Tuesday, February 27, 2007
My Character
My name is Brigget. I am a female in my early twenties. I have just moved from Switzerland, where I used to live in a small town on my family's farm. When I was young I became fascinated with cooking. Since then I have dreamed of owning my own restaurant in a big city in the United States. Last week I decided to leave home to pursue my dream because I was tired of my parents trying to set me up to marry. I am no longer on speaking terms with my family. I only have the little bit of money that I have saved up through the years so I need to find a job quick. I was told that I have family in the U.S. and I am determined to find them.
What I know about the Cultural Revolution...
Cultural Revolution: a movement of reform in China initiated by Mao Zedong in 1965 to create equality and focus on eliminate counterrevolutionary elements in the country's institutions and leadership. It threatened China for ten years.
Bourgeois: a label for members of the upper class who were commonly educated. Intellectuals were drafted in efforts to remove these "bourgeois" influences so that everyone would be "equal"
Mao Zedong: the powerful leader of the Cultural Revolution. He closed Chinese schools and encouraged students to join Red Guard units, which persecuted Chinese teachers, doctors, etc. (people who were considered counter-revolutionary).
The Gang of Four: group who restricted the arts and enforced ideology. Movement was brought to a close when group was imprisoned on October 1976.
Counter-Revolutionary: people who criticized cultural institutions, questioned their parents and teachers or were any of the following; promoting propaganda; wearing glasses; being smart; acting or trying to be better than another person; and promoting ideology. All of these things were restricted during the Cultural Revolution.
Bourgeois: a label for members of the upper class who were commonly educated. Intellectuals were drafted in efforts to remove these "bourgeois" influences so that everyone would be "equal"
Mao Zedong: the powerful leader of the Cultural Revolution. He closed Chinese schools and encouraged students to join Red Guard units, which persecuted Chinese teachers, doctors, etc. (people who were considered counter-revolutionary).
The Gang of Four: group who restricted the arts and enforced ideology. Movement was brought to a close when group was imprisoned on October 1976.
Counter-Revolutionary: people who criticized cultural institutions, questioned their parents and teachers or were any of the following; promoting propaganda; wearing glasses; being smart; acting or trying to be better than another person; and promoting ideology. All of these things were restricted during the Cultural Revolution.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Antigone the Feminazi
In the story on Antigone she is a brave and stubborn character like her father. These characteristics are bizarre for a women of her time period. Women were not considered equal to men. Now one would have expected a women to disobey the laws like she did or to stand up for what they believe in. Antigone stood by her beliefs and was not afraid to dies for it.
Creon describes Anigone's actions as "disloyal", "viperous", and "slinking". He is trying to have her be perceived as a snake; someone who is deceiving and disloyal. He also describes her actions as those not of a women. I think that he is struggling with the fact that he does not want to be seen as inferior to a women so he feels the need to punish her. If he were to let her free without punishment he might be seen as weak, or that his laws were meaningless. He wants to kill her to make the statement that women should not stand up against men and that they are crazy if they do. He is stubborn as well and doesn't take into consideration that his law conflicts withe the god's wishes of a proper burial.
Creon describes Anigone's actions as "disloyal", "viperous", and "slinking". He is trying to have her be perceived as a snake; someone who is deceiving and disloyal. He also describes her actions as those not of a women. I think that he is struggling with the fact that he does not want to be seen as inferior to a women so he feels the need to punish her. If he were to let her free without punishment he might be seen as weak, or that his laws were meaningless. He wants to kill her to make the statement that women should not stand up against men and that they are crazy if they do. He is stubborn as well and doesn't take into consideration that his law conflicts withe the god's wishes of a proper burial.
Monday, January 22, 2007
Free fallin'
OEDIPUS: Ah God!
It was true!
All the prophecies!
--Now,
O light, may I look on you for the last time!
I, Oedipus,
Oedipus, damned in his birth, in his marriage damned,
Damned in the blood he shed with his own hand!
In the story of Oedipus Rex, the main character Oedipus is haunted by his ill fate. Before he was even born, his fate became known to his mother and father. He was destined to kill his father and sleep with his mother. His father, being king could not afford to have his first son murder him, so Oedipus was sent away as a baby. As Oedipus grew up and became familiar with his fate. He decided to move away from his foster parents, who he thought were his real parents, in hopes to change his fate. He did not know that those were not his real parents. By the end of the story it is apparent that Oedipus' fate came true and that he ended up marrying his mother and killing his father who at the time he thought was robbing him. No matter how hard Oedipus tried to run away from his fate, in the end it came true. In the passage above Oedipus realizes that his fate has come true and conceives that there was nothing he could do to have stopped it. "He was damned at birth" and he did not have the power to change that.
It was true!
All the prophecies!
--Now,
O light, may I look on you for the last time!
I, Oedipus,
Oedipus, damned in his birth, in his marriage damned,
Damned in the blood he shed with his own hand!
In the story of Oedipus Rex, the main character Oedipus is haunted by his ill fate. Before he was even born, his fate became known to his mother and father. He was destined to kill his father and sleep with his mother. His father, being king could not afford to have his first son murder him, so Oedipus was sent away as a baby. As Oedipus grew up and became familiar with his fate. He decided to move away from his foster parents, who he thought were his real parents, in hopes to change his fate. He did not know that those were not his real parents. By the end of the story it is apparent that Oedipus' fate came true and that he ended up marrying his mother and killing his father who at the time he thought was robbing him. No matter how hard Oedipus tried to run away from his fate, in the end it came true. In the passage above Oedipus realizes that his fate has come true and conceives that there was nothing he could do to have stopped it. "He was damned at birth" and he did not have the power to change that.
What's in the bag?
It is my opinion that our lives are made up of both fate and free will. We are continuously making decisions all throughout the day. Small decisions such as what shirt you'll wear or wether or not you have toast or a bagel for breakfast are hard to picture as having any affect on out fate. I believe that a majority of them don't, but that it is the ones that do that are more interesting. I think that these decisions act as a chain of events. For example if you decide to have a bagel for breakfast and go to Atlanta Bread Company where you see a man typing on a laptop that you decide to talk to, who ends up working for a company who is looking for a student your age as an intern. You decide to take him up on the offer. Now this is just made up but it is fun to think about. What if you had stayed home at eaten toast? Was it your fate to meet that man? I believe that every person is on this planet for a reason. As people live their lives they discover their purpose which then determines their fate.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Whats the big deal?
Over the weekend we were asked to read Martin Luther King's letter from Birmingham jail. I have learned about this letter in my history classes but this is the first time I actually read it. I admire Martin Luther King. He was a great communicator. In the letter he was able to address the racial issues in Birmingham along with the rest of the world from all different angles. He kept collected while writing the letter by reassuring the opposing side that he understood their opinion and then using that understanding to address why things need to change quick. I am very amazed at how Martin Luther King was able to sound so composed, and non-condescending, while writing this letter from his jail cell and after all the hardships he has been through. He was consistently told time and again by white moderates that he was right for what he fought for but that it wasn't the right time to act. These opinions did not stop him from doing what he felt was the right thing to do. His perseverance has had an impact on the world. He is an idle that will always be remembered for his non-violent fight for equality and non-segregation.
Oedipus Part II & Part III
Part II
1. "Let them all hear it, it is for them I suffer, more than myself." pg. 963 line 95-96 "You shall see how I stand by you, as I should to avenge the city and the city's god, and not as though it were for some distant friend, but for my own sake, to be rid of evil." pg. 964 line 137-140
2. Oedipus is unaware that he has killed his father. He is angry about the murder which causes the audience to give their sympathy towards this confused character.
3. Imagery gives the audience a visual picture of the scene and characters. The imagery described in the play allows the audience to have and idea of what character, and scenery looks like.
4. Some examples of motifs are recognition, peripety, and tragedy.
5. The chorus, Stpohe and Antistrophe, is singing about the powerful gods, pain and sorrow, and prayer.
Part III
1."How dreadful knowledge of the truth can be when there's no help in truth! I knew this well, but did not act on it: else I should not have come" pg. 969 line 102-104 "Whether I speak or not it is bound to come." pg. 969 line 124
Teiresias does not act on impulse, he is a very wise character who thinks things through. He also has an honest nature.
" You are all ignorant. No; I will never tell you what I know. Now it is my misery; then, it would be yours." pg. 969 line 112-114 "No, I will not go on. Rage as you go please." pg. 969 line 127
2. Teiresias has to deal with his internal conflict which is that he knows the truth about the murder. He is trying to keep the information from Oedipus by out whiting him, but oedipus is very powerful and controlling.
3. "You child of endless night! You cannot hurt me or any other man who sees the sun." pg. 470 line 156 "Why he is no more clairvoyant than I am!" pg. 970 line 171
4. On page 969 line 127 Oedipus accuses Teiresias of being the murderer. This is an example of dramatic irony because the audience knows that Oedipus is the real murderer.
5. "Cursing the wife who was not his wife, the mother--"
6. The chorus is singing about the killer and how he will not be able to escape his guilt and sorrow. They give the hint that the king is the killer.
1. "Let them all hear it, it is for them I suffer, more than myself." pg. 963 line 95-96 "You shall see how I stand by you, as I should to avenge the city and the city's god, and not as though it were for some distant friend, but for my own sake, to be rid of evil." pg. 964 line 137-140
2. Oedipus is unaware that he has killed his father. He is angry about the murder which causes the audience to give their sympathy towards this confused character.
3. Imagery gives the audience a visual picture of the scene and characters. The imagery described in the play allows the audience to have and idea of what character, and scenery looks like.
4. Some examples of motifs are recognition, peripety, and tragedy.
5. The chorus, Stpohe and Antistrophe, is singing about the powerful gods, pain and sorrow, and prayer.
Part III
1."How dreadful knowledge of the truth can be when there's no help in truth! I knew this well, but did not act on it: else I should not have come" pg. 969 line 102-104 "Whether I speak or not it is bound to come." pg. 969 line 124
Teiresias does not act on impulse, he is a very wise character who thinks things through. He also has an honest nature.
" You are all ignorant. No; I will never tell you what I know. Now it is my misery; then, it would be yours." pg. 969 line 112-114 "No, I will not go on. Rage as you go please." pg. 969 line 127
2. Teiresias has to deal with his internal conflict which is that he knows the truth about the murder. He is trying to keep the information from Oedipus by out whiting him, but oedipus is very powerful and controlling.
3. "You child of endless night! You cannot hurt me or any other man who sees the sun." pg. 470 line 156 "Why he is no more clairvoyant than I am!" pg. 970 line 171
4. On page 969 line 127 Oedipus accuses Teiresias of being the murderer. This is an example of dramatic irony because the audience knows that Oedipus is the real murderer.
5. "Cursing the wife who was not his wife, the mother--"
6. The chorus is singing about the killer and how he will not be able to escape his guilt and sorrow. They give the hint that the king is the killer.
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