Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Personal Reflection

I have thoroughly enjoyed my humanities class this semester. Not only because it gave me the opportunity to read things I would not have otherwise read for myself, but it piqued my interest to the point where I would like to read some of the works we read in part in class in their entirety. Having been raised by an English teacher, I have a thorough appreciation for literature and the literature portion of this class reiterated that point even more. I also enjoyed learning new pieces of art as well as ones that most people are already familiar and the culture around which they were created.


What I didn’t like about the class was that it was definitely three classes all rolled into one. While that wouldn’t normally be a bad thing, the fact that we have this class we are getting 4 hours credit for and doing the work for roughly 8 hours credit was a bit overwhelming at times. I also didn’t feel that the professors in the course worked well together in tying each of the three aspects of the course together to make a clear connection between the them. For both the midterm and the final we are asked to write two essays tying the literature, art, and music together within the cultures using the concepts, but there was never a clear connection made in class. The literature portion, which was by far the best, was the only section of the class that thoroughly discussed the concepts and their relevance to the literature. The other two did not even mention the concepts or make any connection to each other or the literature.

Hindsight is always 20/20 and in looking back at my performance in this class, I did not put forth the effort that I A) intended to put forth and B) was required by the course. There is no doubt that my grade will reflect that- I just hope that I pass! I will be taking Humn 2002 in the fall (with you) and now that I have this insight into the course and understand a little better how things work, I will be better prepared for higher success in my next humanities course.



Word Count: 370

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Blog 9 Understanding of the Upcoming IDEE

Yes, I understand that the format for the essay has changed, and I understand the format itself. Personally, this will make my essay-writing a lot easier and smoother. I had difficulty applying multiple concepts to two different cultures within 3 categories: art, literature, and music. The fact that this essay is in a more traditional format will make things much better.


Yes, I do have a general understanding of how and why these cultures and periods are different and alike, but I will need to look at them more closely in order to fully make a decision on which 2 cultures I will write.

For the themes, again, I will have to look at the cultures more closely in order to make a firm decision on which theme I will choose to tie into these cultures/periods. I do, however, like that we are now able to choose our own themes.

I am in no way prepared for this upcoming IDEE, so I will now write on my plan to prepare myself.

First of all, I need to print out and study carefully the slides for the literature portion of the cultures. Not only do I need to develop a firm grasp on the concepts, but I also need to be able to look at the texts and make clear connections between the concepts and the events taking place in the reading. Next, in reference to the literature, I need to read through the texts more closely now that we have discussed them in class and apply what has been said to what I am reading. Once I have done this, I can narrow down the two cultures on which I would like to write and start coming up with a theme for each or one that will apply to both.

Next, for the art and music, I need to look over my class notes and print off the relevant music slides so that I can apply the concepts and the theme to the pieces on which I am supposed to write.



Word Count: 341

Friday, March 18, 2011

I was trying to wait for my midterm.... Blog 7

I was trying to hold off until I got my midterm exam back, but that would mean this blog would be really late. So, I am going to write about my midterm and how I feel it compared to those we looked over in class, as well as what I learned from the essays we looked at in class and how I am preparing for the final exam.


My paper earned a D, which I thought was somewhat surprising. I didn’t expect an A, or even a B, but I was hoping for a low C. Without looking at my exam and being able to analyze it after the fact, it’s hard to decide if I believe I truly earned that D, or if I still feel like I did better. In looking over the essays in class, I didn’t necessarily feel like any of those essays were bad, but they were simple. It appeared to me that they just basically explained the cultures and their concepts. There wasn’t a lot of tying those cultures and concepts into the themes, and in some of the essays, a clear thesis was not stated. For my essay, I feel like I had a clearly stated thesis and tied the concepts in with the theme and my thesis. Now, for me, it was easier to do this with the literature. It was very simple to pull examples from the literature and attach them to the theme I had chosen, and apply the concepts to those examples. The art and music were a little bit harder. Honestly, I was really struggling to apply my theme and the concepts to those two aspects of the cultures. For this reason, I knew my grade would not be exceptional, but I still didn’t expect a D.

Looking over the essays of my peers was very helpful. It really helped me get a better grasp on what was expected of me for the final essay exam. In preparation for the final, I feel like I am better able to prepare myself mentally for the exam because I have a better understanding of what the professors are looking for and what is being asked of me. I have gotten my notebook organized and looking over the concepts before the readings, I am better able to pull out those concepts and tie them into the readings as opposed to trying to make the concepts fit into the readings. This will prove very beneficial to me for the final because I won’t have to work so hard to make things fit. Instead, I actually see why and how they fit.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Mosque: Islamic Society of Augusta

In visiting the Islamic Mosque yesterday, I learned a great deal about the Islamic faith. Since 9/11, there have been many negative connotations around the word “Muslim.” I was even taught, before 9/11 ever happened, that Muslims were raised to hate Christians. At the Mosque, I learned something completely different.


The Imam taught us about the different kinds of Muslims. The first are the Muslims who are Muslims simply because they were born that way. They don’t have any concept of Mohammed, they have never read the Qur’an, and they are not familiar with the 5 Pillars. If you were to ask them anything of the Islamic faith, they would not be able to answer.

The second kind of Muslim is the practicing Muslim. These Muslims practice the Islamic faith, but they are not full believers. They don’t truly believe in the prophet Mohammed, they don’t take the Qur’an to heart, and they don’t practice the 5 Pillars. They practice Islam, but they don’t fully believe.

The third kind of Muslim is the Faithful Believer. These Muslims practice the 5 Pillars:

1. One God only. Mohammed is the messenger.

2. 5 Prayers a day: dawn, noon, afternoon, sunset, evening

3. Fast one month of the year based on the lunar calendar. No food or drink from dawn until sunset.

4. Pay charity: 2 1/2 % of their savings, not income.

5. Pilgrimage to Mecca

Faithful Muslims also believe in the following 6 things:

1. Oneness of God

2. Belief in angels of God

3. All prophets and messengers: Mohammed, Abraham, etc

4. All 3: Qur’an, Torah, Bible

5. Everything is under the control of God. There are no accidents or coincidences- Hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis- all under God’s control.

6. Judgment Day, Resurrection: Paradise or Hell Fire

The Imam also spoke about the differences of Muslims vs. other faiths. Muslims believe that God wants everyone to be on the same level, that all may know each other despite their differences. Differences don’t have to make everyone enemies.

He also spoke of the reason a woman must cover her head. They practice this because it says in the Qur’an that a woman must cover her hair, and one who chooses not to cover her hair must shave it off. Women are not required to cover their hair, but not doing so will be between her and God on judgment day. In addition to women covering their heads, the men are encouraged to wear a beard. Again, he is not required to do so, but it is strongly encouraged.

Word Count: 426

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

I'm Definitely Panicking!!! Blog 5

This test coming up on Friday has me stressed out enough, but when I think about the upcoming interdisciplinary essay, I question why I wanted to come back to school. Whose idea was this? Seriously though, I don’t feel like I completely understand what is expected of me as far as writing the essay goes. Establishing a thesis, answering a question, comparing cultures, tying all of this in with the music and the art, etc. I am honestly lost! I understand that doing all of the blog prompts and reading questions and music analysis is all to prepare us for the analysis of the material as a whole, but I can’t help but wonder why we couldn’t just have a multiple choice test and listen to the music clip and have to identify it with a culture. I really like this class, but at the same time, I hate it.


On a different note, I really do like this class. I don’t have a lot of appreciation for music, I mean, I like Pitbull and Lady Gaga, so there’s not a whole lot to appreciate other than a catchy tune, but I am learning to appreciate music a little more thanks to this class. I will say that while I am whining about what is expected of us as far as the interdisciplinary essay is concerned, I am actually learning to appreciate the music and art in relation to the literature and the time period. For example, today we learned that the Romans used music to express power and intimidation, and I could totally see how they achieved that. Relating that concept to that of the Star Wars theme songs helped me to identity these expressions of power and intimidation even more. Listening to the clips today, I wasn’t intimidated by the music but I think that was 1. Because it wasn’t meant to intimidate me and 2. Because I knew that. I knew there weren’t any Roman soldiers and musicians waiting outside out building waiting to take over our lives but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t able to put my head into a mindset to understand the possibility of power and intimidation.

Word Count: 363

Judaism- Synagogue

When I am learning about different religions and different cultures, I try to be open-minded because I understand that my religion and culture is probably very different and hard to understand to people of a different faith or culture. Going into the Synagogue, I had a very vague idea of what the Jewish faith was, but I didn’t realize how different it was from my own faith, Christianity. I do not want to get into a Christian debate, but I was surprised to learn that they do not believe Jesus to be the Messiah, or the Christ. They’re still waiting.

It was also interesting to hear the Rabbi talk about slavery and being delivered from Egypt. The Rabbi spoke about how they’re not free until everyone is free. That was a very interesting point to me, because it is true. We here in America are a free country; free to do and say as we think and feel, but there are so many in this nation and in the world who are either under the control of another or have to hide what they believe just to be allowed to live.

I was very impressed with the scrolls and his ability to speak and read Hebrew. Honestly, it just looks like chicken scratch to me and I don’t understand how people can use that in a way to communicate. My dad is a pastor and knows many Hebrew words and phrases, but that was nothing compared to this man’s ability to speak and read it on a daily basis. I also thought that the scrolls were kind of a neat concept. They’re something special to that congregation that they keep in a special place in addition to the Tanakh. The work that goes into the copies of scrolls is amazing and adds to the idea of how special they really are.

Word count: 311

This is late, I realize, but I somehow got mixed up and thought it wasn't due until this Friday.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Classical Greece Analysis- Socrates

In the beginning of this piece, Socrates is told that there is no man wiser than himself, and his reaction, to me, is a bit unpredictable: he believes he can find someone wiser. Perhaps it is the difference in the times, but it seems as though if a man is told he is he wisest of them all, he doesn't choose not to believe it or disprove it, he becomes smug, arrogant and walks around believing he is the wisest of them all. Not Socrates. Instead, Socrates goes on a mission to find some man who is wiser than himself. He goes to the politicians and the poets thinking certainly there is a man among those groups who holds more wisdom than himself. What he finds, though, is that because of their own ignorance at not realizing they are the not the wisest, they are not wiser than him. That is what sets Socrates apart; the fact that he knows his limitations. Being the wisest doesn't mean being the smartest, it means knowing better. Socrates knows better than to speak of things he doesn't know anything about. He knows better than to believe some oracle about himself without testing to see if it is true. He knows doesn't know everything, he just knows better. That, in itself, is what makes Socrates the wisest of them all.

The more I wrote about the piece, the more I understood the assignment and what was expected of me. This probably isn't that great, but it did get me thinking about what makes wisdom wisdom and why Socrates has the most. To me, wisdom comes from experience and choosing to learn rather than thinking you know all the answers, but before this I had never really put a lot of thought into it.