Blogger #22- Derek Nguyen- Period 2- 10/21/21

We left off on what we hadn’t finished from yesterday’s lesson on the lesson “3 Odyssey:  Homer’s Invocation on the Anticipation Guide slide. Once we had finished that lesson we  then went onto Lesson 4 on the Odyssey  

Aim: How does “Sailing From Troy” and “The Lotus Eaters” establish Odysseus’ role as a  leader? 

We then worked on the Do Now which was: 

Consider the fact that Odysseus has been trying to return to his home in Ithaca for 10  years. Imagine being away from your home for that long 

1) What would you miss most and why? 

-You would miss your old memories because your home is where you had spent your life.  -Family, because I care for them and they care for me.  

-My bed, it’s more comfortable than others and its a place of warmth and comfort. -Your home culture 

-Your language, it’ll be hard to communicate with others in a  

foreign place 

-If your away from home for too long you’ll start to have delusion  

such as the memories -you made at your home. 

2) Why do we have sayings like the ones below? 

-Home is what we feel most comfortable its where we feel the  

most safe. 

The method by which an author creates the personality and appearance of their character Direct Characterization: The author makes direct statements about the character (can be  revealed through a narrator or through another character in the story). The author  TELLS the reader what they want them to know. 

Indirect Characterization: indirectly stated from character's actions, choices they make,  dialogue/relationships with others, thoughts, feelings. The author SHOWS the reader  what they want them to know. 

Use the STEAL method for Indirect Characterization 

Speech 

Thoughts 

Effect on others toward the character. 

Actions 

Looks 

SPEECH - What does the character say?  

How does the character speak?

THOUGHTS - What is revealed through the  

character’s private thoughts and feelings? 

EFFECTS - What is revealed through the character’s  

effect on other people?  

How do other characters feel or behave in reaction to the character? ACTIONS - What does the character do?  

How does the character behave? 

LOOKS - What does the character look like?  

How does the character dress? 

After we went over this page we then watched the video linked in the slide Once we finished the video we read the short story “Sailing from Troy”:https:// drive.google.com/file/d/1Db2LMqE9jPc2KWYqU-w6nlXJHnEVoqBB/view? usp=drivesdk 

Then worked together in groups on the question: 

GROUP WORK 

Keep in mind that the Odyssey is the account of Odysseus' ten year journey back home to  Ithaca. He misses his family and home; therefore, we will often find connections to this  throughout the poem.  

Identify lines in which Odysseus talks about his home in Ithaca.  

How does he feel about it? (Specific lines/Textual Evidence that describe these  feelings)  

-The lines 35-37 say that even if he finds a house of gold it wouldn’t surpass his own  home.  

-He holds his home very close to his heart and misses it 

-he is ver prideful of his own home, he doesn’t directly say it but he implies it. WHOLE CLASS DISCUSSION 

Then we read “Lotus Eaters” in the same document. 

Once again after we had read the entire story we then worked on the group work  questions.: 

GROUP WORK 

2.What kind of world do you think the Lotus Eaters live in? 

Describe the type of lifestyle it is? 

-The Lotus Eaters live in a world where they are distracted by their troubles -The Lotus Eaters live in this perfect utopia, and are like the hippies of our world.  3.What do you think Homer is implying about this lifestyle/world? 

How does The Odyssey characterize the land of the Lotus-eaters as a veritable (real or  genuine) paradise? And, why, then, is this land seen by Odysseus and others as negative,  and something from which to escape? What do you think is wrong with such a place, if  anything? 

- 

4. Consider the kind of leader Odysseus appears to be in "Sailing from Troy."

How do his leadership abilities compare to how he is in "The Lotus Eaters?" Has your opinion of him changed? Why/Why not? 

Why do you think these events are important to understanding Odysseus' character? - 

5. In your notes, create a group list of the key events in "The Lotus Eaters." - 

WHOLE CLASS DISCUSSION

Blogger #27 Sophia Ripoll 10/28/2021 P2

 Blogger #27 Sophia Ripoll 10/28/2021 P2

Aim: How does The Odyssey, Book X further enhance our understanding of Odysseus’ plight; through his journey as a hero? 

Do Now: WHOLE CLASS DISCUSSION 

Describe a time when you, or someone you know, felt something had to be done out of obligation (a person is morally or legally bound; a duty or commitment). Tell the outcome.

An obligation I feel I need to do is to take care of my family and loved ones. When I used to live with my grandparents, I would help my grandmother sort her pills so she has the correct intake each day. 

After our class discussion, we went over new terminology to help guide us before reading the rest of The Odyssey.

Epithets 

→ an adjective or a descriptive phrase that expresses a quality character of the person or thing mentioned

→ a common element of epic poems -- allows the reader to easily identify a character or object

→ a character or object can have many epithets associated with them

(throughout Homer’s writing, he repeatedly uses the same phrase to describe a person or object) 

Why do you think Homer may use epithets?

I think Homer may use epithets to flesh out a character or object and show their unique attributes. Along with that, it is to help the reader associate certain words or phrases with said character or object.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Afterward, we reviewed some examples of epithets present throughout our reading thus far. 

Epithets Examples: 

Odysseus: 

→ "The great tactician" 

(tactician definition - a person who uses a carefully planned strategy to achieve a specific end -- used to paint Odysseus as intelligent and resourceful) 

→ ”The man of twists and turns"

(used to describe how quick-witted he is and the clever plans he devises when in conflict)

Athena: 

→ "The clear eyed goddess"

(used to describe how Athena is extremely wise and farseeing -- goddess of wisdom)

Sunrise:

→ “Rosy Fingered Dawn” 

(describes the beauty of dawn)

Zeus:

→ “Son of Cronos”, “Who marshalls the thunderclouds”

(used to describe how powerful Zeus is and his rule over thunder -- god of the sky)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once we went over these examples, we watched a video further explaining epithets present in literature. 

Video

Epithets in Literature [1:56]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The last part of today’s lesson was the questions we were to answer as a group about Book X of The Odyssey. 

Group Discussion: 

Book X:

1. How does Odysseus and his men find themselves faced with a plethora of problems?

a. Evaluate the types of problems that they face. Can you assess if Odysseus’ men are solely to blame for their problems, and does Odysseus appear to be the constant problem-solver?  Or can you provide some other explanation for what’s at hand?

Odysseus and his men find themselves faced with a plethora of problems because of the curse that was placed upon them by Polyphemus. At the beginning of the passage, Odysseus is given a bag of wind by Aeolus to help guide him back home to Ithaca. However, it is eventually opened by his crew because they believed he was getting treasures and praised by others, while they reaped none of the benefits. Along with that, later on in the story, Odysseus sends three of his men into the land of the Laestrygonians, who turn out to be giants that kill a large sum of his companions. The last main challenge was the goddess Circe, who turns around half of his crew into pigs. Once this happens, Odysseus returns to her, with the guide of Hermes, and sets them free. Yet, he still manages to get them trapped there for one year, as they return to her again, this time as a complete group. In these situations, both Odysseus and his companions are to blame. In the first conflict of the story, it is the crew’s fault for being envious and suspicious of Odysseus’s bag, thinking that he was getting riches. In the second conflict, it is neither of their faults since there wasn’t a real way to know the people inside were cannibals. Lastly, in the third conflict, it is both of their faults, and half of the crew originally gets tricked into entering Circe’s home, and afterward, once Odysseus saves them all, they return once again and stay for a year. 

2. How does Circe’s Island compare to the Land of the Lotus Eaters?

Circe’s Island and the Land of the Lotus Eaters are somewhat similar in the way that they both deal with magic and an escape from reality. Along with that, they both involve consuming a sort of hallucinogen. In the Land of the Lotus Eaters, it is a quick hallucination that doesn’t change much about them. However, Circe’s spells make them forget their home and eventually turn them into pigs. 

b. How does her actions towards the men compare to the actions of the Lotus Eaters?

The Lotus Eaters tried to feed the men hallucinogens so the men want to stay, but Circe focuses on Odysseus and makes him sleep with her so that his men become human again. So, The Lotus Eaters were more welcoming and tried to appeal to the whole crew, while Circe scared them and made them into pigs.

c. Can one treatment be deemed as worse than the other? Why/Why Not?

I believe that the treatment that Circe gave them was significantly worse. Even though both situations caused them to not be able to make their own decisions, Circe turned the crew into pigs and put them in a pen. 

3. Describe the “deal” Odysseus strikes with Circe, as well as her response/instructions.

The deal Odysseus strikes with Circe is that if he were to sleep with her, she would swear an oath to never hurt him. The passage states in lines 450-453 “‘But I will not agree to go to bed, unless, goddess, you will agree to swear a solemn oath that you’ll make no more plans to injure me with some new devious trick.’” They both agree to the deal and she swears the oath that Odysseus requests of her. 

d. How does he feel about her directives? 

Odysseus 

e. Why is Odysseus’ heart “sore” and “troubled”? What does this reveal about his character? 

Odysseus’s heart is “sore” and “troubled” because he knew that Penelope was most likely waiting for him at home, and by doing this act, he was being unfaithful. This reveals that he cares about his wife and doesn’t want to hurt their relationship when he eventually will return to Ithaca. Along with that, it fleshes out his character, showing a relationship with his family. 

f. Has he been faithful?

It’s really up to a debate for this question because he was under obligation by Hermes to sleep with Circe to save his companions. However, it doesn’t stop the fact that he did sleep with her, in turn being unfaithful towards his wife, Penelope. 

4. Consider the “Do Now” topic of “obligation.”

a. In which instances does Odysseus demonstrate his actions are motivated through “obligation” and not through some other force or factor?

Odysseus feels obligated to save his men, even if he has to be unfaithful to his wife, Penelope. He feels, as the captain of the crew, that he should help them get out of danger which leads him to return to Circe’s house.

b. Consider the fact that a role-reversal occurs when Odysseus’ men remind him, after a year, that it’s time to return home.  Does this change your view of his “obligation”? Why/Why Not?

The fact that Odysseus’s men had to remind him that they should all return home after staying an entire year at Circe’s home makes me believe that Odysseus was only obligated when he had to save them. Once he had safely brought all of his crew back to the ship, he could have chosen to just set sail and return. However, he chooses for him and his crew to stay with Circe and live a life of luxury. 

5. Hermes has a reputation for “trickery.” Consider that he is the one who informed Circe that Odysseus would be coming, as well as he advised Odysseus as to how to “best” Circe with her magic potions and wand.  Do you believe that Hermes has used his “trickery” on one or both of them? Why/Why Not?

I believe that Hermes used his “trickery” on both of them. Hermes did help Odysseus get his crew back to the ship as humans, but it also got him involved in another trip to the underworld. Along with that, Hermes told Circe that Odysseus was destined to come which leads her to strike a deal with him. 

c. Given this information, do you believe that Odysseus had to go through with the “deal” with Circe? Why/Why Not?

I believe that Odysseus didn’t necessarily have to go through with the “deal” with Circe because it might have been his fate after Polyphemus’s curse. The curse was that he would have to go through a difficult journey in which he loses all of his companions and returns home after a long time. So if he were to not have saved his men, there would be a chance he would still have to go to the underworld or complete another tedious and challenging task.

6. Based on your understanding of Epithets and their use, identify some epithets in Book X or from previous readings.

“Circe, a goddess skilled in magic potions”

“Hermes of the Golden Wand”

“Resourceful Odysseus, son of Laertes, and child of Zeus”

“Fair-haired Circe”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Reflection: 

Throughout this lesson, there have been many things I have learned. I now know of epithets, which are adjectives or descriptive phrases that express a quality character of the person or thing mentioned. Along with that, I learned how to identify epithets within literature. I learned this in order to further my understanding as we continue reading The Odyssey, as there are many instances of epithets throughout Homer’s writing to help describe the unique characteristics of characters or objects. An example would be the constant repetition of “Resourceful Odysseus, son of Laertes, and child of Zeus.” This phrase is meant to describe how intelligent, resourceful, powerful, and hero-like Odysseus is, as it paints him in a positive connotation to the reader. I will use what I have learned to have a deeper understanding of the characteristics and traits of characters throughout The Odyssey. 

Blogger #26, Antonio Ramirez, Period 2, 10/27/21

Blogger #26, Antonio Ramirez,  Period 2, 10/27/21

6 Odyssey: Books 1-8 & Cyclops Summary

Aim: How can foundational knowledge of The Odyssey, Books I-VIII enhance our experience for the remaining work?

Do Now:  WHOLE CLASS DISCUSSION

Based on our reading of “The Cyclops” and video presented here, how are they similar/different?  

Was this what you imagined while reading? Explain

A odisseia - Cíclope ( The odyssey - cyclops) [8:41]

We discussed that the Cyclops only ate one man rather than it sounding like he ate multiple men of Odysseus’. Only one used the sheep's fleece to escape the cave. There also is no real curse the Cyclops used in the movie.

This is slightly different than what I imagined. Most parts between the movie and reading were aligned, but there were certain details that differed such as the size of the Cyclops and his overall presence.

A PLOT SUMMARY is a brief description of the events in a story which advance the narrative thrust of the story or significantly add to the knowledge of main characters in direct relation to the story.  

The Odyssey Plot Sum I-VIII

Tragic Flaw (Previously Learned): A trait in a character that often leads to their downfall. In Greek Mythology, the trait of  Hubris is often used.

Cyclops Group Discussion (Discussion to be continued)

1. Describe Odysseus’ actions in lines 430-435?

1. How does Odysseus reveal weakness in his behavior?

2. Are his actions supported by his men?

I think Odysseus reveals weakness in his behavior because he’s showing arrogance as he’s mocking the Cyclops. I think his actions are not supported by his men because they state afterwards that they just want to leave safely and don’t want to aggravate the Cyclops even more.

2. What curse does Polyphemus enact on Odysseus and his men?

Polyphemus enacts a curse on Odysseus and his men saying that he won’t reach his home again, but if he does, it shall be in a long time from now.

3. Is Odysseus’ epic character supported or refuted, based on his actions, in “The Cyclops”?

This is an opinionated question, and there is no correct answer. Based on my own thoughts, I believe Odysseus’ epic character is refuted based on his actions. He leads his men into danger, does not keep them all safe, and even though he resolved his issue it leads to lives being lost. I think a leader is responsible for all his men, and he didn’t fulfill that role. He let his own selfishness and curiosity get in the way of the safety of his own men.

Reflection

What did I learn?

Today I learned what a plot summary is and what it is used for. A plot summary is specifically a description of events that occurred in the story. It is used to add more thoughts to these events, and further advance them in detail. I also saw the movie which matched the text of “The Cyclops” for the first time. We also briefly went over tragic flaw which we had previously discussed about a week ago.

Why did I learn it?

I learned plot summary and tragic flaw because they are important aspects to not only Greek mythology, but writing in general. Plot summary can help with understatement of the passage, and tragic flaw is an aspect of writing that is in all types of genres. An example we went over one time was superheroes, and how they usually have that one thing that stays in their way.

How will I use what I learned?

I will use what I learned in future readings. Now I’m aware of plot summaries in case I’m ever confused about a story, as sometimes Greek mythology can be hard to follow. A lot of times I’m missing a key piece or am just generally confused on events going on during these types of stories, but plot summaries can go into detail and give almost like an explanation of what’s going on.

 

Blogger #18 - Leslie Liu - Period 3 - 10/28/21

 Aim: How does the exposition of Lord of the Flies set up the novel to question how society structures the transition from childhood to adulthood?

Do Now: To start off today’s lesson, we worked on a document with our groups about actions that need a legal age required and we had to try to guess the legal age for each action. 

My group’s guesses: 

Drink alcohol: 21

Drive a car (with a license):18

Serve in the Military: 17

Attend School (upper limit requirement): 16

See R-rated Movies: 16

Vote: 18

Consent to Sex: 18

Get Married (without parental consent): 18 

Get an abortion (without parental consent): 16

Make personal finance personal finance decisions: 16 Rent a car: 16

We then shared out what we thought the legal age for each action is: 

Group 5 said the legal age to drink alcohol is 21, Group 4 said for driving a car without a license the legal age is 18. However, William misunderstood the learner’s permit with the driver’s license and thought that one can drive at 16. Ms. Peterson explained that with a learner’s permit one is supposed to be in a car that has no brakes and someone else would control the brakes. My group shared that one has to be 17 in order to serve in the military. Joel disagreed with my group and thought that it should be 18 so that one is a legal adult. Our class had confusion about what the upper limit requirement meant so we had to talk about that and then we understood that it meant the age at which one has to stay in school until before one can drop out. Group 3 said that the upper limit requirement to attend school is 16; Group 6 said 18 for R-rated movies; Group 4 said 18 to vote and 18 for consent to sex; Group 5 said 18 to make personal financial decisions; lastly, Group 6 said one has to be 25 to rent a car. 

The Actual Results: 

Drink alcohol: 21

Drive a car (with a license):17

Serve in the Military: 17 (with parental consent) 18 (without)

Attend School (upper limit requirement): 16

See R-rated Movies: 17

Vote: 18 (17 in the primary election if one turns 18 the same year)

Consent to Sex: 18

Get Married: 18, 16-17  with parental consent, 14-15 with consent from a judge

Get an abortion (without parental consent): No legal age now (18 until very recently)

Make personal finance personal finance decisions: 18 

Rent a car: 25 

Group Discussion/Class share out: 

Upon seeing the actual results, we had a group discussion on “Did any surprise you? Do any seem particularly unfair? Which ones, and why?” and then shared them with the class later. 

The one result that surprised me the most was the fact that one has to be 17 years old to watch R-rated movies but one can be married at 14-15 if the judge consents to it. My group was also confused as to why one has to be 18 in order to control their own personal finances because we know that some banks, Bank of America, allows one to open an independent bank account at 16. We also thought that it was unfair because many teens work part time jobs where they get paid, which means they have to pay taxes as well so they should be able to manage their personal finances. There are also cases of teens being entrepreneurs where they bring in income as well. 

When the class shared out, Joel shared that he thought that the 16 drop out age was a little weird, as the person would be in the middle of their junior year when they have all the important exams, such as the SAT and AP exams. However, Ms. Peterson explained that the average student who drops out of high school is one who isn’t college bound or isn't that willing to think about any of the exams. Then, Edward shared that he believes the fact that one needs to be 21 to drink in this country is unfair because in every other country it is 18 or younger as in America, one can serve their country at the age of 18, one can drive a car, one can vote, dropout of school, and one can get married yet one can’t drink alcohol. William then shared that he thinks the legal age to drink alcohol is higher in order to try to prevent those teens who had newly got their driver's license and are inexperienced in driving to drink under the influence.  Ms. Peterson added on that the reason the legal drinking age will stay mandated to some extent is because one’s brain, specifically the frontal lobe, is not fully developed until one’s mid 20s-30s and because of this the ability to make rational decisions sometimes is skewed and in order impede the more extreme inability to make rational decisions while someone is under the influence of alcohol, the age will stay. Lastly, Nadine shared that the fact that someone can get married at 14 is extremely disturbing. 

Connection: The fact that people can get married at 14-15 in the United States can tie back to Edgar Allan Poe, where back in the day life spans were short so people naturally got married at an earlier age. Therefore, in some states and places that age is not something absurd.  Edgar Alan Poe married her cousin Virginia Clemm when she was 13. 

Reading: 

We independently read the article “How Old is Old Enough?”  Rampell (2009) from New York Times. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KUKFXAzGtvqo6XgVD5bA-SjGzD4xILT1/edit

Note from the article: 

• The line between childhood and adulthood is very blurry or inconsistent. Such is the case for situations like drinking, driving, fighting in the military, and so on.

• The age at which adulthood is set differs for many reasons: welfare of the child, utilitarian reasons, pragmatic reasons, economic reasons. 

• Sometimes, the threshold for adulthood is for the protection of the welfare of the child, as with statutory rape laws or even movie ratings. 

• Other times it is for utilitarian reasons for purposes of not harming the teenager nor being hurt by the teenager. 

• Pragmatic reasons include sensible acting like the case in which 19 year olds cannot drive a rental car yet they are driving the tanks for the military. 

• As for economic reasons, whatever rules benefit a certain group, they would change the age for adulthood as they see fit: A law financial aid office would allow the teenager to rely on their parents financially until they are thirty while a health insurance company decides that the teenager should be able to support themselves at 19.

• Scientific studies by Professor Laurence Steinberg have found that young teenagers seek out risk and are unable to control their impulses even if they can differentiate good from bad. These studies convinced the Supreme Court in 2005 that executing convicts for offenses committed before age 18 was unconstitutional.

• As young people develop different skills at different stages, it makes sense to judge on their rights and responsibilities incrementally.

We then discussed philosophies about possible theoretical situations with those around us, such as what to do if a 12 year old murdered or raped someone? Armed robbery? Identity theft? And other crimes and how they would be tried. 

Celeste started off the class discussion by saying that it depends on the situation and how emotionally mature the child is and have to examine if they understood what they did and that will be used to assess what needs to be done to help out the child and if you just put a child into jail they might not understand why and the child would just be angry and confused which would not benefit anyone overall. Sofya added on that it really depends on the case and to say if hypothetically two teenagers that come from the similar backgrounds and one teenager stole a book from the store while the other boy came into the store and robbed it at gunpoint; the teenager who robbed the store would be tried as an adult while the teenager who stole the book would be charged as a juvenile as the crimes are different and “adult crimes” get adult punishment.  We then discussed the question “what if a child goes and murder a parent who has been abusing them for their entire life”.  Joel said if there were a court case, they can claim ptsd and mental distress, from years of abuse on end they can claim self defense as well, the ptsd will help them get a lower sentencing and prevent them from being executed. Safya says that the case  depends on the judge and the report one has because in the case of the Menendez brothers, it was described in great detail how they were abused yet they still got life in prison. Ms. Peterson added on that there were other aspects of the Menendez brothers’ case that seemed iffy to their claims as they went on a shopping spree after and there were signs that they were planning the murder for a long time. 

About the Menendez brother case: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1ncuW-bLsw

In addition, Nadine said that when comparing identity theft with killing someone, one can fix the problems of one but the other can’t be fixed, the person will be gone and that the child should not be tried as an adult in the case of identity theft but in the case of rape and murder, the child should. Although, identity theft is very hard to clear up once it happens and it can even take up to 10-20 years for people to clean up everything. Edward said that identity theft is a serious crime, when crimes are serious the children should be tried as an adult; a crime that is not serious would be a child stealing from a store. Group 2 had an interesting take as they explained  that at 12 years old, a child's brain is not fully developed yet, so they have to grow and mature first and get back on the right path in life so they shouldn't be charged as an adult. The chemicals in the brain could have gone out of control and caused the child to make whatever decisions they made. 

This is an article explaining why children should not be tried as an adult: 

https://jlc.org/issues/youth-tried-adults 

Spirit Reading: 

We read a small excerpt from chapter 2 of Lord of the Flies where they have to kill a pig for food (SURVIVAL) but Jack hesitates. 

Chapter 2 summary analysis: https://study.com/academy/lesson/lord-of-the-flies-chapter-2-summary-quotes.html

We then discussed the following questions: 

How does Jack feel when confronted by these new acquaintances about not stabbing the pig? Is this related to his age? Something more?

Group 3 said that in this scene it is everyone’s first time doing something so it feels super unfamiliar and uncomfortable for them. Group 5 said that since it is Jack’s first time harming something and although it has to be done to survive, it probably doesn’t feel morally right as the boys come from a time where they were not the ones doing the killing as they can buy food at the store. Joel added on to his group’s response that it is his internal conflict ﹣  despite his age, he is conscious that this is crossing the threshold into savagery, one is killing another being to preserve themselves and it is on the barbaric side. 

We also discussed why we deem killing by stabbing to killing by a shooting to be far worse. 

Cody said since one is closer to the victim and the killing is slower, it is more disturbing. 

Kenneth said that when one shoots someone, it is a lot less commitment and one won’t have to think about it too much since it is a lot easier but when one is stabbing someone they have to commit to executing the full action. Joshua said that when one stabs someone, they can feel the inside of the living being, such as their muscles, and see the blood gushing out and could be very disturbing while with a gun, it is a one and done job.

Ms. Peterson helped us draw the correlations by explaining that when one stabs someone, it is up close and personal with direct contact with someone and one will feel the blood, the muscles, and everything being sliced through such as bones. This is considered to be a much more angry and aggressive and personal type of attack. Shootings can happen at a distance and therefore it is less personal. 

Discussion connection to Lord of the Flies:

The boys in the story are still British school boys who have not yet transitioned into savagery and killing the pig would have crossed the threshold from being civilized into savagery. Jack was unable to kill the pig because he and the other boys are still conditioned to obey the rules of society and behave civilly

Summary: 

Foundational piece: The boys were escaping the war and the plane was attacked and they ended up on an island. 

This is showing how in many different circumstances, age is not the main determiner of what should be done. 

Reflection: 

Today’s lesson put it into perspective how there can be so many different points of views on the age that we deem as acceptable for an action and that age might not always be the best determining factor. One could have grown up in an environment where they were forced to mature faster than others, as shown in Lord of the Flies where the boys were stranded on the island without adults so they had to make decisions for themselves and try to survive. It is starting to become apparent that the coming-of-age theme is one of the major themes in Lord of the Flies and they will be faced with various emotional and mental changes, such letting go of how they were conditioned to obey the rules of society and behave civilly, as well as physical changes as they will endure physical obstacles they will have to face. This will force them to become more “manly” and savagery. I also realized that there are many laws still present in the United States today that do not conform to today’s societal values. The fact that one can marry off a 14 year old is disturbing to a lot of us but yet many state laws have not caught up to modern times and are deemed socially acceptable in some places. Sometimes people will not be able to come to a consensus about different situations, such as if a child should be tried as an adult if they had murdered someone. Some would say the child should not be tried as an adult because the child isn’t mature enough to fully understand what they did while others can say that if the child committed a big crime like that, they should get the punishment for that crime. There are also other factors that contribute to if a person is ready for a specific action like the environment they grew up in and experiences they might have had.