reflection

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The English 200 course has been an eye opening informative journey that has helped me gain a better understanding of Classical and Medieval Literature. It has introduced me to themes and symbols that I had originally either ignored or did not understand. I had never had any experience with classical literature, which why I was initially afraid of approaching the course and was skeptical of undertaking 5 books within the span of just 10 weeks. Soon I grew to like the way ideas were presented in these epic poem and learning about the different cultures that existed during that time made it interesting to continue my reading.

The Odyssey was the first poem we looked at in the first few weeks of the course. Reading Odysseus in the first week while learning cultural concepts at the same time helped me understand the values of the poem and see how these characters represent each respective value. In the first weeks discussion post (“Thread One, Discussion Forum Week one”), we were asked to explore the cultural concepts we learnt in class and see how Telemachus learns about these concepts and how they alter his identity as a whole. The discussion posts not only helped understand the themes and ideas of the poems but also allowed me to see what my peers though about these concepts. In week 1 we were also tasked with analyzing Zeus’ quote in the page entitled “House of Aretus: Curse and Genealogy” (“Thread two, Discussion Forum Week one”).

, which upon initial reading, I was confused did not fully understand it. But with the help of

explanation from my peers in the discussion posts, I was able to gain a better understanding of the quote. The Odyssey still remains one of my favorite books simply because of Odysseus’ journey and all the challenges he went through. The theme of Heroism was prevalent in the poem and I especially liked the scene in which Penelope challenges the suitors to string and fire Odysseus’ bow. In week three, we were asked to analyze the significance of this scene, very simply put Penelope knew the heroic accomplishments of Odysseus and she knew he was the only one who could string his bow (“Thread two, Discussion Forum Week three”). The value of heroism carried on later when Odysseus has the courage to fight against the suitors for his position while Antonius has his suitors do the fighting for him.

In the next few weeks, we looked at Agamemnon by Aeschylus. Right of the bat, I noticed how Aeschylus makes good use of images and figures of speech in his poem. The discussion post allowed me to better explore his use of metaphors and similes. “Like vultures robbed of their young” in particular was one of the metaphors I noticed in my discussion post (“Thread One, Discussion Forum Week four”). I signified how Agamemnon loses his kingdom (his child in a sense) when he is killed by his traitorous wife. I also noticed that the all of the figures of speech had negative connotations associated with them as they all symbolized doom and gloom; which makes sense as the central theme of the poem was revenge. Continuing to read on I noticed how Aeschylus makes it a point to show how the how the house of Aretus is cursed with a cycle of revenge. The discussion post in week 5 allowed us to study how Aeschylus uses imagery to connect to the cycle of revenge (“Thread One, Discussion Forum Week five”). “Flushing on the blood of men, their spirit grows, and none can turn away…” the quote seems to suggest that all life comes from death and the cycle of revenge would never end. Reading Agamemnon was an interesting contrast from the Odyssey. In the Odyssey, we see Odysseus succeed in several

difficult and challenging circumstances in order to reach his kingdom and his family and in Agamemnon, we find the king returning home after safely returning from Troy only to be killed by his own wife for murdering his own daughter. I think the clear difference was that Agamemnon was a more effective leader than a father as he was able to sacrifice his own daughter in order to gain favorable winds to reach Troy.

Reading the Aneied I gained a different perspective of the Trojan War. On one side we find the victorious Greeks who successfully invade Troy and on the other we see the defeated Trojans that have the goal of setting up a new life. The discussion post in week 6 allowed us to closely analyze and compare Odysseus and Aeneas (“Thread One, Discussion Forum Week six”).

Aeneas, unlike Odysseus and Agamemnon who return home, flees his home. Understanding the difference between the two allowed me to better understand Aeneas’s role in the Aneied. We also see the continuing theme of Heroism presented by Virgil. Aeneas as a hero of Troy is tasked with finding a new home for his people. In week seven we were asked to compare the shield of Achilles with the Shield of Aeneas, this helped us understand the difference between how heroism was represented in the Greek and Trojan culture (“Thread One, Discussion Forum Week seven”). I learnt that in the Aneied, Virgil makes it a point to say that human emotions drive character in the Aneied; especially in the fight between Aeneas and Turnus as it is the rage that drives Aeneas throughout the fight.

Week eight of the course introduced us to Beowulf and in a way gave us a break from classical literature as we read about Danish medieval literature. We continue to see the prevalent theme of Heroism in Beowulf as the main protagonist continues to challenge him and test his might.

Beowulf was certainly an interesting read as it introduced us to battle between men and monsters instead of men against men. This fictional element was what attracted me to Beowulf. In my

Notebook entry for week eight, I closely analyzed Beowulf’s fight with Grendel, first monster Beowulf challenged (“Notebook entry Week Eight”). Beowulf wanted to fight the monster without any armour or weapons since he was not a man of war, didn’t know how to use weapons and generally he wanted it to be a fair fight. In the following week, my notebook entry focused on how Beowulf now an old king, still performs acts of heroism as he takes on a Dragon in his last battle to save his kingdom. I can see how the story of Beowulf would entertain the folk at the time. The story of Beowulf was a complete journey of his from his youthful day of fighting monsters to his last days as king.

Reading Dante’s Inferno in the last few weeks took me on an eye opening journey through hell. Dante’s depiction of the 9 circles of hell was quite interesting and went against most of what I believed hell to be. Dante’s meeting with the three animals that represented symbols of sin was great imagery in that it created good physical representations of sin. Besides the animals, Dante also used other imagery to convey sin saw in our discussion post for week 9(“Thread two, Discussion Forum Week Nine”). He uses hurricanes represent lust and slime to represent greed and reckless spenders. The imagery of the 9 circles of hell differed from each circle in that each circle was associated with a particular sin. A big part of the Inferno is the visual aspect that Dante puts through in the form of imagery. By far my favorite discussion post was the one in week 11 which involved associating modern sinners with a particular circle of hell. I found this exercise fun to do and it also allowed me to know each circle better.

In conclusion, the English 200 course has been very beneficial to me and has altered my way of looking that themes and symbols presented in books. The notebook entries helped me analyze my writing and add a personal aspect to it. Relating some of these poems to my own life has helped me better understand each characters situation in their story. The notebook entries also

allowed me to keep track of my writing and see how I have grown as a writer. The weekly discussion posts helped me stay on track with my reading and also helped me learn to look the stories from a different perspective with the help of the comment section. Finally, I’d like to thank Professor Rondolone for taking me on this journey and introducing me to the different cultural concepts in each of the books.

Works Cited

“Weekly Discussion Posts.” English 200. Professor Rondolone, Drexel, Web “Notebook entries.” English 200. Professor Rondolone, Drexel, Web