For Banks of the Ohio/Will the Circle Be Unbroken, Banks of the Ohio was the direct influence for my piece. I found the story itself was rather shallow, told again from a first person perspective with no characterization of the sweetheart beyond the speaker's view. to me the whole story seemed flat, it clearly lacked the depth of feeling and displayed a disconnect from others and even from one's own actions (the narrator asks himself "oh lord, what have I done?" --in a way, he dissociates himself from his own violent decisions in the moment he is carrying them out, only to reflect on them later). To me the song highlights the way men have historically felt and continue to feel entitled to control over women, women's lives and women's bodies under a heteronormative patriarchal society. Personally i found the song to be sickening in a very real sense. Today as then, men still turn violent because they feel women owe them something romantically or sexually. For this narrative to be presented and passed down in this form, the woman in the story reduced to a dimensionless character stripped of agency, and for it to be accepted and even cherished had me very ill at ease. Needless to say I was not much able to enjoy the music. But I do very much like the painting that I made for that week. Once again, i found it did what i needed it to do.