Archetypal Photograph

Hello All,

For Wednesday, read "Do Aliens Need Captions?" and post a photograph you feel should be included as one of The Last Pictures.  This photograph could be one that you've taken or one that you feel is particularly emblematic.

Here's one I'd include . . .

Ariadne's Clue, 3-60

Hello All,

For these pages of Ariadne's Clue, find (and post to your blog) three quotes you find interesting/insightful and one quote you find confusing.

Fall 2012

Hello All,

Your first assignment is to create your individual blog and then send me your blog's URL (web address) so that I can make a master list of student blogs.  We will discuss this in more detail on the first day of class, so if you are confused, you can wait until then.

Hello All,

For Friday's blog, choose a film you would like to analyze for our second essay, and brainstorm the ways in which it uses the ideas Eliade details in The Myth of the Eternal Return:

Celestial Archetypes

Symbolism of the Center

Road to the Center

Profane/Sacred Time and Space

Abolition of Past Time

Restoration of Primordial Chaos (Invasion of the Dead, Sexual Excess/Chaos, Abolition of Norms/Overturning of Values, Indeterminate Unity)

Repetition of the Cosmogonic Act (Motifs of Renewal: fire, ritual combat, erotic elements)

Hello All,

For this blog, explain how the film The Fountain uses one of the concepts from Eliade's Myth of the Eternal Return.


Celestial Archetypes: Shibalba, the tree of life, the ring, the dagger (with its holes/map), the blood

Symbolism of the Center: the tree, Shibalba, the queen, Spain, the lab, the temple, the book

Road to the Center: the lab (with Donovan and the tests and finding the cure), the funeral (the road to death), the voyage in the bubble to Shibalba, the book (finish it!) 

Profane/Sacred Time and Space: Sacred: the tree, the temple, outer space; Profane: the daily routine (the lab?, the scenes in the home?), walking on the street, the field/gravesite

Abolition of Past Time: the book (makes him experience its actions when he's asleep); the scenes at the temple; the scenes with the queen, the scenes in outer space

Restoration of Primordial Chaos: Drinking the tree's sap, he became a plant; the tree was his wife; the flying/floating in outer space; the plots (and times) of the film collapse and blend (and confuse);

Repetition of the Cosmogonic Act: Donovan's cure, the final scenes with Shibalba, the tree coming back to life, the seed being planted, the conquistador's death/life: Death becomes life.

Regeneration of Time

Hello All,

For this post, explain how the music video for Lambchop's song "Is a Woman" uses one concept from Eliade's Myth of the Eternal Return.  Use at least one quote from Eliade in your explanation.

Those concepts include

Celestial Archetypes
Symbolism of the Center
Road to the Center
Profane/Sacred Time and Space
Abolition of Past Time
Restoration of Primordial Chaos
Repetition of the Cosmogonic Act

Ariadne's Clue, pages 3-35

Hello All,

We will discuss the first 35 pages of Anthony Stevens's Ariadne's Clue on Monday.  For the weekend blog, find two quotes:

1.  Which quote do you think is especially interesting?  Why?
2.  Which quote do you think is especially confusing? Why?

Answer those questions on your blog; we'll work through those confusing passages together as a class on Monday.

Enjoy your weekend!

Describe !

Hello All,

For the first post on your blog, describe one object in your home/apartment/car. 

This description should be one paragraph long, should exhibit syntax variety (simple, compound, complex, compound-complex sentences), and should combine both literal and figurative details.

Archetypes and Repetition

Hello All,

Explain the celestial model behind your name.

Improvements

Welcome to English 310! 

Based on your responses, here are the areas of writing you wish to improve:

critical thinking and analysis, spelling and grammar, writing quickly (in-class essays), avoiding repetition, being concise, clarity, structure, making writing come more easily, being more descriptive, writing thesis statements, revising, summarizing, getting ideas down on the paper, developing main ideas, making the writing flow, writing introductions, using vocabulary effectively, using a more sholarly mode of communication.

The good news is that we will work on each of these areas throughout the quarter.

There is no bad news.

Take care!

Final Essay

Hello All,

For this post, describe the following areas as they relate to your final essay.  You may change your minds at any time; this is just to let me know we are all on topic.

1.  What department/program/club/event are you using as your focus?  Who is your audience?  The more specific you can make your audience, the more effective your essay will be.
2.  On what advertising form/medium will your essay focus?  A poster?  A website?  A flier?  A commercial?
3.  What are the strengths/weaknesses of the current advertisement?
4.  Which symbols/archetypes are you proposing the department/program emphasize?

Marketing and Advertising

Hello All,

For this post, watch the two Chipotle videos (Back to the Start and Abandoned), and answer the following questions:

1.  What message is the advertisement trying to portray?  What emotions/concepts does the advertisement give Chipotle?
2.  What symbols and archetypes does the advertisement use to portray that message?

October 31: Primordial Chaos

Hello All,

Describe the most memorable example you see this weekend of Eliade's concept of Primordial Chaos.

Have fun!

Film Analysis

Hello All,

As we discussed in class, our readings present archetypes in three different contexts:

In Ariadne's Clue, Anthony Stevens divides and classifies archetypal objects and images;
In The Myth of the Eternal Return, Mircea Eliade analyzes specific archetypal processes;
In The Hero and the Outlaw, Margaret Mark and Carol Pearson divide and classify archetypal personas.

For The Myth of the Eternal Return, the following archetypal concepts have the most relevance for your film analysis:

Celestial Models
Profane/Sacred Time and Space
Symbolism of the Center
Road to the Center
Regeneration of Time (which is comprised of the following steps...)
Abolition of Past Time (of profane time and space)
Restoration of Primordial Chaos
Repetition of Cosmogonic Act

The introduction to this essay is due Friday.  For this blog entry, list the film you plan on analyzing as well as the symbols/archetypes (choose two to four different examples) on which you plan to focus.

Sunshine

For this post, analyze one name from the film Sunshine. 

1.  What is its etymology (its word history)?  What does the word mean?
2.  Are there any mythological figures with the same name?  Are there any historical figures with the same name?
3.  Why is this name apt for this character?

Icarus
Capa (or Kappa)
Cassandra
Corazaon
Mace
Kaneda
Searle
Harvey
Trey
Pinbacker (or pin-backer)

Archetypes and Repetition / Regeneration of Time

Hello All,

For this post, watch the video for Lambchop's "Is a Woman," and then explain how the video (not the song) exemplifies one of Eliade's concepts from The Myth of the Eternal Return.

Post for October 17

Hello All,

For this post, research and explain the history (both personal and etymological) behind your name.

For example, "Matthew" comes from the Hebrew  Mattathyah meaning "gift of Jehovah," and Matthew was one of the 12 apostles in the Bible and wrote the first book of the New Testament.

I wasn't named after any relative, but apparently, my father was inspired by the character of Marshal Matt Dillon from the television western Gunsmoke.

Those are the "celestial models" behind my first name.

Body Paragraph

Hello All,

Post one of your excellent body paragraphs (for the Song Analysis Essay) here!

Song Analysis

Hello All,

Post your song analysis thesis here!

Post for Friday, 9/23

Hello All,

As we discussed in class on Wednesday, the thesis for the in-class essays must make your position clear, and it should carry with it implied (or explicit) reasons for support.

For this post, craft a thesis statement you could use if you were writing an essay in response to the following quote:

"Government is an unnecessary evil. Human beings, when accustomed to taking responsibility for their own behavior, can cooperate on a basis of mutual trust and helpfulness."

      --Fred Woodworth