Week of Jan. 20 - 24 Reflection: Post # 18

This passed week, we were focused primarily on Oedipus Rex. It was a relatively boring week, as we read silently in class on Monday and Tuesday. The tragic play opened my eyes a bit, and made me think of the intricacies of life and fate. Oedipus, throughout the play, tried so hard to avoid his inevitable fate, yet what he thought was right only led him straight into his worst nightmare. This exemplifies the fact that every small decision affects the life of not only yourself, but many around you as well. Applying this revelation to my life, it made me take decisions much more seriously than I ever had before. Even when I returned home I contemplated the choice of drink I would get, weighing the pros and cons and long-term consequences each choice might have. The play also told the audience that fate was predetermined, and there was no escaping it. In the modern world, this is not widely accepted, and I do not believe in this as well. I do believe that my decisions have a long-term effect on my life, though, and now I won't trivialize any decisions any longer.

On Friday, we had finished the play and we moved on to our eventual project on this subject matter. Our amazing and loving teacher Mrs. Cawlfield spent the day talking to the attentive and sponge-like minds of the students about Aristotelian tragedies and what defines a tragic hero specifically. As sponge-like minds do, we absorbed every word she was saying and might have even taken diligent notes. We would do this because we have to come up with a perfect example of a tragic hero from a film and apply it to the Aristotelian model while also comparing it to the character of Oedipus. I assume we will do incredible work with absolutely no flaws whatsoever and all get amazingly great grades. We will work on this project this week and it's probably going to suck. But maybe not!!

Week Reflection: Post #17

This week, we unfortunately had to wake up from our honeymoon period of returning to school after our long, cushy break. We finished the transcendent movie Baraka, and wrote a reflective mini-essay on it. The film was very intriguing and imaginative, breaking the mold of what humans think about this world. Personally, it changed my views quite a bit, and showed me the immense range of humans and cultures we have on Earth. The ignorance of this fact, though, is what the filmmakers were trying to get across. They were saying how the metropolitan areas of the world of today have lost any decency or compassion it once had, and this has been replaced by cruelty and war.
Following the movie, we quickly transitioned into our new topic, the tragic play Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles. We were forced to do a good amount of research that surrounds this topic, and although it was very arduous and overall annoying, I do believe it allowed for a more smooth reading experience and greater understanding of the play. At the end of the week, we started actually reading the play, after days of anticipation and research. I have enjoyed it so far, and can definitely feel the dramatic irony forced upon the readers by Sophocles. I look forward to reading it more and hopefully it doesn't end in tragedy... :) I'm not too confident with that, though...

Oedipus Rex Background Information -- Post #16

Oedipus Rex
Man:
The myth of Oedipus is ancient, and has been passed along for thousands of years. After this long, it is impossible to tell is Oedipus ever actually lived, or if his story is simply myth. If it was just a myth, it was probably told to stress the power of the gods and the Fates. The Fates made it so no one could ever run away from their destiny, and Oedipus tried to, but ended up falling right into their "trap."

Play:
The play Oedipus Rex, written by Sophocles, takes place completely after the myth. Oedipus has been married to his mother for 20 years and is ruling over his city. He has some kids with his mother, as well. As I have not read the play, I cannot discuss plot as of yet, but I look forward to reading it.

Myth:
Oedipus was the son of the king and queen of Thebes. He was given a prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother, so the king gives the baby to a poor man who is to dispose of the infant, but he takes pity on it and simply sends it to the neighboring city of Corinth, where the king and queen there take Oedipus in as their own. Once Oedipus becomes a young man, he hears his prophecy again and runs away from Corinth, trying to spare his adoptive parents. He encounters a man, his father, on the road to Thebes and kills him over an altercation, and then kills the dragon attacking Thebes, for which his prize is the widowed queen, his mother.

Sophocles
Sophocles was born in 496 BCE in Colonus, a village outside of Athens. He was very successful and skilled. He had a warrior's physique and was very good with war, music and poetry. He was very tied to Athens, serving as one of the commanders of the armed forces, and later as a financial consultant.

Aristotle
Aristotle is the last of the three Greek Philosophers, the other two being Socrates and Plato. He is said to have written 150 treatises in his 62-year life from 384-322 BCE. He had a great education and went to study under Plato when he was about 17, and was a brilliant student there. He made huge contributions to modern science by studying natural phenomena like earthquakes.

Tragedy:
Aristotle studies many topics, including the arts, and plays. He classified the type of play known as tragedy, and laid out specific things that always occur within these kinds of plays. He says that the order of events, the plot, must be complete with a beginning middle and end and a good cast of characters to support the different aspects of the plot (fear, joy, pity, drama, etc.) He also says the protagonist should be in the upper class and prosperous in order for his fall from grace to be more obviously and sad.

Aristotle's ideal plot structure. Copied by Freytag centuries later.

Hubris:
Hubris is the extreme pride or arrogance of a person. It is a greek word used a lot in greek tragedies, as hubris, according to Aristotle, is a hero's biggest flaw. He also says that it will get the hero killed and/or lead to his ultimate demise. Furthermore, this is how Aristotle classifies a tragic hero, because all tragic heroes have this deadly flaw.

Dramatic Irony
Dramatic Irony is a popular use of plot in tragedies, as in Romeo and Juliet. This idea occurs when the audience is aware of something important that one or more characters do not. This is supposed to fill the audience with anxiety, fear and frustration as the play progresses. This technique originated in Greece, and is very old and very effective.

Tiresias
Tiresias was a child of a man and a nymph, in Greek mythology. He served as a prophet of Apollo in Thebes for seven generations. He has many misadventures with the gods, including getting turned into a women for several years by Hera, and getting blinded by Athena. He also is featured in Oedipus Rex when he is called to give information about the king's killer.

Fate
In Ancient Greece, fate played a huge role in everyone's lives. They believed that their fate was set and it was unavoidable, yet many characters throughout Greece's history attempted to do so, and failed. This include Oedipus, when he runs away from his fake parents and runs right into his real parents where he fulfills his fate. Greeks had gods/spirits that determine the fates of people aptly called The Fates, who controlled the lives of people to an extent and cutting a string at the end of one's life.

Greek Theater
In Ancient Greece, plays were preformed in an amphitheater outdoors. They were designed very well and spectators in the very back row could here as well as the front-row viewers, without the use of microphones or any amplifier whatsoever. Performances were a public event, and everyone was allowed to see the plays. Many of the plays of the time were about myth and religion, teaching the powers of the gods and teaching of human flaws and tragic heroes, like Oedipus.

Baraka Reflection -- Post #15

The world of advancement and making money is moving much faster than any time before, and is continuously getting ever faster. The rich countries of Western learning and achievement have no use for religion, faith or compassion, and so don't include it into their societies or daily life. Baraka is trying to bring to light this problem, and show the world its huge mistake. Baraka is a non-narrative film that conveys thoughts on a deeper level than most usually see, and so some cannot understand its message. Its filmography, musicology, and symbolism all play a part in its message,  and it is made brilliantly and though-provokingly.

Baraka has some amazing shots of many different aspects of the world. It shows mountains, spires, animal  life, cloud movement and an eclipse. All these shots evoke a feeling of wonder and it speaks to humans that the world is so much bigger than themselves. Humans cannot control these aspects of life and the unknown forces that do control this is what brings out the awe and amazement. Baraka also touches on the many different levels of society across the world. It travels from desert nomads in Africa to simple hunter-gatherers in Polynesia, and from the populated streets of Tokyo to the bustling city of New York. There are so many varying types of life on Earth and so much, yet so little separates them. The filmmakers of this project strongly emphasized faith and religion throughout the many scenes. And although the peoples may look, dress, act, live differently, they often share many things as well. Baraka showed many religious rituals and ceremonies from Muslim prayer at the Kaaba, to a circle chant group someone in a rainforest. Even though these groups evolved separately, they naturally form religion and faith. Also in the film, Baraka takes its viewers to see the negatives of the world, which include war allusions, a concentration camp, burning oil fields, a fighter plane cemetery, the sorting of baby chickens, and others. The allusions to violence and conflict in the world make the audience feel very disappointed. After the tranquil scenes of religion and beauty, the destruction of the modern world evokes strong emotions. It makes us feel regret and the need to resolve these differences and unite under a common good. Mary Ann Brussat has some of these same ideas, and her most impactful scenes coincide with mine for the most part.

The way the film was shot has a huge effect on how the film is perceived by the viewers. In Baraka the filmmakers use a multitude of techniques that evoke strong responses. One of the way is the close-up of a face. This increases the viewers' intimacy with the subject and allows for them to relate to what their life might be like. Another technique is a time lapse. They use this for the cloud movement, and the busy streets of New York City and Tokyo. This gives the audience a sense of time and repetition over time, as the same monotonous thing happens in the modern world of metropolises. The nature shots used in the film are very important to set the background of the people living on this Earth. It has a humbling effect, and makes for a great transition to life around the world. Also, the music played over the scenes is very important as well. Music definitely brings out certain emotions within a person. At the start of the film, the music is very tranquil and peaceful, because that is how the people of primitivity live. It endears these tribal people to the audience. In contrast, the music whilst the modern shots are showing is more foreboding and unsettling.

Overall, Baraka was an incredible journey through the world, showing the audience the many differences, but most importantly the similarities between the plethora of societies and peoples scattering the surface of the Earth. It is an important lens through which humans should view our planet and our species. Compassion and faith are for the most part lost in the modern world of business and money. But this is not the best way of living for humans as a whole. This idea of the film relates to world literature in the way that it is very cosmopolitan, meaning it is in touch with many different cultures and is relaying the lessons and ideas back to the rest of the world.