Scenes 1-4 & Air and Angels

Connecting these two pieces was not easy, but I feel though both related to love. I sensed that the characters in the first four scenes of Angels in America and the speaker in Air and Angels, do not have a full grasp on love or how to project it in the way they desire. The characters especially in Angels in America seem as though they are not fully comfortable with their relationships and shared mixed feelings. Additionally, I feel as though love is going to become connected to the spirtual world, which will help these characters to express the feelings they truly desire.

The Grand Inquisitor & Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

My connection between these two readings includes redemption. From the Grand Inquistor, I was led to understand by the Inquistor that the freedom God has provided us with keeps us from redemption. The Inquisitor implies that we are unable to handle the freedoms given to us and as a result hold us back from redemption, which causes as to suffer. However, Edwards believes their is a method of redemption and proposes we follow his method to escape the horrifying effects of sin.

The Grand Inquistor & The Breaking of Nations

I could not find a clear connection between both pieces, but have found a similarity between the two. In the Inquistor he speaks about the three temptations that the Devil put Jesus through, where he rejected the Devil in favor of God, just as Hardy divided his poem into three sections. Additionally, I feel as though both pieces suggest that people can overcome the temptations of the Devil or even hardships of society and war through their own personal freedom. God has given us Free Will, and it is through that freedom that we choose which course we wish to prevail upon.

Sermo Lupi ad Anglos &The Second Coming

In reviewing both readings I believe that I may have been able to indirectly connect them through God. Though Yeats does not directly imply that God is discussed in The Second Coming, I sensed that God is represented through the falconer. Just like the falcon, the people in Sermo Lupi are pushing themselves further and further from God or the "falconer". God released us into the world like the falconer released the falcon, and our sins or wrongdoings are bringing trouble into the world and turning us away from God. As a punishment for their sins, these people have endured troubles back at them for what they have done and a revelation is needed to save them. In Sermo lupi, the sermon declares that they people must change and follow God, but I believe that The Second Coming reveals that Jesus is their revelation. It wasn't until the end where Yeats mentions Bethlehem that I made this discovery and realized that this "second coming" was going to the save the people from their sins.

Assignment #7

I was able to find a direct connection between Beowulf and the Yeats in Easter 1916. This connection is sacrifice for the protection of their people. Through this time of battle, these warrior sacrifice their lives to evoke change on their people and land. This bravery amongst these warriors established identity through the sacrifice made. These men, alothough from different times or places, are connected by their reluctance to die for their people: a true sacrifice.

Assignment #6

In reading lines 2200-2723 of Beowulf and The Negro Digs Up His Past, I am filled with a morunful feeling. In the beginning of these lines in Beowulf, we read of the last member of his group. He explains how he buries the treasure because there is no use for it in this lonely state he finds himself in. The burying of the treasure is a symbol of burying his past for me, and hence moving on with the future. I believe that Schomburg tries to deliver the same message through the story of slavery. The African-Americans must bury their past of the future in order to be willing to move forward with the future. By burying the past, both people from these pieces are leaving the defeat of their people behind and striving ahead in their honor.

In Class Assignment

In recent passages of Beowulf, I have come to an understanding that women hold the sexual desire for men. These women are able to control their own sexuality until they married. However, even through marriage women still maintain erotic power. Before marriage to the king, Modthryth holds a sense of fear and desire toward these men that she attracts. Modthryth seems quite strong in defending her sexuality until her sexuality becomes her partner’s. In chapter 3 of Dracula, the women vampires play a part in the sexual aggressors as well. The three women hold a desire for Jonathan as he’s terror is mixed with feelings of lust. Women are of course a sexual desire for men and unknowingly hold the erotic power to control their sexuality.

Assignment #5

Queens Wealtheow and Hygd

I am most intrigued by the women's role that the queens play in Beowulf. I admire both Wealtheow and Hygd for being devoted women to their kings and the way they present themselves to others. They both represent a positive behavior for women (minus the bedmate topic-that though was funny, I still did not like) and show that women too can have a honorable status in society. Further, I have come to realize that both lands are mainly male-dominant, where they are violent because they seek to gain respect. However, I enjoy the fact that these queens and even women of today act as the peace bearers between men. These are connections that I'm sure many women can relate to because it is usually their job to calm down the men and seek peace.

Assignment #4

After class on Wednesday, I was happy to leave class with a much better understanding of the previous lines. I believe that going over the readings as we did in class allows me to better interpret parts of the story I might misinterpret or not understand. The explanation about Wealtheow was reasonably helpful to me and I was able to get a sense of her role in the poem. I admire her as a queen until she was referred as a bedmate. Before calling her by that, readers had a remarkable image of the queen and the duties she performed. Once she was referred to in the story as a bedmate, I felt as though it degraded her position as queen and made her seem as her duty as a queen was to pleasure Hrothgar. Additionally, this part of the story led me to believe that Hrothgar isn't the best king a well. This is because he rather fulfill his sexual desires than worry about the protection of his people. This part of the story had a negative effect on me.