This week in class we read and discussed the book “The War Prayer”. I thought it was a very interesting book because of the use of older English words. I also really liked how my piers and I all perceived the meaning and theme of the book a little differently. Along with the book, ms. Maxwell gave us the link to a narrated video made after the book.

heres the video:

As you can see, this video is animated. The style seems to be very harsh lines and rough images. It gives me a sense of unease, fear and the feeling that something even seems a little supernatural. I think that the feeling this artwork gave me really helped shape my theme statement and understanding of the book. My perception was shifted to a more wary and dark way of thinking.

In stark contrast here’s a video that Malaika (I’m sorry if that spelt wrong) found and showed me during our book discussion.

Here’s the video:

This video gave me a completely different feeling than the previous one. It didn’t nearly fell as surreal and dark and felt a lot more relatable and believable. What’s also interesting is that after watching this one I could better understand some of my other group members choices of theme statements. I found that my perception had really changed.

So to me, to answer the question in my title, art can impact the way we perceive something by just being a little more bright versus dark, or clear versus blurry. These little things really can make something feel more relatable, surreal, or any other feeling a person can get.