To Eat or Not to Eat: That is the Question

It's the time of the year when we spend hours wrestling with crowds in the mall, when finding a parking space within a ten minute walk of the store is the high point of the day, when we send cards to people we didn't talk to all year, and warm our homes with the smells of baking and cooking. Turkey, ham, potatoes, fruitcake, yams, bread, and of course, holiday cookies: especially chocolate chip cookies. After all, what are the holidays without lots of diet-busting, tooth-decaying cookies to eat? Ahhh... you just have to love chocolate chip cookies... the feel of the dough as you mix it, the eating of a few raw chips before you add them to the mixing bowl, and the heart-warming smell of them baking.

O, What a Rogue and Peasant Slave am I!

With the simple, melancholy, yet profound words of “Now I am alone” (Shakespeare 2.2.500), Shakespeare conveys the poignant yet tortured inner struggle that Hamlet is experiencing over the death of his father, and his ghosts’ request to avenge his murder. In the third soliloquy – a mere 60 lines – Hamlet’s angst, cowardice, procrastination, melancholy, resistance, intelligence, reason, and even some bravery are superbly articulated.

Critical Thinking: Is U.S. Society Becoming More or Less Colorblind?

I would say we are becoming both more and less colorblind.  While recognition exists that there has been – and still is – disparities between how society as a whole views the various races and ethnicities of the people of the United States, there has been great strides in reducing the disparities.  Yet there has not been enough reduction: bigotry and racism still exist.  Surely, the blatant bigotry and racism of the past is significantly less common than it was just a few decades ago, but by no means has it gone completely away:  it has just become more subtle.  On the other hand, blatant racism has become not just legally wrong: it has become socially unacceptable. 

Critical Thinking: Rise of Latin Music

Critical Thinking Question Chapter 14 #3: What does the growing significance of Latin music by performers such as Gloria and Emilio Estefan and Ricky Martin suggest about ethnicity in the United States?

Perhaps this will sound somewhat cynical, but the first thought to come to mind is that the growing significance of Latin music has everything to do with money.  When an ethnic or racial group achieves large enough numbers to become a market force, businesses are going to target them for profit.  Businesses recognize that there is a growing Hispanic/Latino population, that they would probably buy music by Hispanic performers, so therefore, they are going to target them by creating products that they will spend money on – in this case, music by Hispanic performers.  The growing significance of Latin music suggests that the Hispanic population has grown large enough for big businesses to target the potential profit to be made from them. 

On the less cynical side, however, many non-Hispanics not only enjoy music by these performers, they also buy the music.  By being exposed to music that is “non-White” (or “non-Black” or whatever), those who are not of Hispanic/Latino background have been enriched by this music, have had their appreciation and recognition of the talents of people other than their “own kind” raised, and at the same time, the bridge of “difference” has been shortened, if not quite crossed yet. 

Therefore, the growing significance of music by Hispanic/Latino performers suggests that this population has grown to a size large enough to be a target for profit.  At the same time, it has increased the appreciation of Hispanic/Latino music by people outside of the Hispanic community, therefore, increased the appreciation of the Hispanic community as a whole by non-Hispanics. 

Written for Professor Swanson’s Sociology I class at Pikes Peak Community College, 8^th December 2003.

Debussy, Arabesque, No. 1 in E

Arabesque No. 1 in E, by Claude Debussy, has a melody that, although a single line, is fluid yet somewhat complex, with little repeating. It is very smooth, with each note easing itself into the next nearly seamlessly. It is as if each note belongs to the one before and after it exactly so, for if it were to be between two other notes it would not belong. For the most part, the range of notes is quite narrow, almost closed, although there is the occasional “leap” to a much higher note, for what feels like a moment of emphasis and punctuation to the experience.

Epictetus: The World Happens Around Us, Not To Us

The philosophical doctrine of Stoicism, which dates back as early as the 3^rd century BCE, is believed to have been founded by Zeno of Citium (IEP 1). Stoicism, a system of ethics, uses logic as “theory of method,” and physics as the foundation (IEP 1). Stoicism teaches, amongst other concepts, that one must live life with “perfect indifference (apathea) to everything external, for nothing external could be either good or evil” (IEP 1).

Epictetus, one of the most influential of the Stoic philosophers, was born around 50-55 CE in Hierapolis, Phrygia (Sedon 1). Sold into slavery as a child, he was eventually freed, opened a school in Nicopolis, and died around 135 CE (Sedon 1). Epictetus’ teachings dealt primarily with the ethics side of Stoicism, and much of his thoughts were recorded in two works: the Discourses and the Encheiridion (Sedon 1). Epictetus believed that one should live a life of “rigid austerity and self-denial,” that one should avoid the accumulation of money and other material goods for their own sake, entertainments by “outsiders and … persons ignorant of philosophy,” pleasure for pleasure’s sake, and honor for honor’s sake, amongst other things (“Encheiridion” 100-112). Stating that our lives came down to what was under our control (“conception, choice, desire, aversion, and everything that is our own doing”), and what was not under our control (“our body, our property, reputation, office, and everything that is not our own doing”), his teachings can be summed up simply: The world happens around us, not to us (“Encheiridion” 100).

Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount” and Socrates’ “Apology:” A Comparison

When reading Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount” and Socrates’ “Apology,” one cannot help but be struck by the remarkable similarities – and differences – in the words, thoughts, actions and especially, the life experiences of the two speakers. Some similarities and differences are readily apparent, others less so. In many ways, Jesus and Socrates are two sides of the same coin leading to different ends: live life true to yourself and your beliefs.

Fleshing Out the Shakespeare in Shakespeare’s Sonnets

It strikes one as obvious that any artistic creation – whether it be music, painting, sculpture, poetry, prose, or any other creative work – would have within it the characteristics and personality of the creator. Look at the twisted, often tormented paintings of Picasso or listen to the complex, near-perfect mathematical harmonies of Beethoven and you will find yourself making assumptions about their intellect, personality, torments and loves. More so than painting and music, the creations of a writer contain details about the author: who they are, what they think, how they feel, what they believe, and more.

The Sermon on the Mount

In “The Sermon on the Mount,” Jesus speaks on several old laws, and it quickly becomes apparent that, in his opinion, they do not go far enough. He also states that he is not intending to destroy the laws, but to “fulfill” them (Jesus 36), perhaps even to re-define and re-codify the laws.

For example, the law “Thou shalt not kill,” (36) states that those who kill “shall be in danger of the judgment” (37). Jesus’s response to this is that not only those who kill are in danger of judgment, but those who curse their brother are also in danger of judgment.

Fantasia in C Minor for Piano, Orchestra, Solo Sextet and Chorus, Op. 80 “Choral Fantasy” by Ludwig van Beethoven

Evaluation of an Event: Inaugural Concert of the Colorado Springs Philharmonic on Saturday, October 18, 2003

1. Relate the work to its historical period.

“Choral Fantasy” by Ludwig van Beethoven was first performed in December of 1808. According to MP3.com, Beethoven “staged an Akademie (that is, a public concert for his own profit),” and that he had not fully finished the composition before they were to perform it. Beethoven improvised much of the piano part “on the spot that night” (1).

Cunning in Homer’s "The Odyssey"

More than 2,000 years after Homer first put The Odyssey to paper, the English essayist William Hazlitt stated that “cunning is the art of concealing our own defects, and discovering other people’s weaknesses” (Justin 462). So true are the words of Hazlitt, equally in the 1800s as in the 8^th century BCE when Homer wrote The Odyssey. The art of cunning – specifically, cunning intelligence – was a quality obviously honored by the Greeks, and is essential to the story of Odysseus in Homer’s The Odyssey.

Dramatic Conflict in Euripedes' "The Bacchae"

There are many examples of dramatic conflict in Euripedes’ play, “The Bacchae.” These include, but are not limited to: men vs. women, gods vs. men, wisdom vs. the rashness of youth, and others. One of the more significant examples of dramatic conflict is that of tradition vs. change, as shown through the character of Pentheus.

Although Pentheus is apparently young and inexperienced, he is surprisingly traditional and very resistant to change. He has strong beliefs in how the world around him operates, how people should worship, and especially, what is “proper” behavior for women.

Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale"

Brief Summary of the Book, Why the Author Wrote the Book, and your Reaction to it:

In The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood, we are taken to a near-future America where society, as we currently know it, has drastically changed. During the 1980s, pornography, drugs, street violence and other social problems are common. Serious environmental damage by toxic chemicals, biological weapons and nuclear waste has caused widespread infertility and birth defects, leading to negative population growth. A group of powerful men – mostly right-wing fundamentalists – plots and succeeds in murdering the President and most members of Congress. They then take advantage of the subsequent shock and fear of the people to suspend the Constitution and the civil liberties it protected. Of course, this was all done in the name of “protecting” citizens from further potential violence – it was not known by the public that the very people who were “protecting” them were the ones that plotted the murders and succeeded in a hostile takeover of the government.

Social Construction of Reality

Critical Thinking Question Chapter 6 #3: George Jean Nathan once quipped, “I only drink to make other people interesting.” What does this mean in terms of reality construction? Can you identify the elements of humor in this statement?

Social Construction of Reality is the process by which people creatively shape reality through social interaction. The quote, “I only drink to make other people interesting,” attributed to George Jean Nathan, shows aspects of reality construction. The speaker is not necessarily pleased with the reality he is in (people are not interesting to him) and that he is altering his version of reality by drinking to make people seem more interesting.

Nathan obviously finds himself surrounded by people he does not find interesting, who to him are dullards and boring. He does not find this situation pleasing to himself, so he alters the reality he is experiencing by drinking (although it is not known if Nathan was a heavy drinker). Drinking is a simple way to alter one’s reality - it dulls the mind - in this case making Nathan’s mind less sharp, thereby making the people around him seem more interesting, more intelligent.

The Apology

The Apology Study Question #1: Socrates defends himself against two sets of accusations.

1. What is the first set?
1. Who are the accusers?
2. What three responses does he present to these accusations?
2. What is the second set of accusations?
1. Who are the accusers?
2. Who does Socrates cross-examine? In what four ways does Socrates attack this man’s accusations?

In “The Apology” by Plato, Plato retells the defense – the apology – of Socrates used at the trial that resulted in his death sentence. Socrates has been accused of several crimes against the State, and defines his accusers as “two kinds; one recent, the other ancient”. (Plato 2)

Socrates is accused of being a corrupter of youth; a non-believer in the state-sanctioned Gods, one who questions the common beliefs and teaches that questioning is what one should do. He answers to the “ancient” accusers first, which is public opinion. People have heard for years that “Socrates is an evil-doer, and a curious person, who searches into things under the earth and in heaven, and he makes the worse appear the better cause; and he teaches the aforesaid doctrines to others.” (2). More concisely, he is accused of dabbling in natural philosophy (perhaps magic), of being a teacher who takes money from students but doesn’t teach “good” things, and of saying he is a wise man. The logic behind these accusations is simple: since so many people say he is “evil”, he must be guilty of such.

The Incidents Which Most Effectively Dramatize Pentheus's Blindness in "The Bacchae"

In The Bacchae, the author Euripides attempts to show the potentially negative consequences that await people who chose to not listen to reason, who refuse to open their narrow minds to the possibilities of other explanations and existences, and those that act before they think. Euripides does this through the character of Pentheus. Pentheus is “blind” to the truths in front of him, to the words of those who have more knowledge and reason than he, and most importantly, to the consequences of his actions and his own fate if he doesn’t open his eyes.

Ancient Sumerian Culture in "The Epic of Gilgamesh"

Imagine what a day in the life of a citizen of Uruk must have been like. Waking up in the morning, looking outside and seeing, once again, that the scorpion-men of the East Mountain had opened the gates and Shamash the sun god had been pulled across the sky in his chariot (University 1). Walking towards the Eanna temple, hoping that one of the priests would be available to interpret a dream you had during the night, imagine the awe you would feel seeing the sun glinting on the walls of the temple like copper. Carrying your offering, you would go through the open area towards the cella, admiring the interior walls along the way and smelling the burning incense (Kovacs 1:12).

In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the oldest-known work of literature found to date, we can find a surprising amount of information about what life in Sumer was like.