School's Out for Summer!

Visual art and literature are very similar. The reason for this is that both literature and art have a message. Often this message concerns what it is to have a meaningful life. At other times, the message is political and the art is commenting on the way things are in the world and is inviting us to do something about it. But most people don't understand visual art. When they look at a painting or a photo,  they simply think of whether or not the picture is realistic or pretty. What I'd like you to do with the following two pieces of art is to ask yourself what the message of the art is. Then you are to pick one of the two pieces and write 1/2 page telling me what you think that message is.

"Migrant Mother" by Dorothea Lange              "Wheatfield with Crows" by Vincent Van Gogh
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Untitled by Robert Doisneau