ShmoopTube
Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.
Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos
Identity Videos 37 videos
Have you ever pretended to be super happy for your BFF when they win an award when, really, you just wanted to rip it out of their undeserving, ung...
Written in Anglo-Saxon, or Old English, sometime between the 8th and 11th centuries, Beowulf is an epic poem that reflects the early medieval warri...
In Markus Zusak's The Book Thief, Death narrates the story of one girl who lived during the Holocaust. Not surprisingly, it's kind of a downer—bu...
The House on Mango Street 24203 Views
Share It!
Description:
Do we need creative arts to survive, or is logic enough? And how can The House on Mango Street help us decide? Check out this video to find out.
Transcript
- 00:07
House on Mango Street, a la Shmoop. There's a little artist in every one of us.
- 00:16
Even if he only allows us to draw stick figures. But what does artistic expression mean to
- 00:21
us? Isn't art a reflection of our souls? We all rely on numbers . . .
- 00:26
. . . and scientific formulas . . . . . . to help us get through our day.
- 00:29
In fact, we'd be lost without them. But what if logic and rational thinking were
Full Transcript
- 00:37
our only options . . . . . . and no one felt compelled to express
- 00:41
themselves through dance . . . . . . or music . . .
- 00:44
. . . or literature? Would it really be such a big deal?
- 00:54
In The House on Mango Street, Esperanza dreams of having her own little house where she can
- 00:58
write. She quotes poetry . . .
- 01:00
. . . and writes stories to make her difficult life more bearable.
- 01:05
Esperanza uses creative expression to escape. But what about the rest of us? Do we all have
- 01:12
the need to write a book . . . . . . or dance in the ballet . . .
- 01:17
. . . or paint a masterpiece? And if so, why? Is that our saving grace?
- 01:24
Well, we already mentioned the whole "escape" thing.
- 01:29
Life isn't getting any easier, so we all need to chill out once in a while with something
- 01:33
that makes us laugh . . .
- 01:34
. . . or something that allows us to cry. There's also the chance that someone else's
- 01:42
artistic expression will touch our souls . . . . . . or inspire our own creativity . . .
- 01:48
. . . or completely knock our socks off. All good things.
- 01:54
And, even if we never have his eye . . . . . . or his grace . . .
- 01:58
. . . or her pipes . . . . . . we keep trying.
- 02:00
Because our tiny attempts at creating works of art . . .
- 02:03
. . . or thoughtful self-expression . . . . . . may make us feel better about ourselves
- 02:07
than just about anything else we do. And whether or not they are masterpieces...
- 02:12
...they open a window to our souls. We thought it was getting drafty in here.
- 02:17
So... is practicing some form of art essential to the human experience? Or can we do without?
- 02:24
Shmoop amongst yourselves.
Related Videos
They say that honesty is the best policy, but Jack lies about his identity and still gets the girl. Does that mean we should all lie to get what we...
Ever wish you could remember everything that you ever studied? How about everything that everyone has ever studied? Yeah, pretty sure our brains ju...
Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man is an American classic. Hope you're not expecting any exciting shower scenes though. It's not that kind of book.
Do not go gentle into that good night. In fact, if it's past your curfew, don't go at all into that good night. You just stay in your good bed and...
