Welcome to Week C of the "new normal" for college education. The adventure continues!
I have opened many of the older assignments. Look back at your grades. If there are assignments that are missing, please complete them and post your work. If something is locked that you would like to submit, please let me know.
This week we will focus on curses, sins, and destiny.
Week C/ Activity #1 Thoughts About Curses
Though questions. Answer questions 1, 2, 3, and 4. This activity is designed to get you thinking about the idea of fate, curses, and destiny. Answer in paragraphs.
1. Greek and Roman fate: Read the information at
https://mythology.net/greek/greek-gods/the-fates/
. Briefly explain the Greek and Roman ideas of fate. Who were the fates? What did they do? What poser did they have?
2. Is sin inherited? In other words, can or should individuals be punished for the sins of their ancestors? Explain.
3. Think of stories, movies, books, or plays that delt with the idea of a curse.
(Romeo and Juliet comes to mind when Mercutio in his death scene puts a curse on both houses. Athe end,
both Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet end up dead and the Prince announces that "All are punished!") Other titles: "The Monkey's Paw" by W. W. Jacobs,
The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne,
The Mummy - a movie that has been made and remade,
Beauty and the Beast,
Jumanji, The Matrix,Snow White, etc. You get the idea. Why are "curse" plots so popular? What is it that intrigues us about a curse?
4. Is "fate" real? Can one just go off and do what one wants?
Or, are people destined to live a predetrmined life? Explain.
5. Can a curse be avoided or broken? Why/why not? Give an example.
6. What or who was the Oracle at Delphi? What famous predictions did she make? Was her word law?
Week C/ Activity #2 - The Royal House of Thebes
Get to know the members of The Royal House of Thebes. These are the characters in the Oedipus Trilogy. Our focus will be on Antigone, the third play. (Learn more about Greek theater in Week C/
Activity #3.)
Conduct some research in books or on-line. Identify each of the following characters from the Oedipus Trilogy.
- Labdacus
- Laius
- Jocasta
- Oedipus
- Eteocles
- Polyneices
- Ismene
- Antigone
- Menoeceus
- Creon
- Eurydice
- Jocasta (Same lady as above. How is she related to Menocceus and Labdacus?)
- Megareus
- Haemon
Also identify
- Tireseas
- Oracle at Delphi
- Chorus in Greek Plays
Points: 5 points each item = 85 total points
Week C/ Activity #3 - Greek & Roman Theatre
Answer the questions. (Please sign into the Zoom meeting on Thursday, April 23 at 1:30. The sign-in formation is on Canvas. I will be going over the answers to these questions. You will be able to write down the answers and get credit for this assignment!. If you can't sign in, all of the answers may be found in the article.)
1. What are the origins of Greek theatre?
2. In what ways was Dionysus associated with the theatre?
3. What ia an aulos?
4. What was the cost of a ticket?
5. Why did the actors wear masks?
6. What was the maximum number of people in the chorus?
7. Who was Thespis?
8. How many actors - aside from those in the chorus - could be in a play? Why?
9. Who paid for the cost of a theatrical production at the big festival in Athens?
10. For what prize were the playwriters competing? (Other sources say the prize was a goat.)
11. Name four famous Greek playwrites and note what each added to the productions.
12. Briefly describe the characteristics of Greek and later Roman comedy?
13. Name one author of comedy and note what he added to the genre.
14. What is the legacy of Greek comedy and tragedy?
5 points per questions. Total: 70 points.
Week C/Activity #4 - The parts of a Greek theatre
A. Identify the parts of the Greek theatre. Tell the use of each for A-F.
B. In addition, describe the location and purpose of four additional sections as noted in the sites above.
5 points each for a total of 50 points.
Week C/Activity #5 - Discussion Board
Have you ever been to the theater or performed in a play? If you enjoy the theater, what are some of your favorite productions? Elaborate a bit. What made the production or productions so great?
If you don't go to the theater in times when you can actually gather as groups of more than 10, what keeps you from going?
This would be my original post.
I have several "favorites." Most are Broadway Musicals. (My apologies to opera fans.)
I started going to plays when I was a child. My mom and my friend's mom would take us to the University of Utah to see various productions. West Side Story was performed on an out-door stage in the summer. I fell in love with the musi, the characters, and the story even though I could not have been older than 10.
Another favorite was the production of Miss Siagon at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. There is something magical about that theater. The red curtains and the grandeur of the theater itself add to the power of any production there. I have also seen Les Miserable, Lion King, and Beauty and the Beast in that magnificent theater.
My list could go on for pages, but I will end with Phantom of the Opera which I have seen at the Kennedy Center in D. C., Chrysler Hall in Norfolk,VA, and again at The Mirage in Vagas. All three times I was swept away by the music, story, and scenery. There is something hauntingly beautiful in the staging, costumes, and music of the production.
If you have an opportunity to go to the theater, take advantage of it. From plays put on at local high schools to grand productions shown on glorious stages around the world, there is magic. It is an escape that is worth the price of admission. You will take away memories that will stay with you long after the curtain closes.
Now it is your turn. Post your original by midnight on Thursday, April 23, 2020. Post two responses to others by 6:00 am on Tuesday, April 28.
50 points total
See you Thursday on Zoom! Again, the link will be given on Canvas.
