Aesthetics

__//Aesthetics//__


 * D** **efinition::** Aesthetics is the consideration of what is beautiful and what is not. As a stylistic device, this can be thought about in terms of language.


 * Origin::** 1753 Greek term

Definition taken from (enotes.com).
 * See also::** perceptive


 * Examples** from text:

1) In Gabriel Garcia Márquez's //Siesta del Martes,// a woman and her daughter travel by train to a small village in Columbia to recover the body of their dead son/brother. The boy was breaking into an old woman's house in hopes for some food scraps, but the woman was frightened and shot him to his death.


 * The story was originally written in Spanish, but we are now provided with an English translation. Although the translation is accurate, it is difficult to completely translate everything over. This leaves the reader with the question of the aesthetics of the text. Is it more beautiful in its original form or in the English version because it is easier to read? Here is an example. "La niña trató de hacerlo pero la persiana estaba bloqueada por el óxido" may sound beautiful and eloquent in Spanish, however in English all it means is "The child tried to do as she asked but the slattedwindow was rusted open" (Marquez 1). It is up to the reader to decide which version is more appealing, or beautiful, to them. Although this is very much subjective, it is indeed an example of the difference of the aesthetics of the text.

2) The video game Braid was created by Jonathan Blow in 2009. The game features a boy, Tim, who spends the duration of the game attempting to rescue his princess. The game consists of collecting puzzle pieces and reading texts in order to advance to other levels. In addition, the player can never "die", rather he has the ability to go back into time and change his previous move.

(EM)
 * The graphics and music seen and heard throughout the game round out the scene and make it more aesthetically pleasing for the player. This is an example of visual aesthetics found in the game. According to Wikipedia.com, Blow and Hellman (the artist) "iterated through several styles before settling on final versions. Through these changes, the two worked to identify and remove elements of the art that could confuse the player, while retaining aesthetic elements that would be generalized by the player as non-functional parts of the level" (Braid). While these elements may not be vital to completing the game, the aesthetics provide a mood for the player while he or she is going through the game. [[image:0000007901.1920x1080.jpg width="678" height="282"]]