How Blind Were the Suitors?

          In the Odyssey, there was much foreshadowing about the suitors death, which of course they couldn't see, but there were several signs they could see, but did not seem to recognize. Were they really that blind, or did the Gods put some spell on them so they wouldn't notice all the signs pointing to their deaths?
          The first big thing that pointed to their deaths was the Hospitality rules they were breaking. I'm sure that they knew these rules, and knew that breaking them would lead to terrible things, so did they not care, or was some God clouding their judgement, and keeping them from noticing all the prophecies leading to their deaths?
          The second thing was the anger Telemachus had toward them, and their ignorance to the fact that he might be planning to kill them just like they were planning to kill him. It makes sense that they might not see him as much of a threat because he was just one young man, but he was in the line of Zeus, and his father was Odysseus who had done many amazing things, so it seems like they might have taken more precautions.
          The third, and most obvious thing that they did not notice was the trap that Telemachus and Odysseus were laying for them. It seems like they should have noticed that all their weapons had gone missing, and also after Odysseus won the contest, they should have noticed that he did not put his bow down, and he was not planning to let them get away with all they had done.
          These were the three big things I found in the Odyssey leading to the death of the suitors, that seemed like they should have noticed. I know that several of them were cunning, but they were young and immature which could have affected their judgement and awareness. I also think that there definitely must have been some God clouding their minds and keeping them from noticing the most obvious things.

Strong Foreshadowing About the Suitors' fate in The Odyssey

          In The Odyssey, the tale of the hero Odysseus and his many struggles, Odysseus is gone for 20 years, first for the Trojan war, and then lost at sea on his way home. Everyone thinks he is dead, and many suitors from all over have come to try to win the hand of his wife Penelope, who they believe to be a widow. The suitors come, and end up staying for many, many years, outstaying their welcome and breaking the rules of hospitality. This was a very high offense back then, and it was often punished by the gods with the loss of the person's life. Throughout the book, but especially in the later chapters, there are many things spoken that strongly foreshadow a bad end for the suitors. The first one is on page 260, when Telemachus says "That's the Odysseus I want the suitors to meet! They'd get married all right––to bitter death." I think that this is saying that if Odysseus ever gets home, and is still the man he was when he left, the suitors will meet a bitter end. The second bit of foreshadowing is on page 271 when Odysseus, disguised as a beggar says "If there are gods for beggars, or avenging spirits, may death come to Antinous before marriage does." I think that this is showing that the punishment for offenses such as the breaking of hospitality rules should be put in the hands of the gods to do with as they please, and mortals can only hope that the offender gets the end they deserve. The third example of predictions of a horrible death for the suitors is when Penelope says "That means death will surely come to the suitors, one and all. Not a single man will escape." In this example, Penelope has just read her son's sneeze as a sign from the gods that the suitors will meet their end, and none will escape.

Formulaic Language in The Odyssey

          When the Odyssey was first written and performed, it was all oral. It was mostly sung or spoken. There are a ton of characters in this story, and people back then did not have the handy "Glossary of Names" like we do when we read it in modern times. That is why the formulaic language in the Odyssey is super important when it comes to remembering which character is which, because when the important characters have an easy to remember phrase directly in front of or behind their name every time it is spoken, it makes it much easier to remember who is who. Plus the formulaic language often describes the character, for example Menelaus, the red-haired king is used whenever he is spoken about, and serves as a description as well as a helpful reminder of who he is. Other examples of formulaic language in this book include: godlike Odysseus, golden Aphrodite, and Pallas Athena or the Grey-eyed One. Formulaic language is very helpful for describing characters in the Odyssey, but it sometimes describes things too. One example of this is the wine-dark sea.

A Brief Overview of the Odyssey in One Short Poem

Speak Memory–
Of the cunning hero,
The wanderer, blown off course time and again
After he plundered Troy's sacred heights.
Speak
Of all the cities he saw, the minds he grasped,
The suffering deep in his heart at sea
As he struggled to survive and bring his men home
But could not save them, hard as he tried–
The fools–destroyed by their own recklessness
When they ate the oxen of Hyperion the Sun,
And that god snuffed out their day of return.
Of these things,
Speak Immortal One,
And tell the tale one more in our time.

          This poem is the start of the book the "Odyssey" by Homer. I think it is very important because it sets the mood of the book, and it gives the book a great introduction, by giving a brief overview of Odysseus (the character about which the book is written) and his adventures and troubles. I think the most important line in the poem, and the line that sums up the book the most, is the third line "The wanderer, blown off course time and again." This gives a great overview of Odysseus's troubles before he is introduced as the main character in book five. This line, and the rest of the first paragraph of the poem talk about what physically happened to him, and the second big paragraph talks about his emotional pain and suffering of his many years before he came home. It gives the specific example of losing all his men after they ate the oxen of Hyperion. Overall, I think this poem is a very good summary for Odysseus's journeys, and it is structured well with generally what happened at the beginning, and more specific examples at the end.

Slavery: Past vs Present

     The book "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas," by Frederick Douglas, is about Frederick Douglas's journey from slavery to freedom. It talks about the hard life of slaves, with horrible punishments, and very little to eat, etc. It then talks about his journey towards reading, writing, and eventually freedom. At the end of the book, it talks about the abolitionist movement and Frederick Douglas's role in it. I know that slavery was eventually abolished in the US and most of the rest of the   World, but in modern times there are more slaves in the world than there were during this time before the emancipation of slaves. My question about this is: after all are the hard work it took to abolish slavery, why and how are there so many slaves now? People have always been the same, they are greedy, and easily corrupted by power. Most people know this, so why did they let it get so bad before they started stepping in to help?
     I think this would have been a very interesting discussion, if we had a seminar on it, and I would be very interested in what people have to say about slavery now vs. slavery then.

Education = Human Freedom

     In the "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas," the slaves did not have any freedom, and they were not allowed to get an education. They had no freedom whatsoever, even their minds and spirits did not always belong to them. I think that the lack of education and human freedom relate to each other in many ways.

     Most humans have a very strong drive to live, which is partly due to their education. They have learned so much about the world, and they can read and write and more. Slaves did not have this. They did not have that drive to live and escape, except for the slaves who, like Frederick Douglas, had somehow recieved an education. Education gave slaves the will to live, and the drive to escape.

     The skills of reading and writing are unique to humans, and most people are taught to read and write at some point in their life. But slaves were not humans in the eyes of the slaveholders, and they were not allowed to acquire that skill, because it would separate them from cattle and land, and make them more "human;" more like the people who were taking their freedoms.

The Ability To Read and Write = Freedom From Slavery?

     In this book, the ability to read and write was mentioned many times. When mentioned by the slave owners, they told Mr. Douglas that it was not right for a slave to be able to read, and when mentioned by Mr. Douglas, it was mostly about the want to learn to read, the hard path to it, and finally being able to read and write.
     The fact that learning to read and write could give slaves the path to freedom was stated for the first time by Mr. Auld on page 20, and then again many times after that by various masters. I agree that learning to read and write would give slaves the needed boost to escape if they so desired. Learning to read and write brought slaves out of the dark, and, like Mr. Douglas, they could learn things the slave owners did not want them to know, For example, abolitionism on page 25. Learning to read also gave slaves the necessary means to communicate over long distances, and they could have potentially organized and insurrection. In this book learning to read gave the slaves something much simpler, but just as powerful: it gave them something to bond over. On pages 48 and 49, Mr. Douglas talks about how he taught many other slaves to read and write, and he came to love a few of them so powerfully that he said he would die for them. This ultimately led to the attempted escape on pages 52 and 53.

Harsh Punishments for minor offenses in "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas."

     In his book, especially in the first few chapters, Frederick Douglas talks about various slave owners and overseers, major and minor offenses, and the punishments for the offenses. Most of the offenses were punished by whipping, and both major and minor offenses were punished with the amount of lashes that the overseer saw as fit, which was usually a lot, and in some cases, till the overseer got tired. 

     Slaves were harshly punished for even minor crimes like stealing fruit from the garden. I think that the overseers and slave owners punished the slaves very harshly for these minor offenses for three reasons. The first reason, to keep other slaves from committing the same offense, is pretty simple. If a slave is punished very harshly for something small, for example stealing fruit from a garden, other slaves will be much less inclined to commit the same offense for fear of the extremely harsh punishment. The second reason is to teach the slaves to be obedient. I think that, in the same way that you would teach a young child not to do something by reprimanding them with a sometimes harsh punishment, the slave owners might have believed that if they punish a slave very harshly for doing something small, it will probably keep the slave from doing that thing, any small thing, and almost definitely any big thing again. The third reason is that many of the slave owners or overseers, for example Mr. Severe, and many people in general, just enjoy hurting other people, which is awful, but true.

MFA Photo

     A photo that I saw at MFA that I thought represented some of the characteristics of English Renaissance Poetry was a portrait of Elizabeth Cary, the Viscountess of Falkland by Paul van Somer. This painting fit the right time and place for the English Renaissance, and it represented it to me in many ways.
     I think that this photo represents individuality and self, one of the themes of English Renaissance Poetry, very well because this is a portrait of a very powerful looking woman by herself, and it makes her look like a very important, strong, and independent woman. Another characteristic of English Renaissance Poetry that I see in this painting is the imagry. This poem has very bright colors against a dark background, which make the Viscountess, the curtains, and the table stand out, and makes this painting very appealing to the eye.
     I did a little background research on Elizabeth Cary, and found out that she was actually a poet and a dramatist during the English Renaissance when she lived. I thought this was very interesting because you do not hear of that many women poets from the English Renaissance, and it is very interesting that I stumbled upon a painting of her while at the museum.

English Renaissance Major Poetic Characteristics

     There are several major characteristics of English Renaissance Poetry in the Poem that I chose to write about: 

When I Do Count the Clock that Tells the Time

By William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)

When I do count the clock that tells the time,

And see the brave day sunk in hideous night;

When I behold the violet past prime,

And sable curls, all silvered o'er with white;

When lofty trees I see barren of leaves, 

Which erst from heat did canopy the herd,

And summer's green all girded up in sheaves,

Borne on the bier with white and bristly beard,

Then of thy Beaty do I question make,

That thou among the wastes of time must go,

Since sweets and beauties do themselves forsake

And die as fast as they see others grow;

And nothing 'gainst Time's scythe can make defense

Save breed, to brave him when he takes thee hence.

     This poem is a sonnet, like most poems during that time, you can tell by both the rhyme scheme and the use of Iambic pentameter. The typical rhyme scheme of a sonnet is 3 quatrains and a court plet: ABAB/ CDCD/ EFEF/ GG. This is another major characteristic of English renaissance poems, and it is used in this poem. Iambic Pentameter is also used in this poem. Iambic Pentameter is where each verse of a poem has ten syllables, and the syllables are in a pattern of one short or unstressed syllable followed by one long, stressed syllable. This is another characteristic of English Renaissance Poetry that can be seen in this poem. The iambic pentameter is actually broken on the third verse of this poem, which calls attention to the verse. The last characteristic that I found in this poem is the enjambent. There is a lot of enjambment in this poem, and there is only a period at the end.

The Theme of "Phenomenal Woman" by Maya Angelou

     One of the poems in our poetry reader that I really enjoyed was Maya Angelou's "Phenomenal Woman." I think that this poem had a very important and interesting theme: she is confident with who she is, and that is what draws people to her. There is lots of evidence in the poem about this. In every stanza she talks about details about herself that make people flock to her. She also calls herself a phenomenal woman in every stanza. These both show that she is confident in everything about herself, and she is comfortable just the way she is. Another part of the poem that proves her confidence in herself is in the 4th stanza when she says "Now you understand/ Just why my head's not bowed./ I don't have to shout or jump about/ Or have to talk real loud." A part of the poem that shows that people like her for her confidence is in the second stanza where she says, "And to a man,/ The fellows stand or/ Fall down on their knees./ Then they swarm around me,/ A hive of honey bees." Over all, I really liked this poem and the theme of confidence that draws people in.

Concrete Imagry at the Kusama Exhibit

     There were two main different kinds of concrete imagry for me at the Kusama exhibit: Things that I saw, and  things that I heard. The very first thing was when I walked through the doors of MFAH and saw a giant Pumpkin in the center of the room. It was yellow with a pattern of purposefully placed polka dots around the whole sculpture. This really caught my eye, because unlike the other works that I saw immediately on the walls which were very abstract and brightly colored, the patterns made it more calming to me than the vibrant colors and randomly placed designs. The rest of the concrete imagry in the Kusama exhibit came from inside the infinity rooms.

     As soon as I stepped inside the first room, I was hit with sights and then sounds. I first noticed the brightly colored sculptures abstractly placed around the room, then I noticed that the mirrors on the walls of the room made the scluptures go on forever, true to the name: infinity room. It was a breathtaking sight, made even more so when I realized that the tentacle shaped sculptures protruding from the floor and ceiling changed colors, making the whole room look different every few seconds. The second part of concrete imagry in this room was the sound. While we were in the room, there was a poem by Kusama being spoken in Japanese from the speakers in the room. This was a more gradual realization, something that was very important to the room, but you didn't really notice it until you focused on it. It made the atmosphere of the room and the art very different than if it wasn't there. This room overwlmed my senses, and made me wish that I could stay in there for much longer than just the allotted one to two minutes.

     The next room was much simpler and smaller than the first, but was somehow even more breathtaking and inspiring. In this room the concrete imagry hit both my eyes and ears at the same time. The sights were the many hanging lights, that looked like they were floating in the darkness. They slowly brightened and faded, and at one point disappeared entirely, leaving us in pitch black, before they slowly came back on. The concrete imagry for my ears was the silence rather than the sound of the room. The silence was beautiful, and gave a very solemn and majestic air to the room, especially when the lights started to come back on after having been out. This room was amazing! I wish I could have stood in there for hours in the silence and watched the lights brighten and fade.

     Overall, I had a great time at the Kusama exhibit, and the concrete imagry for my ears and eyes was wonderful.

Tribes of the Amazon HMNS Visit

    I had a great experience at HMNS on Wednesday. The docents, Mary and Steve, were very informative and I learned a lot about the tribes living in the Amazon. I also learned a lot of things that I thought were very interesting, including information about the Shuar tribe shrinking heads, Yucca being the main food source in the Amazon and how they prepare it, the coming of age ceremonies for various tribes, and more. There were also some main points of interest to me that I learned a lot more about than other parts of the exhibit.
    The Shaman were a big point of interest to me, they were the “medicine men,” the priests and doctors for the tribes. It was very interesting because each tribe in the Amazon has very strong beliefs in the Spirit World, and their Shaman, which each tribe has, is their main connection to the Spirit World. Being Shaman is not passed on by ancestry in most tribes, but instead the current Shaman picks a sort of apprentice to be the next Shaman. In most of the tribes, the Shaman is a man, but the Ye’kuana tribe lets women become Shaman, which I thought was very interesting.
    Another point of interest to me was the Shuar Tribe and their Shelters. The Shuar Tribe is very distrustful of everyone, including their own tribe members, and they consider everyone their enemy. This has helped them to not be conquered. Due to their distrust of one another, every Shuar family lives in their own house, and every family lives on a different hill. Their shelters are unique in all the defense mechanisms they have. The first one is that all Shuar huts have to walls. This way, if a spear is thrown at their hut, and it breaks through the first wall, it will stop at the second. The Shuar huts also all have a trapdoor by the fireplace, so if they are under attack, they would leave using this door and abandon their hut and build a new one elsewhere. The Shuar men and women also sleep on different sides of the hut though I do not know if this has anything to do with defense. The trapdoor is on the men’s side of the hut.
    Over all I thought this was a very interesting exhibit, and the tribes of the Amazon are not things you learn about often. I also thought that it was interesting that everything the museum had were all things that the tribes would have thrown away and were not useful to them anymore though they are treasures to us. “Cannibal Tours and Glass Boxes” said that museums often take artifacts from archeological sites, but these artifacts were willingly given by the tribes who did not want them any more.
                            

Hanging Fire Analyzation

I thought that Hanging Fire was a very interesting poem. It was mainly about a girl (the speaker) and her depression. There are three stanzas, and in each one talks about what would happen if she died, and she repeats in every one that "momma's in the bedroom with the door closed." The rest of the poem is very random. The main theme is that the speaker complains about her appearance, her life, and a boy that I think is her brother based on how much she knows about him. For example he "still sucks his thumb in secret." 

I think that the randomness of this poem helps to make the repeating phrase, "and momma's in the bedroom with the door closed" stand out much more, and show the importance of it. In all her ranting the really serious things I got from the speaker were that her mother does not really care about her, and if the speaker were to die, no one would notice until it was too late.