Emotional Power Of The Art example essay topic

The question of wether it is "Better to Plant a Cabbage than a Rose" raises an important philosophical issue concerning the necessity of art in our society. Should tax payer's money be used to fund the creative arts such as theatre, litterateur and painting or instead should it be spent on services like Medicare, The Dole and Education receive more money and be deemed more importance? We can no doubt see that services such as Medicare, The Dole and education are necessary in our society. Much like the cabbage their use is one of utter practicality, they assist us in core elements of our lives. The cabbage cures us when we are sick, it gives us money when we are jobless and it educates us when we are ignorant. In Plato's Republic Plato insists that in his Utopia there would be no need for the arts.

So why do we continue to fund the arts and what is the virtue of planting the rose? But is the rose useless as Plato demands or is there a need for it in this world. The rose is just as necessary in this society as the cabbage. The rose can many times help the cabbage to prosper through its beauty and because of that is essential. Sometimes the beauty of the rose can be used for malevolent purposes. However, the cathartic healing that the rose creates is fundamental.

Many times the rose can be used to assist the cabbage. Visual aids, a form of art, offer a teacher a unique tool to educate her class. This is due to the fact that pictures, in many cases, can demonstrate something far better than a written essay or a verbal explanation may be able to. Art is able to encapsulate the emotion of a situation like nothing else can.

Where a written account may only explain the objective facts of the particular situation, a work of art is able to place you inside the situation and the circumstances. A work of art doesn't bombard you with tedious facts but rather transports you to the time and place and allows you to feel the emotions and make your own judgments. Through this transportation, we gain a greater understanding of abstract values like morality, honesty, greed, etc. Art gives us a more personal view on the otherwise objective facts and also allows us to connect to these circumstances through an emotional base.

For a teacher this unique tool is advantages as it motivates and engages students in a way that no written essay can. The emotional power of the rose is great unfortunately it can be used for evil purposes. Art is powerful in its ability to engage emotionally, it seeks not to educate through facts alone but through emotions. Art engages us and due to this it can at times blind us form the facts. This power that art has can many times have negative ramifications. Propaganda is based on this theory.

Propaganda hopes that you will forget your predisposed thoughts and beliefs and let the emotional power of the art to change your view on the topic. The Nazis used propaganda as a tool to change the minds of people. They depicted themselves as strong, heroic, proud and powerful and they depicted the Jews as ugly, weak, worthless people. The Nazis new that if they told people these statements the effect would be minimal, hence, they counted on the emotional power of art to persuade people of these subjective facts. Although art can be used for evil its assets are astonishing. Art, like Medicare, is able to heal people and their problems.

The rose can be used as a release from the hardships of life and through that can heal any man. Art allows the viewer to partake in a life different to theirs, without the mess that would otherwise ensue. If a man hasn't got the physical ability or mental capacity to become a double agent and yet his whole life felt the desire for a life of promiscuous sex and constant life endangerment, he can through the vividness of art experience this desired life. In the same fashion that the Romans viewed the Gladiator matches art is used as a catharsis. The Roman public during time of peace went to see Gladiator matches to rid themselves of the desire to see blood and to take another's life.

When one becomes immersed in the play and engrossed with the characters he too feels their journey. As the character develops or achieves something, the reward is felt by the audience as well as by the character. A sense of relief is experienced by the audience. Art allows an individual to experience an incident without experiencing the chaos and complexities that are involved. There is no doubt that for us to be cured when we are sick, be given money when we are jobless and be educated when we are ignorant we need to plant the cabbage, however, are there not equal amounts of reasons for us to plant the rose. For a teacher art is a unique tool to help educate as it motivates and engages students through its beauty and precision while giving them information.

Although art can be used for evil purposes like propaganda it is a valuable asset. Arts has the ability to heal through catharsis, it gives people a release from the adversities that we all experience. Art is as valuable as Medicare, The Dole or Education. A person should never choose the cabbage or the rose both are essential in our world..