Greek Heroes

Homer's Opinion on Greek Heroes:

          Homer believes that Greek heroes are essentially not good and it is not good to BE a Greek hero. Some of the points that Homer makes involve Greek heroes always wanting to enhance their reputations by making bad decisions and doing unjust things. For example, when Odysseus goes into the cyclops' cave with his crew members and, despite the fact that the cave opening was completely accessible, waited until the cyclops was awake before he and his crew members tried to escape. However, by doing so, the cyclops ended up eating two of the crew members, which would not have happened if Odysseus had made the smart choice to leave while they had the opportunity, rather than to wait until the cyclops woke up. Odysseus decided to wait because he wanted the death of the cyclops to seem gruesome and intense rather than to kill him in his sleep, the price one pays as a Greek hero. Additionally, Greek heroes are very arrogant, especially Odysseus (this is his tragic flaw.) Whenever Odysseus presents himself in a room, he gives himself the introduction of not just his name, but his background information as well. When Odysseus kills the cyclops he announces his name for all to be heard, which only ends up allowing everyone to know who he is and make Poseidon hate him even more.

         Odysseus is at a constant battle with himself between his mortal side and his Greek hero side. He debates whether he should kill all the suitors in his kingdom that want to marry Penelope, or if he should listen to his mortal side and spare their lives. When Tiresias tells Odysseus his prophecy regarding Odysseus' wish to die peacefully, Tiresias tells Odysseus he must bury an oar inland somewhere where no one has ever seen an oar before. This, however, is not very "Greek-hero-like" because Greek heroes are supposed to want to die a very dramatic death that people will sing about and know about for years to come, while Odysseus just wants to die in his sleep. This is just another example Homer uses to show that it is not good to be a Greek hero.

The Odyssey: Book Twelve

Book Twelve:

Question Two- Who are Scylla and Charybdis? Describe them briefly.

Scylla is a twelve legged, six headed siren with three rows of fangs. No one ever gets passed her lair without a crew member dying by her snatching one of them up. She is immortal with no way of killing her or fighting her. The only way to get passed her is to flee her and escape. Charybdis is another siren who creates massive whirlpools to suck sailors into. 

Figuratively, these sirens represent a test for Odysseus to see if he can overcome the monsters. He has to escape his first trouble and try not to get sucked into his next. The sirens represent Odysseus' troubles and what he needs to defeat in order to make it home to Ithica.

Chapter 22: Question 5

        Given the context that has been developing, state what is represented by Holden's desire to catch kids so as to prevent them from falling off a cliff while playing in a field of rye? What could Holden mean by this odd reference?

            Holden's desire to catch kids so as to prevent them from falling off a cliff while playing in a field of rye represents Holden's desire to save kids' innocence. He wants to prevent them from "falling into adulthood." He doesn't want little kids like his sister, Phoebe, to grow up and become an adult. She speaks with Holden in an adult manner and I think it's getting to Holden and making him realize that she really is growing up and he doesn't want that to happen to her.

Also, Holden means that he doesn't want to grow up himself. He doesn't like it when Phoebe asks him what he wants to be when he grows up because he just doesn't want to. He doesn't want to lose his innocence, and by being the catcher in the rye, he wouldn't have to and he could prevent others from losing his/her innocence too.

Chapter Nine: Question 1

It is reemphasized that Holden doesn't have any friends or any family he can go to for support, or simply to talk to. He cannot talk to his brother because his brother is a big hot shot in Hollywood. He cannot talk to his little sister because she'd probably be in bed. He cannot talk to his parents yet. Then, he thinks about calling Jane's parents but he didn't feel like it. He thinks about calling Sally Hayes or Carl Luce, two friends that he rarely even speaks to anymore.

Holden is a loner. He spends about twenty minutes trying to think of someone he could call and he can't think of ANYONE who would actually be nice to talk to. Holden has no friends and a poorly structured family and all he wants to do is have someone he can tell that he is in New York to. There isn't even one person he can say that to.

Chapter 7: Question 1

1. Why does Holden feel "rotten" and "lonesome" in this chapter?

          Holden feels rotten and lonesome in this chapter because he likes Jane so much and Stradlater might have given her the time. He wants to get girls like Stradlater does. He wants to be liked by girls, just like Stradlater is. He wants girls to notice him and want to be with him so he doesn't have to feel lonesome or rotten.

Also, when Holden goes to talk to Ackley after his fight with Stradlater, he is disappointed in the fact that Ackley doesn't even care that much; all he wants to do is sleep. All Holden wants is some friends- girls and boys- and to be liked and noticed. He feels rotten when nobody wants to be with him, which makes him feel like he's all alone.

Chapter Five #2

Despite his dislike for Ackley's behavoir, how does Holden demonstrate sympathy for him in this chapter?

Holden feels sorry for Ackley because Ackley is kind of a mess. Even though Ackley doesn't have stellar behavior, Holden understands. Ackley has sinus trouble, pimples, bad teeth, halitosis and gross fingernails and Holden knows that must be hard.

Also, Holden demonstrates sympathy for Ackley by inviting Ackley to go to the movies with him and Mal Brossard because he knows that Ackley never has anything to do on Saturday nights. He invites Ackley and feels sympathy for him because Ackley is a foil for Holden. He is just like Holden in the way that he doesn't have the friendliest personality and is a bit of an outcast. Meaning, Holden may be feeling sorry for himself.

Lexi: you have a very nice blog started! Thanks for being so creative with our class materials. Please remember to make each post at least two paragraphs?
Mr. Murphy

Chapter Four Question 1

Do the characters Mr. Spencer, Ackley and Stradlater strike you as believable people? Do Holden's observations of them seem accurate or inaccurate? What method does Salinger use for Holden's description of people?

              Holden is an untrustworthy narrator and although he may get the right idea or generalization about a character, he doesn't tell the whole truth about him/her or his/her situation. The descriptions of Mr. Spencer, Ackley and Stadlater are generally accurate, but Holden probably leaves out a lot of details about them. 

CITR question 2

The Catcher in the Rye Study Guide

Question 2:

Holden stops in to say good-bye to old Spencer; and as he sits there, he gets more and more upset. Why?

Holden gets more and more upset because as old Spencer is reading Holden's essay aloud to Holden, questioning Holden about why he gets kicked out of schools so often and asking Holden if he ever thinks about his future, Holden begins to think about the answers to all of old Spencer's questions deeply. Holden is obviously a very cynical boy who believes that nearly everyone is a phony and most things in life are dirty tricks. However, Holden is very, very lonely. He doesn't like to sit there and listen to a lecture about all of the bad things that Holden has done and everything he needs to improve on in the future. He wants people to miss him and like him instead of having people constantly kicking him out of schools and failing him, even if he flouts the rules because he doesn't believe in them.

Indian Camp

          My favorite story out of A Rose for Emily, Indian Camp and Hills Like White Elephants, is Indian Camp by Ernest Hemingway. I enjoyed this story the most because though it has hidden messages, it was easier to understand than A Rose for Emily or Hills Like White Elephants. The way the story is written is much more straightforward and clear. Also, I liked the plot in Indian Camp more than in the other stories. The story begins with a stronger introduction of the characters, a problem (the sick women) and a way to solve the problem and a resolution. The literary devices used in this story consist mainly of a lot of imagery, motifs, symbolism, foreshadowing and irony. I liked that there was a plot twist, or an example of irony, at the end of the story when the "father" of the baby kills himself. Another very important example of irony in this story is that the father on the upper bunk isn't actually the real father. The real father is Uncle George, which is why he is the one holding the woman still and staying beside her for the whole the time she is in labor. Additionally, cigars are mentioned a couple of times in the story; when they first arrive and Uncle George gives two Indians his cigars and second, when the "father" in the upper bunk is smoking one. In the beginning of the story, imagery is used to describe the land around Nick, Nick's father and Uncle George.
          Overall, I enjoyed this story because it is a great coming of age story that tells the story of not only a women in labor and conflict of the fact that her husband is not the father of her child, but also the relationship between a boy and his father. Nick watches his father preform a great medical procedure on the woman and asks many questions with a curious and open mind. I liked reading Indian Camp because of it is a clear, well written coming of age story that contains strong literary devices and an acceptable plot structure that is generally better than the structure in A Rose for Emily and Hills Like White Elephants.

        What would our world be like today without the knowledge of our past?
Ray Bradbury describes such a world in his famous novel, Fahrenheit
451. Mr. Bradbury uses fireman, Guy Montag, to show just how important
knowledge is in our society. In the beginning, Montag accepts the fact
that his job is to burn books and prevent his fellow citizens from
gaining too much knowledge. However, maybe what Montag is doing, is
wrong. Mr. Bradbury uses other characters, symbolism and theme to help with the understanding of how much we need knowledge of the past in order to achieve success.

First Post- Main Message in F451

         The power of knowledge is demonstrated frequently throughout
Fahrenheit 451. The story begins when Montag, a fireman who's job is
to burn books in order to prevent society from gaining knowledge,
finds that he doesn't understand the purpose behind burning books. He
questions why his knowledge must be limited. However, his friends and
family enjoy life as mindless, ignorant people who don't have the
craving to know more, like Montag.
      On the other hand, there is one exception, Clarisse, a seventeen year
old girl who's curious mind ends up getting her killed. Clarisse, like
Montag, loves looking into things with a deeper perspective and
gaining knowledge in order to discover more and build a better world.
Knowledge overpowers ignorance because without knowledge of the past,
how can one move forward? With only ignorance, nothing is achievable.