing a portrait.

I – It's like a telephone wire--it is the medium of a two-way conversation.

STEP SIX: APPLICATION

Questions:

·       What have you learned from Berger that might enhance paper 2?

·       How, according to Berger, do we see culture?  

·       What things that you have heard today and last time seem most important?

·       What things are encoded in an image?

·       What must we guard against?

·       What does Berger want us to remember about images?

·       Do Berger and Tompkins see history in similar ways? See page 144, second complete sentence.