John Torres "Class Summary"

Throughout the class I learned a lot about different cultures and different periods through the text that we covered. The course also taught me to look at literature in a more analytical way. It was also interesting to read texts and compare them to very similar and different texts. The course concluded with student presentations. It was interesting to see how people took their own spin on the class and incorporated different things in their syllabus. It was also interesting to see how many students chose similar books to discuss in class. Many books often came up in different syllabuses. All-in-all I was satisfied with the structure of the class and was happy with what I got out of it.

John Torres "Sufi Poetry"

Sufi poetry can be characterized by the extensive use of love with symbolism and metaphors. Many of the poems also have interesting comparisons. The poems were easier to read and grasp than some of the poems we read in previous weeks. Also these poems were not as vulgar as other poetry styles dealing with more physical aspects of love. Sufi poetry was similar to the other poetry discussed in class and it was interesting to see how different cultures deal with similar topics such as love in this specific case.

John Torres "Catullus Poetry"

The poems were very strong filled with emotion. This is very similar to that of the Sappho poetry. The language was much more vulgar and straight forward. Many of the poems talk use sex as a metaphor. It is often referred to in a negative connotation and not brought up in a pleasurable way. The poems are mostly straight forward. The intentions are clearly brought up and explained. It is still interesting to see how gods are still used in the different context and are still vital parts of this literature. #48 is very interesting because it deals with kissing as opposed to sex and refers to the passion involved in making love.

Sapho, John Torres

These were very interesting poems. Mostly because it was interesting to see poetry from a woman's perspective. Most literature from this period and this area was completely different. This poetry opened up a different side of culture and shows that like today there were people who had different view points. The development of the theme in the poems was also interesting to see. From beginning to end it was interesting to see how the poems developed.

Othello, John Torres

Othello is one of my favorite works by Shakespeare. Iago is a very interesting character. He plays every other character like a fiddle to get what he wants out of them. He turns characters against each other by reading their emotions and playing off them. Hes committed to what he wants to do and achieving his goals of bringing Othello down. He is jealous of the fact that Othello is with Desdemona and Othello got the higher position in the army. Iago has the motto of keeping friends close and enemies closer. He befriends Othello say he can get close to him in an effort to bring him down.

Medea, John Torres

Medea was a very interesting tragedy. The main theme of the story was revenge. Medea's reasoning for killing her children was to get back at Jason. It was the only way that she felt she could justly get back at Jason. She didn't just want to destroy him but she wanted to destroy his children and his name. Medea's actions showed selfishness on her part because she took her anger out on her innocent children in an effort to get back at Jason.

John Torres "Genesis 6-9"

The Genesis chapters discuss God’s message to Noah. God wanted to start a new civilization around the Noah’s virtues. Chapter six states that God feels like there is too much corruption and violence in the world. Since God created the earth and all its creatures he feels that he has the power to destroy the earth and its foul creatures. When God sees how Noah is living a virtuous life he decides to use Noah almost as a model to help him re-create the world. This reminds me a lot of George Lucas’s Star Wars trilogies because both stories encompass a character that is used as a “savior”.

Questions to think about:
1. Did Noah abuse God’s trust in him?
2. What is the significance of lines 21-29 in ch.9? (Noah’s son uncovering him and seeing him naked)
3. Why is the gates of heaven opening before the rain comes significant?