I'm Benjamin Pearson, as the link you just clicked told you. I'm a Junior hailing from the small-town (only 1 stoplight) of Albion, Indiana. At home I live with my mom and older brother Jonathan. Here on campus, I live with 5 other guys (including Daniel Keim) in a suite in DeHo.
Until the middle of this summer, my major was Pre-Audiology. I've now changed it to Pre-Dental. There's just something about those "pre" programs, I guess...
I'm well aware of my personal brokenness as a human soul, but I have found restoration of that in Jesus Messiah. For me, Christ has allowed me to find in Him a newness of life, a clearer vision, a defined purpose, and a joy unmatched by anything else I'd previously found.
My hobbies include playing music, working out, reading, and N64 Mario Kart. On the latter, you cannot defeat me.
I've taken Honors 201 with Dr. Wolfe last semester. I just randomly selected a 202 section this semester, and so far it looks like I ended up selecting the right one.
Last night, Daniel Keim and I read through the Suras printed in our anthology. Now, we’re both Christians, but while reading, we tried our best to read it objectively. We were able to look at it through a clear lens, but we also reflected on it from our Christian perspective.
Many of the lines in the Koran were agreeable to our subjective, Christian mind frames. Such attributes of God, like His mercifulness, His omniscience, and His righteousness, rang a true tone to our ears.
However, the Koran was definitely not without many red flags. Some were blatant, like, “Unbelievers are those who declare: ‘God is the Messiah, the son of Mary.’” I, as a believer of the Gospel, disagree with Islam’s stance that the Messiah isn’t God. I guess it is right in saying that unbelievers say that, because I do not believe it, but here I am referring to the fundamental logic of that statement. Other red flags to the Christian are the favoring of Ishmael over Isaac and the supposition that mankind distorted the Tanakh and Gospel.
Last semester, I had the privilege of visiting the local Islamic Center with a Multicultural Counseling class project. The worshippers there were incredibly welcoming and informative. The imam even announced at the end of the service that they had visitors from Ball State in their presence and to “educate them of the truth that is Islam!” They were very respectful of our respective religious and spiritual background and did not over-zealously engage with us.
During our visit, my eyes were opened to many of the similarities that exist between the Abrahamic faiths, but throughout I could clearly see many schisms among Jewish, Christian, and Islamic beliefs. I have also immersed myself into studying the Jewish faith (through friends, text, and the local temple). Something I’ve found in all of this is the welcoming nature the body of worshippers display to outsiders. That has definitely personally convicted me to show more love and tolerance in how I engage with people of other backgrounds. Reaching for heaven is what we’re on earth to do.
We are now done reading Inferno. I can really say that I’m glad I read it. I can also say that I’m glad it’s over. I did enjoy a lot of it, like the punishments reflecting and/or repaying what the sinners did in their lives. However, so much is just so deeply steeped in extra-biblical tradition. That in itself is not a problem. The problem enters the picture when people start to base their “biblical” doctrine and theology off of this allegory. It is an allegory, right? There’s just a lot that doesn’t settle well with me.
One of the biggest problems I have with Inferno is the fact that Satan is frozen still in ice. Let’s take a moment to look at the Hebrew behind the name Satan… Yup, it translates as “adversary” (We’d have to add the prefix “ha-” to “-Satan” in order for it to mean “the Satan,” or “the Adversary). In the Book of Job, we read about Satan moving freely between Heaven and Earth and being an adversary to Job. Satan is only allowed to oppress Job because God allows him too. So why, in the Inferno, is Satan bound? Even in the New Testament book of First Peter, Satan is described as a prowling lion, looking for souls to devour, not a frozen stuck, three-headed beast. That First Peter verse really makes it seem like the triumph of Jesus Christ – along with His “harrowing of Hell” – didn’t fully restrain Satan, otherwise he probably wouldn’t be doing much prowling and devouring.
Don’t get me wrong; I think Dante does a great job painting a picture of what sins he thinks should be brutally punished and how they should be brutally punished, but maybe it’s time to admit that we don’t really know what Hell is like aside from a total depravity of God’s glory. It’s fun (or maybe just downright demented/morbid) to imagine and speculate Hell’s awfulness, but let’s maybe disregard the traditions we’ve held for a couple centuries (some based off the Inferno, others mentioned in it) and focus on the truth. Let’s talk more about the grace and mercy of God through Jesus instead of the dark damnation. Personally, I’d rather seek to know God than to know Hell.
Response for 9/27
This week we got to take a close look at La Pieta by Michelangelo, thanks to the presentation. I had never seen the piece before, despite it apparently being one of his most famous. Personally, I really liked it. I’m usually not much of a fan of High Renaissance sculptures, but this was an exception. It just has so much emotion. Look at the contrast of Jesus’s limp, impaled hand with the resigned benediction of Mary’s. Jesus’s other hand lies softly and relaxed on His thigh and on Mary’s body, while Mary’s other hand holds up the weight of her Son and Savior. And that’s just hands! That’s not even getting into their faces!
Speaking of in their faces, how about that Wife of Bath? I really wish we had read more of Canterbury Tales. I’ve never read any of it (besides the Wife of Bath part just now). Anyway, back to her. We might all laugh at how laughable of character she is. She’s some obtuse, boisterous woman who distorts the meaning of Scripture to fit whatever she wants it to say, but can we see any parallels? How much of modern religion is based off of extra-biblical tradition? How often do we misinterpret the Bible for our own advantage? This isn’t meant to point fingers at anyone; it’s just a musing. It reminds me of Macklemore’s “Same Love”: “We paraphrase a book written thirty-five-hundred years ago.”
Now it’s onto these upcoming paper/projects. I really enjoyed watching the Parody Pals’ video on Wednesday. I don’t know if we’re going to do another video like that (which would be incredibly fun) or not, but it’s great no matter what. I’ve been thinking a lot about the piece by St. Augustine we read and the Conference of the Birds. Those might be the two I use, or I might do something completely different. With Conference, I thought about looking at the qualities they promote (such as asceticism) and trying to apply those to my life while journaling the journey. Or maybe I’ll write a song. That could be fun too.
Response for 10/4
This week was not my week. Nothing bad happened, but it just wasn’t the greatest thing I have had in a while. Of what I read of this week’s reading, not much soaked into my brain. Class discussion was a bit slow. I was falling asleep a lot even though I’d been getting (what I thought was) enough sleep.
Probably the thing that did soak in the best was Brittni and Evan’s presentation about the Last Supper. Being Christian, I find it pretty interesting. I sure could not tell you the names of anyone in the fresco besides Yeshua, but they all have something special about themselves. You have the guy immediately to the left of Christ with his arms thrown back like, “WHOA!” The guy hiding out behind him is pointing up like, “You’re going up THERE?!” and his eyes are bugging out.
Then there is the third guy from our left, and he reminds me of this:
I’m not sure at what point of the last supper this is portraying. I think it might be when Yeshua tells them that one of them will betray Him. But another part of me thinks it is when He’s telling them that the bread is His body and the wine is His blood. That would probably explain this crazy hand gestures best. I mean, it looks like they are all of the sudden surprised/shocked/disgusted by the food. Let’s throw a wrench in that one. They had all already heard Christ make that comparison before when He was talking in John 6.
So really, I’m just confused and unsure, as I’m sure a lot of the apostles were at that moment. Just think about it. How many of you felt a little bit of sadness when your parents left you here first semester freshman year? Or maybe better yet, when someone in your family died? So here we have a handful of faithful followers of this Messiah, expecting Him to usher in this great Davidic Kingdom, but no. He has other plans. He’s going to die first. But don’t worry; I’ll be back after three days. Then I’ll stick around for forty and ascend into Heaven. That’d probably sound a bit unbelievable if you hadn’t seen Him performing all those signs and miracles. Anyhow, it’d definitely be a somber moment. Imagine the room of uppers waiting for news from Seal Team 6.
Now imagine that all of the sudden, Obama is part of Seal Team 6 and going to kill not only the largest terrorist ever, but Sin itself. Dang. What a Messiah worthy of praise.
Response for 10/11 Benjamin, these are excellent works for comparison because they are both spiritual journeys but they are so different. Have you figured out yet the purpose of your comparison? You should emphasize similarity or difference. For example, you could show how the stories have a lot in common despite being from two different religious traditions, or you could emphasize the differences. Just don't make your essay a list of similarities and differences. -MH
The first essay I am writing is Essay #1, the comparative one. In it, I will be comparing The Conference of the Birds with The Inferno. Both of these works are religious in nature; the former is from Sufism and the latter Catholicism. In both of these works, the central theme is seeking after and attaining to God. In Conference, it is more of an introspective search, whereas in Inferno, the search is more of a journey. Both are strongly allegorical.
Anyway, I have a lot of ideas to find similarities, parallels, and even common themes between these two stories. I’ll have plenty to write about (God willing). The contemporary relevance project will probably prove to be a bit more difficult, but if I’m working with the Parody Pals, I just can’t wait to get started.
I’m really a “big picture” kind of personality, so these essays should be a lot of fun to take a look at prevalent trends. Writing them, however, could be a bit of a problem for somebody that’s not a “detail” person. Should be fun though.
Presenting this week was a blast. I wish we had more presentations in class. Just getting to synthesize information and ideas with a group and present in front of (and with) the class is such a great experience. If I could change one thing about this course, there would be more presentations. Just short ones, even. Little five-minute ones to introduce the topic of the lecture or discussion. I feel like it would involve us students a bit more.
Something I noticed – especially from today’s class – was the move from religious themes to secular themes in art. That’s life though. Looks like the Renaissance was the departure of the prodigal son. Maybe someday art will return in tattered rags fully to God. Who knows?
Response for 10/25
This week was short. Fall break. Only had class two days. But since we didn’t have to post last week because we had to turn in our essays, this is a reflection for both weeks. Besides, both of the weeks were about the good old New World. We kicked it all off with Columbus Day while we watched Aguirre (which happened to be a really depressing movie that about Europeans dying due to poor leadership. It was like a bad Monty Python film). I did enjoy the film, but some scenes I just couldn’t take seriously. Mostly the pan-flutist scenes. Just something about him prancing around playing little, airy melodies got my goat. Speaking of hooved animals, that horse was nothing but trouble.
Bartolomé de Las Casas is where it’s at. Forget about Columbus. This guy did it right. Also, even if de Montaigne never visited the Americas and was just giving a very skewed account of what may or may not have taken place, he seems to have done a good job representing an misrepresented group of people. Something I really like from Of Cannibals was the quote from Plato on page 1765 about this community. I also like how it’s quoted by the Bard himself on page 1843. Gonzalo – in the Tempest – is just rambling on and on while his mates are mocking him. Such was the mentality of the day?
Something else that hit me hard in class today was the fact that Shakespeare was alive when the New World was discovered. I guess I just never made that connection in my mind. I always just thought of him as some far-detached, strictly English playwright. I definitely missed out on his full perspective.
Response for 11/8
Candide is absolutely crazy. Maybe it’s because I was reading it while I was watching Axe Cop and reading it in his voice. If you are unaware with the character, he’s a cop who carries an axe. The show is written by a twenty-year old and a five-year old, so it is pretty random, much like the story line of Candide. It definitely made the characters, such as the old woman, much more comical, despite her terribly depressing story.
As for discussion in class, I wish we would have discussed theodicy a bit more. I have friends in Powell’s humanities courses, and sometimes I get jealous of their deeper theological and philosophical course work. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy our discussion of the literature, but from time to time, I’d like something a bit deeper to sink my metaphorical teeth into.
Response for 11/15
For the creative project, Brittni, Daniel, Evan, and I will be teaming up to make a “Parody Pals” sequel, in lieu with the Exodus video from last semester. The plan for the video is to take the circles of the Inferno and modernize them. We wish to remain loyal to the original sins, but in that we hope to bring them up to the times with modern, popular music and subtle* changes to the punishments.
The purpose of this video is to entertain, but we will not lose loyalty to the storyline and intentions that Dante had when he originally wrote the work.
Roles to be portrayed by us include (but are not limited to) Dante, Virgil, the sinners/sufferers, and demons.
Personally, I’m really looking forward to working with the Parody Pals. I was in the Harlem Shake for the Exodus video, but I expect this one to be much more fulfilling (maybe because I won’t just be wearing short shorts waving Israeli flags…). I really enjoyed writing my essay on the Inferno and the Conference of the Birds, and I’m sure this will be even more progressive to my interest in the Inferno.
We’ll start filming this weekend, and should have most of the production done by Wednesday.
Maybe not so subtle.
Benjamin, I'm looking forward to seeing what you guys come up with. Please see my comment to Brittni's proposal.
Response for 12/6
Electronic dance music is definitely the new classical music. In EDM, there is an introduction where the timbres and motifs that are used throughout the piece are typically introduced. Rarely does the song come in with all parts full-fledged right at the beginning, but rather there is a gradual introduction of the elements.
After the first section of intro (or “exposition,” if speaking in classical form), parts are elaborated and varied to bring us into the next section of introduction, where we “learn more” about the elements. Now, the music grows in intensity, and the bass “drops.”
This drop is usually a brief break from the established pattern the music had created, which proceeds into the “development.” This part in EDM is commonly referred to as the drop as well. It is characterized by often harsher rhythmic and non-melodic passages interspersed with characters and elements heard in the exposition. These parts are often chopped and rearranged.
Included in this post are two examples of the EDM subgenre Dubstep. Both give great examples of the style and exhibit the characteristics similar to classical form.
Many may disagree with me or say, “Well, doesn’t all music follow that same form?” to which I would answer, “Why, yes. Yes, it does.” That’s just music. Ecclesiastes 1:9 says, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” Ain’t that the truth?
Until the middle of this summer, my major was Pre-Audiology. I've now changed it to Pre-Dental. There's just something about those "pre" programs, I guess...
I'm well aware of my personal brokenness as a human soul, but I have found restoration of that in Jesus Messiah. For me, Christ has allowed me to find in Him a newness of life, a clearer vision, a defined purpose, and a joy unmatched by anything else I'd previously found.
My hobbies include playing music, working out, reading, and N64 Mario Kart. On the latter, you cannot defeat me.
I've taken Honors 201 with Dr. Wolfe last semester. I just randomly selected a 202 section this semester, and so far it looks like I ended up selecting the right one.
Last night, Daniel Keim and I read through the Suras printed in our anthology. Now, we’re both Christians, but while reading, we tried our best to read it objectively. We were able to look at it through a clear lens, but we also reflected on it from our Christian perspective.
Many of the lines in the Koran were agreeable to our subjective, Christian mind frames. Such attributes of God, like His mercifulness, His omniscience, and His righteousness, rang a true tone to our ears.
However, the Koran was definitely not without many red flags. Some were blatant, like, “Unbelievers are those who declare: ‘God is the Messiah, the son of Mary.’” I, as a believer of the Gospel, disagree with Islam’s stance that the Messiah isn’t God. I guess it is right in saying that unbelievers say that, because I do not believe it, but here I am referring to the fundamental logic of that statement. Other red flags to the Christian are the favoring of Ishmael over Isaac and the supposition that mankind distorted the Tanakh and Gospel.
Last semester, I had the privilege of visiting the local Islamic Center with a Multicultural Counseling class project. The worshippers there were incredibly welcoming and informative. The imam even announced at the end of the service that they had visitors from Ball State in their presence and to “educate them of the truth that is Islam!” They were very respectful of our respective religious and spiritual background and did not over-zealously engage with us.
During our visit, my eyes were opened to many of the similarities that exist between the Abrahamic faiths, but throughout I could clearly see many schisms among Jewish, Christian, and Islamic beliefs. I have also immersed myself into studying the Jewish faith (through friends, text, and the local temple). Something I’ve found in all of this is the welcoming nature the body of worshippers display to outsiders. That has definitely personally convicted me to show more love and tolerance in how I engage with people of other backgrounds. Reaching for heaven is what we’re on earth to do.
We are now done reading Inferno. I can really say that I’m glad I read it. I can also say that I’m glad it’s over. I did enjoy a lot of it, like the punishments reflecting and/or repaying what the sinners did in their lives. However, so much is just so deeply steeped in extra-biblical tradition. That in itself is not a problem. The problem enters the picture when people start to base their “biblical” doctrine and theology off of this allegory. It is an allegory, right? There’s just a lot that doesn’t settle well with me.
One of the biggest problems I have with Inferno is the fact that Satan is frozen still in ice. Let’s take a moment to look at the Hebrew behind the name Satan… Yup, it translates as “adversary” (We’d have to add the prefix “ha-” to “-Satan” in order for it to mean “the Satan,” or “the Adversary). In the Book of Job, we read about Satan moving freely between Heaven and Earth and being an adversary to Job. Satan is only allowed to oppress Job because God allows him too. So why, in the Inferno, is Satan bound? Even in the New Testament book of First Peter, Satan is described as a prowling lion, looking for souls to devour, not a frozen stuck, three-headed beast. That First Peter verse really makes it seem like the triumph of Jesus Christ – along with His “harrowing of Hell” – didn’t fully restrain Satan, otherwise he probably wouldn’t be doing much prowling and devouring.
Don’t get me wrong; I think Dante does a great job painting a picture of what sins he thinks should be brutally punished and how they should be brutally punished, but maybe it’s time to admit that we don’t really know what Hell is like aside from a total depravity of God’s glory. It’s fun (or maybe just downright demented/morbid) to imagine and speculate Hell’s awfulness, but let’s maybe disregard the traditions we’ve held for a couple centuries (some based off the Inferno, others mentioned in it) and focus on the truth. Let’s talk more about the grace and mercy of God through Jesus instead of the dark damnation. Personally, I’d rather seek to know God than to know Hell.
Response for 9/27
This week we got to take a close look at La Pieta by Michelangelo, thanks to the presentation. I had never seen the piece before, despite it apparently being one of his most famous. Personally, I really liked it. I’m usually not much of a fan of High Renaissance sculptures, but this was an exception. It just has so much emotion. Look at the contrast of Jesus’s limp, impaled hand with the resigned benediction of Mary’s. Jesus’s other hand lies softly and relaxed on His thigh and on Mary’s body, while Mary’s other hand holds up the weight of her Son and Savior. And that’s just hands! That’s not even getting into their faces!
Speaking of in their faces, how about that Wife of Bath? I really wish we had read more of Canterbury Tales. I’ve never read any of it (besides the Wife of Bath part just now). Anyway, back to her. We might all laugh at how laughable of character she is. She’s some obtuse, boisterous woman who distorts the meaning of Scripture to fit whatever she wants it to say, but can we see any parallels? How much of modern religion is based off of extra-biblical tradition? How often do we misinterpret the Bible for our own advantage? This isn’t meant to point fingers at anyone; it’s just a musing. It reminds me of Macklemore’s “Same Love”: “We paraphrase a book written thirty-five-hundred years ago.”
Now it’s onto these upcoming paper/projects. I really enjoyed watching the Parody Pals’ video on Wednesday. I don’t know if we’re going to do another video like that (which would be incredibly fun) or not, but it’s great no matter what. I’ve been thinking a lot about the piece by St. Augustine we read and the Conference of the Birds. Those might be the two I use, or I might do something completely different. With Conference, I thought about looking at the qualities they promote (such as asceticism) and trying to apply those to my life while journaling the journey. Or maybe I’ll write a song. That could be fun too.
Response for 10/4
This week was not my week. Nothing bad happened, but it just wasn’t the greatest thing I have had in a while. Of what I read of this week’s reading, not much soaked into my brain. Class discussion was a bit slow. I was falling asleep a lot even though I’d been getting (what I thought was) enough sleep.
Probably the thing that did soak in the best was Brittni and Evan’s presentation about the Last Supper. Being Christian, I find it pretty interesting. I sure could not tell you the names of anyone in the fresco besides Yeshua, but they all have something special about themselves. You have the guy immediately to the left of Christ with his arms thrown back like, “WHOA!” The guy hiding out behind him is pointing up like, “You’re going up THERE?!” and his eyes are bugging out.
Then there is the third guy from our left, and he reminds me of this:
I’m not sure at what point of the last supper this is portraying. I think it might be when Yeshua tells them that one of them will betray Him. But another part of me thinks it is when He’s telling them that the bread is His body and the wine is His blood. That would probably explain this crazy hand gestures best. I mean, it looks like they are all of the sudden surprised/shocked/disgusted by the food. Let’s throw a wrench in that one. They had all already heard Christ make that comparison before when He was talking in John 6.
So really, I’m just confused and unsure, as I’m sure a lot of the apostles were at that moment. Just think about it. How many of you felt a little bit of sadness when your parents left you here first semester freshman year? Or maybe better yet, when someone in your family died? So here we have a handful of faithful followers of this Messiah, expecting Him to usher in this great Davidic Kingdom, but no. He has other plans. He’s going to die first. But don’t worry; I’ll be back after three days. Then I’ll stick around for forty and ascend into Heaven. That’d probably sound a bit unbelievable if you hadn’t seen Him performing all those signs and miracles. Anyhow, it’d definitely be a somber moment. Imagine the room of uppers waiting for news from Seal Team 6.
Now imagine that all of the sudden, Obama is part of Seal Team 6 and going to kill not only the largest terrorist ever, but Sin itself. Dang. What a Messiah worthy of praise.
Response for 10/11
Benjamin, these are excellent works for comparison because they are both spiritual journeys but they are so different. Have you figured out yet the purpose of your comparison? You should emphasize similarity or difference. For example, you could show how the stories have a lot in common despite being from two different religious traditions, or you could emphasize the differences. Just don't make your essay a list of similarities and differences. -MH
The first essay I am writing is Essay #1, the comparative one. In it, I will be comparing The Conference of the Birds with The Inferno. Both of these works are religious in nature; the former is from Sufism and the latter Catholicism. In both of these works, the central theme is seeking after and attaining to God. In Conference, it is more of an introspective search, whereas in Inferno, the search is more of a journey. Both are strongly allegorical.
Anyway, I have a lot of ideas to find similarities, parallels, and even common themes between these two stories. I’ll have plenty to write about (God willing). The contemporary relevance project will probably prove to be a bit more difficult, but if I’m working with the Parody Pals, I just can’t wait to get started.
I’m really a “big picture” kind of personality, so these essays should be a lot of fun to take a look at prevalent trends. Writing them, however, could be a bit of a problem for somebody that’s not a “detail” person. Should be fun though.
Presenting this week was a blast. I wish we had more presentations in class. Just getting to synthesize information and ideas with a group and present in front of (and with) the class is such a great experience. If I could change one thing about this course, there would be more presentations. Just short ones, even. Little five-minute ones to introduce the topic of the lecture or discussion. I feel like it would involve us students a bit more.
Something I noticed – especially from today’s class – was the move from religious themes to secular themes in art. That’s life though. Looks like the Renaissance was the departure of the prodigal son. Maybe someday art will return in tattered rags fully to God. Who knows?
Response for 10/25
This week was short. Fall break. Only had class two days. But since we didn’t have to post last week because we had to turn in our essays, this is a reflection for both weeks. Besides, both of the weeks were about the good old New World. We kicked it all off with Columbus Day while we watched Aguirre (which happened to be a really depressing movie that about Europeans dying due to poor leadership. It was like a bad Monty Python film). I did enjoy the film, but some scenes I just couldn’t take seriously. Mostly the pan-flutist scenes. Just something about him prancing around playing little, airy melodies got my goat. Speaking of hooved animals, that horse was nothing but trouble.
Bartolomé de Las Casas is where it’s at. Forget about Columbus. This guy did it right. Also, even if de Montaigne never visited the Americas and was just giving a very skewed account of what may or may not have taken place, he seems to have done a good job representing an misrepresented group of people. Something I really like from Of Cannibals was the quote from Plato on page 1765 about this community. I also like how it’s quoted by the Bard himself on page 1843. Gonzalo – in the Tempest – is just rambling on and on while his mates are mocking him. Such was the mentality of the day?
Something else that hit me hard in class today was the fact that Shakespeare was alive when the New World was discovered. I guess I just never made that connection in my mind. I always just thought of him as some far-detached, strictly English playwright. I definitely missed out on his full perspective.
Response for 11/8
Candide is absolutely crazy. Maybe it’s because I was reading it while I was watching Axe Cop and reading it in his voice. If you are unaware with the character, he’s a cop who carries an axe. The show is written by a twenty-year old and a five-year old, so it is pretty random, much like the story line of Candide. It definitely made the characters, such as the old woman, much more comical, despite her terribly depressing story.
As for discussion in class, I wish we would have discussed theodicy a bit more. I have friends in Powell’s humanities courses, and sometimes I get jealous of their deeper theological and philosophical course work. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy our discussion of the literature, but from time to time, I’d like something a bit deeper to sink my metaphorical teeth into.
Response for 11/15
For the creative project, Brittni, Daniel, Evan, and I will be teaming up to make a “Parody Pals” sequel, in lieu with the Exodus video from last semester. The plan for the video is to take the circles of the Inferno and modernize them. We wish to remain loyal to the original sins, but in that we hope to bring them up to the times with modern, popular music and subtle* changes to the punishments.
The purpose of this video is to entertain, but we will not lose loyalty to the storyline and intentions that Dante had when he originally wrote the work.
Roles to be portrayed by us include (but are not limited to) Dante, Virgil, the sinners/sufferers, and demons.
Personally, I’m really looking forward to working with the Parody Pals. I was in the Harlem Shake for the Exodus video, but I expect this one to be much more fulfilling (maybe because I won’t just be wearing short shorts waving Israeli flags…). I really enjoyed writing my essay on the Inferno and the Conference of the Birds, and I’m sure this will be even more progressive to my interest in the Inferno.
We’ll start filming this weekend, and should have most of the production done by Wednesday.
Benjamin, I'm looking forward to seeing what you guys come up with. Please see my comment to Brittni's proposal.
Response for 12/6
Electronic dance music is definitely the new classical music. In EDM, there is an introduction where the timbres and motifs that are used throughout the piece are typically introduced. Rarely does the song come in with all parts full-fledged right at the beginning, but rather there is a gradual introduction of the elements.
After the first section of intro (or “exposition,” if speaking in classical form), parts are elaborated and varied to bring us into the next section of introduction, where we “learn more” about the elements. Now, the music grows in intensity, and the bass “drops.”
This drop is usually a brief break from the established pattern the music had created, which proceeds into the “development.” This part in EDM is commonly referred to as the drop as well. It is characterized by often harsher rhythmic and non-melodic passages interspersed with characters and elements heard in the exposition. These parts are often chopped and rearranged.
Included in this post are two examples of the EDM subgenre Dubstep. Both give great examples of the style and exhibit the characteristics similar to classical form.
Many may disagree with me or say, “Well, doesn’t all music follow that same form?” to which I would answer, “Why, yes. Yes, it does.” That’s just music. Ecclesiastes 1:9 says, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” Ain’t that the truth?