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The world of the Odyssey brings an ancient land filled with mystical beasts and godly powers. The story of Odysseus has survived through time and has a lifespan that few other books can advertise. The story is riveting and tells me that even the ancient Greeks enjoyed the tales of hero's overcoming challenges. After reading the book you feel better as the ending is a satisfying way to end the epic. It proves that the hero's journey is timeless classic and can be successful for hundreds of years. I enjoyed this book and recommend it to any one interested in a classic tale of valiant hero. This book has lasted for centuries, been adapted by many other authors, and will last many more.

In Book 19, why do you think Odysseus is so harsh on Eurycleia after she recognized him? Eurycleia recognized Odysseus while bathing him from one of his scars and immediately became filled with joy. If it were not for the gods, Penelope would also know because Eurycleia tried to tell her but she was distracted. When Eurycleia saw Odysseus through his disguise Odysseus becomes very angry at her, giving her a few harsh words and threats. He becomes this enraged because he has seen many of the people he trusted, the maids, friends, etc., in his house, using his estate as their own and/or trying to court his wife. He is also feeling really tense because he has to actively to his wife in order to fulfill the plan he has created. Odysseus does not want a whistleblower to put any of this emotional and physical torture he has gone and is going through to go to waste. I do wonder why Athena did not prevent Eurycleia from noticing that this was Odysseus because it s...

Find three examples of formulaic language (include them here) and explain how you think these might have been helpful when singing or speaking the  Odyssey  in the oral tradition. Formulaic language is extremely prevalent in the Odyssey. There are many epithets, a form of formulaic language, for the characters in the Odyssey . The use of these epithets like godlike Odysseus, godlike (insert any other hero here), owl eyed Athena, earthshaker Poseidon, etc. help the speaker or singer to remember what to say and what scene goes with them. The type scenes in the book, like the hospitality scenes, Athena helping Odysseus, etc., help the speaker or singer by providing a repetitive rhythm and helps them remember what is going on and what should be happening. There are also epic simile's that appear often and compare easy to imagine examples to what is kind of going on. I think that the formulaic language helps the speaker or singer in remembering the words and the many scenes, bu...

Penelope was the loyal wife of Odysseus and the mother of Telemachus. She was a loyal to her husband and refuses to marry another man despite the belief that Odysseus has been dead for many years. Antinious says that, "Her cleverness-all of which go far beyond / That of any heroines of old," meaning that she is very intelligent and gifted by Athena. Penelope uses this intellect to ward off the suitors that constantly ask her for her hand. Antinous confirms this with his story about how Penelope told the suitors that she would choose a husband when she finishes a cloak for the deceased hero, but every time she finished she would destroy it. The suitors caught her and made her finish the cloak, but she still refuses to choose a new husband. The suitors blame her for the ruin that has come to the house of Odysseus and the reputation of her son Telemachus. They tell Telemachus that in order for him to regain his reputation and respect back he must either marry his mother off or...

While we reading the "Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass" which was written by Frederick Douglass, I noticed that he went into great detail in the brutality of life as slave. But he did not over his entire escape from this brutal life. At the time he did not include the story in order to protect those that aided him and the method in which he used. I have grown curious as to how Frederick Douglass actually escaped and did some additional research. Frederick Douglass later told the story of his escape in 1881, 36 years after he  published his autobiography. His escape from the life slavery went like this: Douglass dressed as a free black sailor and was able to maintain this con because of his previous experience of the sea. He borrowed the needed papers from a free African-American seaman and hoped for the best. The person on the papers looked nothing like him, so when he got onto the train he was extremely nervous of being caught. When the conductor came to check...

In order to see how education relates to human freedom the definition of education must be elaborated upon. Is education simply an "enlightening experience," a formal instruction with a giving of knowledge, or an enlightening experience from formal instruction? Education is all of those definitions and each one is a human freedom. I say this because in the book, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass , Frederick Douglass was at first able to have enlightening, but they were controlled by his master. Though his experiences are being limited to only a few things, he still has the right and freedom to have them. After he was educated to read and write, he was able to learn and experience books. Every time Frederick Douglass gained knowledge through his experiences it widened his range of possibilities. Education is a human freedom because it expands the boundaries in which you were previously limited to.

When one is literate they have access to an immense ocean of knowledge and this knowledge opens up one to a greater world then their own. Literacy is related to freedom because writing is a form of communication of ideas, and by being literate you have access to these ideas and sense of power over those who don't have the ability. Literacy is associated with knowledge and intelligence, which is associated with higher class people. When you are unable to read and write, you are thought as unintelligent, less then. Reading and writing is also a skill that has been kept away from people in history. This makes it also seem like a forbidden thing that the captors are keeping away from us. I think that this is slowly becoming false as more and more people become literate, instead of reading and writing being a part of freedom it will be more of a given skill or right for a person. The bigger freedom now, in a gradually completely literate world, would be the freedom of publishing one...

Why do you think slave families were separated? How did this benefit the masters and how did it affect the slaves? The masters of slaves separated the families of the slaves they owned because it helped create an image in their head that they were less then them and had full control over them. The separation of family allowed the masters to sell the slaves without the slaves having strong attachments to family. This greatly benefited the master because he would face no resistance from the slave or the slave's family since they basically never knew each other. This affected the slaves greatly. Without a mother and, sometimes, a master as their father they would face the world without a family to back them up. They would only be left with the fellow slaves and would never be able to have the bond of a family. If their father was there master, a slave would face further troubles through the masters wife and their father lashing them. This could lead to further physiological pro...

This painting is was painted in 1512 which is the same time the English renaissance was happening. They both share common characteristics because some ideas from that age affected all mediums of art, not just writing or painting. A characteristic writing during the English Renaissance and this painting share is a look back to the ancient Greek and Roman ways. The renaissance was a rebirth of the old ideas and this painting shows an ancient Greek god Poseidon.  This painting and the English Renaissance also have a link of Humanism because of the drift to Greek and Roman thinking.

The English Renaissance was an important time in the history of literature and it is during this time that William Shakespeare, widely regarded as the greatest poet in history, lived and worked. Characteristics of the English Renaissance writing are humanism, religion, and Iambic Pentameter Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? (Sonnet 18) William Shakespeare , 1564 - 1616 Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer’s lease hath all too short a date. Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimmed; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed; But thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st, Nor shall death brag thou wand’rest in his shade, When in eternal lines to Time thou grow’st. So long as m...

Choose one of the poems that we have studied in your reader, and analyze the title. How does the title relate to the rest of the poem, and how does it create meaning? Provide examples from the poem to support your claims. This Is Just To Say Written By: Williams Carlos Williams I have eaten the plums that were in the icebox and which you were probably saving for breakfast Forgive me they were delicious so sweet and so cold The title of this poem adds and helps to understand the meaning of this poem. Without the tile, the poem sounds like a sincere guy who gave in to his urges and ate some plums. Then he asks for the owners forgiveness. Now when you add the title to the poems meaning, it changes it. It makes the speaker almost seem sorry for eating those plums but sarcastic about it. They are just going to the owner and saying, "Hey, Just so you know I ate your plums, sorry not sorry." It changes the speaker from legitimately apol...

The visit to the Houston Museum of Natural Science Paleontology Hall was a very good experience. There is a lot of knowledge held within those walls and though I had been there before multiple times, there are still many things that I have yet to learn and that are interesting.  I thought that the trilobites were very interesting and to see how well they were excavated from the rocks that they were fossilized in was amazing. The people that process these fossils must spend lots of time and must be very careful in releasing these creatures from there rock coffin. I found it interesting how the oxygen levels relate to the size of the animals that exist on the planet. This sparked a greater interest and I would like to learn more about oxygen affect on life. This trip was very interesting and I learned much more than I mentioned here. I look forward to the new energy hall coming next year in Fall 2017 and gaining more knowledge in the realm of paleontology.

In "We Real Cool" by Gwendolyn Brooks uses the poetic element of enjambment. Why do you think she does this, and how does it affect the meaning of the poem? This poem by Gwendolyn Brooks uses the poetic element of enjambment and this has a great affect on the poem. It has a large affect on the flow of the poem making it seem more rushed and like it is one line. Enjambment affects the meaning of this poem because it makes it seem like the ending (death) comes much quicker then if it was not there. The poem is a story, starting the people thinking they are too cool for school and leave. Then they follow a bunch of events and go in a downwards spiral until it ends with there death. It tries to show a cause and effect with leaving school leads to death. The enjambment, I believe, adds to the meaning through affecting the flow and speeding it up. I think that it emphasizes that you will go downhill very quickly as opposed to a more extended period of time.

Bitter manioc is a plant in the Amazon jungle that many of the tribes depend on for survival. This plant contains a chemical in its leaves, flesh, and skin that turn into cyanide (poison) when digested. The people of the Amazonian tribes have created many tools to make this plant edible. Bitter Manioc   Manioc Grinder Manioc Stirrer (left) and Strainer (right)  Preparing Manioc 1. The people would take the manioc and skin it. Taking the poison from the skin, but leaving the poison still inside the flesh. 2. They will then use a grinder to turn the manioc flesh into mush. 3. The mush is then put into a manioc strainer to fully remove the liquid that contains the chemical/cyanide. Chinese Finger Trap The manioc strainer is like a Chinese finger trap. It is squeezed together and the manioc mush is added inside. Then it is constantly pulled apart and inward, squeezing the manioc mush repeatedly and taking out the liquid. Manioc...

What is poetry/a poem and how can you tell the difference between poetry and prose?    Blog Post done. Argument done. Well Not Really. First the questions, WHAT IS PROSE? WHAT IS POETRY? and HOW ARE THEY DIFFERENT? Well prose can be defined simply as a form of language that has grammatical structure and flows naturally. Poetry has a much different form that can, and often, breaks the laws of grammar and has a more melodic or rhythmic flow.  Most of the writing we do everyday can be classified as prose and though prose can be creative, poetry is more associated with creativity and almost always contains artistic speech. Poetry is usually divided into stanzas comprising of lines that can be either whole or parts of a whole sentence. Prose is usually more straightforward consisting of paragraphs made up several sentences.  The differences between prose and poetry are not the easiest to define in their entirety, but they are important in ...

Brave New World sends the message that with the desire to have a world with full lasting stability and nothing in the world that could destabilize that, we could willingly sacrifice love, history, and many other important emotions and knowledge in favor of a world where everyone can be happy and comfortable and get a long forever. "Every change is a menace to stability." says Mustapha Mond and he is correct. The book warns that people will willingly change in order so that they will not have to change anymore. The book also sends the message that modern technology and science could reach a point where no further advancements need to be made or need to be added for use to the general population because that change could destabilize the world and the constant comfort and happiness of others. Mond also says,"Every discovery in pure science is potentially subversive; even science must sometime be treated as a possible enemy...that's another item at the cost of stabili...

Brave New World , a novel by Aldous Huxley, is about a future world. In the beginning it seemed that Bernard and Lenina were the main characters, but by the end, the story follows John the Savage. The antagonist is society in this story. Society is what takes down John. Bernard Marx is an Alpha plus level person but does not have an alpha plus attitude. Something happened during his conditioning that changed him physically and mentally. He is different from the rest and has thoughts that conflict the rules of society, but he has a desire to be exactly what he criticizes and be a "normal" alpha plus.  He is shorter then the other Alphas, but looks like a man of 25-30. Lenina Crowne is a popular Alpha female and has Lupus, purple eyes, and is uncommonly pretty. She works at the Hatchery and Conditioning Center in London. She has been with many men, but becomes attracted to John in a way she and her culture can't explain or condemns. Helmholtz Watson and Bernard Ma...

1984 by George Orwell is a captivating dystopia that creates a future world that seems far fetched and insane, but ultimately possible. In 1984 there is a government that is oppressive and rules with an iron fist. Unlike previous oppressive governments this one has complete control over almost everything. They can observe you at every moment, see your thoughts, change the past, alter your mind, basically complete control over the population. Could a government like this ever be taken down? I don't think so, unless there are some other supernatural or possibly natural things that happen. It is unclear who the government is or who rules it, so if a rebellion where to happen it would just be against the idea of the government for there is no known real living figure. Should someone create some super plan to take down this government the thought police would be able to find that thought and take down the person with it. A government like this could never be taken down, so the only wa...

George Orwell's 1984 was written during the rise of many governments that had the power of the country in the hands of a few. He uses this book to warn the reader about what a possible world would look like if the government had complete control. Newspeak is a way for the government in 1984 to control the thoughts and minds of the people. It is an extreme way of saying that politicians and governments manipulate languages and words to convey the message they want and push the crowd towards them. This can be backed up by this quote in the book by Syme,"Don't you see that the whole aim if Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it." Language is one of the easiest ways to convey the information we have. If someone creates a language in which there is only one way of thinking there would be no way to say anything otherwise because you would not be able to...

In 1984 , Julia and Winston receive "the book" from The Brotherhood. Chapter 1, "Ignorance is Strength," analyzes this party slogan. A part I found very interesting was when it talked about how there will always be three classes in society, or what we call the high, middle, and low. In the book it says that the classes are in a constant never ending routine because the classes below the high want to be in the class above the one they are in. The middle will convince the low to displace the high by promising them a chance to become the new middle class, but when they are successful the middle leave the low as the low class and the middle kind of separates again into both the high and middle until the rebellion against the high class starts again. This can be seen in the world today because people all want to be in a higher class. In the USA, many people believe that with hard work and some just believe that one day they will be in a higher class then they are in n...

                                Whose message is this? Who created or paid for it? Why? Who is the "target audience?" What are the clues (words, images, sounds, etc.)? What "tools of persuasions" are used? What part of the story is not being told? What group/s does this empower? What group/s does it disempower? This poster is from the World Wildlife Fund and was created to gain support to help endangered animals specifically the tiger. It was released in India where the superstition of a tiger claw bringing good luck is common. This can information can be gathered from the words displayed on the poster.  The poster tries to create empathy for the Tigers and some logic to undermine the belief in the superstition. The story not being told is if this superstition is part of the culture and whether there needs to be a debate on which is more important, preservation of animals or ...

Now if you do not know where this slogan is from, it is from George Orwell's 1984 . I will be trying to explain what I believe the government of this fictional world was trying to tell the people with this poster. These posters were hung everywhere to let you know Big Brother was Watching you and the government, ruled by Big Brother, was monitoring your every movement and whatever you do will be seen. It erases any sense of privacy and if someone is thinking about doing something bad they are already committing a thoughtcrime and will be arrested by the thought police. This slogan tells all people who look at it that they are in the simple sense being watched. By 1984 it seems that many people have already adjusted to being watched and this slogan is just their to remind them if they forget. It is hard to imagine what it would be like if the world today was like 1984 and we had these posters on every street corner. So whenever you think or do something just remember, BIG BROTHE...

At the end of Much Ado About Nothing the story ends on a very happy note, but there is still a remaining cliffhanger, WHAT HAPPENED TO DON JOHN THE BASTARD? Here are some theories: 1. A happily ever after ending, Don John brings his army but it is easily crushed by the might of Don Pedro and John is then punished for his treasonous acts. 2. A tragedy. Don John brings his armies and wages a years long war against those of Don Pedro. Claudio and Benedick fight bravely trying to save their kingdom, but eventually there own bravery takes their lives. Beatrice and Hero mourn for the loss of their husbands and could commit suicide. Leonato sees his own territory annexed into that of Don John and he is immersed into a land of poverty and eventual death. Don Pedro barely wins against his brother, but stares at a kingdom of destruction and personal loss. Since the story has no epilogue it, what happens after is entirely up to imagination of the reader.

Explain why the ending of the play proves that it is a comedy, and give specific examples from the play. What would have had to happen instead were this play a tragedy? Whether the play is a tragedy or comedy can be determined by numerous characteristics, but the most simple way to tell the difference is by the ending. In a comedy the ending usually has a wedding, a new birth, the antagonist changes their ways or is punished and leaves the audience with a reminder that life is good. In a tragedy the ending is more tragic, usually with death and the opposite of a comedy. Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy by Shakespeare and is a comedy because it is a fairly lighthearted play. There are jokes inserted throughout all the lines and the ending especially proves it. The antagonist is assumed to be dealt with at the end ( pg98 line 121-128 Messenger: My lord, your brother John is ta'en in flight, And brought with armed men back to Messina. Benedick: Think not on him till to-morro...

Dramatic Irony: When the audience knows something that the characters in the story do not. Dramatic Irony is extremely present in the Much Ado About Nothing. A motif in the play is deception, and the case where the reader knows who is behind the mask but the character does not occurs frequently. An example of dramatic irony is on page 20 line 80-93. Pedro is deceiving Hero and pretending to be Claudio. The audience knows whom Pedro is pretending to be, but Hero does not. The second example of dramatic irony is on page 48-49. Don John creates a plan for Claudio to see Hero being disloyal and being with another man. Claudio believes it to be true, but as the reader you know that it is simply just Borachio and Margaret.  The third example of dramatic irony is on page 22 when Beatrice and Benedick are talking at the ball. Benedick is masked and believes that his identity is unknown, but the audience and Beatrice know who he is. Beatrice then cons Benedick knowing it is him by sa...

The Prompt: We will have finished Acts I and II by the end of the week. As we know from the 5-act plot structure, we should have had an inciting incident at the end of Act I or beginning of Act II which will start off the rising action of the play. What was that inciting incident? Explain your answer and provide an example from the play (meaning a quote). The inciting incident of Much Ado About Nothing is when Claudio announces his love for Hero (Line 179-180 "In mine thine eye she is the sweetest lady that ever looked upon"). This is the inciting incident because once this is said arrangements are made for his wedding and the story is mostly around the events to this event. Don John the Bastard becomes the antagonist when, after overhearing his brother/prince is going to help Claudio , creates trouble and manipulates others for his own gain (Line 58-62 Come, come, let us thither: this may prove food to my displeasure. That young start-up hath all the glory of my overt...

For the next few weeks the blog posts will be based on Shakespeare's play, " Much Ado About Nothing." Unfortunately we are reading the Pelican Shakespeare published by Penguin Books instead of watching a movie version: There's two to choose from!: The prompt for this blogpost is: Choose a challenging passage from Act I, and  follow the action . Explain your process of following the action and then write the passage in your own words using contemporary English. The beginning of Much Ado About Nothing is the most challenging to follow the action because many of the characters are on stage and speaking. At times it becomes difficult to tell who is talking and to whom they talking too. My plan to follow the action was to pay more attention to the script and what is going on. Lines 87-111 Leonato: My niece, you will not go mad from catching Benedick. Beatrice: No, not if January were to become hot. Messenger: Don Pedro has arrived. (Don Pedro, Claudio, a...