Oral midterm (10/21)

Writing assignments

Oral midterm examination:

For your midterm, you are going to pick one of the following questions (or a question of your choice, as long as you vet it with me) and one character from one of the texts we have read so far. Then, you will answer the question you have chosen from that character’s perspective–what would be that character’s point of view on the question? How do they enact that point of view–and are they successful in enacting it (do their actions match their perspective)? Consider what investments the character has in the issue, how the character might define concepts in the question (for example, what is “love” for Enkidu and Gilgamesh vs for Medea?), and what biases and concerns they might have.

For the midterm itself, you will present to me, one on one, the perspective of this character using passages from the text (you should bring a one-page sheet with passages from the text you plan to use). You will have 3-4 minutes to make your claims about the point of view of your character in relation to this question, so you should be prepared to be direct, to point to  and quote specific passages to find evidence and to prove that your passages support your claim by using the words/imagery/tone in the passage.

Questions (if there are other questions you want to address, suggest them to me): 

  1. Right action: How does your character define what is right in complicated situations–how does your character determine what is the right thing to do? How do we learn what is right based on the character’s actions/beliefs and on the text?
  2. The city/the city vs. the natural world: To your character, is the city something worthy of celebration, and why? If your character has some doubts on this issue, what are some critiques of the city, especially in light of what it does to nature and human relationship to it? What is the text trying to show about the city, and/or about the natural world, through your character?
  3. Quest: For your character, what is worth seeking out, and why? How does what the character seeks define him/her? What is the text trying to illuminate, through your character and his/her quest?
  4. Duty: If duty is what is “due,” then what defines what is due for your character–society, responsibility to another individual, honor? How should the character show, demonstrate, or fulfill his/her duty, and what are some complications that get in the way of fulfilling duty? How does the character respond to, fulfill, or fail to fulfill their duty/duties? What is the text trying to illuminate through your character’s relationship to (and response to) her/her duties?
  5. Love: How does the text/character present love, and what is it? According to your character, does love occur between people, or does the character define love in another way (i.e., love of duty): what is worth loving, and why, according to your character, or the text through your character? According to your character, or the text through your character, what does he/she owe to what/who he/she loves, and why–what are the obligations of love?
  6. Heroism: How does your character define heroism and being a hero, and why? (Alternately, how does your character define being a good leader and why?). What do you think the text is showing about being a leader/hero through your character?
  7. Role of women:  What is the role of women as seen through your character’s eyes: what power/agency do the women have, and/or how do they see themselves potentially as disempowered or disadvantaged? What is the text trying to illuminate about women and their roles in society through your character? (Note: the answer to this question shouldn’t just be “women are treated as lesser”–dig deeper than that. Women have agency and authority in interesting ways in some of the works we’ve read).
  8. Lesson: As we’ve seen, texts often seek to educate their readers in some way (emotionally, as future citizens of a city-state, through the education of an irresponsible king, etc). What lesson or lessons do you think are imparted through your character (through his/her actions, behavior, and general presence in the text)?

Practice beforehand: 

  1. In-class practice/modeling through class debate (9/30); possible in-class practice for 10/7.
  2. Group-work (10/14), where you will bring in some passages you want to refer to and, in groups of three, give each other feedback on the claims and ideas you have.
  3. During midterm itself (10/21), you will sit with your group and use the time you’re waiting in to practice with each other. I’ll give 5 minutes at the top of class for the first person on the list to practice.

Due for midterm: 

  • Wednesday, 10/14: Come prepared with your character, question/theme, and some passages chosen for group feedback.
  • Midterm date itself, 10/21: Bring your passages on one sheet of paper with annotations (underlining, highlighting, notes in the margins, even an outline on the side of your passages), and, of course, yourself and your voice.

Grading: Since this is not a public speaking course per se, I will not be judging you on things like how often you say “um,” and if you’re a little nervous, that’s okay.  Here is what I will judge you on:

A= While you demonstrate that you understand concepts we covered in class, you also have made your own independent claim and brought in new textual evidence, or taken textual evidence we have discussed and looked at it from a different angle; you competently close read the textual evidence you quoted/mentioned to prove your claim(s).

B= You restate concepts we covered in class, but you have shown some effort to bring in a new idea and passages. You make an attempt to close read the textual evidence you quoted/mentioned to prove your claim(s).

C= You restate concepts, ideas and passages that we have covered in class, and you do it competently. You do not, however, bring in anything new, in terms of claims or passages

D= You briefly restate some ideas we have covered in class, but some claims may be inaccurate. You rarely refer to the text itself.

F= You do not state ideas we have covered in class, or are very vague about these ideas, and you make claims that may be inaccurate or too general, without referring to the text itself.

Notes:

  • Note that in the case of a text like The Hymn to Aten, the “character” you choose might be the narrator.
  • We may be able to make more time if some people would be around to do this in my office hours after class OR in the period the room is open before class starts (about 30 minutes before)

Sakuntala and the Ring of Recollection Part 1

Student blog post

In the text, it is mentioned that the royal hero and the courtiers speak Sanskrit, but the women and people in a lower caste speak in Prakrits which were regional and often thought to be unrefined which makes me think about all the gender roles that were in the area of India. It is surprising to me that even if a woman is in a high caste, they do not speak in Sanskrit so they are basically categorized as someone who is in a lower caste. It is mentioned on lines 328- 331 that having a daughter is to marry her off and repay the loan that he was given, which also shows us how women were treated in society. It is also interesting to see how people lived in India in the fifth century because the word “hermitage” is mentioned in the text a lot and it tells us that extended families are appreciated in Indian culture, as well as the appreciation of Hinduism. On lines 305- 308, it says “your husband will entrust him with the burdens of the kingdom and will return with you to the calm of this hermitage” Where it’s custom for Hindu kings and people in a higher caste to go into the forest to concentrate on a more spiritual life. So even if one is at a high caste system, being spiritual is something that all must do in order to follow their religion.

Medea – second half

Student blog post

I think the characteristic of Medea interrupted that people are selfish when their anger is way more than love. Medea reflects to the type of people who are selfish and brave to do anything to repay a person. In the story, Medea had murdered both the princess and the king of Corinth as well as her two sons because of her anger and enmity on Jason. There was only anger but nothing in Medea’s mind, she had lost her humanity as an evil to kill people in the way she likes. It indicated that people are selfish to themselves when they get hurt or betrayed, they will do anything to make themselves feeling better but not care about the consequences.

In the beginning of the story, Medea is portrayed as a weak woman who get betrayed by husband, Jason. He leaves her and her children behind. Medea grows into a strong character who is plotting revenge for what Jason did to her. I agree that Medea deserves revenge for what has occurred, but the fact that it involves the death of her kids seems like it crossed the line. Although Medea feels guilty for plotting to kill her kids when she says, “Once that’s done, the next thing I must do/ chokes me with sorrow. I will kill the children-/my children” (lines 811-813). This shows that Medea feels guilty for plotting to kill her kids, but her hatred toward Jason overpowers the guilt.

I believe most of you feel horrible about Medea’s evil reactions, however I think she is a very brave woman who has independent thoughts. In the past, men are assumed to have a greater power than women. They are pretended to be the one with capability to take care of women and his family, so women must rely on men even they did not willing to. Women are responsible to obey to their husband, and they never have the right to make decisions. In “Medea”, the unfairness on men and women did not applied on Medea and Jason. Medea had her own thoughts, she decided her life by herself. Doing crazy things, like murdering people, is the way for Medea to express her anger, it is also the way for her to tell Jason that she could live without him. The characteristic of Medea also interrupted that women could be so brave and independent.

Medea

Student blog post

During the first half of the text, I felt sympathy for Medea as for her husband left her alone for another woman.  Even with his explanation, I still felt as though Medea was the victim.  However, as Medea developed the plan to kill not only Jason’s new wife and her father, the idea that she was willing to kill her own children as well, shows signs of immortality.

“For one short day / forget our children.  Afterward, you’ll grieve. / For even if you kill them, they were yours; / you loved them,” (lines 1273-1275).  Why was Medea prepared to murder her own children just to get revenge on Jason?  One main point she made previously in the text was that child birth is the most painful experience anyone can encounter.  Is it possible she tried to recreate the pain of childbirth by taking his children away from him forever?

By killing her children, was the overall outcome of birthing her children more painful for Medea, herself or Jason?  She went through the birthing process and now has to grieve over their death.  However, the children’s death was unexpected for Jason.  Is this a sign of immortality or is Medea just cold hearted and emotionless?

Quoting guidelines: introducing quotes and using punctuation with quotation

Writing guidelines and resources

Quotation Punctuation Rules: 

When you introduce a quotation:

  1. Make it a part of the sentence:
    1. Both sides claimed to act “in strict accordance with the will of God” ( ).
  2. Use a comma for short introductions that identify who said/wrote the quotation:
    1. According to Stifler, “The great Lincoln was nurtured on the Bible as few men ever have been” ( ).
  3. Use a colon for longer introductions that give an interpretation of the quotation:
    1. Lincoln’s actions on slavery, as on all important issues, were governed by his creed: “What doth the Lord require of thee, but do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” ().
  4. Use a comma to interrupt quotations:
    1. “Take away the Bible,” William Lloyd Garrison said, “and our war-fare with oppression…is removed” ( ).
  5. Use a comma to identify who said the quotation at the end
    1. The prophets were particularly outspoken on the subject. “Woe unto him…who useth his neighbor’s services without wages,” Jeremiah wrote.

As for quoting in literature….

WAYS TO INTRODUCE QUOTATIONS INTO YOUR TEXT: Make sure, if you quote from a text, that you have an introduction tag that connects your own writing to the quote. Here are a few examples:

1. Subject + verb: “She states” “He remarks” (subjects: he and she; verbs: states and remarks)

Aeneas states, “I who had never flinched at the hurtling spears or swarming Greek assaults–now every stir of wind, every whisper of sound alarms me, anxious both for the child beside me and the burden on my back” (Book 2, lines 902-906).

When Kreon claims, “The brave deserve better than the vile ,“ Antigone responds, “Who knows what matters to the dead?” (lines 564-565).

  • Note that, with dialogue, this is the form you should use: simply listing lines on the page often takes up too much room in the paper and then does not give you enough room, as a writer, to develop your analysis.

When called before Kreon, Antigone declares, “It wasn’t Zeus who issued me/This order“ (lines lines 487-488). She further claims, “Justice–who lives below–/was not involved. They’d never condone it!” (488-489).

As Arjuna prepares to enter battle against his family members, he questions, “O Krishna, what good is kingship?/What good even life and pleasure?” (Chapter 1, verse 32).

According to Enkidu, his introduction to the city and civilization ruins him. He tells Shamhat, ”May your purple finery be expropriated…Because you diminished me, an innocent,/ Yes me, an innocent, you wronged me in my steppe” (lines 83, 85-6).

2. According to….

According to The Hymn to Aten, “When [the sun sets] in western lightland/Earth is in darkness as if in death” (lines 13-14).

According to Enkidu, “he who falls quickly in battle dies glorious” (Tablet VII, line 171).

3. Full sentence + quote

Although Aeneas’ actions towards Dido appear cold and cruel, he demonstrates his love and his duty to his son, Ascanius: “My son Ascanius…I feel the wrong I do/to one so dear, robbing him of his kingdom…his fields decreed by fate” (Book IV, lines 442-444).

Gilgamesh’s repetition of his friend Enkidu’s name and titles after Enkidu dies highlights and emphasizes his grief: “How can I be silent? How can I hold my peace? My friend whom I loved is turned into clay,/Enkidu, my friend whom I loved, is turned into clay!” (Tablet X, lines 58-60).

Krsna, as he defends the justness of the war Arjuna is about to partake in, affirms the importance of acting without being attached, or affected by, the consequences: “He whose mind controls his senses/ who undertakes the discipline/ of action by the action-organs/ without attachment, is renowned” (Chapter 3, verse 7)

Dido’s overwhelming love for Aeneas undermines her ability to properly rule her city: “The towers of Carthage, half built, rise no more,/and the young men quit their combat drills in arms” (Book 4, lines 107-108)

Short paper no. 3: Evidence and interpretation/analysis (due 9/30, 10/5, or 10/7)

Writing assignments

Assignment: So far, you’ve had to write a paper that posed questions about an ambiguous moment or moments in a text we’ve read, and a paper that tried to pose an argument based on addressing one of those questions. For this assignment, we’ll be zooming even more into textual evidence and interpretation. Write a 1-2 page paper about either Sakuntala and the Ring of Recollection or Medea, focusing on a few lines of the text (again, try to use lines that you find ambiguous/are open to multiple ways of reading; you should quote these lines), and giving your interpretation of what they mean and why they are important. Pay attention to details (specific word choices, imagery, etc) in your interpretation. At the end of this interpretation, pose an argument that you think your interpretation of these lines could support.   Please do some close reading (of no more than 4–5 lines if possible; however, you may refer back to other lines/phrases in the text in your interpretation), and annotate those lines–again, provide evidence of your annotation in the form of a photocopy or photograph or show it to me in class (and the annotation should not just be you highlighting the lines–make some marginal notes, underline certain words that are important).

(If you want more specific questions to address about either of the plays in order to fulfill the goals of this assignment, click here: More specific questions about Medea and Sakuntala. You will still need to find a passage and interpret it, but these questions might help you to focus your ideas.)

Purpose: Fundamental to making an argument convincing is the use of  evidence to support it. In the case of literary analysis this means quoting the text. However,  for the use of textual evidence to be meaningful in terms of making an argument, you need to explain how the evidence does what you claim it does. That is, you see the language (or  structure or character, etc.) as ambiguous in some sense and in need of analysis to fully explain how to understand what the text is conveying.

Yet it is important to remember that there are multiple possible interpretations for any moment of ambiguity and you are making a case for one of those. Therefore, it is necessary to show what the ambiguity is and then show evidence from the text that supports your interpretation (disambiguation) of that ambiguity. You need to explain how it does what you claim because your audience does not necessarily read the same way you do. Your interpretation is immediately clear to you because you have made the connections in your head, but you need to make them clear to someone else.

Medea

Student blog post

Maybe some of you might think Medea is justice, maybe none.  Anyway, I think both her action and thought are evil.  Even though Jason betrayed Medea first, but Medea’s action is crueler.  She even wants her innocence children die as well, and the reason is just because the children are son of Jason.  Medea was carried away by evil mind, and she couldn’t think properly of what’s right and what’s wrong.

Then what should be consider as justice?  I don’t feel like there’s justice, it is just the idea of people who rationalizes his or her behavior.  I think Medea done it on the same way.  She thought her action is bring justice to Jason’s betrayal.  But, at the moment she killed the people, she is just a murderer.

Another thought about the Medea.  I think the author wanted to emphasize the unfair treatment between men and women.   Usually, women were ruled under men; they listened to whatever men said, they couldn’t do nothing but took care of house.  However, Medea told us that women were not burden, Medea helped Jason on his quest ad princess granted Jason the royal power.  The text reflects that women are important in society, they can do whatever men can do.  Women should be at the same position as men.

I think the most important purposes of the text are informing unfair between men and women, and consider what is justice mean to you.

Creation and the Cosmos

Student blog post

The readings for this class stood out to me more than the others. Having great personal interest in our modern understanding of ‘The Cosmos’, I signed up for this blog date as a way to compare my present day understandings of the workings of the universe, to the beliefs of civilizations long ago.

Upon beginning the reading on Aten, I noticed that it credited much of the plot of the hymn to being created as an example of how people should live their lives when faced with confrontation. Since the tale speaks of gods, it is meant to act as a guide for certain situations in life. Gods are rarely wrong.

As I read the more familiar ‘Genesis’, the story acted less as a guide, and more as a simple explanation of how things came to be. In my eyes it serves less as a guide, and more as irrefutable history. This can raise the question of what is the inner purpose of these cosmos stories; is it to guide, or to educate? And how does this purpose have an effect on how the stories are used and applied?

With the Rig Veda, we see yet another attitude. Here, the story admits that nobody can truly know how everything came to be, for even the gods were not around for the creation of the universe. Here the tale presupposes the gods with the creation of the world, and not the other way around.

Important to think about what societal or cultural influences can be the cause of the content and ideology of the various creation stories?