Emily's Super Cool Blogs (try to enjoy!)

Write about something that you have not talked about in the Odyssey. In the book, The Odyssey, I thought it was very strange how the story gave so much detail of how Odysseus killed the suitors. I believe that this made Odysseus look very gruesome and not at all king like. In my opinion I don't believe that a king should act like how he did.  Not to mention the killing of the women was also very gruesome.  This might have been because it was so long ago (Not that it actually happened) and that we aren’t really supposed to put logic into our thoughts when reading this book.  I would have liked to see what happened to Odysseus if the fathers of the suitors didn’t have a spell of forgetness casted over them.

In Book 19, why do you think Odysseus is so harsh on Eurycleia after she recognized him? Eurycleia is Odysseus's old maid or caregiver. She knew him from his the beginning of his life. In book 19 I too had the question of why Odysseus was so harsh on her.  I believed that he was harsh on her because Penelope was in the room when the maid was washing Odysseus.  Odysseus didn’t want Penelope to figure out that he was himself rather than a swineherd. I don’t understand why he took her by the throat when she has been nothing but kind to him. Odysseus didn’t know that Penelope was shielded from knowing who he was by the gods, which might have been the cause of his abruption towards Eurycleia.

Find three examples of formulaic language (include them here) and explain how you think these might have been helpful when singing or speaking the Odyssey in the oral tradition. Throughout the book, Odyssey, there are many examples of formulaic language. Three examples that I saw were; godlike Odysseus, Athena the Grey-eyed One, and red-haired Menelaus.  The reason for formulaic language in this book is to remind the reader who the character is. In the Odyssey, there are so many characters and the formulaic language helps people remember who that character is. Formulaic language gives imagery as well. I think that formulaic language can help people when singing the Odyssey because of how long it is and would be to sing it. It emphasizes the character's role and in general, who the are.

Prompt: In the first four books, we are also introduced to Telemachus' mother and Odysseus' wife, Penelope. Using textual evidence, discuss her role in the story so far.      In the first four books Penelope, Odysseus’ wife is introduced to the audience. Throughout the book Penelope is very sad and depressed due to her missing husband. On page 66 the book states, “So the old nurse soothed Penelope's grief and let her eyes dry.” This quote means that she is sad throughout the first 4 books. I feel like Penelope was a character who was a motivation to many of the people in the book. Telemachus’ motivation to find his dad was driven by the Gods as well as the motivation to keep his travels secret from people was partially because he was trying to prevent his mother from becoming more sad. The suitor’s motivation to stay at Odysseus’ house is clearly that all of them want to marry Penelope.  They also enjoy using Odysseus's resources instead of their own. The reason w...

Prompt:  Write about anything having to do with the book that interested about which you did not get to write or discuss yet. In the book, Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass, I found it interesting that all of the overseers had a last name that related to something bad. For instance Mr. Severe and Mr. Gore. When Douglass was held as a slave by these overseers his life wasn't very good. I find it interesting that most of the bad overseers had a name that related to something bad. When Mr. Severe died he was replaced with another overseer. The book says that the new overseer was a good overseer (not that any overseer is actually good but he was better than Mr. Severe).  His name didn't relate to something bad. His name was Mr. Hopkins and he was considered a good overseer because he didn't take pleasure in whipping the slaves.

Prompt: In the autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, how is education related to human freedom? Education is related to human freedom because in the autobiography being educated is like having human freedom.  If you were educated back then you were technically considered a human. The black people were not educated because the white people didn't want them to have knowledge of what was happening in the world. If they had education they would feel like they are worth something more than what they are doing as a slave. The slaves would try to escape. Once a slave learns how to read or be educated they can know what's going on and can find a way out of slavery/be free, due to their knowledge. Education is related to human freedom because without education you wouldn't be considered a human and you couldn't have human rights.

Prompt: What is a human right, and how were Frederick Douglass' human rights violated? Provide examples from the book. A human right is a right that is a permanent essential to all humans. Frederick Douglass’ human rights were violated. The main human right that was violated was that he was a slave. Slavery goes against human rights. In the book there are so many examples of torture one of them being “Upon this he rushed at me with the fierceness of a trigger, tore off my clothes, and lashed me till he had worn out his switches, cutting me so savagely as to leave the marks visible for a long time after.” This was just one example of torture which is also a violation of human rights. Douglass was also deprived of education and it is a right to receive education. Douglass was actually able to take grasp of a learning opportunity but he wasn’t actually allowed to be receiving the lessons which makes it a violation to human rights because he should have a choice to be able to learn. ...

Prompt:  In chapter 5, Douglass writes, "I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather to be false, and incur my own abhorrence." What do you think this means, and do you feel the same way about yourself? Please explain your answer.         The quote by Fredrick Douglass, "I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, that to be false, and insur my own abhorrence." means, to me that you should be true to yourself, even if people make fun of you and or judge you, rather than being false to yourself because you will only have hatred for being false to yourself.  In this autobiography, Douglass states that when he was chosen to go work in Baltimore it was because he was blessed by a God of some sort. He also said that people might have judged him for being superstitious or egotistical.  When Douglass said " I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurr...

After visiting the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, write about how the piece that you chose to take a photo of represents the characteristics of the era that you chose to study for your sub-genre reader. The painting that I took a picture of was done by Jean-Baptiste Le Prince and was titled, The Tartar Camp. The painting represents characteristics of romanticism because the painting was of nature and it was quite dark. Something in the painting that I noticed was that there was one light aspect in it. Romanticism art focused on the contrast between light and dark. The light was shining on the people in the picture. I think that the light was focused on the people in the painting to show the mood and to draw attention to them.  In the picture, the people were tired and the artist who painted the picture was also tired due to a large trip to Italy and Holland.  Paintings in the romantic era were focused on mood, feeling, emotion, nature and landscape.    ...

Prompt: Discuss the use of sound devices (alliteration, consonance, assonance, rhyming) in one of the poems in your sub-genre reader. How does the author use these elements to create meaning?  Please include the poem as part of your response. In the poem "A Poison Tree" from the Romanticism era, there is a lot of examples of rhyming.  The rhyme scheme was AABB stanza (4 times). The poem seemed very happy because of the rhyming. It seemed like a happy poem but it was actually the poem was quite dark.  I think that the author used the rhyming to make the poem seem happy but when you read it again you realize it is about a man being poisoned under a tree.  I also think the poem was written in a joyful way because during the poem the main character was resenting the man that was poisoned.  In the last line he/she says that his/her friend was glad to see the friend poisoned.  I was angry with my friend;  (A) I told my wrath, my wrath did end...

Choose one of the poems that we have studied in your reader, and analyze the title. How does the title relate to the rest of the poem, and how does it create meaning? Provide examples from the poem to support your claims. In "This Is Just To Say" the poem there are 3 stanzas with 4 lines in each one.  In the poem a person tells another person that he or she has eaten their plums. The person says that they have eaten the other persons plums, but seems to not be very sorry. I think that the title is a bit sarcastic. If the person who ate the plums didn't feel that bad about the plums, then I think that the title is saying, "sorry I ate your plums that were so delicious, I just wanted you to know I ate them." Also when the author says "forgive me they were delicious so sweet and so cold" it gives me the sense that the person isn't very sorry and is rubbing in the point that he or she ate the plums. 

Kusama Exhibit          The Kusama Exhibit was very amazing. I have seen so many pictures on Instagram and snapchat and the exhibit looked so big.  When I arrived I saw two small white boxes (ones that humans can actually fit in). I realized that that was the exhibit. When I entered the colerful box I felt very amused. In the box there were mirrors and blow up figures that looked like tentecals. They had polka dots on them which really made the room interesting. My mind was out of control and it was screaming with vibrant colors. It made me very happy and I felt like my life was never going to end.  When I exited the room all of the colors were dull and boring. The next room I went in was the light room. It had lights hanging from the top of the box. They gave me a warm feeling inside and all of energy from the previous room faded away. There was a fresh smell in that room due to the water surrounding the platform that we were in. I have never fel...

Emily Routbort Dr. Lee IHSS 9/14/16 Kunana     A Tribe called, Roucouyenne, created the Kunana. It is a shield that has turned into a ritual for another group called the, Wayana Apalai.  The shield is made out of woven straw and bird feathers.  The shield is shaped in the form of some type of mythical animal. In the middle of the shield there is an open patch of straw without feathers.  The Wayana Apalai gather bullet ants to put on the open patch.  First they smoke out the ants, making them not able to really move. Then they will attach the the ants to the open patch and when they “wake up” they will be quite angry. In the tribe the boys first live in the women's house.  To get out of it and move to the men’s house they have to go through the ritual.  The ritual is putting the shield on their body with the bullet ants on it.  They have to be able to stay still and not make a sound during this process. If they do make a sound of move ...

ELA Blog- Emily Routbort Q: What is the difference between the speaker of the poem and the poet, and why is it important to understand this distinction?     The difference between the speaker of the poem and the poet is that the speaker is just speaking the poem. The poet is the one who completely understands the poem. The speaker is the one who can interpret the poem the way they want to. It is important to understand this distinction because the speaker could be confused as the poet and the speaker wouldn’t be able to answer question that are completely right.  Rather than giving the correct information the speaker would just be giving there own opinion.  The poet is the person who has the most accurate answers to the poem that is written by him or herself.