Thursday 10/28: Writing Respite
UNIT 1: PELOPONNESIAN WAR AND ANCIENT GREECE
WRITING ASSIGNMENT
DIRECTIONS: Please write a short essay in response to one of the numbered options below. When an option has multiple questions, you don’t need to answer them all – the questions are meant to kickstart your own thinking about the topic more generally! Just a few paragraphs (2-5) will be fine but give it a try!
Indicate the NUMBER of the option you are choosing at the very top of your essay.
Email your essay as at attached document OR in the body of an email to pvdclementevets@gmail.com
Try to have yours sent by the time we begin Unit 2: The Civil War on Monday November 1.
How might we adapt or apply Plato’s Allegory of the Cave to the experience of going to war or serving in the military in any capacity, then returning to a society largely unaware of the realities faced by the soldier?
What can Americans learn about how to improve the well-being of soldiers and veterans, from Athenian theater and social practices?
In class and at the RISD Museum, we looked at paintings (School of Athens; Death of Camilla), sculpture (sarcophagus with scenes of Hector and Achilles; Classical portrait busts) and architecture (Parthenon - Athens and Nashville; Providence Athenaeum) that embody or reflect Western political and cultural ideals. Choose one or two of these works (or a similar work that speaks to you) and analyze it from your own perspective as a veteran. You may consider the following questions: Does the work reflect your experience? How so? Or, why not? How have Classical models of heroism/the heroic body shaped our perceptions of war and homecoming? Are these perceptions accurate in your view?
How does the form of Holderlin’s Hyperion (a series of letters) provide a specifically poignant perspective on the nature of war? When we communicate over distance and through the written word what does it require us to do with our language? When we read letters, how is that different from listening to someone speak but also different from reading a book? What is Holderlin’s message regarding conflict, and how do all these observations regarding letter writing affect that message?
Think about Ajax and Antigone as dramatizing ethical dilemmas - as bringing them into action and life! Write a short essay that discusses what you see as clashing ethical values, motivations, or perspectives in one or both of the plays. Be sure to link your discussion to specific characters and things that happen in the play(s) and try when relevant to point out how the clashes show up through specific elements of Aristotle’s ideas about tragedy.
Now that you've had a chance to spend time with the literature, philosophy, history and art of the Ancient world, write an essay that explores, from your own point of view, the relevance of Ancient Greek dramas, philosophy, art, and/or history for life in the 21st century. Try to make use of at least two ancient Greek readings or images.