Hust or Bust

Well this might be last post- at least until I remember last minute that I ought to do another. I decided to write a little poem about everything.. 1/2 for reflection, 1/2 for fun.

In Colloquim we had lots of fun

All our knowledge cannot be undone

Cabeza de Vaca took us to the New World

Montaigne and Bacon's idea of women's roles made us hurl

Then in Othello we discussed the "honorable Moor"

A theme that carried to Vitkus, Oroonoko, and more

Bradstreet tought us to keep in touch with our mothers

Milton reminds of life tempted by the fruit of another

Pope preaches whatever is, is right

(That means I get an A no matter what, right?)

Voltaire brings us a story of innocence lost

The Declaration of Independence our learned paths crossed

Wollstonecraft's feminist ideas were ahead of her time

Equiano portrays the hopeful image of a victim of crime 

Now we are all done and about to turn off the light

Merry test-taking to all, and I hope you get them all right!

~molly

**sorry youre not in the picture mary-kate :(

Chivalry and Feminism

When reading Wollstonecraft, the topic of feminism was brought up often:  what is feminism, what does it mean to be a feminist, etc.   After reading Wollstonecrafts idea of an ideal marriage something popped into my head: How does the medieval concept of chivalry tie in with feminism?  I believe that boys should open doors for girls, walk on the outside of the sidewalk, and help her carry her bags in the airport.  Does this mean I am not a feminist?  I think that Wollstonecraft would say that I could hold feminist views and still have the door held for me, as long as I knew I could hold the door for myself just as well.  Wollstonecraft preaches the message that women can and will:  be great companions and friends, be useful members of society, and educate the next generation.  As long as women remember to be their own person in life, accepting help from men will not interfere with feminist views.

The Declaration of Independence

Earlier in the week we broke up into groups and talked about different aspects of the Declaration of Independence.  My group discussed the document as if it were an essay; something I would have never thought to do on my own, but actually turned out interesting.  The Declaration has an introduction discussing what is necessary, the middle and bulk proves why everything written in the intro is necessary, and the conclusion is spent explaining how they're going to accomplish these things. 

While The Declaration of Independence is extremely persuasive and convincing, some of the language would not be accepted today in the same light.  For example, if I turned in a persuasive paper using words such as "self-evident" to prove my point, my professor would most likely not accept that as evidence.  The document is filled with language of morality and natural law, and today's society relies too much on fact for that to be taken the same way as it was written.

speaking of facts!! here are fun facts on the D of I...

also a cool video

Garden Party

Well, today we talked a lot about the last sentence of the book:  "...but we must cultivate our garden."  I was thinking about its connection with the Garden of Eden and how that ties into responsibility.  I realize my last post discussed the repercussions of The Fall, but I need to bring some points up again.  Isn't true that Adam and Eve were both punished with labor, and responsibility?  And isn't Candide's realization of labor and responsibility the point of his last statement?  For me, it was a direct correlation.  Candide is in the real world now, not living naively in paradise.  The book ends with Candide growing up and confronting this idea.  Just like a garden, he seems to have grown!!

above are pictures of robbie and me in the gardens this summer- you can kind of see the patterns of how everything is organized the way we talked about in class

Pope's Essay on Man

Without even reading one can assume that Pope's writing is about mankind.  The first time I read this all i could think about was how condescending it was.  Every line seemed to call mankind fools or display how naive we must be.  I felt like Pope was dropping science-like terms as a means of giving him the right to write this way.  Later, in class, we discussed the difference between Pope "vindicating" God's actions to man, and Milton "justifying" God's action to man.  To me, this means that Pop believes we have a reactive God.  This further explains why Pope is sort of teaching his readers how to live virtuously, as well as the importance of it;  where as Milton was kinda of giving us a story and saying take what you can from it.  Perhaps Pope was more "advice column" driven because he was the first to rely on his writing for pay.

The Seasons as Punishment from The Fall

 I especially liked Chapters IX and X because they gave me another perspective on a story I thought I knew like the back of my hand- The Temptation in the Garden of Eden and The Fall of Adam and Eve.  I appreciated Milton's detail on Satan's inner thoughts and the actions he took achieve his goal of deceiving Eve.  He uses flattery to get into her head.  This was typical back then- believing that  women could actually be persuaded through compliments.  I thought it was unique how separate Adam and Eve were through all of this.  For some reason I had pictured Adam right there with her the whole time and eating the fruit together.  For the most part I thought the text was similar to the Bible story I've known my whole life.   I'm glad that Milton addressed the effects of The Fall, for example the seasons and why snakes crawl on their bellies and how life would be for Adam (and all men) and Eve (and all women) from that moment on.  But why is it said that women must submit to their husbands?  Isn't it Adam's fault for submitting to Eve's request of eating the fruit?  Also, what were snakes like before if their punishment became no being able to stand upright?  

Paradise Lost

The piece is entitled Paradise Lost- so I thought the expulsion from The Garden and the fallwas the most perfect way to begin. It is the is most authentic and original representation of a paradise lost by religious and literature standards. While it was sometimes difficult to comprehend the full meanings behind each phrase, it read nicely. It had a light-hearted magical feel, yet some parts struck me with their...creepiness. For example, the mentioning of the Spirits- how they could assume either sex at will or assume both.

"Not tied or manacled with joint or limb,
Nor founded on the brittle strength of bones,
Like cumbrous flesh; but in what shape they choose,
Dilated or condensed, bright or obscure"

That whole passage was disgusting to me- All I could picture were images of creature with flesh yet no bones able to change shape only because there bodied lacked anything substantial.