SHIVA

Why does he carry a Neptune trident?

Whats with the tiger and leopard skin?

What a snake….around the neck?

What is the ice mountain?

Whats with the ridiculous amounts of beads?

What the heck is hanging from the trident?

What is with the jar?

Question: why is Shiva sitting on top of a tiger rug?

Tiger skin: a tiger skin symbolizes potential energy. Lord Shiva, sitting on or wearing a tiger skin, illustrates the idea that He is the source of the creative energy that remains in potential form during the dissolution state of the universe. Of His own Divine Will, the Lord activates the potential form of the creative energy to project the universe in endless cycles.

http://somnathmandirblm.com/dwnload/wallpapers/shiva/shiva_01.jpg

PLATO NOTES

BOOK I
Social Darwinism (pg. 21)- the person who rules has advantages.
Justice is up to the person in charge.
"Might Makes Right."
1/3 of all US businesses don't pay taxes.
Unjust= smarter, happier- Ignorance is bliss? (positive connotation of words)
Just= poor (martyrs?)
Spoils System- relatives want money
Pure Confirmation Bias
Sardonic
Syllogism- Musical people are prudent. Prudent people are good. Musical people are good.
Homer's gods kill you, play tricks on you- if "Divine Will."
Socrates believes in god, but does not necessarily belive in Homer's gods (they wage war!) etc.
Juvenal- description of Tyrant
vi:223
"What I want, I take. Let my will take the place of reasoned argument."
unjust men- get what they want through dishonesty. Therefore they are "unjust."
just city- just soul and virtues
(pg. 25): "What Thrasymachus now says is in my own opinion a far bigger thing- he asserts that the life of the unjust man is stronger than that of the just man."
Socrates doesn't agree with Thrasymachus.
(pg. 28): Socrates attempts to change his argument. "Surely the musical man is prudent and the unmusical man thoughtless."
(pg. 29): "The just man is like the wise and good, but the unjust man like the bad and unlearned." Socrates got Thrasymachus to admit that the just man is wise and the unjust man is bad.
"And the gods, too, my friend, are just?" (Socrates, 31)
References to: eyes- see; ears- hear (pg. 32)
Therefore, each thing has its own purpose.
Pursuing a virtue as it acts in pure form: "Is there then a virtue of eyes, too?" (32)
Vice stands in way of virtue.
Soul- exists, living, guides in decision making
-deliberate
-rule
-think
"And, further, what about living? Shall we not say that it is the work of a soul?" (33)
If you let your soul be guided by virtue, then vice is eliminated.
Virtuous soul pursues justice.
Vice soul pursues unjustice.
What happens if your virtue is to be a robber?
-That is not your soul's virtue.

BOOK II
Bad stories about gods must be eradicated, so children get the right ideas about the gods.
"Children are plastic-" (pliable)
-want kids to be virtuous for a just city
Guardians/Philosopher's Kings lead city- will be taught gymnastics for their bodies and music for their souls.
Gymnastics- Greek culture- civilized
"You include speeches in music, don't you?" I said. -speech=logos translated to mean: speech, thought, idea- "logic." (54)
Socrates is against Homer's tales because Homer portrays the gods as "war mongers."
You must represent how things are and not use imagination. Do not expose children to harsh images: "When a man in speech makes a bad representation of what gods and heroes are like, just as a painter who paints something that doesn't resemble the things whose likeness he wished to paint." (55)
"First," I said, "the man who told the biggest lie about the biggest things didn't tell a fine lie- how Uranus did what Hesoid says he did"- (Uranus ate children.) (55)
You can not teach Homer to kids because kids must not figure things out on own.
Eradicate people who tell bad tales.
"Of the bad things, some other causes must be sought and not the god" (57) ("gods are good")
You can't tell lies to children because they will grow up believing them.

BOOK III
Philosopher Kings- have gold inside them- led by wisdom
Auxilaries- defend city- Generals/soldiers
Farmers/Craftsmen- iron/bronze
"Proving himself to possess rhythm and harmony on all these occassions- such a man would certainly be most useful to himself and the city" (93).
Test the children- see if they are useful to himself and city.
You're either born with it or not.
The different classes of people must be separated into military camps.
Parents must be removed because they get in way of their children.
Societies should not mix.
(95): Marx- opposed to Utopian ideas
Communism (95-96): "The sustenance, as much as is needed by moderate and courageous men who are champions of war, they'll receive in fixed installments from the other citizens as a wage for their guarding, in such quantity that there will be no surplus for them in a year and no lack either."

BOOK IV
auxiliaries- led by courage
farmers/craftsmen- led by moderation
just city = just soul
The dye is fixed in them- (gold/silver)
"There are still two left that must be seen in the city, moderation and that for the sake of which we are making the whole search, justice" (108).
"Meddling among the classes, of which there are three, and exchange with one another is the greatest harm for the city and would most correctly be called extreme evil-doing" (113)
Classes can not mix.
The soul is divided in 3 ways. (121)
"Isn't it proper for the calculating part to rule, since it is wise and has forethought about all of the soul, and for the spirited part to be obedient to it and its ally?" (121)
"But in truth justice was, as it seems, something of this sort; however, not with respect to a man's minding his external business, but with respect to what is within, with respect to what truly concerns him and his own. He doesn't let each part in him mind other people's business or the three classes in the soul meddle with each other, but really sets his own house in good order and rules himself; he arranges himself, becomes his own friend, and harmonizes the three parts, exactly like three notes in a harmonic scale, lowest, highest, and middle" (123)

BOOK V
Role of women in society
"Now music and gymnastic were given to the men."
"Yes."
"Then these two arts, and what has to do with war, must be assigned to the women also, and they must be used in the same ways." (130)
Women can be guardians. They are included in Plato's Republic.
*Human emotion is led by desire- won't get too attached- no self-involvement, communal living, overcome desire= just city. (Buddhism)

BOOK VI
Guardians rule city- wisdom- calculate
Auxilaries- courage- irrational- function on everyone's survival
Farmers/Craftsmen- moderation- spirit
(pg. 119): 3 parts to a soul
-calculating- guardians
-irrational- auxilaries
-spirit- farmers/craftsmen

BOOK VII
How you educate the Guardians
"make an image of our nature in its education and want of education, likening it to a condition of the following kind. See human beings as though they were in an underground cavelike dwelling with its entrance, a long one, open to the light across the whole width of the cave. They are in it from childhood with their legs and necks in bonds so that they are fixed, seeing only in front of them, unable because of the bond to turn their heads all the way around. Their light is from a fire burning far above and behind them. Between the fire the prisoners there is a road above, along which see a wall, built like the partitions puppet-handlers set in front of the human beings and over which they show the puppets." (193)
The people underground laugh/mock the person who has gone above ground and discovered new life. The underground people are ignorant- (is ignorance bliss?) Therefore they are comfortable down in their underground layer. However, once you have knowledge you do not go back to being ignorant. You want to explore what is above and beyond your past realm of knowledge.
(pg. 193) The chained people only see the shadow of the wall
Once a guardian has gone on a certain path, he/she can not go back.

Plato

By Thursday, September 26, please outline the main points (bullet points is fine) of Plato's Republic. (Books I-VII)Extra credit will be rewarded for adding specific references discussed in class.

Grendel Chapter 2

From what you have read thus far, why does Grendel say "The World is all pointless accident...I exist, nothing else." You may want to refer specifically to pg. 21-22. How would you describe Grendel's first interactions with humans?Finally, The Astrological sign represented in the First Chapter was Aries (The Ram). The Second Chapter introduced Taurus (The Bull). Please do some research on these signs and explain why they may have been included in these chapters.

Death At An Early Age

After reading the Kozol piece, consider what he might say regarding "Monsters." Are they created by society, or do Monsters responsible for their behavior? Do you agree with Kozol? Why or why not?

In "Death at an Early Age," Jonathan Kozol describes the life of Stephen, who is a boy with poor reading, math, and social skills. No one complains about Stephen's condition because he dose not have any parents and resides in foster care. Kozol goes on to describe how no one is encouraging in Stephen's life, even his Art Teacher berates him for not being able to draw pictures like the other children.

Kozol would probably argue that society creates monsters. In Stephen's case, he had no parents, no family, and no authoritarians in his life that truly cared for him. Therefore, it is inevitable that Stephen grows up to become a "monster." Kozol makes the point to include in the article that the Art Teacher did not even encourage him, but instead put him down for his different artistic ability. She did not treat him any differently than the other children, though Kozol says that it was apparent that he was abused. Perhaps if the Art Teacher had cared enough to be a little kinder to Stephen without discouraging him, he might have had a little more motivation and therefore that could have driven him to be a little more self confident. However can it really be the Art Teacher's fault if she was simply trying to carry out a lesson plan? Should she be expected to treat Stephen differently than his peers? I say yes because Kozol says that it was apparent that Stephen was abused. Therefore the Art Teacher should have seen the signs that something was wrong, and should have done something about that.

I agree with Kozol that monsters are created in part by society. Personality and other psychiatric problems contribute as to why humans become "monsters," but environment definately has an overwhelming impact. Even though Stephen has learning disabilities, if he was cared and not abused, he might have had a chance to really live as a normal child. However, society kept him back and never gave him a chance. Instead he was forced to live within society's expectations, which are far too limited for someone of Stephen's ability. Therefore it is likely that Stephen turned into another one of society's criminalistic monsters.

Grendel Chapter 1

What were your impressions of the First Chapter from Grendel? Why does Grendel describe his life as "the deadly progression of moon and stars" (p. 8) , "depressed" (p.10), " and "life's curse" (p.11). How does he describe his mother? Can you think of anyone in our society that might describe their own life in the same way? Why?

In Chapter 1 of Grendel by John Gardner, Grendel's feelings are immediately shown through his first person perspective. Grendel seems tired of his ordinary life. His life is one big cycle and he is well aware of it. Grendel understands that he kills men and even is used to their funeral rituals. The first animal zodiac in Chapter 1 is the ram. Cycles are continually shown: "spinning a web of words, pale walls of dreams, between myself and all I see" (8). Grendel describes his life as "the deadly progression of moon and stars" (8) because he feels as though he is trapped in his life and he has no hope for a different future. Loneliness is eminent through his constant repetition of his awareness of his same old life. Grendel describes life as "grim," and describes his house as "under the ground where I live, where no light breaks but the red of my fires and nothing stirs but the flickering shadows on my wet rock walls" (9). He has a very pessimistic view of life and that seems fitting, since he has nothing to look forward to, but the same old routine day by day.

Grendel describes his mother on page 9: "or my mother's fat, foul bulk rolling over, restless again- molested by nightmares, old memories- I am aware in my chest of tuberstirrings in the blacksweet duff of the forest overhead." In the following sentence Grendel describes his mother in disgust. He says, "I feel anger coming back, building up like invisible fire, and at last, when my soul can no longer resist, I go up- as mechanical as anything else- fists clenched against my lack of will, my belly growling, mindless as wind, for blood." Therefore, Grendel grows tired with his life with his mother down under the ground, so he angrily rejects that by going above ground to kill. His need for blood reflects his inner struggle for something better in life. Grendel knows that his mother is not going to get anything for him and will just remain down underground, so he goes off in search of something to satisfy himself. However, his quest for blood never really does satisfy his needs.

Someone in today's society, who might describe their life in the same way would be any murderer, who has ever had a bad relationship with their mother. This is because if children are not nurtured to a certain extent by family, then they will not be motivated to be "good" members of society. Therefore, they are more likely to commit criminal acts, since they have nothing better in life to look forward to. They simply subject themselves to the life that society expects them to live, even when it is a bad one.

Honor Killings in Turkey

How does your character justify his/her actions in the story? How does your character know what they know? In order to support your claim, please use an image (photograph, video clip, paiting) or a piece of writing (literature, textbook, poem) for each way of knowing.

Molly Moore wrote the article titled "Honor Killings in Turkey." Perception, language, reason, and emotion all play are important as to why she wrote this article.

It is evident in this article that Molly Moore is biased against honor killings. One reason why could be her western religious background. Therefore this would impact her view of honor killings as wrong. The image that I found regarding why she may have this perception is a picture of the ten commandments. One of the ten commandments reads "thou shalt not kill." This could possibly reflect her religious beliefs that killing under any circumstances is in fact wrong. Molly Moore uses strong emotive language throughout the article. For example, she uses the phrase "blood soaked." Her emotion is apparent throughout the article through the emotive language, which has a negative connotation. If Molly Moore was not biased against honor killings, then she probably would have chosen different words to describe the situation. Lastly Molly Moore could have had many different reasons for writing the article. One could be that she is writing it for money, since she works for the Washington Post. Journalism is her job, so she knows that she must sell newspapers. Therefore, she could have chosen to use the title "Honor Killings in Turkey" to grab Americans' attention. Another reason for Molly choosing to write the article could be the fact that she wants to get her viewpoint across that honor killings are wrong. She may be trying to address this problem. Most likely though, I think that this article only reflects her beliefs to a lesser extent, since her other journalistic endeavours listed on the Washington Post's website are not as in depth as this article.

Monster

How would you define the word Monster? What images or words do you think of when that term is used? How does someone become a Monster? To what extent is a Monster created by his/her surroundings? Is the Monster responsible for their actions?

Monster is a term that is used to describe the lowliest of people. For example, criminals are often called "monsters" after they have committed an act such as murdering. When I think of a "monster" an image of a psychotic killer comes to mind. I would consider a serial killer as a "monster." Some would argue that people are born monsters, while others would argue that people become monsters. I think that environment plays a huge part as to why people turn into monsters. If children are not cared for and given some moral guidelines, then they will not know the difference between "right" and "wrong." Therefore, they are more likely to committ crimes as they grow older. I think that monsters are responsible for what they do because everyone should be held responsible for himself. It is simply personal responsibility. However, other factors can be held accountable for the way someone turns out such as environment, since that impacts individuals to a great extent. People are less likely to become "monsters" if they are given motivation and not put down by parents, peers, and other authoritarians in society. If society expects certain people to become monsters, then they are more likely to be monsters.