Journal 11/17

Find two passages in The Odyssey that are examples of xenia. Compare these two passages. Be sure to cite them as well. 

The two examples of xenia that I found were when Telemachus goes to seek the counsel of Nestor (pg. 28) and when Odysseus is taken to Alcinous' palace (pg. 106). In both passages the guests are welcomed without the hosts knowing their identities, which is a staple of xenia- immediate hospitality. When Telemachus and Athena arrive at Nestor's city, they are quickly invited to sit down after being seen. Nestor's son, Peisistratus, instructs the disguised Athena: "Pray now, stranger, for it is Poseidon's feast you have happened upon (pg. 29, lines 48-49)." In Odysseus' case, Athena gathers all the Phaeacian leaders and draws their attention towards him. Alcinous eventually acknowledges Odysseus' presence, saying: "This stranger has come to my house in his wanderings. I don't know if he has come from the east or the west"..."We have a feast to prepare, and I will provide for all(pg. 107, lines 27-40)!" In both, I found that after feasting the guests were told stories and allowed to rest and bathe, along with being given a means of continuing their respective journeys. This shows the generosity and hospitable attitude of the hosts, usually high-ranking officials who aim to establish a good relationship between the people of their city and the possible wealthy outsiders. Traveling was not an endeavor to be taken on by the poor back then.   

Journal 11/11

In class, Dr. Quillin discussed the historical context within which The Odyssey was written. Using your notes on this lecture, discuss how you think why it was necessary to develop an oral tradition during the Greek Dark Ages and what you think happens to that oral tradition once it is written down.

The Greek Dark Ages involved the collapse of many different civilizations all across the mediterranean, with major trade routes being disrupted and illiteracy becoming commonplace. With that being said, I think that oral traditions were developed to preserve the culture of the area as it went through these tough times. Since many couldn't read and write, oral traditions like songs would've been a more palatable way to introduce large group of people to various stories. This also leads to the stories being changed up quite a bit- when people hear interesting things, they naturally want to spread those ideas. Through that, the stories would've become disorganized and then devalued, as their forms were constantly shifting and most likely deviating further and further from the original tellings. Writing the stories down preserves them as they were at that time, putting a stop to the constant changes. People would've continued to change the stories orally, but this wouldn't really matter anymore as long as there were written-down versions of the stories. 

Journal 11/3

This is a free post. You may write about anything that you would like. It is important, however, that you consider your audience, which includes your teacher and also your peers. Please compose a post that is appropriate for your audience.

I'd like to briefly talk about Interstellar, a movie I saw just yesterday. It is directed by Christopher Nolan, who you may know as the director of critically acclaimed films like Memento (which I haven't actually seen), Inception, and the recently-concluded Batman trilogy. Set in a bleak, dust-laden, sufficient-food-lacking near future, Interstellar follows a former NASA test pilot who is asked to pilot a spacecraft to search for habitable planets outside of the Milky Way galaxy. They do this through the use of a mysterious wormhole orbiting Saturn, which some scientists believe to be the work of beings with control of the 4th and 5th dimensions. The astronauts use the wormhole to make in two years a journey that would normally take them thousands, traveling into another galaxy and validating the movie's title. I won't say anything else about the plot as I don't want to spoil it, but as an added note you're gonna need to seriously figure some stuff out while you're watching this movie. Temporal loops? Morse code messages manifesting themselves through gravitational anomalies? Whaaat?!  Anyways, moving on. Unlike with some sci-fi movies, science doesn't go completely out the window- with the exception of a few things, it follows the rules. This is probably because Nolan hired an astrophysicist to help with writing some of it, which also makes for some pretty sweet and not-out-of-the-question space visuals. I really liked Interstellar- it was thought provoking, well-acted and at 2 hours and 49 minutes it ought to be both of those things. Gravity can't even touch this movie. 

Journal 10/27

This is the last blog post on Maus.

In IHSS, you have been learning about postmodern sociological perspectives. These perspectives are also helpful when critiquing literature.

For your blog post this week, please analyze Maus using one of the following sociological perspectives:

Functionalist

Conflict

Symbolic Interactionist 

Postmodernist

I chose the conflict perspective for this blog post. The conflict perspective involves one group/social class that has an advantage over others due to the materials and power they possess. Social control is everything here, as certain amounts of power and materials aren't equally allotted to each individual. The privileged show their power and control through exerting it over those lower than them, creating inequality and encouraging the less fortunate to attempt to level the playing field or put themselves at an advantage. Race and religion both play a part in the conflict perspective, which leads right into the main topic of this blog post: how the theory relates to Maus. Well, it's simple. The Nazis are the advantaged group, having power and control of resources. The Jews are the disadvantaged group, and extremely so, as many of them have been treated as sub-humans and killed en masse. The Nazis forced order on the Jews (thus demonstrating their power) by forcing them into the ghettos and then into concentration camps.