Tuesday April 26th

Today we inspected a post-Civil War painting by Winslow Homer of a veteran in a field, cutting down the grass. Mr Boyle said that Homer originally painted the tool the man was using with a basket-like attachment on top, but painted over it. Homer left the man holding a grim reaper blade, which symbolizes that, while the man is an innocent man in a calm assuring painting, he was at one point a killer.
We listened to people from the Metropolitan Museum talk about the painting in depth. And, before I knew it, class was over.
It was kind of an off day because the chairs werent in their normal position. I have to say that I liked it much better the old way, it was easier to concentrate.

April Fools Day

I sort of expected Mr Boyle to do something April Fools related, but he didnt, not that I'm complaining. We learned about Lincoln's assassination, which actually was really bizarre. I always thought he was shot walking off a train, but it turns out he was shot by a famous actor while watching a play. I guess it was karma when Lincoln's murder actually made things worse for the South in the long run, as Reconstruction wasnt fully carried out. Booth probably didnt think through the lasting downsides of killing the President of the United States too much, which is no surprise because he obviously was a little stupid. By assassinating Lincoln, Booth got himself killed, and worsened the South's wellbeing.