Rachel's topic during her presentation was love. She said, "No one experiences love the way we do but we are still connected through our shared experience." The topic of love in this class has been so intriguing to me because I consider myself to be absolutely in love right now. However, some of the things we have read have made me question twice what I consider to be true love.
But what an interesting thing love is, because as Rachel said, we all experience it. No matter who you are, race, gender, society, circumstances, we all experience the love for and hopefully from another person at sometime in our lives. I think this is why so many stories are written about the beauty of love and the experience, even though we are aware that everyone around us has experienced love no one can quite experience what we ourselves are. The feelings you have for another person may seem to be consuming, unable to even be described, yet you strive to so others can share in your absolute happiness.
I really believe the idea of a tally and what Aristophanes described dealing with soul mates and people being halves of wholes. I have always told people that if my husband was to die I would never remarry. My mother scoffs at me, why would I choose to live my life alone when I could find another person and be happy? Don't I think my husband would want that? Maybe, I reply, but what happens in the afterlife when you are suppose to be reconnected with your loved ones, including your husband, but you are now in possession of two husbands? It's a weird though I know but I truly believe we will all be reunited and I will want to be reunited with my one true love.
I also believe in soul mates and though I believe that their are different kinds of soul mates I believe you only have one of each. And I believe that we all have the power to be lucky enough to find our soul mates if only we could remember what we have forgotten as Socrates speaks of. I feel I have been lucky enough to find my soul mate but I find it incredibly sad that many people would not be quick to believe this. I can hear it now, really, they'd say, but you're only in college a sophomore at that and you have your whole life ahead of you to date and find a person to love, you just think you've found your soul mate. Maybe, but they cannot argue with the pieces of coin we possess.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Presentations Day Two
This blog will basically just be a run through of what some people talked about during class today and some light commentary. And if I incorrectly spell names please forgive me.
Misaki: Misaki talked about what she learned from this class. Basically, like many of us have found, Misaki learned that everything can be connected to the past. Misaki related Ovid's Metamorphoses to a movie from Japan, that won an Oscar if I remember correctly, Spirited Away. I have yet to watch Spirited Away but my curiosity has been peaked from the illustrations Misaki provided for the class; the family turning into pigs, very funny.
Christina: Christina talked about the transformation Ovid experiences through The Imaginary Life and how he must get past his circumstantially bound self. She goes on to speak of Ovid's fear of relinquishing control over his life. However, once Ovid gains realization that he is part of the world around him and that it is part of him he experiences inner peace and is freed through death. I think this is a metamorphoses that we should all attempt to embark on throughout our lives. We are all so encased in our own personal lives and selves that we fail to see the connections around us. I think this is a very noble journey indeed.
Zack: Zack talked about how we can all remember what we have forgotten only if we are reminded or strive to. He spoke about a touching lullaby his mother use to sing and expand on through his youth that I found terribly endearing. I hope that Zack places the entire lullaby on his blog for us to read because I would thoroughly enjoy it.
Sally: Sally relayed Elizabeth's idea of love and lust and pure love of children through her presentation. She spoke about a neighbor who had killed her children and speculated as to why. And though as Sally says, no one can approve of a killing in any sense I think she did well trying to understand the thought process behind it. Sally believed that the woman, who was schizophrenic saw her children as pure loving beings and either wanted them to continue on that way forever or to go to a place where they too could receive that pure love.
Erica: Erica talks about her love of tragedy and why we as humans obviously enjoy it too. She believes we enjoy tragedy because we can relate to the characters suffering, as Erica says "it happened to me too." And though the characters of the books past may be experiencing something a bit different from us it is still the same absolute suffering we all must endure.
Misaki: Misaki talked about what she learned from this class. Basically, like many of us have found, Misaki learned that everything can be connected to the past. Misaki related Ovid's Metamorphoses to a movie from Japan, that won an Oscar if I remember correctly, Spirited Away. I have yet to watch Spirited Away but my curiosity has been peaked from the illustrations Misaki provided for the class; the family turning into pigs, very funny.
Christina: Christina talked about the transformation Ovid experiences through The Imaginary Life and how he must get past his circumstantially bound self. She goes on to speak of Ovid's fear of relinquishing control over his life. However, once Ovid gains realization that he is part of the world around him and that it is part of him he experiences inner peace and is freed through death. I think this is a metamorphoses that we should all attempt to embark on throughout our lives. We are all so encased in our own personal lives and selves that we fail to see the connections around us. I think this is a very noble journey indeed.
Zack: Zack talked about how we can all remember what we have forgotten only if we are reminded or strive to. He spoke about a touching lullaby his mother use to sing and expand on through his youth that I found terribly endearing. I hope that Zack places the entire lullaby on his blog for us to read because I would thoroughly enjoy it.
Sally: Sally relayed Elizabeth's idea of love and lust and pure love of children through her presentation. She spoke about a neighbor who had killed her children and speculated as to why. And though as Sally says, no one can approve of a killing in any sense I think she did well trying to understand the thought process behind it. Sally believed that the woman, who was schizophrenic saw her children as pure loving beings and either wanted them to continue on that way forever or to go to a place where they too could receive that pure love.
Erica: Erica talks about her love of tragedy and why we as humans obviously enjoy it too. She believes we enjoy tragedy because we can relate to the characters suffering, as Erica says "it happened to me too." And though the characters of the books past may be experiencing something a bit different from us it is still the same absolute suffering we all must endure.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Presentations
I also really enjoyed Zack's presentation on how his perspective and emotions changed after attending this class. Not only do I relate to how he feels I also enjoyed how he compared the class to Wikipedia and Sparknotes. Zack talks about how the literature of this class and others cannot be reproduced on Wikipedia and Sparknotes fully. Of course, if one is so inclined and rushed for time a person may almost always find the literature at these places. But the true meaning, emotion, and beauty of these works can never be captured and reproduced. By reading one of these sites we are really robbing ourselves of the experiences the authors intended for us.
Shoni talks about how movies on her shelf related to stories in our class. I have addressed my same findings in earlier blogs and enjoyed her comparisons. She relates Legends of the Fall to Hermes, Gran Torino to Antigone and George Steniers conflicts, and Dances With Wolves to Imaginary Life. Sadly, I have not seen any of these movies so I cannot comment further about this but I think I have found three movies to add to my queue.
I was surprised by how many people chose to write a short story. I had to laugh when Jillian discusses how she believed her short story would be original only to be beat by two people before her. I have not had a chance to read all of these short stories but I fully plan to because they all sounded extremely interesting. I also do not think I will have a chance to go to the Kagy Coffee Club but I will try to find something to substitute.
Shoni talks about how movies on her shelf related to stories in our class. I have addressed my same findings in earlier blogs and enjoyed her comparisons. She relates Legends of the Fall to Hermes, Gran Torino to Antigone and George Steniers conflicts, and Dances With Wolves to Imaginary Life. Sadly, I have not seen any of these movies so I cannot comment further about this but I think I have found three movies to add to my queue.
I was surprised by how many people chose to write a short story. I had to laugh when Jillian discusses how she believed her short story would be original only to be beat by two people before her. I have not had a chance to read all of these short stories but I fully plan to because they all sounded extremely interesting. I also do not think I will have a chance to go to the Kagy Coffee Club but I will try to find something to substitute.
Not Even This Is Original
I must start off with applauding Brian's topic for his term paper and presentation. I have explored the thought that nothing can be original in a previous blog and it was extremely fascinating to me as apparently it was to Brian as well. Brian gave a few examples of this through Pinocchio and Midas and he is completely correct.
Now, in an earlier blog I discussed how this affected me as an English major and someone who enjoys both writing and reading. At first, I thought it was really a horrible thing to find out that everything you love is in essence a lie. I imagined the quote I once read by I believe Mark Twain, but do not hold me to this because American Literature in high school was long ago replaced by all this college learning. Anyway the quote went something like this, "the doctor looks upon the young girl with a flush in her face and does not see beauty but the beginnings of sickness and disease. The seaman cannot appreciate the beauty of the rivers around him as they flow and chop, but only sees the course and obstacles in his way."
Again, I butchered that quote because I cannot remember it nor the author fully but I hope you get my point. Once you study something extensively it is almost like taking the magic out of it. And at first, seeing that nothing can be truly original in literature did just that for me. But then I realized instead that we can pride ourselves on the references we make in our works and revel in the fact that only those educated few that have taken this class and others like it, will understand.
It's funny, my father has a favorite game to play when I am watching a movie he has dubbed completely heinous. He will lay out the plot from watching merely five minutes of the show, because it has all been done before. Now this use to annoy me immensely not only because he would always be correct but as a young child I was not crippled by the fact that nothing was original. Everything I saw was new and fresh to me. But now, I must say I will fully be able to trump him at his own game thanks to this class. My father may be able to tell me the plot, but I will be able to tell him where it originated.
Now, in an earlier blog I discussed how this affected me as an English major and someone who enjoys both writing and reading. At first, I thought it was really a horrible thing to find out that everything you love is in essence a lie. I imagined the quote I once read by I believe Mark Twain, but do not hold me to this because American Literature in high school was long ago replaced by all this college learning. Anyway the quote went something like this, "the doctor looks upon the young girl with a flush in her face and does not see beauty but the beginnings of sickness and disease. The seaman cannot appreciate the beauty of the rivers around him as they flow and chop, but only sees the course and obstacles in his way."
Again, I butchered that quote because I cannot remember it nor the author fully but I hope you get my point. Once you study something extensively it is almost like taking the magic out of it. And at first, seeing that nothing can be truly original in literature did just that for me. But then I realized instead that we can pride ourselves on the references we make in our works and revel in the fact that only those educated few that have taken this class and others like it, will understand.
It's funny, my father has a favorite game to play when I am watching a movie he has dubbed completely heinous. He will lay out the plot from watching merely five minutes of the show, because it has all been done before. Now this use to annoy me immensely not only because he would always be correct but as a young child I was not crippled by the fact that nothing was original. Everything I saw was new and fresh to me. But now, I must say I will fully be able to trump him at his own game thanks to this class. My father may be able to tell me the plot, but I will be able to tell him where it originated.
It Haunts Me
This class has undoubtedly changed me, the evidence greets me every morning at breakfast. As Dr. Sexson asked I picked up the Bozeman Daily Chronicle and proceeded to read the headlines in a new light. I read the Chronicle everyday mind you, it's one of my favorite breakfast activities, but this time it certainly was truly different. One of the first headlines I read was, As bears die,hunters and climate change blamed. I really did not expect these kind of results the first day I tried this little experiment. Because as all of you, as well as I, know the bears they are surely talking about are none other than Callisto and certainly the hunters that are killing the bears are her son. It is with great certainty however, that I venture to believe that none of these hunters realize they are creating a perfect reenactment of said story. Which is such a shame, in my opinion. Here is a choice quote from the article, "Bears are being seen-and killed-in places where they were absent for decades."
In a day that followed, I have now forgotten which one, I found another article that again related perfectly to this class. I did not steal this paper as I did the bear one and so I cannot be as accurate as I would hope. Anyway, a doctor of sorts has theorized that our president Abraham Lincoln suffered from a rare genetic disorder. The man came to this conclusion because of the facts that Lincoln was extremely tall, had visible bumps on his lips, and his health seemed to be declining. The doctor goes on to describe that had Lincoln not been assassinated he instead would have died within a year from a cancer accompanying the disorder. Now this is all extremely interesting but it is a hypothesis.
The only way for the doctor to prove his theory is to test DNA. There is a piece of cloth that holds blood from the slain president in a museum in, I believe, Pennsylvania. The museum is unsure if this is ethically okay. Now I know this one is harder but all I could see was the story of Antigone in these lines. No, they are not fighting over Lincoln's body but they are fighting over a part of if and whether or not it is right to perform a certain act on it. Now can you see? Antigone completely.
Is this getting eerie yet? I am also reading a book for pleasure on my own time called "Love Walked In" by Marisa De Los Santos. It is a light, fluff, type of read but I think we as English majors all need that once in a while in between the Socrates and Whitman. But while I was reading the other day I came upon a scene where a woman is fighting with a brother-in-law rather fiercely. Just as the battle comes to a crescendo and the piercing words uttered this happens, "...we ended the night laughing." Even though they both were upset about many things and on the brink of what would be an emotional out pour of sadness instead the laughed to keep from crying.
In a day that followed, I have now forgotten which one, I found another article that again related perfectly to this class. I did not steal this paper as I did the bear one and so I cannot be as accurate as I would hope. Anyway, a doctor of sorts has theorized that our president Abraham Lincoln suffered from a rare genetic disorder. The man came to this conclusion because of the facts that Lincoln was extremely tall, had visible bumps on his lips, and his health seemed to be declining. The doctor goes on to describe that had Lincoln not been assassinated he instead would have died within a year from a cancer accompanying the disorder. Now this is all extremely interesting but it is a hypothesis.
The only way for the doctor to prove his theory is to test DNA. There is a piece of cloth that holds blood from the slain president in a museum in, I believe, Pennsylvania. The museum is unsure if this is ethically okay. Now I know this one is harder but all I could see was the story of Antigone in these lines. No, they are not fighting over Lincoln's body but they are fighting over a part of if and whether or not it is right to perform a certain act on it. Now can you see? Antigone completely.
Is this getting eerie yet? I am also reading a book for pleasure on my own time called "Love Walked In" by Marisa De Los Santos. It is a light, fluff, type of read but I think we as English majors all need that once in a while in between the Socrates and Whitman. But while I was reading the other day I came upon a scene where a woman is fighting with a brother-in-law rather fiercely. Just as the battle comes to a crescendo and the piercing words uttered this happens, "...we ended the night laughing." Even though they both were upset about many things and on the brink of what would be an emotional out pour of sadness instead the laughed to keep from crying.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Covering All Bases
First things first, writing this term paper is going extraordinarily well. Dr. Sexson has certainly fulfilled his goal to show us all that possesses the past possesses the present. It is almost uncanny how seemingly easy it is to compare Erysichthon to the America of today. It has been an absolute joy to write what will surely be a paper I am truly proud of.
Second, for anyone that wants them these are the pages Dr. Sexson deemed most important from The Golden Ass. 18, 25, 28, 60, 71, 93, 117, 120, 127, 131, 132, 139, 143. And things we should know for the final exam: and then the laughter by the stage, Lucius becomes a man by eating roses, psyche did not always mean mind it meant soul.
Third, I certainly feel for poor Psyche and the impossible tasks her mother-in-law gives to her. I think we as women dating men, especially men that are only children, face these struggles each and everyday. We must constantly please the women who bore our lover, yet we will never achieve true approval. After all, he is her baby boy and she is his mother and that certainly is a bond that should not be spoken of
Home, Dr. Sexson's final words for what was the last class he will truly teach in front of us truly resonated with me. Because many of us in the class may not of always understood of what importance some of the things we read and did had we should all understand now. "We end where we began." As Dr. Sexson put it our journey is like that of Lucius'. Furthermore I invite all of you to read this essay by John Caris examining the multiple layers in the story Cupid and Psyche. I find it to be a very interesting read. http://westgatehouse.com/entry6.html
Second, for anyone that wants them these are the pages Dr. Sexson deemed most important from The Golden Ass. 18, 25, 28, 60, 71, 93, 117, 120, 127, 131, 132, 139, 143. And things we should know for the final exam: and then the laughter by the stage, Lucius becomes a man by eating roses, psyche did not always mean mind it meant soul.
Third, I certainly feel for poor Psyche and the impossible tasks her mother-in-law gives to her. I think we as women dating men, especially men that are only children, face these struggles each and everyday. We must constantly please the women who bore our lover, yet we will never achieve true approval. After all, he is her baby boy and she is his mother and that certainly is a bond that should not be spoken of
Home, Dr. Sexson's final words for what was the last class he will truly teach in front of us truly resonated with me. Because many of us in the class may not of always understood of what importance some of the things we read and did had we should all understand now. "We end where we began." As Dr. Sexson put it our journey is like that of Lucius'. Furthermore I invite all of you to read this essay by John Caris examining the multiple layers in the story Cupid and Psyche. I find it to be a very interesting read. http://westgatehouse.com/entry6.html
Monday, April 13, 2009
The Golden Ass
So while googling The Golden Ass I found an interesting video for a book History: Fiction or Science? Which believes that the Greek and Roman eras of the world was created and imagined by the Renaissance thinkers. The book also believes that Jesus did not exist when previously supposed but in 1000 AD. And though all these claims certainly are radical the first three minutes does talk about The Golden Ass and also shows beautiful artwork so I think it is worth taking a look at.http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5158514599207687353
I also found an interesting website discussing the responsibility of the reader:The charge to the reader: intende (lit. 'be attentive') -- rather like the beginning of the first English epic Beowulf : Hwaet ('listen') -- is a much more demanding commencement than 'once upon a time...' It requests the reader to be an active participant in experiencing the tale, not simply a passive listener (Apuleius's style throughout is consistent with this notion). The Latin statement, in fact, is a conditional: 'if you are attentive, then you shall take pleasure', suggesting that the reader's enjoyment depends upon the degree of attention paid to the tale. http://www.jnanam.net/golden-ass/
I find the last part of this book the most interesting as it deals with Lucuis wishing to enter into the cult of Isis. The sacrifices and religious teachings are extremely poetic and also show the great devotion to religion.
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