I am excited to be back in this classroom for Honors 203! Based on our first discussion about Frederick Douglass, I think this will be a very interesting class with stimulating conversations. Many people brought up some points that I did not think about, and I will expand upon a few of these here.
First, my small group talked extensively about how the slaves had no sense of human identity. The narrative starts out with Douglass stating that he does not know his age, and we read in another passage about his uncertainly about his name. I cannot imagine what it would be like to be so uncertain about yourself or your identity that you do not even know your own name and age. If I am sure about two things in my life, it is my name and age and many slaves did not even have this luxury.
Along these same lines, one of my group members brought up the passage about Douglass’s attempted escape. The passage talked about the fact that even after making plans to escape, freedom was still uncertain. They were blindly heading North with no real idea of what was ahead. They were aiming for a “doubtful freedom,” which just adds more uncertainty into the lives of the slaves. Douglass did not know his age, name, or if he would ever truly be free, even if he escaped his master.
Lastly, at the end of class we discussed what Douglass perceived freedom to be. I feel that these two main themes of identity and uncertainty relate to this topic. Douglass felt as if he was more of a free man whenever he was treated like a human rather than an animal. Even though we did not read it, I found it interesting to hear about the passage where he fought his master to earn his manhood. Also, I feel that Douglass felt that freedom came with certainty. There was always a chance that he could be caught and returned to slavery when he was in the United States, so he felt that he was not truly free in this situation.
I look forward to future classes to see what our discussions have in store!
203 Response 2
It has been very interesting talking about this theme of freedom over the last few class periods. Although freedom can mean many different things to the authors of these pieces of literature, the theme still remains consistent. Dostoevsky’s The Grand Inquisitor puts an interesting spin on the topic of freedom compared to the literature that we have previously read.
First of all, I found it intriguing to read a story in which freedom seems to not be the desired outcome. In Whitman’s, Douglass’s, and Jacob’s stories, they were all searching for freedom. However, Dostoevsky’s story is suggesting that people do not actually want to be free, but they would rather be told what to do like a flock of sheep. I found one passage of the story especially intriguing, and it was discussing the third temptation. The Grand Inquisitor said that the more ignorant and undeveloped a group of people is, the happier the people are. In a way, I can see some truth in this statement.
When we were discussing questions that this story raised, I did not get the opportunity to say something that I thought of. I wonder if this story made readers question what they believed in. Dostesvsky took multiple common bible stories/phrases (the three temptations, the flock of sheep, etc.), and turned them inside out. He took different perspectives on these ideas, and he made some very logical arguments. I found some truth in the points that the GI was saying, so I am sure that this piece of literature raised a few questions like this.
Lastly, I wanted to mention a point that was brought up near the end of class on Friday. Although some truth could be found in the GI statements, the idea of rebellion needs to be considered. Many people would be fine with simply being cared for and showed around, but others may like the ideas of learning and developing. Humans are naturally rebels and want freedom from organization and always being provided for by authority.
203 Response 3
This shortened week has been all about Faust. This is a story that I have never read before, so it has all been a new experience for me this week. Even though I’ve never read it, it seems similar to a few stories that I have read before. For example, it seems very similar to the story of Job in the bible, at least so far. Also, I keep relating it to “A Christmas Carol” for some reason, but that is how I have been picturing the characters.
Along the same lines, I found it interesting to try to imagine what the play would be like on the first day. The characters, set, and blocking that my group imagined were much different than the video clips of the actual plays that we watched in class. The ideas of the many groups differed and the video clips were also very different from one another. Even though they were all attempting to tell the same story, they went about it in completely different ways.
At the end of class on Friday, we discussed how the story would have been different if Faust would have summoned the devil. He would have summoned the devil instead of the earth spirit, which would have altered the story immensely. If the devil did not make his own decision to come, the whole concept of making a bet would have been void. Not only would Mephistopheles and God not have made a bet beforehand, but there would have been no need for Faust to make a bet with him either. Faust would have already been convinced he could help, so he would have had a preconceived notion that the devil could satisfy his needs.
Lastly, I feel as if the story the way it is written currently makes Faust seem like a hero and a victim. He is visited while he is self-loathing, making the readers identify with him more. If he would have summoned the devil, more readers would have looked at him as if he was a villain, also.
203 Response 4
This week in Honors 203 was filled with more Faustian thought and adventures. We finished up part 1 of Goethe’s story, and on Friday we compared Faust to Napoleon in the other two poems. There are a few points that I would like to discuss regarding these discussions.
First, I found it significant to remember that we only read part 1 of Faust. This was only a portion of the entire story, and I am sure that many things happen in part 2. When Nick and I were writing our poem, we realized that we did not know how Faust ended, and we were informed that he is saved by God and goes up to heaven. This is significant but we did not know this without reading part 2. God ended up winning the bet, and Faust is sent to reside in Heaven.
Next, I found our activity on Friday very interesting. It intrigued me how many groups used very similar passages, and a couple passages were used in almost every group’s poems. This must mean that we all have a fairly similar idea of what Faust was feeling. However, I also felt as if our examples and descriptions of a romantic hero were somewhat scattered. There are a variety of different characteristics that could be found in Faust, along with many other romantic heroes. We came up with examples that ranged from Frankenstein to Gatsby to Wolverine, but none of them were necessarily wrong, even though they are very different.
Lastly, I was surprised at how easy it was to find passages that related both to Napoleon and Faust. When we were first given directions for this activity, I thought it would be difficult. However, it did not take long to find relevant passages and relate them. Overall, Nick and I were somewhat proud of our poem!
203 Response 5
Although we had snow on Wednesday, 203 still had several interesting discussions about romantic poetry and music on Monday and Friday. I found our discussion on poetry on Friday particularly intriguing in regards to romanticism.
I will work backwards, starting at the end of class. With one minute of class left, we read the poem “Hours Continuing Long” by Walt Whitman. When I first read this poem, I did not see anything unique about it. It seemed just like another sad love poem where the poet is longing for another person. However, in class in was mentioned that it was about same sex love. Looking back at the poem, I can see that it was written about another man, but I did not even notice this the first time I read through it. To me, this poem is not unlike any other romantic poem, whether it is about same sex love or not.
Earlier in the class, we spent the majority of the time discussing the plot of romantic poems. I would like to reflect upon the idea that these plots are mainly emotion and thought centered, rather than action centered. Instead of actions changing, the different sections of the plot could be seen through changes in emotions. For example, we read two poems in which the poet marked the different sections by switching the object receiving the dialogue. Interesting, both of these poems talked to time and then another object or idea.
With the plot being based on thought instead of action, I wonder how strictly romantic poems follow this pattern. The two poems that we read followed the pattern closely, but other romantic poems probably do not do this. For example, the Walt Whitman poems do not necessarily follow this pattern. As we read and explore romanticism further, this is an idea that might become clearer.
203 Response 6
This week, our 203 class talked about society and its discontents, especially by focusing on Tolstoy’s “The Death of Ivan Illych.” We explored this piece through a variety of different ways, and I found many of these discussions very interesting. Not only did we learn the literature, but we also went deeper in its analysis.
One topic that I found interesting that we discussed during the discussion of Friday was the idea of death. It was interesting to compare the different characters and see how they each viewed the inevitability of death. I found it interesting that each character had their own unique views on death, but some characters addressed the topic more directly than others. I felt as if Ivan and Gerasim were the two characters that talked about death the most directly. The other characters, like Peter and Praskovya, avoided talking and thinking about death. They acted like Ivan was not dying and nothing serious was wrong.
Another main concept in this piece is “the meaning of life.” In the second half of the novel as he is dying, Ivan realizes that he does not feel happy with what he did in is life. While he lived his life, he felt as if he was doing all the right things to be happy, but he is not satisfied with the choices that he made. I found it interesting that the presenters on Friday tied in some contemporary relevance into this idea. They mentioned the online articles like “20 Things I Wish I Knew when I Was Younger.” If Ivan had the chance, I am sure that he would be interested in writing one of these notes to himself.
I will lastly briefly mention the idea of religion. There were a couple of times religion was mentioned, especially near the end of the story. The end of the story seems to have a Christian perspective because of the “rebirth” and death “being finished.” God saves him from the suffering of Earthly life.
I enjoyed Tolstoy’s novel and the discussions that we held in class this week.
203 Response 7
With a week full of presentations and discussions about society and rights, I enjoyed talking about the story of A Doll’s House.
During our discussion of Friday, we compared the stories of Ivan Illych and A Doll’s House. When it comes to similarities and differences, I feel that some are more important and prevalent in the story than others. For example, I think the difference between the main characters beings male and female is essential to the stories. Although both stories question social norms, the way in which they do this differs. As a male, Ivan stays in his marriage because he wants to keep up his status and appearance. It was believed that men should not give up their honor in any situation. However, Nora had different difficulties. Although she ended up leaving, her issues revolved around the ideas of motherhood and her duty as a wife. These were different societal issues that stemmed from being male and female.
Another comparison that I did not get the chance to say in class has to do with the structures of the literature. Both authors have questioning views on society and marriage, but they ways in which they expressed these ideas were different. In the case of Ivan, we knew from the very beginning that Ivan dies, and we can even tell this from the title. The story is his downward journey to this point. However, with a Doll’s House we did not know the outcome of the story. Especially since it is uncommon in the historical context of the time, it was not foreseen that she was going to leave Torvald. In the Friday presentation, they group mentioned that the author had to write an alternate ending for the piece because a German actress refused to leave her husband. This shows the seriousness of this offense and topic, especially in the context in which it was written.
203 Response 8
This week before Spring Break has been an interesting one in Honors 203 class. We have covered many different pieces of literature and had several interesting discussions and presentations.
First of all, I found it intriguing to compared the different aspects of many of the pieces of literature that we read. This week, many of the pieces had a common theme of speaking about feminist issues. The authors portrayed these issues in a range of different ways, but this made discussions and comparisons interesting. For example, I personally enjoyed the way in which Gilman spoke about feminist issues and the resting cure. Having gone through many of the same experiences personally, The Yellow Wallpaper was a very powerful narrative that described the evils and negative outcomes of the resting cure and the subordination of women.
Along these same lines, I enjoyed our discussion on Friday discussing the ways in which the different pieces framed their issues. While I was reading these pieces, I noticed the fact that two of the Friday pieces were modeled very closely to fit existing documents; The Bible and The Declaration of Independence. Personally, I found that these pieces were not as powerful as the other stories that were told more like a narrative. I got the feeling that they were trying to correct these documents without first convincing their audience of why their way is better. For example, the story of Adam and Eve that was told as a narrative had a greater impact on me than the other two stories. Perhaps this is because it was told as a story that was framed as a conversation.
Overall, the large range of literature this week led to many great discussions about society issues, especially regarding women. I enjoyed comparing and contrasting these pieces and the ways in which they were written.
203 Response 9
This week, we focused on the theme of colonialism in Africa. We started out with a summary of colonialism on Monday, and a presentation on Wednesday that was on “The Heart of Darkness”. However, this reflection will focus on the discussion that we held on Friday on Conrad’s work.
First of all, I found it very interested that this piece was written in the form of a frame narrative. We briefly discussed this form in class, but I personally was wondering why the author chose to write this in this way. I feel as if it makes the story more interesting for the readers being told like a story. However, I also feel as if this makes the opinions and experiences of Marlow less credible.
When we were discussing the character of Kurtz in class, I did not get the chance to point out a passage that I found particularly intriguing. One classmate pointed out the fact that they treated Kurtz like he was a God. He was also very good at collecting Ivory. There was a passage that pointed out the fact that many of the people seemed to “pray” to Ivory, and I found this ironic. The fact that our class mentioned him being like a God and that the passage used this language was an interesting parallel.
Lastly, I thought the way in which Marlow spoke about the cannibals was intriguing. He was constantly afraid of the cannibals and that they might “eat him.” In one particular passage, he mentioned that fact that they were safe from the cannibals eating them because they were enjoying hippo meat. This was a constant thought in Marlow’s head, which was to be safe from the cannibals. I think this fear is very symbolic in the rest of the story.
I enjoyed our discussions on the “The Heart of Darkness,” and the new topic of colonialism.
203 Response 10
This week, I greatly enjoyed learning about Freud and all of his different ideas about dreams, thoughts, and interpretations. Although I have heard of Freud and his ideas, I have never actually studied his theories or science. I found it very intriguing, although I cannot say that I agree with him on all of his points.
First of all, I feel as if his theories make it very easy to fit into all situations. I do not feel as if his thoughts are based on true science or statistics, so it makes it hard for me to believe that everything that he says is factual. If I remember correct, one of my classmates actually mentioned that his theories have been disproved since he wrote his science many years ago. On Friday, we discussed dreams, and how they are actually repressed wishes. We then looked at several examples of dreams and how they displayed his theories. I found it difficult to make the connections from the dream to the theories of what they meant. In my opinion, Freud could have interpreted the dreams however he wanted and it would have been "correct." I would even that these wishes are almost like self-fulfilling prophecies, because you believe whatever is told of you.
Another thing that I found interesting about Freud is that fact that everyone is based on sexuality. I do not feel as if everything that people repress, wish for, and think about has to do with sex. However, Freud and his followed would not agree with me. I especially find the Oedipus complex intriguing. We did not go in depth about this complex, but I am interested to learn about this theory when we explore it next week.
Lastly, I found it interested when Dr. Hartman mentioned that Freud does include his own dreams and thoughts into his theories. He does not see himself as "above" his theories, and he is just like everyone else. Dr. Hartman even mentioned that Freud purposefully left out part of a dream because he was too embarrassed to write it. I guess when you are the author you can write whatever you want!
203 Response 11
In honors 203 this week, we switched topics to discuss modernism and arts. It started off with two presentations, and ended with an awesome opportunity to hear Dafna Kaffeman, a featured artist in the Art Museum.
I have been to the Art Museum multiple times, but I have never had an opportunity like this to meet an artist that has several pieces in the museum. In my opinion, I find the artwork much more interesting if I understanding the motives and inspiration behind them, so hearing her describe all of her works and why they were written was very powerful. She used her art to send messages, mainly about the political and religious struggles in her home country, Israel. I personally asked her if this was always her motivation for art, but she said that she was always passionate about these issues, but she did not include them in her works until a little later in her career.
Dafna’s artwork is very modern, which fits perfectly into our topic for this week in class. She used a variety of different mediums, and had a unique style. She told us her reasoning for using some of the materials and techniques that she did, but we would not have known that without her being there. After looking at Dafna’s work, I went and looked at works from the other artist that was being featured. She had some very interesting, non-traditional pieces, and I would have been very curious to hear her speak about her inspiration. Reading the informational panel is helpful to understand, but that does not compare to having the actual artist there to explain in person.
This Art Museum trip was a perfect end to the week about modernism and art. I greatly enjoyed our discussions and meeting and viewing the work of a current artist.
203 Response 12
This week, we had the opportunity to read Things Fall Apart, which is the last piece of literature that we will read in Honors 203 (and the last piece I will read in the whole humanities series!). I actually greatly enjoyed reading this. It is a unique story coming from an interesting perspective. When reading the story, it made it more interesting to keep in mind the attitude and goal that Achebe had when writing this. We had several discussions on the different characters, mainly Okonkwo. I enjoyed seeing the view of the missionaries from a different perspective, because we often hear about missionaries from a more positive light. However, the coming of the missionaries in this piece became the demise of Okonkwo, and essentially the demise of the entire tribe.
As the end of the semester approaches, the final project is drawing nearer. For the final project, several classmates and I would like to do a creative option. To include different pieces and characters from the semester (and maybe even some from the other humanities courses), we would like to make a board game. This board game would most likely be modeled after a different board game, such as Monopoly or Guess Who. We would make this game themed after the different stories that we read, and I would like to see the board have a Canterbury Tales theme, as the characters go on a journey around the board. The different sections, characters, or cards can have aspects from a variety of different pieces. Also, we can add more content into the “instructions” of the board game, to help explain our approach, and help to differentiate between the pieces, and which aspects relate to which pieces of literature. As a group, we thought that this would be a great way to incorporate a variety of different works that we have covered in a fun and informative way.
Evan, please see my response to Brittni's proposal. I like the idea of including some explanation in the instructions. Are you going to choose characters based on a common theme or are your going for a variety of types? -MH
I am excited to be back in this classroom for Honors 203! Based on our first discussion about Frederick Douglass, I think this will be a very interesting class with stimulating conversations. Many people brought up some points that I did not think about, and I will expand upon a few of these here.
First, my small group talked extensively about how the slaves had no sense of human identity. The narrative starts out with Douglass stating that he does not know his age, and we read in another passage about his uncertainly about his name. I cannot imagine what it would be like to be so uncertain about yourself or your identity that you do not even know your own name and age. If I am sure about two things in my life, it is my name and age and many slaves did not even have this luxury.
Along these same lines, one of my group members brought up the passage about Douglass’s attempted escape. The passage talked about the fact that even after making plans to escape, freedom was still uncertain. They were blindly heading North with no real idea of what was ahead. They were aiming for a “doubtful freedom,” which just adds more uncertainty into the lives of the slaves. Douglass did not know his age, name, or if he would ever truly be free, even if he escaped his master.
Lastly, at the end of class we discussed what Douglass perceived freedom to be. I feel that these two main themes of identity and uncertainty relate to this topic. Douglass felt as if he was more of a free man whenever he was treated like a human rather than an animal. Even though we did not read it, I found it interesting to hear about the passage where he fought his master to earn his manhood. Also, I feel that Douglass felt that freedom came with certainty. There was always a chance that he could be caught and returned to slavery when he was in the United States, so he felt that he was not truly free in this situation.
I look forward to future classes to see what our discussions have in store!
203 Response 2
It has been very interesting talking about this theme of freedom over the last few class periods. Although freedom can mean many different things to the authors of these pieces of literature, the theme still remains consistent. Dostoevsky’s The Grand Inquisitor puts an interesting spin on the topic of freedom compared to the literature that we have previously read.
First of all, I found it intriguing to read a story in which freedom seems to not be the desired outcome. In Whitman’s, Douglass’s, and Jacob’s stories, they were all searching for freedom. However, Dostoevsky’s story is suggesting that people do not actually want to be free, but they would rather be told what to do like a flock of sheep. I found one passage of the story especially intriguing, and it was discussing the third temptation. The Grand Inquisitor said that the more ignorant and undeveloped a group of people is, the happier the people are. In a way, I can see some truth in this statement.
When we were discussing questions that this story raised, I did not get the opportunity to say something that I thought of. I wonder if this story made readers question what they believed in. Dostesvsky took multiple common bible stories/phrases (the three temptations, the flock of sheep, etc.), and turned them inside out. He took different perspectives on these ideas, and he made some very logical arguments. I found some truth in the points that the GI was saying, so I am sure that this piece of literature raised a few questions like this.
Lastly, I wanted to mention a point that was brought up near the end of class on Friday. Although some truth could be found in the GI statements, the idea of rebellion needs to be considered. Many people would be fine with simply being cared for and showed around, but others may like the ideas of learning and developing. Humans are naturally rebels and want freedom from organization and always being provided for by authority.
203 Response 3
This shortened week has been all about Faust. This is a story that I have never read before, so it has all been a new experience for me this week. Even though I’ve never read it, it seems similar to a few stories that I have read before. For example, it seems very similar to the story of Job in the bible, at least so far. Also, I keep relating it to “A Christmas Carol” for some reason, but that is how I have been picturing the characters.
Along the same lines, I found it interesting to try to imagine what the play would be like on the first day. The characters, set, and blocking that my group imagined were much different than the video clips of the actual plays that we watched in class. The ideas of the many groups differed and the video clips were also very different from one another. Even though they were all attempting to tell the same story, they went about it in completely different ways.
At the end of class on Friday, we discussed how the story would have been different if Faust would have summoned the devil. He would have summoned the devil instead of the earth spirit, which would have altered the story immensely. If the devil did not make his own decision to come, the whole concept of making a bet would have been void. Not only would Mephistopheles and God not have made a bet beforehand, but there would have been no need for Faust to make a bet with him either. Faust would have already been convinced he could help, so he would have had a preconceived notion that the devil could satisfy his needs.
Lastly, I feel as if the story the way it is written currently makes Faust seem like a hero and a victim. He is visited while he is self-loathing, making the readers identify with him more. If he would have summoned the devil, more readers would have looked at him as if he was a villain, also.
203 Response 4
This week in Honors 203 was filled with more Faustian thought and adventures. We finished up part 1 of Goethe’s story, and on Friday we compared Faust to Napoleon in the other two poems. There are a few points that I would like to discuss regarding these discussions.
First, I found it significant to remember that we only read part 1 of Faust. This was only a portion of the entire story, and I am sure that many things happen in part 2. When Nick and I were writing our poem, we realized that we did not know how Faust ended, and we were informed that he is saved by God and goes up to heaven. This is significant but we did not know this without reading part 2. God ended up winning the bet, and Faust is sent to reside in Heaven.
Next, I found our activity on Friday very interesting. It intrigued me how many groups used very similar passages, and a couple passages were used in almost every group’s poems. This must mean that we all have a fairly similar idea of what Faust was feeling. However, I also felt as if our examples and descriptions of a romantic hero were somewhat scattered. There are a variety of different characteristics that could be found in Faust, along with many other romantic heroes. We came up with examples that ranged from Frankenstein to Gatsby to Wolverine, but none of them were necessarily wrong, even though they are very different.
Lastly, I was surprised at how easy it was to find passages that related both to Napoleon and Faust. When we were first given directions for this activity, I thought it would be difficult. However, it did not take long to find relevant passages and relate them. Overall, Nick and I were somewhat proud of our poem!
203 Response 5
Although we had snow on Wednesday, 203 still had several interesting discussions about romantic poetry and music on Monday and Friday. I found our discussion on poetry on Friday particularly intriguing in regards to romanticism.
I will work backwards, starting at the end of class. With one minute of class left, we read the poem “Hours Continuing Long” by Walt Whitman. When I first read this poem, I did not see anything unique about it. It seemed just like another sad love poem where the poet is longing for another person. However, in class in was mentioned that it was about same sex love. Looking back at the poem, I can see that it was written about another man, but I did not even notice this the first time I read through it. To me, this poem is not unlike any other romantic poem, whether it is about same sex love or not.
Earlier in the class, we spent the majority of the time discussing the plot of romantic poems. I would like to reflect upon the idea that these plots are mainly emotion and thought centered, rather than action centered. Instead of actions changing, the different sections of the plot could be seen through changes in emotions. For example, we read two poems in which the poet marked the different sections by switching the object receiving the dialogue. Interesting, both of these poems talked to time and then another object or idea.
With the plot being based on thought instead of action, I wonder how strictly romantic poems follow this pattern. The two poems that we read followed the pattern closely, but other romantic poems probably do not do this. For example, the Walt Whitman poems do not necessarily follow this pattern. As we read and explore romanticism further, this is an idea that might become clearer.
203 Response 6
This week, our 203 class talked about society and its discontents, especially by focusing on Tolstoy’s “The Death of Ivan Illych.” We explored this piece through a variety of different ways, and I found many of these discussions very interesting. Not only did we learn the literature, but we also went deeper in its analysis.
One topic that I found interesting that we discussed during the discussion of Friday was the idea of death. It was interesting to compare the different characters and see how they each viewed the inevitability of death. I found it interesting that each character had their own unique views on death, but some characters addressed the topic more directly than others. I felt as if Ivan and Gerasim were the two characters that talked about death the most directly. The other characters, like Peter and Praskovya, avoided talking and thinking about death. They acted like Ivan was not dying and nothing serious was wrong.
Another main concept in this piece is “the meaning of life.” In the second half of the novel as he is dying, Ivan realizes that he does not feel happy with what he did in is life. While he lived his life, he felt as if he was doing all the right things to be happy, but he is not satisfied with the choices that he made. I found it interesting that the presenters on Friday tied in some contemporary relevance into this idea. They mentioned the online articles like “20 Things I Wish I Knew when I Was Younger.” If Ivan had the chance, I am sure that he would be interested in writing one of these notes to himself.
I will lastly briefly mention the idea of religion. There were a couple of times religion was mentioned, especially near the end of the story. The end of the story seems to have a Christian perspective because of the “rebirth” and death “being finished.” God saves him from the suffering of Earthly life.
I enjoyed Tolstoy’s novel and the discussions that we held in class this week.
203 Response 7
With a week full of presentations and discussions about society and rights, I enjoyed talking about the story of A Doll’s House.
During our discussion of Friday, we compared the stories of Ivan Illych and A Doll’s House. When it comes to similarities and differences, I feel that some are more important and prevalent in the story than others. For example, I think the difference between the main characters beings male and female is essential to the stories. Although both stories question social norms, the way in which they do this differs. As a male, Ivan stays in his marriage because he wants to keep up his status and appearance. It was believed that men should not give up their honor in any situation. However, Nora had different difficulties. Although she ended up leaving, her issues revolved around the ideas of motherhood and her duty as a wife. These were different societal issues that stemmed from being male and female.
Another comparison that I did not get the chance to say in class has to do with the structures of the literature. Both authors have questioning views on society and marriage, but they ways in which they expressed these ideas were different. In the case of Ivan, we knew from the very beginning that Ivan dies, and we can even tell this from the title. The story is his downward journey to this point. However, with a Doll’s House we did not know the outcome of the story. Especially since it is uncommon in the historical context of the time, it was not foreseen that she was going to leave Torvald. In the Friday presentation, they group mentioned that the author had to write an alternate ending for the piece because a German actress refused to leave her husband. This shows the seriousness of this offense and topic, especially in the context in which it was written.
203 Response 8
This week before Spring Break has been an interesting one in Honors 203 class. We have covered many different pieces of literature and had several interesting discussions and presentations.
First of all, I found it intriguing to compared the different aspects of many of the pieces of literature that we read. This week, many of the pieces had a common theme of speaking about feminist issues. The authors portrayed these issues in a range of different ways, but this made discussions and comparisons interesting. For example, I personally enjoyed the way in which Gilman spoke about feminist issues and the resting cure. Having gone through many of the same experiences personally, The Yellow Wallpaper was a very powerful narrative that described the evils and negative outcomes of the resting cure and the subordination of women.
Along these same lines, I enjoyed our discussion on Friday discussing the ways in which the different pieces framed their issues. While I was reading these pieces, I noticed the fact that two of the Friday pieces were modeled very closely to fit existing documents; The Bible and The Declaration of Independence. Personally, I found that these pieces were not as powerful as the other stories that were told more like a narrative. I got the feeling that they were trying to correct these documents without first convincing their audience of why their way is better. For example, the story of Adam and Eve that was told as a narrative had a greater impact on me than the other two stories. Perhaps this is because it was told as a story that was framed as a conversation.
Overall, the large range of literature this week led to many great discussions about society issues, especially regarding women. I enjoyed comparing and contrasting these pieces and the ways in which they were written.
203 Response 9
This week, we focused on the theme of colonialism in Africa. We started out with a summary of colonialism on Monday, and a presentation on Wednesday that was on “The Heart of Darkness”. However, this reflection will focus on the discussion that we held on Friday on Conrad’s work.
First of all, I found it very interested that this piece was written in the form of a frame narrative. We briefly discussed this form in class, but I personally was wondering why the author chose to write this in this way. I feel as if it makes the story more interesting for the readers being told like a story. However, I also feel as if this makes the opinions and experiences of Marlow less credible.
When we were discussing the character of Kurtz in class, I did not get the chance to point out a passage that I found particularly intriguing. One classmate pointed out the fact that they treated Kurtz like he was a God. He was also very good at collecting Ivory. There was a passage that pointed out the fact that many of the people seemed to “pray” to Ivory, and I found this ironic. The fact that our class mentioned him being like a God and that the passage used this language was an interesting parallel.
Lastly, I thought the way in which Marlow spoke about the cannibals was intriguing. He was constantly afraid of the cannibals and that they might “eat him.” In one particular passage, he mentioned that fact that they were safe from the cannibals eating them because they were enjoying hippo meat. This was a constant thought in Marlow’s head, which was to be safe from the cannibals. I think this fear is very symbolic in the rest of the story.
I enjoyed our discussions on the “The Heart of Darkness,” and the new topic of colonialism.
203 Response 10
This week, I greatly enjoyed learning about Freud and all of his different ideas about dreams, thoughts, and interpretations. Although I have heard of Freud and his ideas, I have never actually studied his theories or science. I found it very intriguing, although I cannot say that I agree with him on all of his points.
First of all, I feel as if his theories make it very easy to fit into all situations. I do not feel as if his thoughts are based on true science or statistics, so it makes it hard for me to believe that everything that he says is factual. If I remember correct, one of my classmates actually mentioned that his theories have been disproved since he wrote his science many years ago. On Friday, we discussed dreams, and how they are actually repressed wishes. We then looked at several examples of dreams and how they displayed his theories. I found it difficult to make the connections from the dream to the theories of what they meant. In my opinion, Freud could have interpreted the dreams however he wanted and it would have been "correct." I would even that these wishes are almost like self-fulfilling prophecies, because you believe whatever is told of you.
Another thing that I found interesting about Freud is that fact that everyone is based on sexuality. I do not feel as if everything that people repress, wish for, and think about has to do with sex. However, Freud and his followed would not agree with me. I especially find the Oedipus complex intriguing. We did not go in depth about this complex, but I am interested to learn about this theory when we explore it next week.
Lastly, I found it interested when Dr. Hartman mentioned that Freud does include his own dreams and thoughts into his theories. He does not see himself as "above" his theories, and he is just like everyone else. Dr. Hartman even mentioned that Freud purposefully left out part of a dream because he was too embarrassed to write it. I guess when you are the author you can write whatever you want!
203 Response 11
In honors 203 this week, we switched topics to discuss modernism and arts. It started off with two presentations, and ended with an awesome opportunity to hear Dafna Kaffeman, a featured artist in the Art Museum.
I have been to the Art Museum multiple times, but I have never had an opportunity like this to meet an artist that has several pieces in the museum. In my opinion, I find the artwork much more interesting if I understanding the motives and inspiration behind them, so hearing her describe all of her works and why they were written was very powerful. She used her art to send messages, mainly about the political and religious struggles in her home country, Israel. I personally asked her if this was always her motivation for art, but she said that she was always passionate about these issues, but she did not include them in her works until a little later in her career.
Dafna’s artwork is very modern, which fits perfectly into our topic for this week in class. She used a variety of different mediums, and had a unique style. She told us her reasoning for using some of the materials and techniques that she did, but we would not have known that without her being there. After looking at Dafna’s work, I went and looked at works from the other artist that was being featured. She had some very interesting, non-traditional pieces, and I would have been very curious to hear her speak about her inspiration. Reading the informational panel is helpful to understand, but that does not compare to having the actual artist there to explain in person.
This Art Museum trip was a perfect end to the week about modernism and art. I greatly enjoyed our discussions and meeting and viewing the work of a current artist.
203 Response 12
This week, we had the opportunity to read Things Fall Apart, which is the last piece of literature that we will read in Honors 203 (and the last piece I will read in the whole humanities series!). I actually greatly enjoyed reading this. It is a unique story coming from an interesting perspective. When reading the story, it made it more interesting to keep in mind the attitude and goal that Achebe had when writing this. We had several discussions on the different characters, mainly Okonkwo. I enjoyed seeing the view of the missionaries from a different perspective, because we often hear about missionaries from a more positive light. However, the coming of the missionaries in this piece became the demise of Okonkwo, and essentially the demise of the entire tribe.
As the end of the semester approaches, the final project is drawing nearer. For the final project, several classmates and I would like to do a creative option. To include different pieces and characters from the semester (and maybe even some from the other humanities courses), we would like to make a board game. This board game would most likely be modeled after a different board game, such as Monopoly or Guess Who. We would make this game themed after the different stories that we read, and I would like to see the board have a Canterbury Tales theme, as the characters go on a journey around the board. The different sections, characters, or cards can have aspects from a variety of different pieces. Also, we can add more content into the “instructions” of the board game, to help explain our approach, and help to differentiate between the pieces, and which aspects relate to which pieces of literature. As a group, we thought that this would be a great way to incorporate a variety of different works that we have covered in a fun and informative way.
Evan, please see my response to Brittni's proposal. I like the idea of including some explanation in the instructions. Are you going to choose characters based on a common theme or are your going for a variety of types? -MH
202 Responses (Fall 2013)