the general's apostrophe
Apostrophe. (n.)
1. A punctuation mark indicating possession or the omission of letters or numbers.
2. When something is attributed to, or possessed by someone or something, then an apostrophe is used before an s at the end of the noun. Eg: ’18 (2018) or ‘they’d (they would) or they’d (they had)
3. In poetry, an apostrophe is a term used when a speaker directly addresses someone or something that isn't present in the poem. The speaker could be addressing an abstract concept like love, a person (dead or alive), a place, or even a thing, like the sun or the sea.
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Referring to the title of the Year 10 exhibition, the General in this instance is Holofernese and his possessor is the Israelite Judith who beheads the General to save her people.
Year 10 studied this biblical tale and specifically its depiction by the Baroque artists, Caravaggio and Artemesia Gentileschi. Inspired by the hard edge abstraction and shaped canvases of the Colour Field painters of the 1960’s, each student has responded to the story in their own way.
On completion of their artwork, students’ wrote an artist statement that was shared with a peer. The peer in turn, has acted as art critic, and written a short appraisal for publication.
- L Heilpern
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