We first talked about The Slave, by Isaac Singer. Make sure you take notes as you read it! And look up terms (Gemarrah, Talmud, Yiddish, etc.)! Our final term paper will be about this book. It will need to be about 3-4 pages. Something potentially helpful: The Slave is about the massacre of the 17th Century. His story seems to be similar to that of Job.
We then looked at the Book of Job. So we know that Job is innocent because the of the introduction to the story. God tested Job because of a bet with El Satan, making Job lose all his possessions and family. Through it all, Job did not curse God, but demanded answers. At the end of the story, God comes down and calls Job a worm for questioning him and there is an epiphany. And then God rewarded Job with more earthly possessions. The Book of Job can be broken into three parts, somewhat like a play: Act 1, the beginning, Acts 2, 3, and 4, the actual story of Job, and Act 5, the epilogue. Much like Escalus's Prometheus Bound. Professor Sexson likened the story of Job to an Oreo Cookie: the best part is in the middle. Make sure to pay special attention to Chapter 3 of Job; it's a very famous passage.
We also listened to "Sire of Sorrow" By Joni Mitchell. A fairly sad song. Look it up! Here are the lyrics: http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/joni_mitchell/the_sire_of_sorrow_jobs_sad_song.html
We also spoke of Ecclesiastes, similar to the Book of Job. It's about a guy who is very pessimistic. Turn Turn Turn by The Byrds is taken directly from this book. Actually, quite a few famous titles come from this book. So it's pretty important.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Notes for 10-19-2010
Homework Assignment: Have a bad day! And look in the Book of Job. Weigh in on Job's suffering on our blogs.
Read the Book of Job, Ecclesiastes, and Proverbs.
Read the Book of Job, Ecclesiastes, and Proverbs.
Peter Quince at the Clavier and Susanna
Susanna is a rather odd story in the Apocrypha. It was not written in Hebrew (as is noted in the heading of the story in our Bible version), and it speaks up for the rights of a woman, Susanna. In the story, two elders lust after a woman, Susanna, and catch her bathing alone in a garden. Confronting her, they say that if she will not lie with them, they will say that she was meeting a young gentleman. She cries out, they testify against her, and she is sentenced to death. Before she is killed, however, Daniel speaks up in her defense, questions the elders, and they are put to death instead for bearing false witness.
Peter Quince is a character from Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream, which is about two young couples falling in and out of love through the magic of fairies. Peter Quince is a commoner that attempts to be a playwright. He is a definite failure at it, with Nick Bottom being far better and capable. However, Nick Bottom's head is transformed into that of an ass's, and Titania (Queen of the Fairies) falls in love with him. She dotes on him for a bit, then has her lovespell lifted by the Oberon, the King of the Fairies. Nick falls asleep, is returned to normal, and wakes up saying that he has had the craziest dream, and they must write a ballad for it for the play (which is completely unrelated to the play itself; no donkeys are part of the play, nor fairies, nor even dreams).
Peter Quince at the Clavier is a symphony of words. Wallace Stevens uses imagery and wordplay to paint a musical setting, where events are represented in sounds, not words (which is rather interesting, considering that this is a poem, not a song). He claims that music is truly about emotion, not sound, and so he can paint the picture using words to invoke the image of sounds to create emotions, thereby making music. A rather indirect process, in my opinion, but interesting nonetheless. As far as what Peter Quince is doing at a clavier, I have no idea. The poem, I think, is attempting to rewrite his play with music, but goes off on a tangent about the Apocryphal Susanna tale. So I am well and truly lost. Where did Peter Quince get a clavier? And isn't the story of Susanna younger than ancient Greece and the story of Theseus? And how is Susanna relevant to his play, about two young lovers that commit misguided suicide (rather like Romeo and Juliet, you sly dog, Shakespeare)? Sooth, the only thing I can conclude is that Wallace Stevens wrote a really odd poem.
Peter Quince is a character from Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream, which is about two young couples falling in and out of love through the magic of fairies. Peter Quince is a commoner that attempts to be a playwright. He is a definite failure at it, with Nick Bottom being far better and capable. However, Nick Bottom's head is transformed into that of an ass's, and Titania (Queen of the Fairies) falls in love with him. She dotes on him for a bit, then has her lovespell lifted by the Oberon, the King of the Fairies. Nick falls asleep, is returned to normal, and wakes up saying that he has had the craziest dream, and they must write a ballad for it for the play (which is completely unrelated to the play itself; no donkeys are part of the play, nor fairies, nor even dreams).
Peter Quince at the Clavier is a symphony of words. Wallace Stevens uses imagery and wordplay to paint a musical setting, where events are represented in sounds, not words (which is rather interesting, considering that this is a poem, not a song). He claims that music is truly about emotion, not sound, and so he can paint the picture using words to invoke the image of sounds to create emotions, thereby making music. A rather indirect process, in my opinion, but interesting nonetheless. As far as what Peter Quince is doing at a clavier, I have no idea. The poem, I think, is attempting to rewrite his play with music, but goes off on a tangent about the Apocryphal Susanna tale. So I am well and truly lost. Where did Peter Quince get a clavier? And isn't the story of Susanna younger than ancient Greece and the story of Theseus? And how is Susanna relevant to his play, about two young lovers that commit misguided suicide (rather like Romeo and Juliet, you sly dog, Shakespeare)? Sooth, the only thing I can conclude is that Wallace Stevens wrote a really odd poem.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Notes for 10-14-2010
Assignment:
Go out and engage somebody in a discussion of the Bible. (Go argue!) Then reproduce it on your blog.
We talked about the Bible and A River Runs Through It (By Norman Maclean). The final image is that of the universe with the four rivers surrounding it (a mandala).
We also spoke of "The Great House" (Nicole Krause), which is about the destruction of the North Kingdom, and its rebuilding process. The Talmud is an authorized body of commentary about the Torah, which has (about) the same authority as the Torah. It answers the question: "What is a Jew without Jerusalem?" Essentially, the Temple and the City became the Book, which people then carried with them.
We then finished the story of Joseph. In a nuthsell, Joseph got thrown into a pit by his brothers. He was found and sold into slavery by Ishmaelites to Potiphar. Potiphar's wife tried to seduce Joseph, but, failing that, had him thrown in jail. He was released when he interpreted the Pharaoh's dream, who appointed Joseph second only to Pharaoh. About 9 years later, his bros showed up to buy grain. Joseph didn't reveal himself, but instead had them buy grain, he cried a bit, then he snuck the money back into their sacks. He also told them to come back with the youngest brother, Benjamin (whom he has never met). They came back with Benjamin, there is a slight scene, then he reveals himself to his brother. We read a little of this story from Thomas Mann's "Joseph and His Brothers". This helps fill in a few lacunae.
We then listened to Miserere Mei, Deus. A link is on my previous post.
Go out and engage somebody in a discussion of the Bible. (Go argue!) Then reproduce it on your blog.
We talked about the Bible and A River Runs Through It (By Norman Maclean). The final image is that of the universe with the four rivers surrounding it (a mandala).
We also spoke of "The Great House" (Nicole Krause), which is about the destruction of the North Kingdom, and its rebuilding process. The Talmud is an authorized body of commentary about the Torah, which has (about) the same authority as the Torah. It answers the question: "What is a Jew without Jerusalem?" Essentially, the Temple and the City became the Book, which people then carried with them.
We then finished the story of Joseph. In a nuthsell, Joseph got thrown into a pit by his brothers. He was found and sold into slavery by Ishmaelites to Potiphar. Potiphar's wife tried to seduce Joseph, but, failing that, had him thrown in jail. He was released when he interpreted the Pharaoh's dream, who appointed Joseph second only to Pharaoh. About 9 years later, his bros showed up to buy grain. Joseph didn't reveal himself, but instead had them buy grain, he cried a bit, then he snuck the money back into their sacks. He also told them to come back with the youngest brother, Benjamin (whom he has never met). They came back with Benjamin, there is a slight scene, then he reveals himself to his brother. We read a little of this story from Thomas Mann's "Joseph and His Brothers". This helps fill in a few lacunae.
We then listened to Miserere Mei, Deus. A link is on my previous post.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Notes for 10-12-2010
Psalm 51:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZL3POaATn8
The miserere became iconic, even cultic, because there was a boy that reached a pitch during this song that people had never heard before.
Assignment:
Read the Apocryphal Susanna (p.1467 in our Bibles). A story about Susanna, who walks in the garden, and two elders see her walking there everday and lust after her. They perverted their own minds so that they may not remember just judgments.
Then blog about the poem "Peter Quince at the Clavier":
http://plagiarist.com/poetry/1018/
We discussed the Story of Joseph:
Parataxis - a literary technique, in writing or speaking, that favors short, simple sentences, without the use of coordinating or subordinating conjunctions.
Used a lot in the Bible. For example, the beginning of Mark 6: 'and' is used a lot. Prof. Sexson claims that the repetitive elements are part of the power of the Bible (Samuel Coleridge agrees). It makes all parts of the Bible equivalently important; no part is more important than any other.
Dreams, pits, silver, and, house, blessed, all. These words are repeated often in the story of Joseph. Phrases to live by:
"Why use five words when fifty words will do?"
- Prof. Sexson
The repetition in the Bible is an Oral Literature element; it makes the story much easier to remember, and perhaps more interesting when heard.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZL3POaATn8
The miserere became iconic, even cultic, because there was a boy that reached a pitch during this song that people had never heard before.
Assignment:
Read the Apocryphal Susanna (p.1467 in our Bibles). A story about Susanna, who walks in the garden, and two elders see her walking there everday and lust after her. They perverted their own minds so that they may not remember just judgments.
Then blog about the poem "Peter Quince at the Clavier":
http://plagiarist.com/poetry/1018/
We discussed the Story of Joseph:
Parataxis - a literary technique, in writing or speaking, that favors short, simple sentences, without the use of coordinating or subordinating conjunctions.
Used a lot in the Bible. For example, the beginning of Mark 6: 'and' is used a lot. Prof. Sexson claims that the repetitive elements are part of the power of the Bible (Samuel Coleridge agrees). It makes all parts of the Bible equivalently important; no part is more important than any other.
Dreams, pits, silver, and, house, blessed, all. These words are repeated often in the story of Joseph. Phrases to live by:
"Why use five words when fifty words will do?"
- Prof. Sexson
The repetition in the Bible is an Oral Literature element; it makes the story much easier to remember, and perhaps more interesting when heard.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Exam on Thursday, should take 40 minutes to complete. 100 points
Useful Links:
1. http://cla.calpoly.edu/~smarx/Publications/frye.html
Test will cover Plotz's chapters on:
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges
Here is a general idea of what the questions are going to be:
1. What is the shape of the Bible, according to Northrop Frye?
A - a U-shape, or the shape of comedy (because it ends happily).
Note: The Apocalypse is not a tragedy.
2. Why is the Bible a comedy according to Northrop Frye?
A - Because it has a happy ending.
3. Why does Frye believe the Bible is unified?
A - in terms of imagery and in terms of narrative structure
Note: God is the male and society as Israel is the female.
4. In a patriarchy, even men are ___(blank)____
A - In a patriarchy, most people are women. Only a select group of men are patriarchs, or fathers. So even men are women
5. In monotheism, what is the view on other gods?
A - only one god exists. Not only are any other gods less powerful, they don't even exist. Monolotry kills off the other gods.
6. What trumps the rights of women?
A - The rules of patriarchal hospitality
7. What is the significance of the "feminine"? The "female"? The "woman"?
A - There is a difference between the "feminine", the "female," and a "woman." The feminine is symbolic, the female is a biological construct, the woman is an actual character in the Bible. Eve and Zipporah are examples of the "feminine".
8. In the Bible, from where does the feminine originate?
A - The female is secondary, while the male is primary. The female comes from the male (as in Adam's rib). The ability of giving birth comes from the male.
9. What is Couvade?
A - a condition in which the husband or partner of an expectant mother experiences some of the same symptoms and behavior as the mother. "childbirth envy"
10. What are The Epistles?
A - A major literary form, literally the "letters", the collection of letters that make up the canon of the New Testament
11. What are the seven parts of the Bible according to Frye?
A - Creation, Exodus, Law, Wisdom, Prophecy, Gospel, Apocalypse
(Classless Emus Like Watching Penguins Go Asunder)
12. Which son was originally intended to be blessed by Joshua?
A - Esau
13. True or False: Lillith was the other wife of Adam, according to the Bible.
A - False: Lillith is not in the Bible.
14. What is a Lacuna?
A - An unexplained gap in a story. It is best to compare stories to understand this definition: In Homer's Odyssey, every little bit of information is given so that you can't interpolate the story. However, in Genesis 22, we are given a minimal amount of detail, and can therefore interpolate the story
15. What Levitical Law prohibits Rachel's father from searching the saddlebags beneath her?
A - It is taboo to even approach a woman during menstruation.
Note: Rachel had taken the teraphim (Rachel's father's household gods) from her father, which is why he wished to search the bags.
Why is the Book of Ruth and the Story of Tamar in the positions they are in?
A - They provide geneologies that interrelate the characters of the Bible. Or, they provide geneaological continuity
16. What does Tamar dress herself as in order to have "issue" (to have children)?
A - A harlot
17. For whom does God have a preference?
A - The least likely person for the task.
18. Plotz says that the Ten Commandments are _____ in the Bible.
A - not present
19. What are the two views concerning the authorship of the Pentateuch?
A - 1. Moses wrote the first five books.
2. That the first five books had several authors.
20. Who are the "scholarly" authors of the Pentateuch?
A - JEDPR: Jehovist, Elohist, Deuteronomist, Priestly, Redactor
21. How did Zipporah save Moses from being smited by the vengeful God?
A - She circumcises her son and holds the foreskin between the legs of Moses.
Note: This is a symbolic indicator of one's commitment. This is common: a mutilation to prove faith. Like tattoos and scars.
22. What style is indicative of the P writer?
A - The P writer is very concerned with ritual and geneaologies.
23. What style is indicative of the J writer?
A -
24. What does "apocalypse" mean?
A - "lifting of the veil"
25. What is the rainbow in the Bible?
A - an etiological element; and a symbol of the covenant with Noah to never drown the earth again.
26. Why do women give birth in pain, why do snakes crawl on their bellies, and why must men toil upon the earth?
A - Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit.
27. What did God say his name was to Moses?
A - YHWH, or "I am that I am"
28. Why was Jacob renamed Israel?
A - Wrestling with the Angel at the break of day provided Jacob with a transformative experience, and thus he became the name of his people and nation.
29. What was the punishment for the Tower of Babel?
A - God "confused the languages" so that people couldn't understand each other. This was to make it impossible for the people to reach heaven.
30. What are the four images that Frye sees as primary archetypal images?
A - The cave, the furnace, the mountain, and the garden
31. What aspects of Biblical literature inspired Shakespeare, Chaucer, Eliot?
A - repetitive parallelism, or the practice of saying the same thing twice, but in different ways.
32. Who Jane Eyre's favorite writer in the Bible?
A - The J writer.
33. What is the major event in Jewish mythology?
A - The exodus from Egypt
Note: The central identity of the Israelite people is that they were led out from bondage. They are always a displaced people.
34. In what year did the southern kingdom fall?
A - 587 BCE
35. Why did God kill Onan?
A - He spilled his seed.
Useful Links:
1. http://cla.calpoly.edu/~smarx/Publications/frye.html
Test will cover Plotz's chapters on:
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges
Here is a general idea of what the questions are going to be:
1. What is the shape of the Bible, according to Northrop Frye?
A - a U-shape, or the shape of comedy (because it ends happily).
Note: The Apocalypse is not a tragedy.
2. Why is the Bible a comedy according to Northrop Frye?
A - Because it has a happy ending.
3. Why does Frye believe the Bible is unified?
A - in terms of imagery and in terms of narrative structure
Note: God is the male and society as Israel is the female.
4. In a patriarchy, even men are ___(blank)____
A - In a patriarchy, most people are women. Only a select group of men are patriarchs, or fathers. So even men are women
5. In monotheism, what is the view on other gods?
A - only one god exists. Not only are any other gods less powerful, they don't even exist. Monolotry kills off the other gods.
6. What trumps the rights of women?
A - The rules of patriarchal hospitality
7. What is the significance of the "feminine"? The "female"? The "woman"?
A - There is a difference between the "feminine", the "female," and a "woman." The feminine is symbolic, the female is a biological construct, the woman is an actual character in the Bible. Eve and Zipporah are examples of the "feminine".
8. In the Bible, from where does the feminine originate?
A - The female is secondary, while the male is primary. The female comes from the male (as in Adam's rib). The ability of giving birth comes from the male.
9. What is Couvade?
A - a condition in which the husband or partner of an expectant mother experiences some of the same symptoms and behavior as the mother. "childbirth envy"
10. What are The Epistles?
A - A major literary form, literally the "letters", the collection of letters that make up the canon of the New Testament
11. What are the seven parts of the Bible according to Frye?
A - Creation, Exodus, Law, Wisdom, Prophecy, Gospel, Apocalypse
(Classless Emus Like Watching Penguins Go Asunder)
12. Which son was originally intended to be blessed by Joshua?
A - Esau
13. True or False: Lillith was the other wife of Adam, according to the Bible.
A - False: Lillith is not in the Bible.
14. What is a Lacuna?
A - An unexplained gap in a story. It is best to compare stories to understand this definition: In Homer's Odyssey, every little bit of information is given so that you can't interpolate the story. However, in Genesis 22, we are given a minimal amount of detail, and can therefore interpolate the story
15. What Levitical Law prohibits Rachel's father from searching the saddlebags beneath her?
A - It is taboo to even approach a woman during menstruation.
Note: Rachel had taken the teraphim (Rachel's father's household gods) from her father, which is why he wished to search the bags.
Why is the Book of Ruth and the Story of Tamar in the positions they are in?
A - They provide geneologies that interrelate the characters of the Bible. Or, they provide geneaological continuity
16. What does Tamar dress herself as in order to have "issue" (to have children)?
A - A harlot
17. For whom does God have a preference?
A - The least likely person for the task.
18. Plotz says that the Ten Commandments are _____ in the Bible.
A - not present
19. What are the two views concerning the authorship of the Pentateuch?
A - 1. Moses wrote the first five books.
2. That the first five books had several authors.
20. Who are the "scholarly" authors of the Pentateuch?
A - JEDPR: Jehovist, Elohist, Deuteronomist, Priestly, Redactor
21. How did Zipporah save Moses from being smited by the vengeful God?
A - She circumcises her son and holds the foreskin between the legs of Moses.
Note: This is a symbolic indicator of one's commitment. This is common: a mutilation to prove faith. Like tattoos and scars.
22. What style is indicative of the P writer?
A - The P writer is very concerned with ritual and geneaologies.
23. What style is indicative of the J writer?
A -
24. What does "apocalypse" mean?
A - "lifting of the veil"
25. What is the rainbow in the Bible?
A - an etiological element; and a symbol of the covenant with Noah to never drown the earth again.
26. Why do women give birth in pain, why do snakes crawl on their bellies, and why must men toil upon the earth?
A - Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit.
27. What did God say his name was to Moses?
A - YHWH, or "I am that I am"
28. Why was Jacob renamed Israel?
A - Wrestling with the Angel at the break of day provided Jacob with a transformative experience, and thus he became the name of his people and nation.
29. What was the punishment for the Tower of Babel?
A - God "confused the languages" so that people couldn't understand each other. This was to make it impossible for the people to reach heaven.
30. What are the four images that Frye sees as primary archetypal images?
A - The cave, the furnace, the mountain, and the garden
31. What aspects of Biblical literature inspired Shakespeare, Chaucer, Eliot?
A - repetitive parallelism, or the practice of saying the same thing twice, but in different ways.
32. Who Jane Eyre's favorite writer in the Bible?
A - The J writer.
33. What is the major event in Jewish mythology?
A - The exodus from Egypt
Note: The central identity of the Israelite people is that they were led out from bondage. They are always a displaced people.
34. In what year did the southern kingdom fall?
A - 587 BCE
35. Why did God kill Onan?
A - He spilled his seed.
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