African Poetry and French Poetry

Here are the links of the poems you are to discuss in class.

African Poetry:
Midnight encounter by
you are also to tackle Africa by Jacques Roumain
French Poetry:
Autumn
by Alphonse de Lamartine

just check it and see me if there would be anything you would like to clarify before our class.

Essay 1 (world Lit)

answer the question as concisely as you can.

If you would be placed in inferno, in what specific circle would you be placed? Why?

Iliad the Movie (TROY)

I always love the scene when Priam asked for Hector's body. It tells every viewer that a father will always be a father even if he appears to be very strict and hard on his children at times.

No man would ever bring himself to his knees except our parents, the most sacrificial people on earth whose sacrifices are always overlooked. Here is the scene between Priam and Achilles (this is downloaded from youtube) after viewing this, can you still tell yourself our father is not great?



And how about you, what was the movie scene that left an imprint in you?

On Faithfulness (Odyssey)

In the tumultuous years of modern life, we have always wanted someone who could stand by and for us. Someone who would respect and view us as partners and not just mere servants or the like. Most of us, if not all of us, look for that someone who would be true and faithful to us. But how do we define faithfulness? Is it the ability to resist any form of temptation? Or, it is the ability to bear in mind the existence of our significant other? Does the definition of the word change through time?

Odysseus is loyal as he puts it. He came to live with Circe and Kalypso. He had enjoyed his years of stay with these two women. Now, isn't loyalty and faithfulness tied with one another? If they are, can we then consider Odysseus to be faithful still to Penelope? If they are not, then what is the difference between loyalty and faithfulness?

Hector and Andromache (Iliad)

The love of Hector and Andromache is exemplary.It is a love that is both tested by time and space (the proximity of lovers who are very near each other yet thousand miles separated due to their duties in their country, Troy).It would have been so difficult to see a loved one fight for dear life and it might be so painful to fight for dear life while knowing your loved one is seeing your defeat. A haiku will be a good salutation to a love that is so true.

The Face who Lauched a Thousand Ships (Iliad)

Helen, the most beautiful of all women, has enjoyed the lavish attention of all powerful men of her time. She puts even the men of today caught in her enigmatic beauty. Even the women admire her stature and beauty--some have even wished they were Helen.

Once married, she is dearly loved by her husband Menelaus. But as the story goes, she left him for Paris, younger brother of Hector and the most beautiful of all the Trojan Princes. Now, aside from the promptings of the goddess, what else could have been Helen's reasons fro leaving Menelaus and deciding to be known as Helen of Troy?