We finished up our discussion of the excerpts from Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own today. Even after two days’ discussion, we still had difficulty coming up with a concise “punchline” for the work, so this is something we need to work on.

The handout you received contains information on Aristotle’s rhetorical genres and a breakdown of ethos devices. (Pathos and logos will follow as we move forward.) While rote memorization is not the best way to get a handle on how these devices work, do read over the list occasionally so you will recognize the devices when you come across them.

We’ll be discussing the three presidential speeches as we move through the handouts, as they clearly illustrate many of the concepts we’re working on. You can find the three speeches (and others) at AmericanRhetoric.com (great site, but watch for popups).

In case you missed the announcement: There will be no article analyses or index cards until further notice. We will pick them up again in the future, but right now we’ll be focusing on delving further into the devices and techniques behind the appeals.

Also, a surprised kitten:  YAY!

Quick answer to that one.

So, we discussed allusions in class today. I was happy to see the broad range that you guys came up with. Maybe we ought to come up with a way to catalogue them all? We’ll talk about that tomorrow.

If you didn’t have anything to contribute, don’t worry too much. There will be plenty of time to make up the points, but do keep your eyes open. One of the goals for this semester is for us to see how deeply these stories have impacted everything that came after. Use your journals, and if you can grab a picture or bring in a file or web address, that would be great.

We’ll be discussing the end of Book V tomorrow. Make sure your journals are up to date!

We’ve been working on breaking down Ovid’s tales into their most basic elements, and I’ve often used modern works to illustrate that the themes (jealousy, unrequited love, change, naïveté) are being pondered still, two millennia after they put down by the Roman.

Your objective over the break (as you continue journaling for our discussion of Book V on Monday) is to find as many connections to these ancient stories in modern works as you can. Here are a few I may have mentioned before. I’m using music, but look in movies, television, advertising, novels, and the like for inspiration.

See if you can name the stories:

“Running Bear” is the story of two young Native Americans separated by a “raging river.” This, like many of the teenage tragedy songs of the ‘50s and ‘60s, ends badly for both. (It also gives us insight into the offensive mid-20th Century opinions of other cultures.)

A bit more modern, this track from the Decemberists’ Castaways and Cutouts tells the story of two other star-crossed lovers:

A subgenre of the teenage tragedy is the car crash ballad. Here’s one of the most famous:

This one had to be included:

Lastly, this song from Thrice subverts the moral from one of our myths. Or maybe they just didn’t get it:

The copies of Ovid’s Metamorphoses are available at the Barnes & Noble at 41st under my name or the name of the school. You should read (and journal) through section two by Monday.

As you read, try to parse down the most essential elements of the stories (as we did today with Phaethon’s story), and record any connections you come up with between them and other works.