Group+2

TYS Group2 Leah Mersky Adam Wiseman

ASV Group 2 María Romero Jorge Plaza

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Art Adam Wiseman: As one of the pieces of art that we bring to the habitants of this village I would like to include Claude Monet's Water Lillies. I think this painting is good because it promots the message of peace, tranquility, and beauty. These are important things to show these people because their view of peace, and tranquility are probably much different than ours. The second piece of art that I think we should bring them is a topographical map of Brazil. This is important because it shows the people where they can find certain land masses like mountains, and it shows them where certain resources can be found. This could really assist their way of life and allow them to gather resources much easier, and it would assist them with their business interactions with the rest of the world. The third picture I think we should show is something that these people could be farmiliar with. This is a picture of brazilian landscape in the wild, which is beautiful and these people are familiar with it so they hopefully will have some sort of connection with it.

Music Adam Wiseman I think the music that we give them should be peaceful and we should give them a guitar. The guitar is the easiest instrument to learn and the base of most music is reliant on guitar. Because we are trying to show these people how we live and how we treat people, so that they can do the same, and it will help them in the long run through proper interactions with the rest of the world. But through music and art we need to show them peace and stuff like that, we should not use music with violence in it because we are showing them an alternative way of life, so we should teach them the ethics that we use in our world through music and art.

Language Adam Wiseman: I think that we should teach them two different languages, portuguese, and spanish. I think that we should teach them portuguese because portuguese is Brazil's national language, so if these people learned the brazilian language it would make interactions between them much easier and more efficient. Also if the members of the tribe would like to insert themselves into the rest of society it would be essential for them to speak the language. I think spanish is important to teach them because not only is spanish the second language in brazil but spanish is the most commonly spoken language throughout the area, and the world. Most of

Map Adam Wiseman I think that we should give them a map of the world. I think this because they need to know about the world and where certain countries is and stuff like that. I think another really important map to give them would be a map of south america or a map of brazil itself. This is because it is important for them to know where stuff is and where certain countries near them are. Also even where they are in relation to brazil and the rest of the world. If they want to be successful in a business with interactions with the rest of the world they would need to know where to go for business. Also where they can find certain resources and stuff like that.

Leah Mersky: Ethics are a form of cultural truths that we decide to live by. In order to change their ethics, we must first look to change their cultural truths. We believe the best means to achieve this end would be to expose them to works of literature, art, history and music that embrace such intense beauty that they inspire the tribe to live up to the new set of cultural truths and ethics that such works proclaim. The first ‘work’ that the NGO will bring to the Brazilian tribe is The Odyssey, by Homer. As a talented writer, Homer knows how to capture a reader using excellent poetic devices (such as epithets, metaphors, etc…) and enticing detail of scenery. His use of poetic devices is something that could be taught in the school; focusing on how to use beauty of writing and language to make people listen.
 * Literature** By Leah Mersky

Furthermore, Homer’s writing is always relatable and always able to capture all audiences of any ethnic/cultural background. This is essential for the Amazon tribe because if they do not relate to the story then they will not care about it – ultimately taking nothing from the story. When I read his works, even though the stories are far from any reality that I know, I was still able to relate because of his expertise at creating familiar human emotion and human experience in all his stories. This familiarity of human experience/emotion will also give the NGO and the tribe something to talk about; which creates a good lesson plan for the children. In terms of truth and ethics, The Odyssey focuses on the importance of a family bond. This is a good ethic to teach because it is probably a truth that partially exists in the tribe; the people of the tribe most likely understand that families must work together in order to survive. It is also a good ethic to teach because it helps condemn infanticide and cannibalism; two practices that are not sensitive to the importance of family bond.

The Odyssey also highlights the importance of a warrior; it never doubts the significance or the nobility of a warrior and this is important because the people of the Brazilian Amazon are warriors, and so they will be taught the ethic of valuing oneself and valuing self identity/self worth. Perhaps this value will work to denouncing cannibalism, which is a practice that insults self value and self worth.

Lastly, The Odyssey explores the idea that everything in nature and everything on earth has a God – thereby teaching that everything has a purpose that needs to be respected. Not only does the many Gods of The Odyssey teach the importance of respect, but it also teaches the idea that there is always something in life that is greater than human life; thus a human can always strive to be better. This is an important ethic to have because if one understands that the capacity to be a greater person exists, then they are more inclined to become that greater person. The way the NGO will define what that “greater person” is will come from the second piece of literature that I would like to bring: the Bible.

The Bible is an excellent work of literature that effectively outlines the capacity of people to become “great.” When studied at school, a child can learn not to interpret the Bible literally or to follow the Bible as a religious practice; but rather I would teach the child to analyze the Bible as if it were any other novel (just like The Odyssey). I would teach the child to look at the way the Bible defines goodness and how some of the Bible’s definitions believe too wholly in the goodness of mankind, but at the same time are not too unrealistic that they can not be used as a guide to develop good ethics and good cultural truths. Also, both the Bible and The Odyssey are in-depth reads that don’t provide the reader with just a story, but a whole world of ideas, theories, concepts and beliefs that are essential in developing and testing the mind. I want to stress the fact that I do not believe in teaching the Bible as a religious study – I by no means believe that the people of the tribe should take up the Christian religion, as this would be an invasion of their cultural identity. I just believe that the bible has some very good stories that teach good ethics, and regardless of if the child decides to follow such ethics, at least the child will be exposed to them and know that they exist. Music is an expression of beauty. The type of music that people listen to almost always reflects what people perceive as beautiful (hence why a particular fashion/style of a person almost always matches the style of music they listen to.) In the Amazon, the most common form of music is made from the drum and the voice; not coincidentally, the accepted form of “beauty” reflects a warrior style with needles, tattoos, paint, and head pieces that serve as human-décor. However it can be said, that like any other style, this warrior style creates a violent atmosphere that makes people act accordingly. If the Amazon tribe is surrounded by music and beauty that values war and violence, then they will value the same. Personally, I do not want to change their values of the warrior and all of the music and art that stems from it: I believe that the warrior is far too important to the Amazon people to try and take its significance away. Instead, I think that the NGO should introduce to the tribe an instrument that is peaceful, softer and more feminism, to help balance the tough atmosphere that the battle music, warrior-style and warrior values create. The instrument that I believe would best do this is the flute. The Flute is a soprano instrument that mimics the voice of a woman or even a bird. It is easy to build in the Amazon (it can be made out of bone) and it is durable and simple to play. If the flute was brought to the Amazon people, the sweetness of the sound would create a more tranquil atmosphere for the people to enjoy, even if it is only for a little while. I think that such an atmosphere will show the people a more delicate form of beauty, as well as it can help them be calmer and clearer headed; hopefully veering them away from constant warfare. “Their grasp of art only extends to fertility symbols - small chiseled representations of pregnant women.” This quote proves that the people of the tribe use art to teach cultural truths; that the woman’s place (in this tribe) is to reproduce, and that beauty is seen in fertility and pregnancy. Therefore, the art that we bring should be used to teach truth and beauty as well – as this is what they most readily learn from art. In using art to teach truth, I believe that we should show them pictures of different countries around the world. From the pictures they can see how diverse the world is, and how the world is made up of many different kinds of people/cultures. Although these pictures may not teach beauty, at the least the people will gain a deeper understanding of what/who makes up the world. If we did not show them what the world outside the Amazon is like then we would be, in a sense, allowing them to be vulnerable to their Brazilian business co-workers, who would take advantage of the tribes’ ignorance. However by making sure that they are educated about the world, we are teaching them that truth is knowing all the variables to an equation – and if one can seek truth in business (i.e. see all the ‘variables’ to the operation at hand) then one is more likely to succeed.
 * Music** By: Leah Mersky
 * Art** By: Leah Mersky

In order to teach beauty, I believe that the NGO should show them pictures of beautiful things that make up their own tribe; i.e. a beautiful picture of the people or a beautiful picture of the ecology. By showing them a beautiful picture of something that they know, they will gain more appreciation and amusement from the photograph and hopefully treat the subject in the photograph (whether it is a child, a woman, an animal, etc…) with more respect. In example; if someone were to capture a beautiful picture of sharks swimming innocently in the ocean, one would treat the sharks with more compassion than if one were to capture a grotesque picture of sharks swimming violently in the ocean. Such manipulation of photography to turn an ordinary subject into something beautiful and appreciated is very effective in making people treat that subject with more respect or more compassion. This form of photography could also help denounce cannibalism and infanticide – as it could help show the people the beauty of life and the importance of sustaining life.