Medea MOR

In this first section of Medea, we were introduced to a few of the characters. One thing I find interesting about plays is that they often don't introduce their main character first, like movies or TV shoes do, or even books. In Medea, we are first introduced to the Nurse, who is very loyal to her mistress, cares for the children, and hates Jason, Medea's husband who is leaving her for the daughter of Creon, King of Corinth. The Nurse makes the statement, "Jason is no friend of people in this house." Medea and Jason had gone through a lot together, leaving a trail of bodies behind them, which Medea contributed to for the sake of her love for Jason. Now, he is leaving her and she is in despair. One thing that I thought was interesting throughout the passage was how the characters talked about men. The Attendant/Tutor/Pedagogue seems as if he is making excuses for what Jason did, saying in lines 107-108, "What mortal man is not [bad to his family]? Don’t you know yet
 all men love themselves more than their neighbors." Medea also herself says in lines 245-246, "Many men, I know, become too arrogant,
 both in the public eye and in their homes." It will be interesting to see what other comments are made about this.
Patsy- Do you have a favorite character so far? I think mine is the Nurse. I like her loyalty to Medea, and her sass that she shows to the Attendant.

Antigone Trial Review

All in all, I felt that our Antigone mock trial went well. I think one highlight was the witness questions of Haemon by the prosecution-- a job well done by Verity and Patsy. I also thought Tiresias, played by Mackenzie, was a very well done character, with great answers. Creon's closing speech was eloquent and well written by James. Of course I am glad the defense won, however it was a good fight, and not an easy one. I think everyone did very well.

Antigone Quote and Question 2

On page 153 of Antigone, my quote is, "Mark this, my son: all men fall into sin. But sinning, he is not for ever lost. Hapless and helpless, who can make amends and has not set his fave against repentance."

My question is, if this society is supposed to be polytheist, why the Biblical references?

Antigone Quote and Question

My quote from Antigone is by the Ismene, who came in right after Antigone is brought to Creon because she buried Polynices. Ismene says,
"I did it-- yes-- if she will let me says so. I am as much to blame as she is."
My question is, why did Ismene do this? She seemed so opposed because of the threat of death, and now she wants to take credit for the burial. Why?

The Left Hand of Darkness

The Left Hand of Darkness is a very intriguing book, and sometimes hard to follow. What strikes me as odd are the alternating of chapters that sometimes are told from the point of view of the main character, and are sometimes presented as historical "texts" from the planet in which they are on. I drew a few parallels between this book and the book Ender's Game, in the way that there is the instant communication device, which I think is an interesting concept. The book as a whole seems an extension of multiple ideas about space presented in the late 1900's, such as the time difference if Ai were to travel off-world. The concept of a race that is androgynous reminds me of an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, when there was also an androgynous race. I am interested to see where Ai's journey takes him. I wonder if the author saying that the entire society prefers not to write anything is some sort of prediction about where our own society is headed. In chapter three, this circumstance is referenced in the quote, "Karhiders do not read much as a rule, and prefer their news and literature heard not seen" (Chapter 3, page 29). It will be interesting to see if he makes any further commentary on that situation.
Patsy- At the moment I don't have any strong theories about how Gently Ai will get the planet to join, but I do think the King will probably not come around, and the King will either get killed, or removed, or something.
Do the concepts in this book remind you of other Sci-Fi books you have read?

Extravert(50%)  iNtuitive(38%)  Feeling(47%)  Judging(6%)

The explanation for the personality type, ENFJ, seems to fit me very well. Most of what is said I agree with, particularly the quote for 16personalities.com, "The interest ENFJs have in others is genuine, almost to a fault – when they believe in someone, they can become too involved in the other person's problems, place too much trust in them." I did not, however, agree with the quote, "but if they get too caught up in another person's plight, they can develop a sort of emotional hypochondria, seeing other people's problems in themselves, trying to fix something in themselves that isn't wrong." This description doesn't ring quite true for me, in the way that I do not tend to adopt other peoples emotional issues, for the mere reason that I am exposed to them. Most of the time, I remain the way I have been prior to the connection with someone struggling with emotional problems.

There were a lot of positive affirmations, but my favorite one came from the "Strengths" section, and stated, "More than seeking authority themselves, ENFJs often end up in leadership roles at the request of others, cheered on by the many admirers of their strong personality and positive vision."