History is a phenomenon that cuts across all the human disciplines and activities. Everything that appears today has a history i.e. it has a specific period that is started and the way that it has transformed over the ages to what we see today. History in art is even a more interesting concept as arts involve the creative depiction of concepts. Therefore, arts creatively depict human history. Creativity means that real happenings in human existence are depicted in artistic and interesting ways. History is important in the determination of the origin of a nation while art is crucial in the development of the nation. Art is also a source of a nation/ people’s history through rock carvings and paintings that can point to many years back (Gougen, 12). The paper will investigates the way that history has been handled by Brecht Bertolt and Margaret Atwood in the selected poems.

The most basic definition of art is that it is any skillful human beings construction. People that develop arts are known as artists (Gougen, 7). Such people have continually pushed the boundaries of any definition of art to the extent that any attempted definition of the concept can be challenged and will raise criticism issues. For example the ‘found art’ challenges the role of the artist as the constructor of art. In 1917 Duchamp’s urinal submission to the New York Exhibition of the Society of Independent Artists led to huge controversy that led to its ban from the show by the society’s board of directors. The Fountain urinal had a pleasingly smooth form that follows its function in a most logical way. It was the function of the object that seems to have offended the bourgeois sensibilities of the board that the form itself, or the lightened role of the artist. On the other hand, the environmental art also strains the definition of art’s boundaries by placing art outside the museum, in a more natural environment. Such includes the wrapped buildings by Christos and other works by Robert Smithson (Gougen, 7). Conceptual art challenges the materiality of art by using physical forms that in their own sense may be found to be boring such as the hand-lettered poster boards. Such are used to suggest a concept or to re-conceptualize an already existing phenomenon. There are other traditions such as body art and performance art that assign new roles to the artist and also challenges current ideas about the boundaries among various arts such as between theatre and visual art or between music, literature and theatre. Social contexts play a crucial role in determining what is or is not art. In the current world also, anything can be presented as an art object (Gougen, 8). Arts have numerous purposes depending on their types. Ceremonial art is used in celebrations to provide entertainment to those present. On the other hand, functional art is used to induce some actions in the audience. It is a tool for making people to act in a certain way. Persuasive art such as advertisement appeals to people so that they subscribe to some service or product instead of the other available options. It reaches to the emotions, feelings, and the mood of the audience. Narrative arts primary gives an account of a certain event/ story that is presented to the audience for various purposes such as educative and entertainment (Ledrick).

Storytelling is the art of using language, sounds, gestures, and physical movements to reveal the elements of a narrative while provoking the imaginations of the audience so that they can participate in the story (Miller, 1). It is an ancient art form of human expression that portrays one’s creativity. Storytelling involves the two-way interaction between a storyteller and an audience of any size. The listeners of a story actively participates in the narration and they are important in determine the way that the story goes. They can give gestures, clapping, silence, facial expressions, and other reactions that help the narrator to assess the effectiveness of the delivery. The interactive nature of storytelling creates the immediacy and the effects that it has on the participants and the relationship that emanates from the activity. Storytelling is a way of sharing one’s experiences with others. Through stories, people share wisdoms, beliefs, and values that help to explain they things are, the reason they are as they are, and the role of the various occupants of the environment that we live in. Stories links the past, present and the future and thus helps to build knowledge about the world and the activities taking place (Miller, 2).

Brecht Bertolt in his poem ‘A Worker Reads History” aimed to present a social-political theme on the roles of the workers in the political, economic, and social activities in a society. The workers include the builders, the laborers, and masons that have labored tirelessly to build various buildings, structures, walls and other structures, and even the soldiers that actively fought in the various wars over the years but their leaders took all the credit. The reputations for the various achievements were always given to the leaders such the kings that commanded them leaving out the millions of ordinary men and women, who did sweat, shed blood and strove for the cause. Brecht was of the view that the approach of history taken by the most of the accounts has been unfair. The approach gives credit to those that gave the instructions in comfort, supervised and even threatened those that actually labored. There is the needed of a true record of human advancement and achievements so as to recognize those that put the most effort. He challenged the conventional histories that attributes the great achievements to heroic figures and ignores the numerous laborers that facilitated the success. Brecht built his theme through a series of questions such as Who built the Thebes of the seven gates? In the books you will find the names of kings. Did the kings haul up the lumps of rock?

In Margaret Atwood’s “True Stories,’ the purpose was to examine the reality of storytelling. According to Atwood, during the narration of stories, truth is lost somewhere along the way. In the poem, the poet seeks to trace the “truth” to determine where it was lost. The narrator seeks to answer the question of “what happened?” The narrator claims that a true story is not possible to tell because as the action unfolds, truth is lost as a result of the bending and reshaping of the events depending on who is telling them for what purpose. True stories are thus unreliable. There are various comparisons of truth and lies. Most of the comparisons are made in metaphors for example in lines 9-12 where the truth (true story) is compared to a black tangle of branches. Also, in lines 22-25 the narrator uses various comparisons such as a mess of colours, jumbled clothing among the other stories. The used figures of speech add a depth to the theme of truth by indicating the muddled nature of truths amongst the rest of the world. There is also extensive use of symbolism. For example there is the reference to the ocean and beach that are symbolic of the ebb and flow of stories. The force of the world (ocean) washes away the truth (ebb/waves). As a beach is constantly altered by the ocean, the truth is also constantly altered by the story tellers.

The poem “True Stories” was included in a collection of literary works that were her way of supporting the movement against oppression and control. The aim was to make the reader consider the control they have over the story of their lives and the way that people try to bend details to suit their goals. The altering of the story occurs when it does not make everyone happy and thus they try to change it (Twonames15).

Adaptation of the communicative needs and expectations of the target audience

In “A Worker Reads History” by Brecht, he has largely used satire as a reflection of the way that the workers are handled by their leaders. They do all the hard work but credit to those who do none of the toiling. Brecht presents the kings and the leader satirically to water down their involvement and mention in history. The move was expected as he is clearly against the kings taking credit where none is due. He asks, “Was it the kings who hauled the craggy blocks of stone?” (Brecht). The poet also extensively uses the rhetoric style to paint the picture of the magnificent great developments to ever exist. Such were masterpieces that show the highest of the human capabilities. The description of the structures also helps to emphasize on the investment that the laborers made to see the development go up. Such include when the poet says, “Imperial Rome Is full of arcs of triumph. Who reared them up? (Brecht). The poem has also largely incorporated the use of rhetoric questions and repetition that helps to trigger a stream of questions in the reader’s mind so that they can determine if they have been giving credit where it is due. Brecht utilizes artistic methods to present a crucial topic that needs to be addressed for fairness to be delivered.

Atwood’s goal in the “True Stories” as in her other works was to show that language can enable or hinder human being’s search for the truth. She argues that truth transcends language or even image. Thus, truth is indescribable and therefore cannot be understood unless by reading between the lines (Sumo Nova-editorial). She says:

The true story lies among the other true stories, a mess of colors, like jumbled clothing thrown off or away, … like butcher’s discards. (Atwood, 58) 

The truth is found in what we have disregarded as useless or too complex.

There is a reflection of the human being’s needs of a concrete source of knowledge, language and identity through her inability to dispense with them at all. Atwood appears to be unable to dispense with the idea of trustworthy knowledge or her works would progress beyond the mysterious and be unbearably frustrating to the readers. She is not able to dispense with language since that is the same that is contained in her narratives. She also cannot dispense with the coherent self as her works also relies on characters. Atwood uses less irony, emotional detachment and more precise vocabulary and a move towards a multiplicity of voices and corresponding changes in tone towards compassion and elegy. Atwood explores the role of language in the creation, definition, and transformation of personal worlds. Thus, she addresses the role of poetry in modern life (Thorpe).  

Both poets tries to influence the society against an act that they feel is not right. Brecht is of the argument that the convention histories have been giving credit where none deserves by praising those whose input in human achievements was the least and less costly. Thus, the poet challenges people through numerous rhetoric questions and repetitive statements to analyze their lives to determine whether they have been fair in their attribution to success of the various participants in a project. He summarizes:

‘So many particulars

So many questions.’

The summary indicates that apart from the few mentioned cases of misplaced recognition and appreciation, the same happens on a daily basis as people do not credit where it is due.

The two literary works written in the assignment were written for educational purposes. Brecht sought to challenge the conventional histories and the way that they tell historical events. His aim was to bring to the attention of his readers, the injustice that has all along been done against the laborers that have toiled and sacrificed themselves for the society to be what it is today. However, they never even received a mere act of recognition for their hard work as all the praises went to their ‘heroic’ leaders who did nothing than oversee the whole process.

On the other hand, Atwood sought to show the way that truth is lost in the process of telling of an account/ narration. She identified the reason that stories are changed in the course of it being told. She argues that the reason stories get altered is because they do not favor all those that tells it. As a result, people adapt it to their situation so that they can benefit from it. Atwood wrote it in free verse with no distinguishable form. The poem is characterized by a brief length and striking content. There is also no meter or rhyme. The lack of such poetic constraints gives the poem a conversation feel so that it seems like it is a real dialogue making it genuine and able to influence the reader.

Works Cited

Atwood, Margaret. True Stories. Toronto, Canada. Oxford University Press. 1981

Brecht, Bertolt. A worker Reads History. 1936. Retrieved from http://wonderingminstrels.blogspot.co.ke/2003/12/worker-reads-history-bertolt-brecht.html

Gougen, Joseph. What is Art? Journal of Conciousness Studies, 7 (8-9): 7-15. 2000. Retrieved from http://www.imprint.co.uk/pdf/Introduction.pdf

Ledrick, Melvin. 5 Purposes of Art. Prezi.com. 2013. Retrieved from https://prezi.com/cookl2er03jn/5-purposes-of-art/

Miller, Eric. Theories of Story and Story Telling. Philadelphia. University of Pennsylvania. 2011. Retrieved from http://www.storytellingandvideoconferencing.com/67.pdf

Sumo Nova (editorial). Comparing the poetry of Adriene Rich and Margaret Atwood. Sumonova.com. 2006. Retrieved from http://sumonova.com/comparing-the-poetry-of-adrienne-rich-and-margaret-atwood/

Thorpe, Rachel. Life without certainty: Margaret Atwood’s ambiguous worlds. Jubilee-centre.org. 2012. Retrieved from http://www.jubilee-centre.org/life-without-certainty-margaret-atwoods-ambiguous-worlds/

Twonames15. Explication of True Stories by: Margaret Atwood. Twonames15.worpress.com. 2013. Retrieved from https://twonames15.wordpress.com/2013/11/10/explication-of-true-stories-by-margaret-atwood/