Vista Did Not Concern Us

The first episode takes place south of Sicily as an American soldier, Joe, and an Italian teenager, Carmela, try to communicate after Carmela safely led a group of American soldiers. At one point, Joe and Carmela are alone and struggling to converse because of the language barrier. They do not understand each other’s ways and dialect. Joe and Carmela end up bonding as Joe speaks of loneliness and homesickness, demonstrating a connection aspect between varying cultures. This feature of communication is broken when violence interferes and Joe is killed. Carmela shows obvious sorrow over the loss, displaying realism and progressing the relationship between Italians and Americans. This episode introduces a multitude of themes that present themselves again later in Paisan. Joe and Carmela’s language barrier is an effort at a mutual understanding and interaction between Italians and Americans. As an opening episode, this scene shows a level of vivid reality and brings awareness to humanity.

After deciding that the David would not take its intended position on one of the tribunes atop the roof line of the cathedral, “a parlamento of twenty-eight citizens versed in art was called to advise on the work’s placement” (Partridge, 2009). This group consisted of artists such as Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Piero di Cosimo and Filippino Lippi. During the meeting of January 25, 1504, several locations were proposed as to where to place the David. These locations included places around Florence, but the two most favored were the courtyard of the Palazzo Vecchio and the Loggia dei Lanzi. After much deliberation, the statue was finally placed by the main doorway of Palazzo Vecchio in the Piazza della Signoria, and publicly debuted on September 8, 1504. Placed on the left side of the entrance of the Palazzo with his head slightly turned to the left towards the Loggia dei Lanzi, “David did indeed

I would always take walks after fights with my family, and it’s not as if I was going to change that in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I left our hotel, the Bauer Palazzo, stepping onto the Calle Tredici Martiri. One of the things I loved about Venice were the names of the streets and canals. I didn’t understand the meaning, nor was I able to pronounce it with ease, but when I heard them spoken my heart melted. People said that French is the language of love, but Italian is infinitely times more beautiful. We were booked to leave Venice for Marseille tomorrow, but I refused. That’s what lead to this fight with my parents. They didn’t like being in Italy. They grew up in Milan, but they left as soon as they were able to. The

Set in "that damned summer of 1978" in a small southern town in Italy, we immediately witness the umelenting landscape in which the members of Acqua Traverse are bound by. The children who travel to

We tried to remain imperturbable, but we were overwhelmed with all the glorious architectures, festivities, and traditions of San Jose, Costa Rica. Later, we arrived to the periphery part of the city, where are new, utilitarian abode for the week awaited.

This story begins to drive the sense of emotion with the very surroundings in which it takes place. The author starts the story by setting the scene with describing an apartment as poor, urban, and gloomy. With that description alone, readers can begin to feel pity for the family’s misfortune. After the apartments sad portrayal is displayed, the author intrigues the reader even further by explaining the family’s living arrangements. For example, the author states “It was their third apartment since the start of the war; they had

Erin seems to always be testing her boundaries in this book. She quits her cozy 9-5 city job as the Boston editor for a lifestyle website, to rise before dawn to preform back breaking work in any and all weather conditions (Murray 10). Erin describes the weather conditions for a typical workday on the

David is Incredible, Amazing, Remarkable, Hilarious and Amusing. He loves to talk to people he gets along with mostly everyone. The people that knows him like him for his personality he is such a great friend and adviser he gives great advice. The advice that he always give people the most is “Don’t get attached to anybody because you can’t hurt yourself and will not be able to move on fast”. Although David is not always in the mood to talk to anybody when people need him he is always there.

David thinks, “It really seemed, with Hella in the circle of my arms, that my arms were at home, and I was welcoming her back there” (Baldwin 120). Baldwin’s use of the word “home” emphasizes David’s comfort with first seeing her; this is possibly due to the sight of Hella finally putting some distance between himself and Giovanni. Their initial conversations remain friendly and do not sound superficial when they discuss her trip to the neighboring country. Despite this positive beginning, David is nervous throughout their first meeting, and his mind is occupied with more than thoughts pertaining to his long-awaited reunification with Hella. David states, “ I told myself I would not think about Giovanni yet, I would not worry about him yet; for tonight, anyway” (Baldwin 121).

This is when Giovanni makes his appearance. He is handsome and Italian and even though David refuses to admit it, he is very attracted to this young, dark man. After a while he ends up in his bedroom where he stays for several weeks. That he is having a homosexual affair is tearing on David, and he despises Giovanni as well as he loves him. In the book, David is saying to him self: ‘The beast which Giovanni awakened in me would never go to sleep again; but one day I would not be with Giovanni anymore'. When he finds joy in Giovanni's room, it quickly becomes clear that it cannot last, and that love does not always conquer all, and that it actually stands no chance against fear and self-delusion. He is fighting a constant battle against something he can't remove or ignore.

My curiosity soon took over and before I knew it, I was looking into the eyes of an injured calico cat. My sympathy for the cat increased exponentially when I saw that her back foot was contorted,

The story of David was one that held great significance to the people of Italy and many artists had used David as the subject of their work. Michelangelo’s David (1501-04) and Bernini’s David (1623) both depict the same subject matter but their interpretations are very different due to the time periods they were produced in. In my paper I will be explaining how the Renaissance and the Baroque periods notably changed the portrayal of David and how it influenced the artists of their times.

Progressing through the novel, Miss Lavish, an extravagant woman, guides Lucy to release control and embrace the unknown. Coming from an upper class, Lucy’s perspective on life has always been encompassed on social norms. The people she interacts with and rules she must follow all have a distinct relationship to her social class. Italy has given her the opportunity to go beyond the social standard that her upper-class stature puts forth. Miss Lavish tries to rotate Lucy’s close-minded view of the world because she believes that exploring will always lead to a wide variety of opportunities. When Mrs. Lavish says "One doesn't come to Italy for niceness," was the retort; "one comes for life. Buon Giorno! Buon Giorno!" (2.12) She is forcing Lucy to look up from the Baedeker which subtly begins to introduce the idea that this, in fact, represents Lucy slowly peering up from the metaphoric barrier the society has created for her. Lucy has always been a shy girl who was influenced by other people’s opinions on her, but coming to Italy gave her a new outlet to discover her own personality. It’s a new environment where she can explore not only the streets of Italy but the streets of her thought process as well. Mrs. Lavish unintentionally introduces to Lucy that in order to explore, you must be patient. Lucy finds that solutions to all issues are not just given. When she says, “As to the true Italy--he does not even dream of it. The true Italy is only to be found by patient observation." (2.12) It points Lucy in the direction of solving

Vista, California has this amazing Mexican restaurant downtown off of Main Street. She took the local bus near her apartment to this destination. This restaurant was Clarissa’s favorite establishment because of their homemade tortilla chips, salsa, and blended margaritas with salt atop its rim. As soon as she stepped off that bus, carefully with a pair of black ankle boots; suede, she stood for a few moments taking in the day and the warmth of the sun. Vitamin D from the sun was important to her. There were a few onlookers whose eyes crossed her path from the morning café across the way. The onlookers would have seen that Clarissa was modeling her best San Diego winter wear. Her ensemble included a white trench coat which was completely opened

It was a beautiful day in Rome, Italy. The sky was a clear, baby blue and the weather was warm, just hot enough to need a fan in the August day. People were walking on the streets, hand gestures everywhere as if they are so passionate about what they are talking about. I hear ‘Ciao Bella’ and ‘buongiorno’ from the friendly Italians I come across. I know what they are saying and find myself laughing, the mere sound of the language amuses me. Walking down the street, I took note of the siesta time, also known as riposo time in Italy. The stores and restaurants close down from noon until about 3:00 pm, giving people the time to go home and rest or take care of other things. From my room in my hotel, I noticed the acoustics in the city are