The most interesting of the material I read for the week included the Understanding Formal Analysis. I think that art is beautiful and certain elements really can portray different effects. For example, the colors that are used in a piece can describe the mood. The principles of design also help to keep a piece of art unique. With the beauty of art so evident, it is difficult to grasp the concept of iconoclasm popular in the medieval period. When Emperor Leo III took a position against icons, this really hurt society. Removing the creative freedom in Byzantine was a terrible decision. In the Roman Empire, art developed dramatically including dimension. On the religious stand point, I think that icon artists are not trying to make people believe that the icon is what it looks like. It is simply representing that item. Therefore, it is not trying to portray a lie. Symbolism is very important in our society, and without art, it is so much more difficult to represent something. I cannot even imagine walking into a catholic church and not having any statues or murals. These, for one, make the church a beautiful place and setting and also mean and symbolize so much to the members of the church. It was a wise decision for the church to accept the icons. The basilica structure for a church was taken from the idea of political gatherings. Honestly, I think that this idea was genius. It was perfect for large gatherings and the half sphere cut out of the front wall displayed the importance of the judge but now it displays the magnificence of the alter. Even the high ceiling of the basilica fit the church perfectly. They represent the height of heaven and when it has a mural on painted on it, the beauty of heaven is symbolized also.
Week #2: 8/28/13
I found this week’s reading assignments intriguing because I never really read the conversion of another person’s faith. St. Augustine found his faith by evaluating himself while Boethius was sought by Lady Philosophy. The main theme in both of the stories is going from misery to happiness but the two stories just asked different questions. St. Boethius couldn’t figure out how bad things could happen to good people if God is in power. Finally they realize that while following Christ they can overcome the temptations and know that God lets certain things happen for a reason.
As a Christian myself, I was able to relate to some of the things going through St. Augustine’s mind (more than Boethius because I have never experienced a random lady visiting me to tell me what to believe). I think that Augustine makes important points, even to someone who doesn’t share the same beliefs. There are all kinds of temptation to do bad in the world surrounding us. And lots of times people carry out these acts to “fit in.” They don’t want their friends and peers to look differently at them. This being said, you can live a much happier life if you don’t cave to those temptations and strive to be a better person.
Another thing that really caught my attention in class was the Wheel of Fortune. Other than the game show, I have never heard of this, but it really does make lots of sense. You never know where the wheel will spin tomorrow; you could be on the top or sliding toward the bottom. It could be used yet today to help others understand why something bad happened to them. Similar to why Boethius was being falsely accused in the reading. After his conversion of faith, he may receive the top position of the wheel and be thankful for what he has received.
Week #3 Response:
In this week, we discovered the first portion of Dante’s journey through the different levels of hell. It was interesting to see how the sins were classified together: Limbo, lust, gluttony, avarice and prodigality, wrath and sullenness, heresy, violence, fraud, and treachery. Also, the story shows how as each level gets deeper it is harder to get through it. For example, when Virgil tries to get into the sixth circle of hell, they are stopped for the first time. This pattern could be similar to the Christian belief of moral sins and immortal sins. The bigger the sin the harder it is to be forgiven. Although, they can all be forgiven, there are more steps to be taken. In Inferno, Dante and Virgil are put up to larger challenges to pass as they journey through the deeper levels. The souls also suffer more in the deeper levels of hell.
I also find it interesting how treachery is considered the worst type of sin. I would think that betrayal is no worse than violence or fraud. In fact, wouldn’t murdering someone be worse than betraying them? Dante, as a poet, must have characterized sins in his mind in the order of the levels. Therefore, this is a reflection on his own, personal beliefs. I am curious to what influences Dante to think like this. Especially how when a soul stuck in a level, they are suffering over and over, suggesting that they face their sin for eternity.
Overall, I think that this story displays a very descriptive picture of hell. The story even a Christian, like me, helps me get an idea of what suffering for eternity would be like. I believe that the Dante is so shocked to see what he does because settings like hell, is kind of unimaginable.
Week #5: 9/20/2013
This week I really enjoyed the way we discussed things in class. I liked how we addressed the basics of Inferno with questions we had as a class, or by each group picking out the simple punishment of each level of Dante’s Inferno. When I am reading, I sometimes get a little confused and lost in all the details so when we pick out the main points, I seem to understand the context better. When looking at the end of Dante’s writing portion of hell, it is very different than I would have expected. I would have expected the deepest level to be filled with fire and Satan torturing souls everywhere. Instead, it was filled with ice, and Satan is stationary. After what some of my class mates explained in class, I can understand that the cold is the furthest away from God. But the part that Satan is stuck in the ground after falling from Heaven still troubles me. How can the whole realm of hell be run if the leader is unable to move? I wonder if Dante wants us to see hell as something that just exists without anyone really being “in charge.” Another question from the board that got me thinking was the one about the amount of danger that Dante was actually in. Throughout the journey, he changed from interacting with the prisoners to letting Virgil do most of the talking. Is this because he could have gotten in serious trouble if he didn’t know exactly how to act or what to say? In my own opinion, I think that as Dante himself was writing this piece he would never have put himself in that position because it was just easier to let things run smoothly. This way he could make it all the way through hell and out the other side of the earth.
Week #6: 9/27/13
I actually enjoyed reading The Wife of Bath this week. It was interesting to see a counter view of the Christian religion on the topic of marriage and virginity. The wife of bath thought that there was no problem with marrying for money multiple times. The other point that I thought was large was the authority in each relationship. The wife believed that she should have total authority. In our culture, it was always the man who had the authority and now, in today’s society, there is a more equal feeling between men and women. But never, from what I know of, was the women the one with authority. Sure, many married couples today would say that the men must keep the wife happy but I do not think that this means that the woman has total authority in their relationship. The wife uses the script of the bible “Let the husband render the debt of the wife.” However, she fails to recognize the part about the wife serving the husband also. It seems that her last marriage works out because she is nice to her spouse, unlike the other ones. She treats him nice and he treats her nice back. This kind of seems simple, the authority should be shared.
In regards to the part about virginity, I am not sure if I agree with what the church is saying. As a Christian myself, I do not ever remember hearing that someone is more holy than a married person, if they are a single virgin. I was taught from the religious stand point, we are created to multiply. Maybe the goal is to create more Christians or good people in the world, instead of virgins. Also, we need to multiply due to our natural sexual instinct and for the sake of our human population.
Week #7: 10/2/2013:
The idea of Utopia seems all perfect and peaceful, but how could we say that this could really be possible? The largest problem that I see in this “good place that is no place” is the fact that everyone is content with where they are and have no desire for more. I believe that it is human nature to want to excel in something and become better, bigger. These are goals. I cannot image living in a society where goals are not present: where when you get a job, there is not chance to get a promotion. When there is no motivation to receive more, such as food or better status, where will the motivation to work come from? I predict that this would turn our like George Orwell’s novel, Animal Farm. The workers would not work as hard, and there would be less goods produced. Yes, Thomas More states that everyone works hard and there is always plenty of goods, but I really do not see how this would last.
Another issue I see with Utopia is the fact that everyone agrees and there is no conflict. Pretty much anyone who had a different opinion would have it crushed. Free spirited people would be shunned. There is no way that everyone could stay happy; individual freedom and ideas are valued too much by humans.
I completely agree with the idea about pride that was mentioned in class on Wednesday. Somehow this entire population has done away with pride. Everyone wants to be proud of something they have accomplished in their life, this creates the desire for more. Who really takes pride in being completely equal with everyone else? Not many people. This is why individual freedom is such a big deal to us. So pride really may be what is keeping us from a perfect society, however, I don’t think that many people are willing to give up what they are proud of to create a Utopian society.
Week #8: 10/11/13: This would be a great idea, I think. So, you would be saying that even though this is a story written in the Sufi tradition, it has lessons that are relevant to today's Christians? That some (or all?) of its stories can be interpreted from a Christian perspective? Do any of its stories not seem to fit a Christian perspective? -MH
For my paper, I was hoping to write about the relevancy of the Conference of the Birds today. I would like to take the objective stand point and talk about how today’s Christians would be able to relate to it. I would touch upon the different barriers that are holding them back. For example, getting caught up in material things holds a person back from staying true to their faith and a lack of understanding faith definitely sets them back as well. I would use the stories told in the poem to relate the ideas of then and now. Using this standpoint, I would be able to go in depth about Christianity and what it meant and what it means today. I don’t know if this is not a good way to show relevancy because I would only be relating it to the Christian population.
If this is not the ideal way to go about this assignment I think I may write about the The Prince and how this writing could relate to today’s world. I would touch upon the leaders of the world and how effective they are or could be in running a nation. The concept of being feared and respected in the United States sounds interesting to me because the way the government is set up, they have to compromise. Machiavelli also brings up that it is better to be stingy than to be liberal. I believe that our government is liberal and could maybe take some pointers from his writing. If I was to write about this work then I would look back closer on it, and pull out more points that could be relevant to the government today.
I think that either of these topics would not be difficult for me to write about, and I am eager to find out if either one sounds like a better option in your opinion.
Week 10: 10/25/2013
I had a lot of fun with the news reports in class this week. I thought it was a great way to learn about the conquests of Europeans and allow us to use creativity while making the scripts. Activities like these change up the normal class discussion and keep it from getting monotonous. I think that today’s world has some of the same ideas of the explorers. Americans believe that our system is the best way to do things. We have pushed our government system in the Middle East (if I know what I am talking about.) But compared to what things were like over there before we did, our system is much better. However, sometimes Montaigne has the better idea. He accepted different cultures, unlike most people in his time. Just because another person or group does something different, doesn’t mean that they are wrong. He believes that people should use an objective point of view on others. Individuals could even use this within a culture. There would be much more peace in the world if everyone accepted each other for what they are and what they do. Montaigne also acknowledged the difference between fighting when you need to (combating) and being brutal. This is important in the explorers we read about in Oh Brave New World. Christopher Columbus obviously did not know this difference. In the Aguirre video, they killed when it was unnecessary. They didn’t have to kill the natives for not understanding Christianity. This would have only been necessary if they were in danger. Overall, this week I learned how forceful the Europeans were in their expeditions. They did not ask the native people if they wanted to change and sometimes, like Cortez, they took advantage of the people’s faith in them. However, if they would have taken Montaigne’s objective view, who knows what the world would be like today.
Week 11; 11/1/13 This week was a little different for me because of my presentation on Wednesday. I think that Kathleen and I did a very good job researching and organizing our information; we learned a lot. Our weakness was the actual delivery of it. While neither Kathleen nor I are really strong speaking in front of a group of people, we did our best and I really hope that the class learned about Hagia Sophia and the interesting Islam and Christian features it contains.
While putting the final touches on our presentation, I was not quite able to put as much concentration on Tartuffe this week as I would have liked to. However, I did enjoy the play. It was fun to pick out different characters in class and stereotype them. It also really surprised me when a decent amount of our class thought that Orgon was a villain. I believe that ignorance is bliss and Orgon is simply very ignorant and blind. He thought that Tartuffe was Godly and would believe anything he said. Yes, he may not have treated his family correctly when he disowned his son or was trying to force his daughter to marry Tartuffe. But he honestly thought that he was doing the right thing. There is a difference between this and someone purposely trying to do wrong. Tartuffe knew that he was greedy and ruining Organ’s family. He is the real villain.
I also liked watching the play after reading it. It was interesting how simple I depicted the scenes in my head compared to the video of the play. The visuals made it much easier to see how sly Tartuffe was and how willing Orgon was to give him anything. I am glad that I had the opportunity to see this play in addition to the reading.
Week #12: 11/8/13:
This week I enjoyed reading Candide. At first, I was not sure what to expect from Voltaire’s writing. I was definitely a little surprised by the fact that it used so many examples of satire. I think that the main purpose of satire used in literature overall is to be humorous. However, it also has a good sense of social criticism. When we made a list in class of all the people or things being satirized in Voltaire’s works, it is clear that he had strong beliefs in critiquing the society.
One example of satire that was profound in Candide was the burning of humans to prevent earthquakes and other natural disasters. I wonder if Voltaire was making fun of religion here. There are many religions that believe if they sacrifice something to their God, blessings will be bestowed on them. However, burning bodies seems a little ridiculous. Another aspect of Voltaire’s work that seemed odd was Eldorado. This was supposed to be a type of Utopia. The people never ask their God for anything because they have everything that they could possibly need. They also don’t have a powerful influence, like a religious leader, in their satisfaction. Even though I don’t think that this society could be possible, it is ironic that Candide and Cacambo do not want to stay in this place. They want more. This proves that Voltaire does not think the utopian society is possible either.
I believe that without satire this piece of literature would not be as interesting to read or as effective in getting Voltaire’s ideas across. Though, sometimes it does not always make sense to the reader, it plays a vital role in this piece.
Week 13: 11/16/13
For this upcoming paper, I plan to do the comparison paper on Tartuffe and Candid. I would like to compare the female roles in the 18th century in the two pieces. The enlightenment puts limits on the power ideas of women and in both of these stories the main women are oppressed by the ways of society. Cunegonde went through many sufferings in her life due to the power of men. She was not allowed to marry her lover, she was raped and kidnapped and somehow endured all the events, making her much stronger. Orgon’s daughter was also victimized of men in her family. Orgon was forcing her to marry Tartuffe. Both of these women end up overcoming the oppression of the time but only after much effort. Hopefully you think that this is a good idea as I can see it coming together already. I will not be putting a creative twist on this essay unless some great idea pops in my head in the middle of writing it (which is unlikely.)
Lauren, this sounds like a good idea. A couple others are comparing these two texts but no one else is taking this perspective on it. I'm looking forward to seeing what you have to say. -MH
Week 14: 12/4/2013
I really enjoyed talking about music this week. I was in band and all that stuff so I can truly appreciate the works of musicians and composers. Bach and Mozart both are very talented. I found it very interesting in the video that we watched for Wednesday's class that most pieces and composers use mostly the same three chords. This actually reminds me of a video I watched a while back of how three certain chords can be used to play almost any song that is popular today. Its funny how certain trends in music get popular and then everyone uses them instead of being really unique.
However, there are many ways that a composer can make his or her piece unique to itself besides the chords. The style of music can be light or accented, it can have a distinct melody or can be pieced together, it can have different dynamics, or it can be dissonant or harmonious. Sometimes the different parts of the music will play in response to each other. I never realized how many pieces imitate and repeat itself in a melody.
I have written in my notes from this week that classical music is balanced, structure, ordered and intellectual. I think that there needs to be balance in a piece between all aspects of music. The structure and order are also important because these are what create the interesting part about it. The repetition and imitation within the different parts of an orchestra adds to the whole piece. I have never thought of music as being intellectual before but I think it means all the complexity that is involved in a piece and the skill and technique needed to perform it.
The most interesting of the material I read for the week included the Understanding Formal Analysis. I think that art is beautiful and certain elements really can portray different effects. For example, the colors that are used in a piece can describe the mood. The principles of design also help to keep a piece of art unique. With the beauty of art so evident, it is difficult to grasp the concept of iconoclasm popular in the medieval period.
When Emperor Leo III took a position against icons, this really hurt society. Removing the creative freedom in Byzantine was a terrible decision. In the Roman Empire, art developed dramatically including dimension. On the religious stand point, I think that icon artists are not trying to make people believe that the icon is what it looks like. It is simply representing that item. Therefore, it is not trying to portray a lie. Symbolism is very important in our society, and without art, it is so much more difficult to represent something. I cannot even imagine walking into a catholic church and not having any statues or murals. These, for one, make the church a beautiful place and setting and also mean and symbolize so much to the members of the church. It was a wise decision for the church to accept the icons.
The basilica structure for a church was taken from the idea of political gatherings. Honestly, I think that this idea was genius. It was perfect for large gatherings and the half sphere cut out of the front wall displayed the importance of the judge but now it displays the magnificence of the alter. Even the high ceiling of the basilica fit the church perfectly. They represent the height of heaven and when it has a mural on painted on it, the beauty of heaven is symbolized also.
Week #2: 8/28/13
I found this week’s reading assignments intriguing because I never really read the conversion of another person’s faith. St. Augustine found his faith by evaluating himself while Boethius was sought by Lady Philosophy. The main theme in both of the stories is going from misery to happiness but the two stories just asked different questions. St. Boethius couldn’t figure out how bad things could happen to good people if God is in power. Finally they realize that while following Christ they can overcome the temptations and know that God lets certain things happen for a reason.
As a Christian myself, I was able to relate to some of the things going through St. Augustine’s mind (more than Boethius because I have never experienced a random lady visiting me to tell me what to believe). I think that Augustine makes important points, even to someone who doesn’t share the same beliefs. There are all kinds of temptation to do bad in the world surrounding us. And lots of times people carry out these acts to “fit in.” They don’t want their friends and peers to look differently at them. This being said, you can live a much happier life if you don’t cave to those temptations and strive to be a better person.
Another thing that really caught my attention in class was the Wheel of Fortune. Other than the game show, I have never heard of this, but it really does make lots of sense. You never know where the wheel will spin tomorrow; you could be on the top or sliding toward the bottom. It could be used yet today to help others understand why something bad happened to them. Similar to why Boethius was being falsely accused in the reading. After his conversion of faith, he may receive the top position of the wheel and be thankful for what he has received.
Week #3 Response:
In this week, we discovered the first portion of Dante’s journey through the different levels of hell. It was interesting to see how the sins were classified together: Limbo, lust, gluttony, avarice and prodigality, wrath and sullenness, heresy, violence, fraud, and treachery. Also, the story shows how as each level gets deeper it is harder to get through it. For example, when Virgil tries to get into the sixth circle of hell, they are stopped for the first time. This pattern could be similar to the Christian belief of moral sins and immortal sins. The bigger the sin the harder it is to be forgiven. Although, they can all be forgiven, there are more steps to be taken. In Inferno, Dante and Virgil are put up to larger challenges to pass as they journey through the deeper levels. The souls also suffer more in the deeper levels of hell.
I also find it interesting how treachery is considered the worst type of sin. I would think that betrayal is no worse than violence or fraud. In fact, wouldn’t murdering someone be worse than betraying them? Dante, as a poet, must have characterized sins in his mind in the order of the levels. Therefore, this is a reflection on his own, personal beliefs. I am curious to what influences Dante to think like this. Especially how when a soul stuck in a level, they are suffering over and over, suggesting that they face their sin for eternity.
Overall, I think that this story displays a very descriptive picture of hell. The story even a Christian, like me, helps me get an idea of what suffering for eternity would be like. I believe that the Dante is so shocked to see what he does because settings like hell, is kind of unimaginable.
Week #5: 9/20/2013
This week I really enjoyed the way we discussed things in class. I liked how we addressed the basics of Inferno with questions we had as a class, or by each group picking out the simple punishment of each level of Dante’s Inferno. When I am reading, I sometimes get a little confused and lost in all the details so when we pick out the main points, I seem to understand the context better.
When looking at the end of Dante’s writing portion of hell, it is very different than I would have expected. I would have expected the deepest level to be filled with fire and Satan torturing souls everywhere. Instead, it was filled with ice, and Satan is stationary. After what some of my class mates explained in class, I can understand that the cold is the furthest away from God. But the part that Satan is stuck in the ground after falling from Heaven still troubles me. How can the whole realm of hell be run if the leader is unable to move? I wonder if Dante wants us to see hell as something that just exists without anyone really being “in charge.”
Another question from the board that got me thinking was the one about the amount of danger that Dante was actually in. Throughout the journey, he changed from interacting with the prisoners to letting Virgil do most of the talking. Is this because he could have gotten in serious trouble if he didn’t know exactly how to act or what to say? In my own opinion, I think that as Dante himself was writing this piece he would never have put himself in that position because it was just easier to let things run smoothly. This way he could make it all the way through hell and out the other side of the earth.
Week #6: 9/27/13
I actually enjoyed reading The Wife of Bath this week. It was interesting to see a counter view of the Christian religion on the topic of marriage and virginity. The wife of bath thought that there was no problem with marrying for money multiple times. The other point that I thought was large was the authority in each relationship. The wife believed that she should have total authority. In our culture, it was always the man who had the authority and now, in today’s society, there is a more equal feeling between men and women. But never, from what I know of, was the women the one with authority. Sure, many married couples today would say that the men must keep the wife happy but I do not think that this means that the woman has total authority in their relationship. The wife uses the script of the bible “Let the husband render the debt of the wife.” However, she fails to recognize the part about the wife serving the husband also. It seems that her last marriage works out because she is nice to her spouse, unlike the other ones. She treats him nice and he treats her nice back. This kind of seems simple, the authority should be shared.
In regards to the part about virginity, I am not sure if I agree with what the church is saying. As a Christian myself, I do not ever remember hearing that someone is more holy than a married person, if they are a single virgin. I was taught from the religious stand point, we are created to multiply. Maybe the goal is to create more Christians or good people in the world, instead of virgins. Also, we need to multiply due to our natural sexual instinct and for the sake of our human population.
Week #7: 10/2/2013:
The idea of Utopia seems all perfect and peaceful, but how could we say that this could really be possible? The largest problem that I see in this “good place that is no place” is the fact that everyone is content with where they are and have no desire for more. I believe that it is human nature to want to excel in something and become better, bigger. These are goals. I cannot image living in a society where goals are not present: where when you get a job, there is not chance to get a promotion. When there is no motivation to receive more, such as food or better status, where will the motivation to work come from? I predict that this would turn our like George Orwell’s novel, Animal Farm. The workers would not work as hard, and there would be less goods produced. Yes, Thomas More states that everyone works hard and there is always plenty of goods, but I really do not see how this would last.
Another issue I see with Utopia is the fact that everyone agrees and there is no conflict. Pretty much anyone who had a different opinion would have it crushed. Free spirited people would be shunned. There is no way that everyone could stay happy; individual freedom and ideas are valued too much by humans.
I completely agree with the idea about pride that was mentioned in class on Wednesday. Somehow this entire population has done away with pride. Everyone wants to be proud of something they have accomplished in their life, this creates the desire for more. Who really takes pride in being completely equal with everyone else? Not many people. This is why individual freedom is such a big deal to us. So pride really may be what is keeping us from a perfect society, however, I don’t think that many people are willing to give up what they are proud of to create a Utopian society.
Week #8: 10/11/13:
This would be a great idea, I think. So, you would be saying that even though this is a story written in the Sufi tradition, it has lessons that are relevant to today's Christians? That some (or all?) of its stories can be interpreted from a Christian perspective? Do any of its stories not seem to fit a Christian perspective? -MH
For my paper, I was hoping to write about the relevancy of the Conference of the Birds today. I would like to take the objective stand point and talk about how today’s Christians would be able to relate to it. I would touch upon the different barriers that are holding them back. For example, getting caught up in material things holds a person back from staying true to their faith and a lack of understanding faith definitely sets them back as well. I would use the stories told in the poem to relate the ideas of then and now. Using this standpoint, I would be able to go in depth about Christianity and what it meant and what it means today. I don’t know if this is not a good way to show relevancy because I would only be relating it to the Christian population.
If this is not the ideal way to go about this assignment I think I may write about the The Prince and how this writing could relate to today’s world. I would touch upon the leaders of the world and how effective they are or could be in running a nation. The concept of being feared and respected in the United States sounds interesting to me because the way the government is set up, they have to compromise. Machiavelli also brings up that it is better to be stingy than to be liberal. I believe that our government is liberal and could maybe take some pointers from his writing. If I was to write about this work then I would look back closer on it, and pull out more points that could be relevant to the government today.
I think that either of these topics would not be difficult for me to write about, and I am eager to find out if either one sounds like a better option in your opinion.
Week 10: 10/25/2013
I had a lot of fun with the news reports in class this week. I thought it was a great way to learn about the conquests of Europeans and allow us to use creativity while making the scripts. Activities like these change up the normal class discussion and keep it from getting monotonous.
I think that today’s world has some of the same ideas of the explorers. Americans believe that our system is the best way to do things. We have pushed our government system in the Middle East (if I know what I am talking about.) But compared to what things were like over there before we did, our system is much better. However, sometimes Montaigne has the better idea. He accepted different cultures, unlike most people in his time. Just because another person or group does something different, doesn’t mean that they are wrong. He believes that people should use an objective point of view on others. Individuals could even use this within a culture. There would be much more peace in the world if everyone accepted each other for what they are and what they do.
Montaigne also acknowledged the difference between fighting when you need to (combating) and being brutal. This is important in the explorers we read about in Oh Brave New World. Christopher Columbus obviously did not know this difference. In the Aguirre video, they killed when it was unnecessary. They didn’t have to kill the natives for not understanding Christianity. This would have only been necessary if they were in danger.
Overall, this week I learned how forceful the Europeans were in their expeditions. They did not ask the native people if they wanted to change and sometimes, like Cortez, they took advantage of the people’s faith in them. However, if they would have taken Montaigne’s objective view, who knows what the world would be like today.
Week 11; 11/1/13
This week was a little different for me because of my presentation on Wednesday. I think that Kathleen and I did a very good job researching and organizing our information; we learned a lot. Our weakness was the actual delivery of it. While neither Kathleen nor I are really strong speaking in front of a group of people, we did our best and I really hope that the class learned about Hagia Sophia and the interesting Islam and Christian features it contains.
While putting the final touches on our presentation, I was not quite able to put as much concentration on Tartuffe this week as I would have liked to. However, I did enjoy the play. It was fun to pick out different characters in class and stereotype them. It also really surprised me when a decent amount of our class thought that Orgon was a villain. I believe that ignorance is bliss and Orgon is simply very ignorant and blind. He thought that Tartuffe was Godly and would believe anything he said. Yes, he may not have treated his family correctly when he disowned his son or was trying to force his daughter to marry Tartuffe. But he honestly thought that he was doing the right thing. There is a difference between this and someone purposely trying to do wrong. Tartuffe knew that he was greedy and ruining Organ’s family. He is the real villain.
I also liked watching the play after reading it. It was interesting how simple I depicted the scenes in my head compared to the video of the play. The visuals made it much easier to see how sly Tartuffe was and how willing Orgon was to give him anything. I am glad that I had the opportunity to see this play in addition to the reading.
Week #12: 11/8/13:
This week I enjoyed reading Candide. At first, I was not sure what to expect from Voltaire’s writing. I was definitely a little surprised by the fact that it used so many examples of satire. I think that the main purpose of satire used in literature overall is to be humorous. However, it also has a good sense of social criticism. When we made a list in class of all the people or things being satirized in Voltaire’s works, it is clear that he had strong beliefs in critiquing the society.
One example of satire that was profound in Candide was the burning of humans to prevent earthquakes and other natural disasters. I wonder if Voltaire was making fun of religion here. There are many religions that believe if they sacrifice something to their God, blessings will be bestowed on them. However, burning bodies seems a little ridiculous. Another aspect of Voltaire’s work that seemed odd was Eldorado. This was supposed to be a type of Utopia. The people never ask their God for anything because they have everything that they could possibly need. They also don’t have a powerful influence, like a religious leader, in their satisfaction. Even though I don’t think that this society could be possible, it is ironic that Candide and Cacambo do not want to stay in this place. They want more. This proves that Voltaire does not think the utopian society is possible either.
I believe that without satire this piece of literature would not be as interesting to read or as effective in getting Voltaire’s ideas across. Though, sometimes it does not always make sense to the reader, it plays a vital role in this piece.
Week 13: 11/16/13
For this upcoming paper, I plan to do the comparison paper on Tartuffe and Candid. I would like to compare the female roles in the 18th century in the two pieces. The enlightenment puts limits on the power ideas of women and in both of these stories the main women are oppressed by the ways of society. Cunegonde went through many sufferings in her life due to the power of men. She was not allowed to marry her lover, she was raped and kidnapped and somehow endured all the events, making her much stronger. Orgon’s daughter was also victimized of men in her family. Orgon was forcing her to marry Tartuffe. Both of these women end up overcoming the oppression of the time but only after much effort. Hopefully you think that this is a good idea as I can see it coming together already. I will not be putting a creative twist on this essay unless some great idea pops in my head in the middle of writing it (which is unlikely.)
Lauren, this sounds like a good idea. A couple others are comparing these two texts but no one else is taking this perspective on it. I'm looking forward to seeing what you have to say. -MH
Week 14: 12/4/2013
I really enjoyed talking about music this week. I was in band and all that stuff so I can truly appreciate the works of musicians and composers. Bach and Mozart both are very talented. I found it very interesting in the video that we watched for Wednesday's class that most pieces and composers use mostly the same three chords. This actually reminds me of a video I watched a while back of how three certain chords can be used to play almost any song that is popular today. Its funny how certain trends in music get popular and then everyone uses them instead of being really unique.
However, there are many ways that a composer can make his or her piece unique to itself besides the chords. The style of music can be light or accented, it can have a distinct melody or can be pieced together, it can have different dynamics, or it can be dissonant or harmonious. Sometimes the different parts of the music will play in response to each other. I never realized how many pieces imitate and repeat itself in a melody.
I have written in my notes from this week that classical music is balanced, structure, ordered and intellectual. I think that there needs to be balance in a piece between all aspects of music. The structure and order are also important because these are what create the interesting part about it. The repetition and imitation within the different parts of an orchestra adds to the whole piece. I have never thought of music as being intellectual before but I think it means all the complexity that is involved in a piece and the skill and technique needed to perform it.