eng 273: dante's *inferno*: a trip to hell

illustration by Gustave Dore, from wikipedia

Check out this gorgeous flash website representation of the epic poem. Also, check out the ELF website, which features a variety of translations, illustrations, and general helpful links. And, enjoy this trailer for a filmic update of Dante's classic, done "in toy theater style." The film will be released on DVD in August 2008.

For more info on Dante Alighieri, check out this entry at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

Dante, part. affresco della cappella di San Brizio, Duomo Orvieto,

by Luca Signorelli, from wikipedia

And here's a helpful link about terza rima, the poetic style Dante invented.

And, a NEW link to an awesome site: DanteWorlds!

upward bound: alice walker and elvis presley

basset hound, from wikipedia, photo by Sannse at the city of

Birmingham Championship Dog Show

Alice Walker's short story "Nineteen Fifty-Five,"fictionalizes and describes the relationship between Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton and Elvis Presley through the two main characters. Thornton's chart-topping song "Hound Dog" was also a chart-topper for Elvis. Check out this video of Elvis performing the song back in the day...And here's Big Mama Thornton singing the song...What differences do you notice in the two performances? Walker wants us to consider the connections between fame and race and ownership. How might these videos help us make these connections?

eng 273: letters from a peruvian woman: inca

from Meyers Konversationlexicon of 1888, via wikipedia

For information on the Inca culture, check out this link to a PBS special or this website. And, though this wikipedia entry needs citation, it includes some wonderful illustrations, including this one of the quipu that Zilia uses to communicate with Aza/"write" her letters before switching to French.

Why does Graffigny blend 18th century French culture with 16th century Inca culture without any indication that these cultures don't exist simultaneously?

How might these cultures overlap? What's Zilia's role in these cultures? What's the role of women in general in both of these cultures?

eng 273: siddhartha

Gandhara Buddha, 1st or 2nd century CE, Museé Guimet, from Wikipedia

Herman Hesse's novel Siddhartha, published in 1922, took many people around the world on "a journey to the East." The novel was first published in English in 1951, and was greatly admired by many in America, particularly those counterculture rebels who were skeptical of Cold War fears and a booming post-war materialism. They wanted to find a different path, a middle way--a way not unlike that of Siddhartha and Gautama--our protagonist and the Buddha he encounters on his spiritual journey. The Supreme Buddha is generally called Siddhartha Gautama--see this website for a description of him. Consider why Hesse includes a character named Siddhartha AND Gotama, who is clearly supposed to represent the historical Siddhartha Gautama.

The novel is filled with references to Hinduism and Buddhism, and to delineate the overlaps, distinctions, and historical relationship between the two religions is a much greater discussion than we have time for. This website includes interesting information on Buddhism. To understand the concepts of brahmin, atman, samsara, karma, and moksha, see this website.

In the section of the novel where Siddhartha converses with Gautama, they discuss what are known as The Four Noble Truths, one of the foundational tenets of Buddhist Wisdom.

Another interesting representation of the path to Enlightenment is the Ten Ox Herding Pictures. These visual and textual representations of the path to Enlightenment are mainly associated with Zen Buddhism, a school of Buddhism that focuses on meditation as the path to liberation.

One question to consider: how is Candide's grappling with Pangloss' optimism similar to and different from Siddhartha's grappling with Hindu and Buddhist belief? How does the sufficient reason of Leibniz compare to the karma of Buddhism?

English 273: Ahhh, Enlightenment!

The Age of Enlightenment is also known as the Age of Reason, a time when rationalism and a mechanical view of the cosmos supplanted a more organic model. This was also the time when society began to shift towards Industrialism, Urbanization, and all those other hallmarks that we mark as modernity. Check out this website for a succinct yet detailed account of the Enlightenment, the historical and philosophical background leading to this new Era, and the tenets of the major thinkers, including our very own Voltaire.

In Candide, Voltaire critiques the German philosopher Leibniz, and has a great deal of fun showing the folly of his way of thinking via satire. What does Voltaire have to say about the rational, scientific, Enlightenment model versus the optimistic argument that everything is for the best? How are Enlightenment values, philosophies, etc. prevalent in contemporary society? Do we see any problems with the Enlightenment view of the world?