While during the last week we learned the basis of what tragedy is, this week we learned how much sympathy impacts tragedy and dove into an example. To do this, we watched a TED Talk by Alain de Botton titled "A Gentler, Kinder Philosophy of Success", and read Oedipus Rex by Sophocles. Sympathy is an important element of tragedy. Alain de Botton stated "It would be insane to call Hamlet a loser. He is not a loser though he has lost." Sympathy allows the audience to connect with the characters and makes them seem more real in our minds as we feel emotions for them. This is why it would be crazy to call Hamlet a loser, we feel bad for his misfortunes. Sympathy makes what was once just a sad story, into a tragedy. The story of Oedipus the king is certainly one that makes its audience feel sympathy. Although Oedipus causes most of the misfortunes that befall him, he did it accidentally. Unknowingly he killed his father and married his mother, causing the town he ruled over, Thebes, to begin to fail. After he learned of the terrible deed he did, Oedipus stabbed his eyes and blinded himself. As the townspeople learned what he did, they quickly turned on him, making him feel completely alone. The sympathy in Oedipus Rex makes this story a tragedy. We feel bad for the loneliness Oedipus feels and the pain of his mistakes. http://leavingcertenglish.net/2011/04/tragic-hero/
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A well written essay includes not only facts but an explanation of how those facts support the main idea. In fact, the majority of an essay should be explanations. To show this concept, in class this week we read an essay that a student last year wrote during the AP Literature and Composition test, and focused on the different ways the author got their point across. First we read through the piece to become familiar with it. This particular essay had earned a perfect, allowing us to see what the instructors look for when they are grading the AP Literature and Composition essays. Then we learned what the different writing moves are, illustrating, authorizing, and extending. When an author uses illustrating, they list facts or literary tools that were used in the piece they had to analyze. Authorizing is direct quotes that were taken from from other pieces, and extending is describing the information that was used. After learning this, we used highlighters to distinguish the different writing moves in the essay. It soon became evident the main writing move this person used was extending. Directly after they said a quote or discussed a part of the poem they were analyzing they explained why they used that particular piece of information. As a result of this activity, I understand to a greater extent why it is important to extend on the information you use while writing. It allows the readers to see what your thought process was while writing and explains how that fact connected to their main idea. http://manoa.hawaii.edu/undergrad/learning/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/MAIN-IDEAS-AND-SUPPORTING.pdf |
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April 2017
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