EDI

Art and writing
I hope you are enjoying the different groups' stories and role-playing as much as I am! Lots of fun!! And thru your great presentations we are all learning a lot about the painters. Good!!
Here's an assignment for you.
1- Choose one of the stories presented so far (not yours, of course!) and change the end.
2- What do you remember about  about the painters? What impressed you most?
Post your work on the blog. Enjoy!!!



1- The Starry Night Over the Rhone by Vincent Van Gogh

THE STARRY NIGHT OVER THE RHONE

It was the summer of 1911 in a little town called Lyon in France. Phillip was a nice boy who was only 5 years old. He was very attached to his sister Louise, a 10 year old girl. They played all the time together and every evening went together to the river´s bank to watch the majesty of the sky at twilight. They lived in a simple house across the river with their parents Stephanie and Albert. Stephanie, was a spinner who worked all day long in the house and took care of the children. Albert was a farmer who worked hard and spent many hours outside the town. He almost couldn’t spend time with his children.

One evening while Albert was having dinner at home, the phone rang. It was his boss who had to let him know about a terrible piece of news. The farm where he worked had been burnt down accidentally. This fact ended making Albert redundant. After a fortnight, Albert applied for another job and one day he received a charge from Germany. Unfortunately, he had to move away from his family. After long hours of thinking, he decided to take his son with him. Louise made up her mind to look after her mother who was gravely ill.

(Picture of the river)The day before the departure, Phillip and Louise went for a walk through the Rhone river’s bank. Unexpectedly, they found a glass bottle behind a rock. Louise knew the tradition that if she sent the bottle on its way to wherever it may end up, some day she would get a reply. So, she wrote a message in a piece of paper she had in his dress pocket. After writing for some minutes, she put the message into the bottle and threw it away to the river just hoping to have fun:

What are you doing Louise?

In that bottle we are gonna be together forever.

Why don’t you come with me and dad tomorrow?

Because I have to help our mother with the housework.

And where are we going Louise?

You are just travelling to a place not so far from here. I will visit you every week and I will send you lots of letters.

Albert and Phillip arrived to Munich in 1912 and by the end of the year finally Albert got a job as postman. He spent many hours working on the street and that was why his son had to be looked after by his neighbour`s wife. Later on, Albert was informed he had to join the German army to fight in the WWI and unfortunately few days after the war came to an end Albert died. By these years Phillip was brought up by his nanny who finally adopted him.

As the years went by, Phillip became a prestigious lawyer in his city. He travelled frequently and was always busy.  In the hard winter of 1965, Phillip had to make a trip to France after being called by a well-known businessman to solve a legal case. At first, he felt a weird sensation because he had never returned to his hometown after moving to German.

When he arrived the first day he couldn’t stop thinking about his childhood. So, he decided it was a good idea to come back to his neighbourhood and see what had changed since he went away.

Luckily, he could solve the case in a flash and then, he took some days off work. He went for a walk by the bank of the river Rhone. While he was wandering and thinking across the river, a bottle was carried by the sea up to his feet. Immediately, he picked up the bottle and surprisingly, he found a sheet of paper with a message. At that moment, all his life passed through his head. He opened it and suddenly, he recognised his sister`s handwriting on it. Without a shadow of a doubt, he dashed to the house where he used to live in his first years and knocked the door. Instantaneously, an old woman opened it. Both of them had a queer feeling:

Excuse me, lady. I would like to talk with the owner of the house.

Yes, sir. It’s me. What do you need?

How long have you been living here?

I’ve been living here all my whole life.

Louise are you?

Who are you? Phillip?

Do you remember this?

Oh, Phillip! Where have you been all this time? I couldn’t stop thinking about you every single day in my life. I have been waiting for you; I know some day you would return…

After meeting, they spent long hours talking about their lives. The night arose and finally they made a snap decision to go together to the place where they had met for the last time. They stayed all night long gazing at the starry night. 

By Gonzalo, Agostina and Daiana

2- The Box by Pierre Auguste Renoir

 

All’s fair in love and war.

Nothing could overshadow the undistinguished performance of the Renoir Theatre’s plays, except its excessive luxury: walls were covered with famous paintings, crystal chandeliers hung from the roof and the scenery was full of fancy props. Everything in that place was extravagant, including the well-known couple sitting at one of the prestigious boxes. The husband named Keith, the respected and wealthy mayor of the city, and his wife, Catherine, an ambitious and determined woman overshadowed by her husbands mere presence.

As they were waiting for the opera to start, the man couldn’t avoid giving an exaggerated opinion about the theatre and its features. According to him, nothing in the city could be compared to it.

“The ceiling makes me feel like I’m in Heaven! Don’t you agree, darling?” he said “I would love to have that painting in our house.”

“I don’t know if that kind of painting would suit our house.”

“It surely would! Just look at it! It’s so fresh… and it makes me feel so young…”

“So… you like it because it makes you feel young?” she asked “I know you, Keith… you are such a whimsy.”

“What do you mean by that, darling?” the man absentmindedly asked while he was taking his binoculars out of his pocket.

“You have ephemeral crushes all the time, Keith.” she replied calmly. For her it was more of a game which consisted in her trying to extract information from him so as to confirm her suspicions; feelings were clearly not involved.

“You might be right, it may be a crush, but I actually think it would be a nice painting to have.” Keith said while the lights of the whole theatre began to dim. “Let’s enjoy the play, darling.”

The curtain began to open slowly as Keith was preparing his binoculars for the moment in which the performers came on stage. A choral and solemn melody began, an enormous ship appeared from the left side of the stage and the first actors came out dressed in Roman clothes.

The woman’s eyes landed on her husband, expecting him to come clean; something she knew would never happen. As she realised that he was extremely fixated on an upper box, she turned her gaze away from him with indifference and abstracted herself into her thoughts. After several acts, the curtains were drawn and the wife couldn’t help relating the opera with her own ongoing stiff marriage.

“What a sorrowful story! Especially the relationship between the couple, he’s so disrespectful to her!’’ the woman exclaimed. “Does it not remind you of someone?”

“I think you’re being a bit sentimental, Catherine. I can’t see anything wrong with them!”

“Oh, really? What about his evident lack of interest in her? He is obviously having an affair with another woman… or man.”

“Well darling,” he said arrogantly “I consider that common in every man's life.”

The woman opened her mouth trying to extract more information from him. But she closed it immediately since she realised that there was no need for that. He wouldn’t say more about it, because now he knew that those simple words had revealed more than enough. With a mixture of satisfaction and confirmation, she drew a pleased smile on her face.

‘I just knew it! You won’t get away with this Keith, everyone will know about your affairs with him.’ Catherine threatened him and began to strut away from the box, but he quickly grasped her arm with great force and made her face him.

“You dirty tramp! You are not going to say a word about it!” Keith exclaimed “You had nothing before I met you, remember that?, I took you out from poverty and your dirty rags. You wouldn’t dare say a word about this!”

Catherine lets herself free from his grasp and starts strolling around the box teasing him,“I can’t wait to see the headlines tomorrow… with your stupid face in the front cover… it will ruin  not only your reputation but your whole life.” she smirked vindictively. “Poor little Keith… your whole career down the drain…”

“You don’t have the power to do that! You’re nothing and you know it! Who is going to believe you, anyway?”

“Who cares? Think about it, honey darling… just a floating rumour in the air is enough to destroy you! And when that happens you won’t be able to see him anymore! Imagine people seeing you with another man! They will instantly think wrong! You won’t even have a chance to go to your dear mens club… well... if that’s what you actually did.”

“Alright then... lets just get down to business” he said with a defeated expression on his face, “What is it that you actually want? Money? A house? Jewelry? I can give you anything you desire, just name it.”, desperation starting to take over his voice.

“ Hahaha you cannot buy me like you always do with the people that surround you!” she said firmly. “All I want is revenge and there’s nothing you can do to stop me!” she said as she turned her back to him, leaning at the box’s edge, looking at the people in the audience “take a good look Keith, all those people who respect and admire you now, will eat you alive and suck you dry tomorrow!“

All of sudden, fear enveloped his thoughts blinding all his reason and that fear took over his body. He crept silently behind her, grabbed her shoulders tenderly and whispered “Sorry darling but I don’t think you will live to see tomorrow”

Having no time to resist his shove, Catherine found herself falling down the balcony. Then, loud screams erupted through the auditorium and everyone’s gaze was immediately put upon the well respected mayor.

  By Ignacio, Milagros and Giuliana

3- Jujuy by Antonio Berni

 

Jujuy - A change of life.

Far, far away the big city of Jujuy, there was a small village where people never rest. Some women had been living there since they were born. Every morning they woke up expecting their daily routine to happen one more time. The sun rose very early in the morning and blazed down on the women who were already working. They dedicated their lives to craft, do pottery, weave sweaters and slippers, cook typical foods, and raise goats and ducks. But that is not all. They had to take their children with them to work since there was no school for the little kids to go, and when they all came back home, the working women had to clean the house, tidy the rooms and do all the household chores.

After a really hard day of work, one of the women said:

AGO-I am very tired of this life. We spend the whole day working in an extremely poor condition.

CARO-Not only that but also we earn very little money which is not enough to give our children what they need.

AGO-Don’t you think we deserve a better lifestyle?

CARO-Yes but it is impossible here. Sometimes I imagine how people live in other places.

MARY-You really think is different in other places?

CARO-Everything can be better than here.

AGO-Why don’t we go somewhere else?

MARY-Are you crazy? We can’t.

CARO-Why you say that? It sounds great.

MARY-No, we were born here, we are used to living here and we don’t even know how is life in other places.

AGO-You are right but how difficult can it be? After all, we live like slaves here.

MARY-I don’t agree. It sounds complicated to sudden leave and start over in an unknown place.

CARO-I consider it a great idea. Besides, what can we lose but trying? We have nothing here.

AGO-why don’t we leave tomorrow?!

MARY-Won’t you miss living here?

CARO -No way. Pack your things.

MARY-I am not sure.

AGO-Then you will like it and you will thank us.

MARY-I will think about it.

CARO-You won’t!. You are coming. I promise you won’t regret it.

The women kept arguing for a while, trying to convince Mary.

After that, they came back home and remained silent as they were thinking if it was a good idea or not including those who wanted to leave. Mary didn’t want to leave, she knew that the other women were right but she was completely afraid. That night before leaving, she looked at her son and she understood that if there was something better out there, she had to look for it because he deserved a better life. The following day, they saw the landscape for the last time. Mary hesitated until the last second but she finally joined the women. They didn’t know where they were going, but they did have the hope that out there will be an answer for their lives. They took their things and went away without looking back.
By Juliana, Agostina Carignano, Melani and Carolina


4- 

The Old Man in Sorrow by Vincent Van Gogh

Old Man in Sorrow

What seemed a normal and ordinary day became a nightmare. Frank Grimes was a fifty-year-old single man who lived alone in the suburbs and worked as a machine operator in a textile industry. The morning of the 21^st of June was stormy and the rain had been pouring down for a long time. Despite having gone through a tough working week, he felt glad because the previous night he had won a bet in a bar and he was planning to spend the money of the prize on presents for his grandchildren.

Frank got dressed as usual, had a cup of coffee and went to work. After he checked in, he started doing his daily work.  It consisted of operating a machine which added buttons to finished jeans. Suddenly, a secretary asked Frank to go to the boss’s office

“Good morning, Mrs Johnson”, Frank said politely

“Good morning, Mr Grimes”, said the boss. “Please have a sit. We need to talk”

“Yes, sure. Is there any problem?”

“You know, Mr Grimes, you’ve been working in our factory for a very long time and you have always been an excellent worker. We really do appreciate your being here. Therefore, we believe that it’s time for you to stay more time at home and enjoy your family. You need to have more free time.”

“Do you mean having less working hours per day?” Frank asked. He didn’t really understood Mrs Johnson’s point.

 “I don’t think you get my point. You just consider my offer as permanent holidays”

“Are you firing me?” Frank protested angrily.

“The truth is, Frank, that we’ve been thinking about buying new and more modern machinery for the factory. Thus, we will need younger employees who are able to operate them properly.” Mrs Johnson was now trying to make Frank be reasonable.

“That is absolutely not fair! I’m smart and I could learn whatever you teach me! I truly need this job. You can’t fire me just because you think I’m old.”

“I am sorry, Mr Grimes, it’s my final word. Please pick up your belongings and leave the building.”

Frank could not believe what was going on. A lifetime working at the same factory had been underestimated. The boss had thrown him away like useless trash. He had never felt as humiliated as he felt at that time. He got more and more frustrated. He wandered for a while feeling completely lost. When Frank realized he was in front of the bar he usually went to, he knew he needed to talk to someone about his problems. Frank was a very close friend of the barman called Larry, so he approached him.

“Hey Frank! What’s up?,” said Larry cheerfully, “why are you looking so mad?”

“Oh, man. I’ve just got fired. The boss just kicked me out,” Frank replied outrageously.

“Fired? That’s terrible! Didn’t he tell you why?

“Can you believe that she fired me because I’m old? That’s even worse than having no reason! I’m shocked. What am I going to do now? I have no job, I live alone, my family is so far away, and what´s more we haven't talked since my daughter´s wedding”

“That’s really bad! You should calm down a little bit.”

 “I don’t want to be calm. I just want to go and pull that factory down! It was so unfair!”

“But revenge is not the answer! How will you feel then? Will you get another job if you destroy the factory? What can you do now to get through this issue?

“Well, I have some savings. There’s some money I could use till I get another job.

“You see? Revenge is not an option. Now calm down and have beer with me.”

Although Frank’s situation was very frustrating, Larry could convince him to change his mind and not let be influenced by rage. While unemployed, Frank visited his family and got closer to them. He used his savings until he got a new job. It’s remarkable that Frank did what not many people would do. He started all over again.

by ALDANA, SOFÍA and ALEJANDRO