One of the most interesting and complex aspects of The Iliad is the relationship and interactions that the gods have with the characters involved. Often times we find the gods not only have human actions but the flaws of mortals as well. The whole cause of the Trojan war is based around the fact that even gods can feel emotions such as jealousy anger and vengeance. It was due to the Prince of Troy choosing Aphrodite as the most beautiful goddess. The gods also choose the men that they like and often times help them in order to change the fate of events. They argue among themselves as to who they should help and how things should occur. “We everlasting gods . . . Ah what chilling blows
we suffer—thanks to our own conflicting wills—
whenever we show these mortal men some kindness. Although the gods possess great powers and are immortals they still reflect the flaws of human kind and where those flaws can take us to. Often their decisions and lack of Godliness leads to more trouble, even war and death. As the statement says, they are everlasting and yet they sometimes do not demonstrate the wisdom that they possess. However it is still interesting how Ares states that it is only a blow because after all they can never be truly harmed by mortals. His kindness is conflicting because if he helps one man, he hurts another which lead to his being injured. The mere statement reflects the whole problem gods have, even they cannot always have the right answer as they have conflicting wills, deep desires that don’t reflect one another and oftentimes lead to these blows.

In the play Hamlet one of the most compelling things is distinguishing good from bad or real from fake. This holds true when dealing with the ghost of Hamlet’s father. When Hamlet goes to follow his father’s ghost although Marcellus and Horatio urge him not to, Marcellus says “Something is rotten in the state if Denmark”(Act 1, scene 4, line 91).

Marcellus has his suspicions as to whether the ghost is really Hamlet’s father or a demon. This is the compelling force in which the play of Hamlet keeps you wondering whether it’s really the ghost of Hamlet’s father, or a demon that taking on his father’s form to cause trouble for Hamlet. Aside from being doubtful of the true nature of the ghost the line Marcellus states “Something is rotten” could also be due to the fact that King Claudius is responsible for the murder of the previous king, his brother. The appearance of the ghost regardless if it is Hamlet’s father or a demon means that something rotten really is going on in Denmark. This line is great foreshadowing and makes you think whether the ghost is trying to get vengeance for injustice that has happened to him or simple a devil causing havoc.     

William Shakespeare, who was one of the world’s prolific playwright and poet’s; living in the late 1500s and early 1600’s, he wrote tremendously about the human condition (how people think and behave), this then is translated into his works.  Act IV scene V, is one of my favorite scenes where his passion for human condition overtakes his work creating a very deep connection between reader and author.  Here the connection between the health of a state and the moral legitimacy of its ruler really stand in the foreground as well as many other plays on human condition.

Claudius is rotten, and as a result, Denmark is rotten too.  At the beginning of Act IV, scene v, things have palpably darkened for the nation: Hamlet is gone, Polonius is dead and has been buried in secret, Ophelia is raving mad, and, as Claudius tells us, the common people are disturbed and murmuring among themselves. This ominous turn of events leads to the truncated, miniature rebellion that accompanies Laertes’ return to Denmark.

This is where the reader can really come to grasp Shakespeare’s obsession with human condition. What Shakespeare juxtaposes as thematic elements are various dualities of life such as image and reality, god-like and bestial, remembrance and oblivion, resolution (thought) and action, blood and judgment, nobility of war and savagery of revenge. Hamlet’s youthful idealism runs into this duplicitous world of adults and the hi-jinx ensue’s.  This mastery of themes which incorporates his own interests created by Shakespeare goes many times undetected because of the skill and sheer brilliance of him, but as we peel back the layers we can begin to truly appreciate Shakespeare’s use of themes as a way for the reader to become closer with him.  Outside of the deep thoughts that were generated during Hamlet’s most famous scene it is through this act and scene that my appreciation of Shakespeare as a person was peaked.

• How would you describe the genre(s) of the Pillow Book?
• How are poems and poetry used in the text? What is the place of poetry in Heian court life as depicted in the text?
• Whose values are authorized in The Pillow Book? How does this point of view affect the depiction of others (the poor, the elderly, those out of favor with the court, etc.) in the text?
• What’s the purpose of the story of Okinamaro, the court dog? Of the begger nun and the snow mountain?
• Look at the various lists in The Pillow Book: “dispiriting things,” “rare things,” “things that are distressing to see,” “endearingly lovely things,” “things that give you pleasure.” What do the things in each of these lists have in common?
• What are your impressions of Sei Shonagon as a writer, and as a character in her own story?

Come up with one question or discussion topic of your own.

In The Book of The City of Ladies, there are many of female characters are appeared. As Lady Reason persuades Christine, the characters are very brave, intelligent, and tough. For example of the Queen Semiramis in Book 1,
One time, Semiramis was sitting in her room surrounded by her land-maidens,
who were busy combing her hair, …She Jumps immediately and swore on her
kingdom that the half of her hair which had not yet been plaited would remain
loose until she could avenge this outrage and take country back into her control.
In fact, usually during the time that Christine actually wrote this book, women were supposed to be LADY figures that always are neat and nice especially in higher rank society. However, Queen Semiramis did not care about her appearance and took care of her kingdom(we should say queendom).

Each of the female heroes were giving answer to Christine’s dilemma that why the world looks down on female, and all of the information(books) informs about female as God’s imperfect creation. So the Amazon Queens were enough to compare to the great kings or even braver than them. One particular example of Nicpstrata, who invented Latin alphabet ABC and various types of science. This particular character is giving a big answer to Christine that women are intelligent.

She gave this knowledge and this alphabet to the people, in the hope that they would            become universally known. It was truly no small or insignificant branch of knowledge            that this lady invented, nor should she receive only paltry thanks for it.

So, after her invention of new branches of learning, now the descendants of her, could learn about Christianity and science that men’s job to do as men thought.

• How would you describe the genre of the Book? How does it differ in genre from what we’ve been reading so far?
• The Book makes use of several rhetorical devices you’d expect from a persuasive argument. How many can you find? How effectively are they used by Christine?
• In what specific ways does Christine adapt her classical source material for a Christian audience? (see esp. pp. 791, 799, 801)
• Several of Christine’s heroines are warriors and/or tacticians (Semiramis, the various Amazon queens, Dido). How do their military ethics compare to those of other warriors––for example in Homer’s Iliad or elsewhere you’ve heard of or experienced ?
• The character of Reason advises Christine to read misogynistic texts “to [her] advantage, no matter what the author’s original intention was.” Is this a valid reading strategy? When is it ok to disregard an author’s to suit our own argument?

When the brothers were conversing king Shahrayar said to his brother king Shahzaman:

Brother, you were fortunate in  killing your           wife and her lover, who gave you good reason      to feel troubled, careworn, and ill. In my                opinion, what happened to you has never            happened to anyone else. By God, I had been      in your place, I would have killed a hundred        or even a thousand women.

I dont believe that someone can just kill because of adultery. However it is unpredictable when a person is covered with strong negative emotions. King Shahzaman must blocked out when he sliced up the lover and his wife and then threw them out the balcony. It’s very hard to imagine what will be the reaction when you caught someone red handed. It’s really a matter of flight or fight.

King Shahrayar is showing of to his brother that this will never happened to him because if it did he will kill them all. His wife will not going to dare to do it or even think about it because she knows her place. No one should assume they know everything that is going on in his/her life. In addition if you believe you are doing great be humble

I can see in this excerpt the foreshadowing of king Shahrayar. He had it so bad. His wife was having an orgy in his palace while he is gone. It’s more than an orgy because it has role playing, heterogeneous and homogeneous sexual intercourse, mix racial and mix social class.

This is the third and final story to save the merchant’s live. This story is about love, betrayal, magic and revenge. The third sheikh presents his mule wife to the demon. The story begins with the sheikh returning home after a long time away. He finds his wife with another man, and before he knows it, the wife puts a spell on him and turns him into a dog. After being rescued by a butcher, the butcher’s daughter turns him back into a man. The sheikh is grateful and asks for the spell to get revenge on his wife. The sheikh explains to the demon that the mule beside him is none other than his cheating wife. The demon is pleased with this story and grants the last third of the merchant’s life.

This story is similar to the phrase “what goes around, comes around.” Instead of showing guilt, the wife turns the husband to the dog. Her husband should not be punished for her betrayal. He seeks revenge and wins in the end. The third sheikh’s story is funny enough to make the demon laugh and grant the merchant’s freedom.

There is another phrase that says, “Revenge is sweet.” Although, the third sheikh is cheated on, turned into a dog and chased away from home, he manages to get the last laugh in the end.

• We know Shahrazad’s strategy in telling this series of tales, but is there any moral or didactic purpose in any of the content of the tales?
• Women and “black” men receive particularly troubling portrayals in the frame narrative and in some of these tales. Do you find 1001 Nights racist or sexist? Can we even speak in terms of “racism” and “sexism” as those terms are used today?
• Repetition and numbers help to structure the tales, and 3s are especially common structuring elements. How many events occur in 3s in the story? What is the effect of sequences of 3 in the tales?
• How many different ways is verse used in the tales? In other words, is there a rhetorical strategy in the use of verse rather than prose in some places?
• The “frame narrative” passages between tales are largely repetitive and formulaic, but is there any development of the narrative or character development within those passages? Think especially of the character of King Shahrayar.

Shahrazad is an impressive character found within the Thousand and One Nights. She devises a clever plan to marry King Shahrayar in an effort to save her live and those of her fellow women. King Shahrayar has a ritual of marrying a woman and then killing her the next day. The reason for King Shahrayar having such a ritual is due to his first wife’s infidelity. This led him to mistrust all women and seek revenge upon them. Shahrazad is a woman full of knowledge and wit who uses this tool compel a plan. The plan includes her urging her father to marry her off to King Shahrazad. “I would like you to marry me to King Shahrayar, so that I may either succeed in saving the people or perish and die like the rest”(562). This is a courage’s act by Shahrazad because it could led to her death should her plan fail. She also has her sister assist her with her plan. The plan is to tell the king a story built up his curiosity to the extent of him wanting to learn more. This process extended her life a day at a time and also allowed her to teach the king valuable lessons. Shahrazad plan worked it forced King Shahrayar to grant her indefinite life. King Shahrayar learned about his soul and how to rule his kingdom better. Shahrazad proves that with knowledge and wit anyone can be outsmarted.