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A Brief History of the Artist’s Palette ( 9.2 Version B)1For thousands of years, human beings have responded to the world through painting. They have painted on cave walls, buildings, wood, and canvas stretched across a frame, to name just a few types of expressions with paint. The surfaces have been varied and numerous, but the basic composition of the paint has remained the same. Paint is made by grinding up a pigment and mixing it with a liquid called a “binding agent,” which could be egg, oil, animal fat, water, or synthetic substances. After the liquid has been applied and then dries, the ground pigment adheres to the painting surface, whatever material it may be.2Pigments used to be powders that were made by grinding up minerals, plants, and animal parts. Vermilion, a red pigment made from sulfur and mercury, and ultramarine, a blue pigment made from a stone called lapis lazuli, were two highly desired but expensive pigments. Now more economical, pigments are made from chemicals, and they come in brighter colors that resist fading.3Since the Stone Age, artists have sought colors that are resistant to fading. After using dye colors derived from animal and vegetable sources, it is likely that they discovered the permanence of the color that came from iron oxide deposits in the earth. Studies of areas with cave paintings have shown that people traveled up to 25 miles to obtain iron oxide pigments. The palette, or range of colors, used by artists of this time was derived from mineral oxide or carbon and consisted of three basic colors: red, black, and yellow. These iron oxide pigments also made up the basic palette of ancient Egyptian, Indian, and Chinese artists. In Crete, the Minoans mixed these pigments with water and applied them to a surface of fresh plaster (a mixture of lime, sand, and water). The pigments bonded permanently to the lime, and the first frescoes, or paintings on plaster walls or ceilings, came into existence.4For hundreds of years artists mixed their own pigments, but getting just the right color could be expensive and time consuming. The young Michelangelo, most likely short of money to buy pigment, left a painting unfinished in 1501 for lack of the right color, in this case, blue. Not just any blue, but the prized blue pigment whose source was the stone lapis lazuli. And not just any lapis lazuli either, but a fabled stone from a remote region of Afghanistan. Once processed, this stone became the blue pigment known as ultramarine, after gold, the most expensive color in Renaissance Italy. In 1828, a synthetic version was made available in France at less than one-tenth the cost of genuine ultramarine.5By the mid-1600s an industry had developed to meet the demand for pigment. The whole time-consuming process of preparing pigment was taken over by colormakers, people who earned a living grinding pigments and mixing paint. Now artists could spend more time painting, but they knew little about the material with which they were working. They had lost the knowledge that beginning artists in the Middle Ages would learn first: how to mix and use pigments, which pigments had to be blocked from chemically reacting with each other—all the secrets of the trade. The work of the colormakers had given artists more time to paint, but artists paid a high price. They lost the technical knowledge of their materials and the result was disastrous: paintings ruined by fading colors and cracking canvases.6In 1880, artist William Holman Hunt spoke before the Royal Society of Arts in London about the problem and his ideas for a solution. Hunt believed that the time-saving colormakers were necessary to artists and that artists had to become better craftspersons. They should learn the fundamentals of their trade so that they could work together with the colormakers.7The late 1800s was a turning point in the history of the artist’s palette, because the collaboration of chemists and colormakers led to many advances in the field. Completely synthetic pigments were produced for the first time; for example, a permanent bright yellow was added to the painter’s palette and newly identified minerals opened up an entirely new range of pigments. Ancient dye colors and known minerals that had been developed for artists’ use were also improved. These developments were critically received by some artists. Designer William Morris hated the new colors and used his influence to revive the manufacture of some of the old ones.8Some artists agree with Morris, arguing that, paradoxically, the imperfections of the natural pigments make them superior. The synthetic French ultramarine powder invented in the 1800s is made up of crystals quite uniform in size, thus causing the light to be reflected evenly. The effects of the real ultramarine, made from ground lapis lazuli, are much more interesting. The artist’s palette has expanded, but at the same time, some of the old, jewel-like colors are being brought to life again.Question #1What is another good title for this passage?A)A Colorful TimelineB)The Development of OxidesC)An Increase in TalentD)The Advancement of CreteElizabeth Blackwell: First Female Doctor1On a bright Tuesday morning in 1849, a young woman stepped up to the platform of a church in New York and received her diploma from Geneva Medical College. For Elizabeth Blackwell, it represented the fulfillment of her dream: a degree of Doctor of Medicine.2Elizabeth Blackwell was born in Counterslip Bristol, England, in 1821. Her parents, Samuel and Hanna Blackwell, saw to it that Elizabeth and her sisters received the same quality of education as her two brothers. The Blackwells’ insistence that their children receive a quality education later benefited the family tremendously. After suffering the loss of his business to a fire, Mr. Blackwell moved the family to America, settling in Cincinnati, Ohio, where at the age of sixteen, Elizabeth worked to help support her family. With Elizabeth’s help, her mother opened a small elementary school. Although the school was a success and the income helped to support the family, Elizabeth was not happy teaching. She wished to do more, but she was not sure exactly what it was she wanted to do.3When she was twenty-four, Elizabeth went to visit and care for a friend who was ill. Elizabeth’s friend suggested that Elizabeth would make a good doctor. “Impossible,” she replied, knowing that there were no women doctors anywhere. However, the idea so impressed Elizabeth that she became determined that this was what she wanted to do.4Elizabeth applied for entrance to several medical schools but was rejected by them all. She sought support from doctors in Philadelphia and New York City, but she received no encouragement from them. Women simply could not be admitted to medical school, she was told. One doctor went so far as to suggest that she might obtain admittance if she disguised herself as a man. She was not discouraged by these comments and decided upon an alternate plan instead. Since her family still needed her financial support, she decided to become a governess, which allowed her to live in the home of a doctor and gave her access to the doctor’s extensive library of medical books. While working and living there, she also taught herself Greek and Latin. When Elizabeth believed she was ready for college, she applied to several smaller institutions, and at last, she received a letter of acceptance from Geneva Medical College in Geneva, New York.5Elizabeth arrived at Geneva Medical College on November 6, 1847, a few weeks after the fall term began. She was known as that “lady student.” Even though she was allowed to enroll, it was obvious neither the students nor the townspeople accepted her. It was not common for a woman to pursue a career in a field that was dominated by men, and because of her decision, she met with much opposition. She did, however, gain one enthusiastic supporter, Professor John Webster, who mentored her, but suggested that she not attend lectures on certain subjects that he felt were not in the best interest of a young woman. Elizabeth Blackwell ignored his concern and attended every lecture. She was determined to become a practicing doctor. On January 23, 1849, Elizabeth graduated from Geneva Medical College with high honors, becoming the first woman in America to obtain a Doctor of Medicine degree.6After graduation, Elizabeth traveled to Paris, France, to gain practical knowledge while working in their hospitals. She had hoped to avoid discrimination in France, but administrators of the teaching hospitals treated her unfairly as well. Finally, however, she was offered a position in a lying-in hospital, which is a small hospital for women and children. Here, she received excellent training in the causes and cures of various women’s and children’s diseases. Her following assignment was at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in London where she studied for several months perfecting her skills as a doctor. When satisfied with her training, she returned to New York City in 1851, opening her own practice, but very few patients came for treatment. Elizabeth, however, was not discouraged by this setback, and began to organize and support medical care and education for women.7She opened a free dispensary providing treatment for underprivileged women and children, and by 1857, she closed the small dispensary to open the New York Infirmary, a full-scale hospital which provided surgical care and routine medical procedures. Elizabeth’s Infirmary was the first hospital in the world dedicated primarily to the treatment of women. In addition to helping patients, the New York Infirmary was a training facility for female medical and nursing students, and it soon evolved into a women’s medical college.8In 1868 the Woman’s Medical College of the New York Infirmary opened with fifteen students and nine faculty members. Elizabeth was Professor of Hygiene and her sister, Emily, was Professor of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women. One year later, Elizabeth went back to England, leaving her sister as director of the college.9Elizabeth Blackwell, the first female doctor, was a person of superior intelligence and strong dedication to the purpose of medicine. After years of struggling against prejudice toward women, she opened the door for women to excel in many areas of the medical profession.10She died in 1910 at the age of eighty-nine. In 1949 the Blackwell Medal was established in her honor. This impressive award is presented to women for outstanding achievement in the practice of medicine. Elizabeth Blackwell will be remembered as a person who fought for what she believed was the right of every woman: to choose her profession free from hindrance or prejudice.Question #2Read the sentence.After years of struggling against prejudice toward women, she opened the door for women to excel in many areas of the medical profession.What evidence does the author use in the article to support the ideas in the sentence? Use details and information from the article to support your answer.Question #3Which sentence?BEST?describes the?MAIN?idea of this passage?A)Elizabeth Blackwell became a doctor despite the fact that she preferred teaching over medicine.B)Elizabeth Blackwell earned a medical degree despite the fact that she was less qualified than other students.C)Elizabeth Blackwell worked tirelessly to help aspiring women gain access to medical schools despite much opposition.D)Elizabeth Blackwell overcame many obstacles to become the first woman doctor despite discrimination toward women.Question #4Which sentence?BEST?summarizes Paragraph 6 of the passage?A)Blackwell graduated and went to Paris to gain a greater feeling of independence.B)Blackwell used her experiences to teach other students how to succeed in college.C)Blackwell practiced medicine overseas because hospitals in Europe were more liberal and returned to New York City in 1851.D)Blackwell received hands-on training in Europe and opened her own practice in New York before focusing on medicine for women.The Harlem Renaissance?1Today it seems quite normal for high school English students to read poems, stories, and novels by African American authors, but that was not always the case. A hundred years ago readers, critics, and publishers across the United States paid little or no attention to African American authors. Then a group of African American authors in New York City changed American literature forever. Reaching readers of all races, their literary movement became known as the Harlem Renaissance.2Harlem, a section of New York City, became a center for African American culture, music, theater, and art in the 1920s. Hundreds of thousands of African Americans had recently moved from the South to northern cities for better jobs, and many of them had settled in Harlem. African American musicians, artists, actors, and writers congregated there, encouraging one another’s creativity. African American owned magazines featured prose and verse about the everyday experiences of African Americans in the rural South and the cities of the North.3The reputation of Harlem spread beyond the immediate community. Jazz and blues performances attracted visitors from other parts of New York City. Through dinners and special events, Harlem authors were introduced to other New Yorkers who published magazines and books. Editors at major publishing companies began to show new interest in African American authors. Between the mid-1920s and the mid-1930s, more than fifty books by sixteen Harlem Renaissance authors were published.4African American authors expressed their lives with pride in their poetry and fiction. Langston Hughes, who spoke out against social injustice in his novels, essays, plays, and poems, was one of the most famous African American authors during the Harlem Renaissance. The rhythms of his poetry reflect the rhythm of African American music. The poems of his friend Countee Cullen drew on both European and African traditions. A third important author was Zora Neale Hurston. She studied anthropology in college and collected African American folklore, which strongly influenced her fiction.5The Harlem Renaissance did not last long. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, hard economic times meant less financial support for authors and artists. Some African American leaders turned their attention from literature to politics and social issues. Several leading Harlem authors moved away from New York City.6Although Harlem ceased to be the thriving cultural center it had become in the 1920s, its legacy lives on. The large number of well-known authors with published books inspired later African Americans to consider literary careers. The Harlem Renaissance opened the door of mainstream American literature to African American authors, who have been significant and recognized contributors to American literature ever since.Question #5Which question is?MOST?relevant to the topic of the passage?A)How did the Great Depression cause financial difficulty for artists?B)Why did African-American artists gather in Harlem?C)Which authors from this time later became political leaders?D)How did African-American authors who were part of the Harlem Renaissance change American literature? ................
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