Individual Presentations--Day One

Term paper presentations have begun! Today's presentations were all so good. I can't wait to see what the rest of the class does with their time. Here's a recap of today: (And I apologize in advance if I misspell anyone's names....)

Elissa--wrote about Beckett and his parrot joke, etc. There is happiness or humor in the negative as well

Maxton--will relate Haroun and The Following Story to his own journey through the class by relating his journey to that of Max in Where the Wild Things Are. He spoke about three major themes, separation, initiation, and return. Max read us the story just like storytime as a child, making sure everyone could see the pictures. Thank you Max! Dr. Sexson added that Max looks into the eyes of these wild things (in emergent literature) and learns to tame them.

Adam--Spoke about the Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantzakis in which Christ lives an entire lifetime in his final moments on the cross. This is his last and greatest temptation. Adam says God and Satan use dreams as a language of communication and influence. Sexson adds, this is a gnostic fable or fantasy.

Bizz--drew a big X on the board just as Sexson did on "March 10th" =) then drew an inverted V next to it with the Big Bang being the point of the v and us being somewhere in the middle near the base. She said the universe is expanding downward. We seek the origin as a way of defining ourselves as individuals or as a race, but when we meet that origin we must only start over again. Does this mean our existence is meaningless? Bizz mentioned we are composed of hourglasses, tiny moments changing and repeating in differing orders and sequences. and It is not about redeeming past action through this return to origin but about choosing new actions. Our redemption is in our future not the past, which is always present.

Sarah Burke--wrote a short story based on the idea of "what I know now", relating that back to the themes in the class under the structure of an encounter in a coffee shop and Finnegans Wake. She says sometimes fiction is better than reality. Her story was.....honest. It was beautiful, full of feeling, smart in its construction....and there were layers of meaning. I loved it. Thank you Sarah for reading your beautiful story.

Brianne--did a rap! for the class. One of the themes I picked up on was the idea of divinity within the self. It was very brave of you Brianne, and we all enjoyed it immensely.

Jon Certo--related the 4 quartets to reggae music, specifically Bob Marley. He mentioned Marley's song "Exodus". He says he never realized the mysticism in the lyrics, never realized because he never truly listened.

Sam--wrote about Alchemy. She talked about an artist who transforms scrap metal into art. She mentioned another artist, Deborah Butterfield who uses driftwood to make sculptures and then casts them. Sam related this to Alchemy by talking about the transformation of "the rubbish of life into art" but one must not forget its origins. "ink and stink" from Finnegans Wake made an appearance in Sam's presentation. Alchemist turning his excrement into art by using it as ink (Shem-->Alshemist).

Zach Eggemeyer--wrote about Charlie Kaufman's films and the exploration of myths as paradigms to how we should live our lives. If our actions return and recur exactly as they did the first time, how much weightier are our actions? The plight of man and true weight of being is this. We must consider our actions as recurring eternally, giving our actions much more importance than we may immediately realize.

Alicia--wrote about Alchemy in relation to the 5 themes of the class. She did a lot of research into the history of Alchemy and presented some of us to that in her powerpoint presentation. One interesting idea: that we do not reincarnate into self-same physical beings but as energy forces on the same plane.

Doug--talked about tarot cards and the wheel of fortune. He mentioned a play, "Oh Fortuna" wherein each character is in a state of rising or falling much like the characters in the Tempest. Prospero is the only character that completes the circle and brings it back around. Doug explained the origin of the tarot cards and the major and minor arcana therein. He says each card is but a fragment in the story and each are dealing with an aspect of the human story of ascending and descending. The fool and the magician are one. Top and bottom (highbrow and lowbrow) are one.

Great job everyone on your presentations today! Good luck to everyone on Friday.