As I’m now a senior on the downward slope of my undergraduate education, the time has come to reflect on the moments that have brought me to this point.
My humanities class back in summer 2023 required us to write short papers in response to the literature and art we studied. This particular professor was one I had taken a course from before, and I’d tested the waters by ending my term paper on Socrates in aporia rather than giving a proper conclusion, so I figured I’d risk straying into the realm of goofy.
When we got to William Blake, I wrote my paper in response to a particularly eloquent remark he directed at the highly refined portrait painter Sir Joshua Reynolds: “This Man was Hired to Depress Art.” Please enjoy.