Sunday, November 16, 2008

Iliad/Troy comparison

 Because the movie Troy is based on the Iliad naturally there are many similarities between the two. However, because the movie had to condense twenty four of the Iliad books into a less than three hour movie there are many differences as well. First, the gods which are very prominent in the epic aren't even mentioned in the movie. This is probably because of the time issue the movie had, the gods couldn't all be mentioned and their theories described completely to the portion of the audience who would know nothing about the gods in such a short amount of time. Bringing up the gods might also have caused a lot of confusion amongst the audiences of the movie; Also in Troy, the warriors fight a lot with swords where in the epic they are said to have fought with spears. Another difference between the two is in the Iliad the Trojan War lasted ten years where as in the movie it lasted around seventeen days. This difference was also most likely changed because of the time as well, so so much information wouldn't have to be crammed in so little time. Because they made the movie a shorter time it was possible for the movie to focus more on littler things. Also a major difference between the Iliad and Troy was the way Achilles killed Hector. In the epic, Hector ran from Achilles three times around the city walls, then came face to face to fight with Achilles after the gods had come into the picture. In the movie, Achilles and Hector came face to face right away. This change in story was probably for the audiences' sake, to make the fight more thrilling for them to watch. However, there were also a tremendous amount of similarities between the epic and the movie. Many of which are focused on Achilles, in both Troy and the Iliad Achilles always appeared bronze, like a perfect man would look. Also, one of his major characteristic traits of him being angry was portrayed in both the movie and the epic as well. His anger was a major obstacle Achilles had to overcome. Another similar event in both the book and the movie was the way Patriclus was killed by Hector while wearing Achilles' armor, also how Hector stole his famous armor. Patriclus dying was one of the major events that caused Achilles' anger to be portrayed. All in all, Homer's the Iliad and the movie Troy were very similar, unfortunately the movie was essentially forced to make some major changes to accommodate the length of the movie.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Strategy and Success

1. So far I really like how much we talk about things in class. Like how we went over the Epic of Gilgamesh story and the other short stories so that we could fully understand them and smooth out all of the creases. I also like how we review the vocab roots to really get them engraved in our heads, and how we devote wednesday to only vocab basically so we have time to understand all of it as well. 

2. My greatest disappointments so far have been my grades on my  last vocab test and early short story quizzes. I know now the reason I received low grades on these quizzes/exams and I am changing the way I study now to hopefully prevent them. 

3. So far for the vocab tests I have looked at the words and their definitions through the book reading them over and over thinking I was getting them memorized. I have since figured out that I need to make flash cards of all the words and their roots so i can memorize them without seeing the definitions slightly and not memorizing them in order. 
For the reading quizzes I have read the story and taken some notes. Then set the story aside and didn't go back to it until right before class started. I also may have been reading the story and zoning out for parts of it because I was not making it interesting for myself to read. 

4. I don't really know what kind of learner I am. I do know that I'm not a aural learner because i don't do as well on oral exams as I do on ones I have to read myself. It does help me when I have movements to go with different things I am trying to memorize but I also like to have visual pictures, timelines, or typed papers of information. 


Monday, September 29, 2008

poems in genesis

Genesis 1:27 The narrator breaks into poem to emphasize that God was creating humans in his image, it is repetitive in a sense as well to clarify this important stage in His creation. He wanted the future people who would read it to know and thoroughly understand the section and remember it.

Genesis 2:23 The narrator breaks into poem again to set apart the creation on Eve from the rest of the passages because it is so significant and meaningful. He wanted us to know how special and unique this was.

Genesis 3:15-19 The narrator once again breaks into poem because it is a very significant time for human creation; it is the reason we are where we are today and not in the garden of Eden. Though this section is not as repetitive like the other sections including poems it is still just as meaningful. The change in writing makes what is being said more dramatic and memorable. 

Sunday, September 28, 2008

archetype blog

The main character two eyes is different than her sisters and is neglected. Every day she eats leftovers and has to take care of their goat. One day an old lady comes to her when she is crying and gives her a spell to say to her goat to so he will bring her food. This keeps One-eye happy for a while until the sisters send the goat away. The old lady has another solution for her a large fruit tree that only she can get fruit from. A night came one day and took her away from One-eye’s sisters because she was able to give him a piece of fruit.

In this folktale One-eye represents the maiden who needs to be saved and her sisters represent crones or witches. One-eye’s hero ended up being the knight, but along the way it was also the old woman who could have also represented a sort of a side kick or even wise old man who helped her. The goat represented a side kick to one eye even though she wasn’t hero he helped her to solve the problem. The meadow that One-eye took her goat to represented peace and tranquility for her, also the tree represented this too along with shelter.



This folktale is revealed as German mainly through the setting and actions of the characters. One example is when One-eye took her goat to a meadow everyday to graze. The goat is also symbolic to the German culture because many people rely solely on them to survive. Also, the small cottage along with the rest of the setting is a perfect example of the fundamental nature of Germany.


One-Eye! Two-Eyes! Three-Eyes!
Told by Aaron Shepard
http://www.aaronshep.com/stories/051.html

Thursday, September 4, 2008

hero

A hero to me is someone like Todd Beamer, 
He was brave and courageous for many things
He stood up to the four hijackers on his plane and by doing this he saved hundreds maybe even thousands of people. Todd could have just sat tight and died along with everyone else on the plane. But instead he stood up to the four men and saved our country form much more grief and sorrow. he is also now known as a national hero and has positively impacted thousands and thousands of peoples lives.