I can't believe that this is the final journal for this class. This semester has absolutely flown by. I feel like it was just a couple weeks ago that we started the class, reading Gilgamesh and writing journal entries. I am actually sad that this class is over. I have thoroughly enjoyed all of the class discussions that we have had. I think that our class atmosphere is so fun but educating at the same time. I enjoyed most of what we read this semester, and I look forward to 202 because we will have a lot of the same people in the class. Hopefully, we all can be together for 203 as well. As for this week, I appreciated the paper deadline being extended because I really do feel like it allowed me to take advantage of the peer reviews as well as your reviews. I liked the mp3 file that you sent; I felt like I could understand the tone of what you wanted me to do better. I thought everyone's papers were interesting, and it was neat to see that even though some people did similiar things, no two people did the exact same topic. There were some very interesting topics, and I believe that we once again proved why we are in the honors college. I agree with what Adam said today about reading the Koran. I felt like we could not really relate to what it said, and that we were more speculating about what it meant rather than analyzing and going deeper into it. However, I feel that it is important to read and learn about other religions so that we do not stereotype all people of a certain religion. As stated in my paper, there are radicals of every religion, but that is not what that religion was created for. I have completely enjoyed this class, and I think that you led it very well. I am eager to see what next semester holds.
12/2/11 Critical Essay
Tonight, I read Sam Harsh's critical essay. Her essay was about death and the underworld. She compared and contrasted the Greek and Roman views of these two things. She also used Odysseus and Aeneas to show the different perspectives as well as to show some of the similarities, such as to cross the river Styx, two separate places that the dead can go, and they are both ruled by a king and a queen. I really enjoyed reading her essay because it flowed really well, and the essay was very well-organized. I thought that the topic was interesting because we have talked a lot about death and the underworld as well as read a lot about them, but we had never compared the different perspectives. It was interesting to see how two civilizations that we tend to think were very similiar had such different beliefs surrounding this subject. I also liked that she used Odysseus and Aeneas to compare the views because it made the essay easier to understand. I knew the characters and their stories, so i could really understand how they differed from each other. Sam made really good points throughout the whole paper; I did not feel like I was just reading other people's opinions that she has reworded to make her own. The only revisions that I could offer would be to reword some of the sentenced because they can sound a little awkward and to maybe switch a couple sentences around to make it flow even better. I guess there could have been more citations as well, but she had all that were necessary. Overall, it was a very good paper. It was an interesting topic; it met all of the requirements, and it was very fluid. After she changes a few things, I think it will most likely be close to perfect.
11/18/11 Art Museum
To be honest, I was not very excited to go to the museum at first. I am not sure why, but I just did not think that it was going to be that interesting. However, it was actually very interesting and intriguing. The exterior of the museum looked very nice. It looked like an older building, which is what I would expect for a museum. I thought that the back kind of looked a little bit like Hogwarts, but I like Harry Potter so that was ok. I really enjoyed the entrance and the sculpture garden. I thought that the sculpture hanging from the ceiling was really pretty; I could not stop looking at it. I loved how it was all made out of plastic. Each gallery was grouped based on similar artifacts. The walls and lighting in each gallery are done in such a way that it highlighted the art. It basically gave the viewer no other choice but to look at the artifacts, which is a very good thing in a museum. I really liked the paintings and the room with all of the different chairs. In my opinion, these were the highlights of the museum. I thought this only because those were the things that interested me the most. I really liked the pink blown glass that was in the "chair" room; it was absolutely gorgeous. I think that the museum moves visitors from oldest to most recent, but I'm not positive about that. The rooms that are connected were set up in such a way that you could flow easily from one room to another, which was nice because you could just walk and look at all of the art without worrying about bumping into anything while transitioning rooms. I thought that the museum was really nice and a lot different than I expected. I am eager to see what we look at when go as a class on monday.
11/11/11 Aeneid
I am glad that we started reading The Aeneid. At the beginnnig of the story, it readsa a lot like the Odyssey. I am also enjoying reading another point of view of the war. So far, I really like the story. I think that Aeneas is a very interesting character who is not too much like the other heroes that we have seen. Although I do think that it was a little bit of a jerk move to leave Dido like he did, I do understand why he did it. He had other obligations to his state, and a god told him to. Dido also was crazy. My group's question was about how Virgil views women as weak and powerless. I completely agree. Dido was so dramatic and actually a little bit annoying. She goes on and on about how much she loves Aeneas, which is fine. However, then she decides that it would have been a good idea to have his child when he is going to leave her. She says that if she had had his child, she would feel less used, which I think is crazy. I am pretty sure that I would feel a lot more used if the father of my child left me than if my husband left me. She says that she is going to kill herself first to just get attention, but then she goes through with it all over a man. She did not kill herself when her first husband, and true love died, but she kills herself when Aeneas leaves. Then, there is her sister. She thinks that it would have been more beneficial if she had killed herself with her sister. I do not understand how her dying would have helped anything. So far in this story, girls have been portrayed as dramatic and somewhat crazy. However, other than that, I am enjoying the story. I have also noticed that in a lot of the stories we read, the hero makes a journey to the underworld. I am not sure what that implies; it is just something that I have noticed.
For my paper: I am going to look at devotion to your religion and when that devotion turns into radical devotion; where is that line? I am going to relate it back to the story of Abraham and Isaac.
11/4/11 Daoism
This week we talked mostly about Daoism and studied different texts that had to do with that. Today, we studied Confucianism as well. I did not really like talking about Daoism this week because I felt like most people, myself included, did not really understand what we were talking about or Daoism in itself. I also was just not really interested in this subject very much. I do not know why, but I just could not get into it. The readings were not long, but I just did not find them as interesting as some of the other texts that we have read that were more story-like. I think that some good principles are outlined in Daoism, but I just did not find it that interesting. I liked getting into groups today to discuss the different Analects. I found Confucianism more interesting than Daoism, but I think that that is just because I am more familiar with it. Like Jacob said in class today, I thought that Confucianism was more quips short words of wisdom, but I found that it was different after I read the Analects. Again, there were some good points and prinicples outlined. I would have liked to hear from more groups today because I think that it would have been interesting to hear different group's viewpoints and interpretations. I also think that it would have sparked some very interesting discussions within our class. Our class usually does well with interpreting and then coming up with discussions branching off of the interpretation. I did not hate this week, but I am definitely looking forward to reading other things this upcoming week. I am also looking forward to the final presentation. I have heard some rumors about what the group is doing for the presentation, and I think that it is going to be really funny.
10/28/11 The Good Life
I enjoyed the presentations this week on The Good Life. I thought that the group today (Kate, Torri, and Rachel) had some very good questions that stimulated a lot of conversation. I think that materialism definitely comes into play when talking about the good life. Like I stated in class, a lot of times people do not live within their means because of their own materialism. They want that new house, car, vacation, etc. that they simply can not afford, and yet they buy it anyway. This comes back to bite them usually and ultimately they are not happy. I think that the good life has a lot to do with the relationships that you have with other people, like a marriage for example. Financial issues are a huge stressor in a marriage, and living within your means is a good way to avoid some of those problems and have a good relationship and a good life instead. I also think that while society does bombard us with commercials and ads that tell us to buy just about everything under the moon, our society does not have a "good life". We are too caught up in making sure no one's feelings get hurt and including absolutely everyone that there is no stereotypical good life that comes to mind like there might have been in earlier generations. We have become a society that emphasizes doing what makes you happy here and now. We are consumed with instant gratification instead of delayed gratification. It is hard for us to see the benefits of maybe going through something that is a little bit painful now. This has to do with perspective, which we talked a lot about today as well. I think it was Adriana that said that it is important for all of us to have perspective and see that something that we think is tremendously bad might not be as bad in the big picture. I also liked Elisabeth's comment about how we need to see the result that the product will give us. We can instantly see the happiness a new car will give us, but we may not see the benefits of eating healthy and exercising right away. This goes back to the instant gratification that we seek.
10/21/11 Course Update
So far, I love this class, and I do not think that this is going to change. I love that we mainly just discuss in this class because I feel like I get a lot more out of the things that we read than if you would jus lecture us. I also think it is good that we sometimes venture into other topics that do not deal directly with the text, but stem from the text. I think that that shows that we pull the main ideas from the texts and apply them to our lives today. As far as the objectives go, I think that we are definitely accomplishing them. I think that we have accurately observed the main ideas of the Ancient World. I am not sure that we have explained how theory or context influences the use of artifacts in generating new information and insights, but it is possible that I am just not understanding the pbjective fully. I think that we have definitely analyzed multiple texts to understand the main ideas, philosophies, and modes and to gain new understandings about them. It seems that so far, whenever we talk, we end up relating whatever we are reading back to other things that we have read. I think that all of us have some knowledge about the Ancient World that we have brought with us to the class and incorporated into our new knowledge to fully understand everything that we are reading and learning. We accomplish course goal number five almost on a daily basis. Our in-class discussions provide the perfect environment to learn collaboratively about whatever we happen to be reading at the time. I believe that our class also communicates our knowledge well through all of our discussions. However, I think that we also were able to communicate it well through our parodies that we just did. I think that everyone in the class showed a good understanding of the material and also of what a parody is. As I said before, I thoroughly enjoyed everyone's presentations. I also think that having the groups present throughout the weeks is a good way of accomplishing this goal as well. I really enjoy this class, and I am hoping to get 202 next semester.
10/14/11 Parody/Antigone/Rulers
I think that Monday was my favorite day this week. I really enjoyed making my parody, so I was excited to share it. I also thought that it was neat that pretty much everyone in the class did something different. There were not any projects that parodied the same story in the same way. I really enjoyed hearing about everyone else's parodys, and there definitely were some really funny and cool ideas. I enjoyed reading Antigone much more than Agamemnon. I think that Antigone was much more interesting. I felt bad for her and her sister because they had lost their parents and brothers in such brutal ways. In some ways, I think that their family's brutal deaths made them think that that is how they were supposed to go as well. I understood where Creon was coming from when he forbid anyone from burying the body; however, I think that there must have been another way to show that he would not stand for treason. I think that he should have let Antigone bury her brother. I could not imagine if my brother died and I was not allowed to bury him; that would be terrible. Creon's son was witty and kind of sassy. He stood up to his father and gave back what his father dished out. I thought it was a little drastic to kill themselve in the end, though. It seemed like she had not been in the cave very long when she killed herself, and I feel like normally someone would wait a little longer than what she did before resorting to suicide. It was brought up in class that she was eager to die, and I think that that particular scenario shows that. Overall, though, I thought that it was a good story, and it kept me engaged throughout the whole thing. The presentation today on the rulers was good. I liked how they split the presentation into east and west rulers and explained key points of each. I thought our discussion about what a leader is was good as well. As I said, I believe that a leader participates and is willing to "get his hands dirty". A leader is not a delegator.
10/7/11 Heroes and Adventures
This week we read Agamemnon and had two presentations on Heroes and Adventures. First of all, I thought that I was going to enjoy reading Agamemnon a lot more than I actually did. I was really looking forward to learning more about the background behind the actual murder. For example, I wanted to know about his marriage and relationship with his wife. I wanted to know how her affair started and then how she and her lover decided to murder Agamemnon. However, when I read the story, I did not really receive any of this information. Basically, the whole story (at least the part that we read) is Cassandra telling the leader what is going to happen. The reader does not even get to "experience" the murder. After The Odyssey, I felt that this was kind of a let down. I was so used to having almost too much information, and this almost went to the other extreme of not having enough information. I also wanted to hear about Orestes and how he reacted to the murder. Was murdering his mother his first thought? Was he mad at first? Was he angry at first? I wanted to see his initial reaction, but did not get to. I think that if I had read the other parts in this story, I would have enjoyed it more. However, I did not really enjoy reading this because I did not get all the information I was expecting and/or looking for. Moving on, I did enjoy the presentations this week. I thought that Sam and Emma's set-up was really cool. I do not think that they used PowerPoint, so whatever they used was really interesting, and I liked it. I thought that they did a good job of explaining everything while also tying everything together. I really enjoyed the presentation today as well. I thought that they started a very stimulating discussion that led to some interesting topics. I also think that they did a good job of asking us what we thought a hero was and guiding the discussion from there. I felt that heroes are maybe a more known topic out of all of the presentation topics, but the groups brought up new and interesting points to discuss, and I thoroughly enjoyed that.
9/30/11 Hebrew Scriptures
This week we read some of the Old Testament scriptures. Just like last week, I found it hard to look at the readings objectively because my whole life I have been raised to believe that the Bible is the truth. Therefore, it was hard for me to look at them from an objective standpoint. However, I did enjoy reading them. I also enjoyed hearing what other people had to say about them and hearing different opinions on the language, plots, etc. I really enjoyed our discussion today about Job. I thought a lot of people made a good points about what the moral of the story was in that case. The movie we watched today was....interesting. It started out really weird and did not get much more normal from there. I thought that some of the masks that the actors wore were pretty creepy. When the guy was talking about how he has to stand up a certain way with the mask on, I was pretty creeped out. I am not sure exactly why I was, but I definitely was. However, I am still excited to read Agamemnon. Even though I basically know the plot of the story, I am interested to see more of the backstory. I want to know how exactly he was killed and how his wife plotted against him. I also want to see the trial of Oerestes (not sure if that's how you spell it). I'm curious if that trial is going to resemble anything close to our criminal justice system. I have also wondered if the gods will be as involved in this story as they were in The Odyssey. Hopefully, it will be as interesting as I am expecting it to be. I have enjoyed everything that we have read up until this point. Therefore, I am pretty sure that I will enjoy this story as well.
9/23/11 Creation Myths
I did the presentation for the creation myths, so my experience with the creation myths was a little different. My group and I read the myths and then got together to discuss them and what we wanted to do for our presentation. Reading these was different for me because I had to try and look for similarities and overriding themes in all of the myths instead of just reading and analyzing them individually. I found the myths interesting, especially since many of them had similarities. I liked the discussion that we had in class over them, and I think that most of the myths did reflect the region in which they originated. Someone pointed out in class that the creation myths did not really explain all of creation because it felt like we were jumping in in the middle of the story. I had not noticed that before, but I felt like it was a very true observation. The only ones that we do not "jump" into are the Ovid and Genesis stories. I felt that in most of them I missed some background that might have helped me understand the myths a little bit better. I also thought that our discussion today about Genesis was interesting. A lot of people brought up good points. I was not quite sure how to add to the discussion because I grew up in a Christian household where the Genesis story is the believed creation story, so I thought that that would make anything I said a little biased, and I was not quite sure how to approach it from an objective standpoint. Reading all of these stories did not change my personal beliefs, but I thought it was interesting to see all the different versions that people believed in at one point or still believe in today.
9/16/11 Odyssey Journal
I had mixed emotions about finishing the story. On one hand, I was excited to finish because I felt like the story was kind of starting to drag on. On the other hand, I really enjoyed reading it and was kind of sad to see it end. I know that I've seen one of the Odyssey movies, but I don't remember the battle scene with the suitors. However, I really wish I did because I think that it would be EPIC!! I didn't feel that I got the full effect of the battle just from reading it, so I would be ver interested to see how it was portrayed in a movie. It also surprised me that Odysseus spared a couple of them; I really thought that he was going to kill them all. It also humored me at how casual Odysseus acted about all of it. Afterward, he was just like, "We need to move the dead bodies and clean up before dinner." Also, Telemachos acted as if this was the most natural thing as well and just went and got the girls to do all the work. I also felt that hanging was kind of a cruel way to kill the girls. The line that says "Their feet danced for a little, but not long" is actually a little creepy to me. I mean it is talking about people dying as if it is a pleasant thing like dancing. I was so glad that Penelope finally got to see Odysseus again. However, I would have been mad if he had left the next morning again. I think I would have been selfish and wanted him to stay with me all day since I hadn't seen him in twenty years. Finally, I did not like how the story ended at all. I had forgotten that that was how it ended. I definitely wanted the "happily ever after" picture of Odysseus, Penelope, and Telemachos in their palace, finally a family again. Instead, I got an abruptly ended battle, and a final picture of Athena still disguised as Mentor. I'm sorry, but I really don't care what Athena was doing at the end of the story. It kind of made me think back to the comment in class about how the story was actually about how Athena played puppet master over everything; the ending scene sort of pointed to this theory. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this story as well as the discussions that we had in class. I definitely got way more out of the story this time.
9/9/11 Odyssey Journal
I will have to admit - some of these books have been really long, but overall I have enjoyed reading The Odyssey again. As I brought up in class, I feel bad for Odysseus' men. They have stuck with him through every trial throughout this whole epic. If I were them, I would probably regret volunteering to ride with Odysseus back to Ithaka. The reader is supposed to feel bad for Odysseus throughout this whole story, and while I do, I also can't help but feel for his men as well. They fought in the war too. They have families that they left behind just like Odysseus. They even risked their lives for their country without thinking that they were going to get recognition. Odysseus was the one who was going to return as the war hero. His men really would not have gotten much recognition. Even in the epic, the reader is only told a few of their names. Also, if I were one of his men and I heard that Odysseus was going to return alone, I would have been gone. I would have stayed on whatever island I was on and gotten another ride home. However, none of the men did that. They stuck with him, and I think that they deserve a little more recognition than they get. Moving on, I was a little confused when he was done telling his entire story because I had forgotten that he was telling the story and that it was not actually happening. It took me a few paragraphs to remember that he was at the last island telling his story. When he woke up and did not know where he was, I was a little put off by the way he was cursing the Phaiakians. Maybe he should have taken the time to look around a little more before jumping to assumptions about what was happening. I am glad, though, that he finally made it home. I am ready for him to reclaim his house and get rid of those suitors. I am also ready for something to go right because so far this has not been a very uplifting story.
9/2/11 Odyssey Journal
I have read The Odyssey before, so I was not really expecting to learn much more this time around when reading the story. However, so far this has proved wrong. First off, I have learned much more about the different gods in this story and how they relate to the story. Before, I sort of skimmed over some of the stories about the gods, but now that I have actually read through those parts of the story, I understand how those stories are important to the story. Also, I did not remember too much about the other warriors that had returned from the war. After reading about them and discussing their stories in class, I see how their stories affect and relate to Odysseus and Telemachos' own stories. I have enjoyed the discussions in class because they have answered some questions that I had. They also have been very thought-provoking. I agree with the guy that was talking in class today and said that he was glad that we have gotten away from that type of beliefs in gods. He is most definitely correct in the fact that it would be hard to have to be constantly thinking how my actions were going to make the gods feel. I know that I would feel on edge all the time because I would be trying to make sure that I was doing the right thing so that the gods would not be angry with me. Also, I am interested to see what other new things I find when reading this the second time. I know how it ends, but even still I am nervous to see how Odysseus reacts to the trials that lay ahead of him. I also liked that Odysseus still did want to go home after all this time because he missed Penelope and Telemachos. Even though some people thought that he was terrible for being with Kalypso, I think that she did have some sort of spell on him. While I do not think that adultery is admirable, I do not believe that it was entirely Odysseus' fault in this case. I am eager to read more and make more discoveries.
8/24/11 Gilgamesh Journal
I think that this is a very interesting story so far. One thing that I have had trouble understanding/keeping up with has been all of the different gods and what role they play in the story and in the universe. I am not a fan of some of the style of writing. For instance, at the bottom of 67 and the top of 68, I do not understand why the author chose to repeat over and over how dark it was. It seemed like it would have been to repeat the line "the darkness was thick and there was no light, he could see nothing ahead and nothing behind him" maybe twice and then just say when he could see light again. Also, I did not understand why Gilgamesh and Utnapishtim had the same conversation twice. I thought it was funny how Gilgamesh started taking all the credit for being the one who killed the Bull of Heaven, Humbaba, and the lions in the mountain at first when he was talking to Siduri and then at the end kind of backed up and gave Enkidu some credit as well. Another humorous moment for me was when Ishtar was complaining to Anu about Giulgamesh because i could picture this playing out, and it was just like a teenage girl throwing a fit because she did not get her way. Also, there were so many biblical allusion and similarities in the first part of this story. We pointed out most of them in class, but one that I noticed when reading the most recent section was the one about the famine. In Joseph's story, there was a famine that I believe was seven years long as well. It's a loose connection, but nevertheless my brain went there. I also think it would be interesting to read this in a play format. Overall, though, I like this story, and I am excited to read more.
I can't believe that this is the final journal for this class. This semester has absolutely flown by. I feel like it was just a couple weeks ago that we started the class, reading Gilgamesh and writing journal entries. I am actually sad that this class is over. I have thoroughly enjoyed all of the class discussions that we have had. I think that our class atmosphere is so fun but educating at the same time. I enjoyed most of what we read this semester, and I look forward to 202 because we will have a lot of the same people in the class. Hopefully, we all can be together for 203 as well. As for this week, I appreciated the paper deadline being extended because I really do feel like it allowed me to take advantage of the peer reviews as well as your reviews. I liked the mp3 file that you sent; I felt like I could understand the tone of what you wanted me to do better. I thought everyone's papers were interesting, and it was neat to see that even though some people did similiar things, no two people did the exact same topic. There were some very interesting topics, and I believe that we once again proved why we are in the honors college. I agree with what Adam said today about reading the Koran. I felt like we could not really relate to what it said, and that we were more speculating about what it meant rather than analyzing and going deeper into it. However, I feel that it is important to read and learn about other religions so that we do not stereotype all people of a certain religion. As stated in my paper, there are radicals of every religion, but that is not what that religion was created for. I have completely enjoyed this class, and I think that you led it very well. I am eager to see what next semester holds.
12/2/11 Critical Essay
Tonight, I read Sam Harsh's critical essay. Her essay was about death and the underworld. She compared and contrasted the Greek and Roman views of these two things. She also used Odysseus and Aeneas to show the different perspectives as well as to show some of the similarities, such as to cross the river Styx, two separate places that the dead can go, and they are both ruled by a king and a queen. I really enjoyed reading her essay because it flowed really well, and the essay was very well-organized. I thought that the topic was interesting because we have talked a lot about death and the underworld as well as read a lot about them, but we had never compared the different perspectives. It was interesting to see how two civilizations that we tend to think were very similiar had such different beliefs surrounding this subject. I also liked that she used Odysseus and Aeneas to compare the views because it made the essay easier to understand. I knew the characters and their stories, so i could really understand how they differed from each other. Sam made really good points throughout the whole paper; I did not feel like I was just reading other people's opinions that she has reworded to make her own. The only revisions that I could offer would be to reword some of the sentenced because they can sound a little awkward and to maybe switch a couple sentences around to make it flow even better. I guess there could have been more citations as well, but she had all that were necessary. Overall, it was a very good paper. It was an interesting topic; it met all of the requirements, and it was very fluid. After she changes a few things, I think it will most likely be close to perfect.
11/18/11 Art Museum
To be honest, I was not very excited to go to the museum at first. I am not sure why, but I just did not think that it was going to be that interesting. However, it was actually very interesting and intriguing. The exterior of the museum looked very nice. It looked like an older building, which is what I would expect for a museum. I thought that the back kind of looked a little bit like Hogwarts, but I like Harry Potter so that was ok. I really enjoyed the entrance and the sculpture garden. I thought that the sculpture hanging from the ceiling was really pretty; I could not stop looking at it. I loved how it was all made out of plastic. Each gallery was grouped based on similar artifacts. The walls and lighting in each gallery are done in such a way that it highlighted the art. It basically gave the viewer no other choice but to look at the artifacts, which is a very good thing in a museum. I really liked the paintings and the room with all of the different chairs. In my opinion, these were the highlights of the museum. I thought this only because those were the things that interested me the most. I really liked the pink blown glass that was in the "chair" room; it was absolutely gorgeous. I think that the museum moves visitors from oldest to most recent, but I'm not positive about that. The rooms that are connected were set up in such a way that you could flow easily from one room to another, which was nice because you could just walk and look at all of the art without worrying about bumping into anything while transitioning rooms. I thought that the museum was really nice and a lot different than I expected. I am eager to see what we look at when go as a class on monday.
11/11/11 Aeneid
I am glad that we started reading The Aeneid. At the beginnnig of the story, it readsa a lot like the Odyssey. I am also enjoying reading another point of view of the war. So far, I really like the story. I think that Aeneas is a very interesting character who is not too much like the other heroes that we have seen. Although I do think that it was a little bit of a jerk move to leave Dido like he did, I do understand why he did it. He had other obligations to his state, and a god told him to. Dido also was crazy. My group's question was about how Virgil views women as weak and powerless. I completely agree. Dido was so dramatic and actually a little bit annoying. She goes on and on about how much she loves Aeneas, which is fine. However, then she decides that it would have been a good idea to have his child when he is going to leave her. She says that if she had had his child, she would feel less used, which I think is crazy. I am pretty sure that I would feel a lot more used if the father of my child left me than if my husband left me. She says that she is going to kill herself first to just get attention, but then she goes through with it all over a man. She did not kill herself when her first husband, and true love died, but she kills herself when Aeneas leaves. Then, there is her sister. She thinks that it would have been more beneficial if she had killed herself with her sister. I do not understand how her dying would have helped anything. So far in this story, girls have been portrayed as dramatic and somewhat crazy. However, other than that, I am enjoying the story. I have also noticed that in a lot of the stories we read, the hero makes a journey to the underworld. I am not sure what that implies; it is just something that I have noticed.
For my paper: I am going to look at devotion to your religion and when that devotion turns into radical devotion; where is that line? I am going to relate it back to the story of Abraham and Isaac.
11/4/11 Daoism
This week we talked mostly about Daoism and studied different texts that had to do with that. Today, we studied Confucianism as well. I did not really like talking about Daoism this week because I felt like most people, myself included, did not really understand what we were talking about or Daoism in itself. I also was just not really interested in this subject very much. I do not know why, but I just could not get into it. The readings were not long, but I just did not find them as interesting as some of the other texts that we have read that were more story-like. I think that some good principles are outlined in Daoism, but I just did not find it that interesting. I liked getting into groups today to discuss the different Analects. I found Confucianism more interesting than Daoism, but I think that that is just because I am more familiar with it. Like Jacob said in class today, I thought that Confucianism was more quips short words of wisdom, but I found that it was different after I read the Analects. Again, there were some good points and prinicples outlined. I would have liked to hear from more groups today because I think that it would have been interesting to hear different group's viewpoints and interpretations. I also think that it would have sparked some very interesting discussions within our class. Our class usually does well with interpreting and then coming up with discussions branching off of the interpretation. I did not hate this week, but I am definitely looking forward to reading other things this upcoming week. I am also looking forward to the final presentation. I have heard some rumors about what the group is doing for the presentation, and I think that it is going to be really funny.
10/28/11 The Good Life
I enjoyed the presentations this week on The Good Life. I thought that the group today (Kate, Torri, and Rachel) had some very good questions that stimulated a lot of conversation. I think that materialism definitely comes into play when talking about the good life. Like I stated in class, a lot of times people do not live within their means because of their own materialism. They want that new house, car, vacation, etc. that they simply can not afford, and yet they buy it anyway. This comes back to bite them usually and ultimately they are not happy. I think that the good life has a lot to do with the relationships that you have with other people, like a marriage for example. Financial issues are a huge stressor in a marriage, and living within your means is a good way to avoid some of those problems and have a good relationship and a good life instead. I also think that while society does bombard us with commercials and ads that tell us to buy just about everything under the moon, our society does not have a "good life". We are too caught up in making sure no one's feelings get hurt and including absolutely everyone that there is no stereotypical good life that comes to mind like there might have been in earlier generations. We have become a society that emphasizes doing what makes you happy here and now. We are consumed with instant gratification instead of delayed gratification. It is hard for us to see the benefits of maybe going through something that is a little bit painful now. This has to do with perspective, which we talked a lot about today as well. I think it was Adriana that said that it is important for all of us to have perspective and see that something that we think is tremendously bad might not be as bad in the big picture. I also liked Elisabeth's comment about how we need to see the result that the product will give us. We can instantly see the happiness a new car will give us, but we may not see the benefits of eating healthy and exercising right away. This goes back to the instant gratification that we seek.
10/21/11 Course Update
So far, I love this class, and I do not think that this is going to change. I love that we mainly just discuss in this class because I feel like I get a lot more out of the things that we read than if you would jus lecture us. I also think it is good that we sometimes venture into other topics that do not deal directly with the text, but stem from the text. I think that that shows that we pull the main ideas from the texts and apply them to our lives today. As far as the objectives go, I think that we are definitely accomplishing them. I think that we have accurately observed the main ideas of the Ancient World. I am not sure that we have explained how theory or context influences the use of artifacts in generating new information and insights, but it is possible that I am just not understanding the pbjective fully. I think that we have definitely analyzed multiple texts to understand the main ideas, philosophies, and modes and to gain new understandings about them. It seems that so far, whenever we talk, we end up relating whatever we are reading back to other things that we have read. I think that all of us have some knowledge about the Ancient World that we have brought with us to the class and incorporated into our new knowledge to fully understand everything that we are reading and learning. We accomplish course goal number five almost on a daily basis. Our in-class discussions provide the perfect environment to learn collaboratively about whatever we happen to be reading at the time. I believe that our class also communicates our knowledge well through all of our discussions. However, I think that we also were able to communicate it well through our parodies that we just did. I think that everyone in the class showed a good understanding of the material and also of what a parody is. As I said before, I thoroughly enjoyed everyone's presentations. I also think that having the groups present throughout the weeks is a good way of accomplishing this goal as well. I really enjoy this class, and I am hoping to get 202 next semester.
10/14/11 Parody/Antigone/RulersI think that Monday was my favorite day this week. I really enjoyed making my parody, so I was excited to share it. I also thought that it was neat that pretty much everyone in the class did something different. There were not any projects that parodied the same story in the same way. I really enjoyed hearing about everyone else's parodys, and there definitely were some really funny and cool ideas. I enjoyed reading Antigone much more than Agamemnon. I think that Antigone was much more interesting. I felt bad for her and her sister because they had lost their parents and brothers in such brutal ways. In some ways, I think that their family's brutal deaths made them think that that is how they were supposed to go as well. I understood where Creon was coming from when he forbid anyone from burying the body; however, I think that there must have been another way to show that he would not stand for treason. I think that he should have let Antigone bury her brother. I could not imagine if my brother died and I was not allowed to bury him; that would be terrible. Creon's son was witty and kind of sassy. He stood up to his father and gave back what his father dished out. I thought it was a little drastic to kill themselve in the end, though. It seemed like she had not been in the cave very long when she killed herself, and I feel like normally someone would wait a little longer than what she did before resorting to suicide. It was brought up in class that she was eager to die, and I think that that particular scenario shows that. Overall, though, I thought that it was a good story, and it kept me engaged throughout the whole thing. The presentation today on the rulers was good. I liked how they split the presentation into east and west rulers and explained key points of each. I thought our discussion about what a leader is was good as well. As I said, I believe that a leader participates and is willing to "get his hands dirty". A leader is not a delegator.
10/7/11 Heroes and Adventures
This week we read Agamemnon and had two presentations on Heroes and Adventures. First of all, I thought that I was going to enjoy reading Agamemnon a lot more than I actually did. I was really looking forward to learning more about the background behind the actual murder. For example, I wanted to know about his marriage and relationship with his wife. I wanted to know how her affair started and then how she and her lover decided to murder Agamemnon. However, when I read the story, I did not really receive any of this information. Basically, the whole story (at least the part that we read) is Cassandra telling the leader what is going to happen. The reader does not even get to "experience" the murder. After The Odyssey, I felt that this was kind of a let down. I was so used to having almost too much information, and this almost went to the other extreme of not having enough information. I also wanted to hear about Orestes and how he reacted to the murder. Was murdering his mother his first thought? Was he mad at first? Was he angry at first? I wanted to see his initial reaction, but did not get to. I think that if I had read the other parts in this story, I would have enjoyed it more. However, I did not really enjoy reading this because I did not get all the information I was expecting and/or looking for. Moving on, I did enjoy the presentations this week. I thought that Sam and Emma's set-up was really cool. I do not think that they used PowerPoint, so whatever they used was really interesting, and I liked it. I thought that they did a good job of explaining everything while also tying everything together. I really enjoyed the presentation today as well. I thought that they started a very stimulating discussion that led to some interesting topics. I also think that they did a good job of asking us what we thought a hero was and guiding the discussion from there. I felt that heroes are maybe a more known topic out of all of the presentation topics, but the groups brought up new and interesting points to discuss, and I thoroughly enjoyed that.
9/30/11 Hebrew Scriptures
This week we read some of the Old Testament scriptures. Just like last week, I found it hard to look at the readings objectively because my whole life I have been raised to believe that the Bible is the truth. Therefore, it was hard for me to look at them from an objective standpoint. However, I did enjoy reading them. I also enjoyed hearing what other people had to say about them and hearing different opinions on the language, plots, etc. I really enjoyed our discussion today about Job. I thought a lot of people made a good points about what the moral of the story was in that case. The movie we watched today was....interesting. It started out really weird and did not get much more normal from there. I thought that some of the masks that the actors wore were pretty creepy. When the guy was talking about how he has to stand up a certain way with the mask on, I was pretty creeped out. I am not sure exactly why I was, but I definitely was. However, I am still excited to read Agamemnon. Even though I basically know the plot of the story, I am interested to see more of the backstory. I want to know how exactly he was killed and how his wife plotted against him. I also want to see the trial of Oerestes (not sure if that's how you spell it). I'm curious if that trial is going to resemble anything close to our criminal justice system. I have also wondered if the gods will be as involved in this story as they were in The Odyssey. Hopefully, it will be as interesting as I am expecting it to be. I have enjoyed everything that we have read up until this point. Therefore, I am pretty sure that I will enjoy this story as well.
9/23/11 Creation Myths
I did the presentation for the creation myths, so my experience with the creation myths was a little different. My group and I read the myths and then got together to discuss them and what we wanted to do for our presentation. Reading these was different for me because I had to try and look for similarities and overriding themes in all of the myths instead of just reading and analyzing them individually. I found the myths interesting, especially since many of them had similarities. I liked the discussion that we had in class over them, and I think that most of the myths did reflect the region in which they originated. Someone pointed out in class that the creation myths did not really explain all of creation because it felt like we were jumping in in the middle of the story. I had not noticed that before, but I felt like it was a very true observation. The only ones that we do not "jump" into are the Ovid and Genesis stories. I felt that in most of them I missed some background that might have helped me understand the myths a little bit better. I also thought that our discussion today about Genesis was interesting. A lot of people brought up good points. I was not quite sure how to add to the discussion because I grew up in a Christian household where the Genesis story is the believed creation story, so I thought that that would make anything I said a little biased, and I was not quite sure how to approach it from an objective standpoint. Reading all of these stories did not change my personal beliefs, but I thought it was interesting to see all the different versions that people believed in at one point or still believe in today.
9/16/11 Odyssey Journal
I had mixed emotions about finishing the story. On one hand, I was excited to finish because I felt like the story was kind of starting to drag on. On the other hand, I really enjoyed reading it and was kind of sad to see it end. I know that I've seen one of the Odyssey movies, but I don't remember the battle scene with the suitors. However, I really wish I did because I think that it would be EPIC!! I didn't feel that I got the full effect of the battle just from reading it, so I would be ver interested to see how it was portrayed in a movie. It also surprised me that Odysseus spared a couple of them; I really thought that he was going to kill them all. It also humored me at how casual Odysseus acted about all of it. Afterward, he was just like, "We need to move the dead bodies and clean up before dinner." Also, Telemachos acted as if this was the most natural thing as well and just went and got the girls to do all the work. I also felt that hanging was kind of a cruel way to kill the girls. The line that says "Their feet danced for a little, but not long" is actually a little creepy to me. I mean it is talking about people dying as if it is a pleasant thing like dancing. I was so glad that Penelope finally got to see Odysseus again. However, I would have been mad if he had left the next morning again. I think I would have been selfish and wanted him to stay with me all day since I hadn't seen him in twenty years. Finally, I did not like how the story ended at all. I had forgotten that that was how it ended. I definitely wanted the "happily ever after" picture of Odysseus, Penelope, and Telemachos in their palace, finally a family again. Instead, I got an abruptly ended battle, and a final picture of Athena still disguised as Mentor. I'm sorry, but I really don't care what Athena was doing at the end of the story. It kind of made me think back to the comment in class about how the story was actually about how Athena played puppet master over everything; the ending scene sort of pointed to this theory. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this story as well as the discussions that we had in class. I definitely got way more out of the story this time.
9/9/11 Odyssey Journal
I will have to admit - some of these books have been really long, but overall I have enjoyed reading The Odyssey again. As I brought up in class, I feel bad for Odysseus' men. They have stuck with him through every trial throughout this whole epic. If I were them, I would probably regret volunteering to ride with Odysseus back to Ithaka. The reader is supposed to feel bad for Odysseus throughout this whole story, and while I do, I also can't help but feel for his men as well. They fought in the war too. They have families that they left behind just like Odysseus. They even risked their lives for their country without thinking that they were going to get recognition. Odysseus was the one who was going to return as the war hero. His men really would not have gotten much recognition. Even in the epic, the reader is only told a few of their names. Also, if I were one of his men and I heard that Odysseus was going to return alone, I would have been gone. I would have stayed on whatever island I was on and gotten another ride home. However, none of the men did that. They stuck with him, and I think that they deserve a little more recognition than they get. Moving on, I was a little confused when he was done telling his entire story because I had forgotten that he was telling the story and that it was not actually happening. It took me a few paragraphs to remember that he was at the last island telling his story. When he woke up and did not know where he was, I was a little put off by the way he was cursing the Phaiakians. Maybe he should have taken the time to look around a little more before jumping to assumptions about what was happening. I am glad, though, that he finally made it home. I am ready for him to reclaim his house and get rid of those suitors. I am also ready for something to go right because so far this has not been a very uplifting story.
9/2/11 Odyssey Journal
I have read The Odyssey before, so I was not really expecting to learn much more this time around when reading the story. However, so far this has proved wrong. First off, I have learned much more about the different gods in this story and how they relate to the story. Before, I sort of skimmed over some of the stories about the gods, but now that I have actually read through those parts of the story, I understand how those stories are important to the story. Also, I did not remember too much about the other warriors that had returned from the war. After reading about them and discussing their stories in class, I see how their stories affect and relate to Odysseus and Telemachos' own stories. I have enjoyed the discussions in class because they have answered some questions that I had. They also have been very thought-provoking. I agree with the guy that was talking in class today and said that he was glad that we have gotten away from that type of beliefs in gods. He is most definitely correct in the fact that it would be hard to have to be constantly thinking how my actions were going to make the gods feel. I know that I would feel on edge all the time because I would be trying to make sure that I was doing the right thing so that the gods would not be angry with me. Also, I am interested to see what other new things I find when reading this the second time. I know how it ends, but even still I am nervous to see how Odysseus reacts to the trials that lay ahead of him. I also liked that Odysseus still did want to go home after all this time because he missed Penelope and Telemachos. Even though some people thought that he was terrible for being with Kalypso, I think that she did have some sort of spell on him. While I do not think that adultery is admirable, I do not believe that it was entirely Odysseus' fault in this case. I am eager to read more and make more discoveries.
8/24/11 Gilgamesh Journal
I think that this is a very interesting story so far. One thing that I have had trouble understanding/keeping up with has been all of the different gods and what role they play in the story and in the universe. I am not a fan of some of the style of writing. For instance, at the bottom of 67 and the top of 68, I do not understand why the author chose to repeat over and over how dark it was. It seemed like it would have been to repeat the line "the darkness was thick and there was no light, he could see nothing ahead and nothing behind him" maybe twice and then just say when he could see light again. Also, I did not understand why Gilgamesh and Utnapishtim had the same conversation twice. I thought it was funny how Gilgamesh started taking all the credit for being the one who killed the Bull of Heaven, Humbaba, and the lions in the mountain at first when he was talking to Siduri and then at the end kind of backed up and gave Enkidu some credit as well. Another humorous moment for me was when Ishtar was complaining to Anu about Giulgamesh because i could picture this playing out, and it was just like a teenage girl throwing a fit because she did not get her way. Also, there were so many biblical allusion and similarities in the first part of this story. We pointed out most of them in class, but one that I noticed when reading the most recent section was the one about the famine. In Joseph's story, there was a famine that I believe was seven years long as well. It's a loose connection, but nevertheless my brain went there. I also think it would be interesting to read this in a play format. Overall, though, I like this story, and I am excited to read more.