DB 1&2

Montaigne cannot explain why he felt such a close affinity with his best friend, other than "He was he, and I was I." Yet this was clearly the defining relationship of his adulthood, far surpassing romance, marriage, family. He wrote: "If there is such a thing as a good marriage, it is because it resembles friendship rather than love."

If there is such a thing as a good marriage, it is because it resembles friendship rather than love.

Let's follow MdM's practice here and study ourselves.

What makes friendship so very important? Do you value friendship? What would our lives be like without friends? Do you make a good friend? (250 words)

2. Weekly Wiki

Students will choose a short excerpt / quote from one of the readings of that week, type it in, then add a short (150 words or so) explanation for your choice. Was your selection important because it:

· is an example of beautiful or striking language?

· exemplifies a particular theme or character?

· makes the reader think about something in a new way?

· reflects a particular aspect of French culture?

· was just something that you liked?

Try not to use the same quote that someone else already has; if you must, make sure that what you say about it is original.

For example:

"Whoever gets knowledge from God, science,

and a talent for speech, eloquence,

Shouldn't shut up or hide away;

No, that person should gladly display."  Marie de France

In the opening lines to the Prologue to the Lays, Marie de France is providing her readers with an explanation for writing these stories down.  This is a very common and traditional rhetorical move informing readers about the ethos or qualifications of the speaker.  In this case, Marie is claiming that she is knowledgeable and eloquent and that these gifts come from God and therefore should be used.  I think it goes further than that; Marie, like most women of her day,* would have been expected to "shut up" and "hide away" as a matter of course, since women's voices were not welcomed in the public sphere.  By opening her work in this way, she preempts criticism about the appropriateness of her authorship.

3. Reply another student’s work 75 words.

Heloise’s letter to Abelard makes it clear that, unlike Abelard, she has been spending a lot of time thinking about their romance. The letter was a little more difficult to read than the translation of Abelard’s “The Story of My Misfortunes”. If I’m understanding correctly, Heloise is bent out of shape because she found out that Abelard wrote to a friend of his, but hasn’t written to her since their separation. She writes him an epic length letter – part sappy, part needy, part threatening – in order to try to get him to write her back.

Heloise’s main argument seems to be that Abelard owes her. I suppose she’s right. Abelard deliberately sought to become her tutor so that he could take advantage of his access to her in order to seduce her. She ends up ruined and pregnant, spending the rest of her life as a nun. Then again, her uncle’s friends castrated Abelard and he ended up becoming a monk, so I would say they’re even.