Hi guys! Quick question that I thought I'd ask y'all for help with: (yes, that's a dangling preposition, sorry)
How arbitrary is the fragment order of Sappho's poetry? Was it just put together by the translator in this order, or did it appear this way somewhere? There seems to be some order to it, as the last ones have to do more with her death, but since he put titles on the fragments, I don't know what to trust anymore...
-jacqui
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Coming Attractions: Comps
Hello Juniors,
I’m writing to you because I remember that last year, Comps was a big, terrifying event looming in April, and what was most scary about it was how very vague it all was. I had no idea what to expect, mainly in terms of the weeks leading up to comps and the three days of the tests themselves. I don’t know if it would have made me less nervous to be able to picture vividly what those days would be like, but it’s worth a shot. So, I’m going to give you as concise a rundown as I can manage.
A disclaimer: please, please, please do NOT start stressing out about Comps now. It is way too early in the year, and we don’t need any ulcers come springtime. This description is meant to quell fears, not encourage them.
OK. You probably know the basics already: upon returning from winter break (or thereabouts), your class will most likely split into several study groups. The groups will decide how they want to go about reviewing the material, and will probably meet once or twice a week throughout February, March, and April. As Comps draws closer, you’ll start looking at previous years’ test questions, maybe doing a dry run a few days beforehand, etc.
The actual days of Comps go something like this:
9AM on the first day, you go to the COL office and each pick up an envelope from Eugenia. Then the seniors will whisk you away to have a lovely home-cooked breakfast. You will schmooze, have some nice food and perhaps some coffee, and then head over to begin work. (You are given thesis carrels, as the seniors will already be done with their theses – yikes. You, of course, can choose not to work in your thesis carrel, but the option is available to you.)
-The questions themselves: depending on your examiners (they are different every year) you will probably have somewhere between 2 and 5 questions. Normally (though your examiners may structure things differently) you will choose 2 of the essay questions and begin figuring out how you want to write your essays. You have 3 hours of actual writing time (that is, 1.5 hours per essay) and the rest of the time should be used for preparing (creating an outline, rereading parts of works that you might want to use, etc) as well as other important activities including eating, taking a break to shower or take a walk or a nap, and sleeping. Once you have finished your 3 hours of writing, you are done for the day! Go home, get some rest, watch a movie, etc.
-This process repeats 2 more times. So, if you receive your first set of questions on Tuesday morning, you will hand those in at 9AM Wednesday morning, get the next set, answer those, turn them in Thursday morning, receive the last set, answer those, and hand them in Friday morning.
-The oral component: once all your essays have been handed in (and you have recovered from the shock/revelry), you will have the oral part of the exam. This happens during reading/finals week, and basically means meeting with the two examiners who wrote the questions. At this point, they have read your essays, and want to talk to you about them. Maybe there was a part they didn’t understand and want you to elaborate on; maybe they loved a section and wanted to hear more about what you thought. It is basically a chance for you to re-explain any parts of your writing that could have used a little more work had you been given more than 1.5 hours to write.
OK. I have talked way too much, as usual. Thanks for slogging through all that. I hope this helps clear up some of what might be worrying you all. I just have 2 more quick things to say, and then I’m going to shut up:
1) I was thinking it might be useful to have an in-person information session with a handful of the seniors and all of you guys to talk about comps, answer questions, give tips, etc. This would probably happen at the very beginning of next semester, if there is general interest.
2) If you have any questions now – if something in this explanation was unclear, or if I forgot to touch on some aspect of Comps that you’re really concerned about, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me. You’re welcome to email me (tmatz@wes) and we can even set up a time to talk in person if you’d like. I’m also sure that any and all of the other seniors would be more than willing to talk to you guys. I know these exams can seem a little terrifying, but they can also be really rewarding and often help to solidify your COL experience. And in any case, you’ll feel really, really good once they’re over and done with….
Be well,
Tamar
I’m writing to you because I remember that last year, Comps was a big, terrifying event looming in April, and what was most scary about it was how very vague it all was. I had no idea what to expect, mainly in terms of the weeks leading up to comps and the three days of the tests themselves. I don’t know if it would have made me less nervous to be able to picture vividly what those days would be like, but it’s worth a shot. So, I’m going to give you as concise a rundown as I can manage.
A disclaimer: please, please, please do NOT start stressing out about Comps now. It is way too early in the year, and we don’t need any ulcers come springtime. This description is meant to quell fears, not encourage them.
OK. You probably know the basics already: upon returning from winter break (or thereabouts), your class will most likely split into several study groups. The groups will decide how they want to go about reviewing the material, and will probably meet once or twice a week throughout February, March, and April. As Comps draws closer, you’ll start looking at previous years’ test questions, maybe doing a dry run a few days beforehand, etc.
The actual days of Comps go something like this:
9AM on the first day, you go to the COL office and each pick up an envelope from Eugenia. Then the seniors will whisk you away to have a lovely home-cooked breakfast. You will schmooze, have some nice food and perhaps some coffee, and then head over to begin work. (You are given thesis carrels, as the seniors will already be done with their theses – yikes. You, of course, can choose not to work in your thesis carrel, but the option is available to you.)
-The questions themselves: depending on your examiners (they are different every year) you will probably have somewhere between 2 and 5 questions. Normally (though your examiners may structure things differently) you will choose 2 of the essay questions and begin figuring out how you want to write your essays. You have 3 hours of actual writing time (that is, 1.5 hours per essay) and the rest of the time should be used for preparing (creating an outline, rereading parts of works that you might want to use, etc) as well as other important activities including eating, taking a break to shower or take a walk or a nap, and sleeping. Once you have finished your 3 hours of writing, you are done for the day! Go home, get some rest, watch a movie, etc.
-This process repeats 2 more times. So, if you receive your first set of questions on Tuesday morning, you will hand those in at 9AM Wednesday morning, get the next set, answer those, turn them in Thursday morning, receive the last set, answer those, and hand them in Friday morning.
-The oral component: once all your essays have been handed in (and you have recovered from the shock/revelry), you will have the oral part of the exam. This happens during reading/finals week, and basically means meeting with the two examiners who wrote the questions. At this point, they have read your essays, and want to talk to you about them. Maybe there was a part they didn’t understand and want you to elaborate on; maybe they loved a section and wanted to hear more about what you thought. It is basically a chance for you to re-explain any parts of your writing that could have used a little more work had you been given more than 1.5 hours to write.
OK. I have talked way too much, as usual. Thanks for slogging through all that. I hope this helps clear up some of what might be worrying you all. I just have 2 more quick things to say, and then I’m going to shut up:
1) I was thinking it might be useful to have an in-person information session with a handful of the seniors and all of you guys to talk about comps, answer questions, give tips, etc. This would probably happen at the very beginning of next semester, if there is general interest.
2) If you have any questions now – if something in this explanation was unclear, or if I forgot to touch on some aspect of Comps that you’re really concerned about, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me. You’re welcome to email me (tmatz@wes) and we can even set up a time to talk in person if you’d like. I’m also sure that any and all of the other seniors would be more than willing to talk to you guys. I know these exams can seem a little terrifying, but they can also be really rewarding and often help to solidify your COL experience. And in any case, you’ll feel really, really good once they’re over and done with….
Be well,
Tamar
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Greeks and Persuasion
After reading the Oresteia and the first two Platonic dialouges, I'm interested in what exactly Persuasion means (also the difference between Persuasion and persuasion, if there is one). In Timaeus, Plato portrays perusaion as the means by which replicas for the forms are taken to be the form itself. Persuasion can't really do any good in this sense since true intelligence is not affected by it. It has no role but to further cloud an individual's mind.
In the Oresteia, Persuasion has a more dynamic role. In Agamemnon Persuasion is the "maddening child of ruin" (ln. 390). It is destructive in nature. But skip to the end of The Eumenides and Athena says, "I am in glory! Yes, I love Persuasion; she watched my words, she met their wild refusals" (ln. 981). Not Persuasion is constructive and doing good. Not only is Persuasion doing good, but Athena relied on it to counteract the irrationality of the furies. I'm not sure where I'm going with this idea, but it seems like persuasion has now helped Athena to realize justice. It's clearing things up instead of leading people away from the truth. Is this a valid reading? Are they even talking about the same thing?
In the Oresteia, Persuasion has a more dynamic role. In Agamemnon Persuasion is the "maddening child of ruin" (ln. 390). It is destructive in nature. But skip to the end of The Eumenides and Athena says, "I am in glory! Yes, I love Persuasion; she watched my words, she met their wild refusals" (ln. 981). Not Persuasion is constructive and doing good. Not only is Persuasion doing good, but Athena relied on it to counteract the irrationality of the furies. I'm not sure where I'm going with this idea, but it seems like persuasion has now helped Athena to realize justice. It's clearing things up instead of leading people away from the truth. Is this a valid reading? Are they even talking about the same thing?
Plato's idea of "god/gods"
One thing I wanted to bring up in class that we didn't get around to talking about is what exactly is Plato's idea of who or what created the universe. Does he have an idea of how many of these gods there are? Because he switches back and forth from using the singular and the plural to refer to god(s). To me it seemed that he was specifically refering to one god who created the universe, but later he talked about others that exist so to me it was unclear. Also, the first dialogue we read showed Socrates questioning the existence of multiple gods, but this doesn't affirm a belief in only one god and this also does not necessarily mean that what Socrates is saying is the same as what Plato is saying. Professor Horst explained that monotheistic religions who like Plato have attempted to baptize him as a monotheist, but that this is a highly debated issue and one without a really clear answer. Does anyone have any thoughts?
-Emily
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