Post 28: The best blogger(s)

                    Of the people that kept up with their blogs consistently, there are a few people that came to mind as far as the "best blogger" goes. The first name that I thought of was Andy Ferguson, since his blogs are often concise and offer plenty of detail and originality. His understanding of the text is clear and you will probably end up thinking about the assigned piece differently after reading his take on it. However, Lauren Bagwell's posts had that same clear understanding of the text, as well as her own personal voice that spoke through the posts. These two are the most exemplary bloggers from our class.

Post 27: A piece I would reread

                    One piece that I always wanted to read and dig deeper into was Dante's "Inferno". It's not a piece that I would normally read outside of a classroom setting, despite my interest in it, but I always wanted to read it and discuss it in a class setting. When I noticed we were assigned Inferno, I naturally got excited about it, but the assignment following the reading were fairly ambiguous and were sort of vague in terms of the reading. We also didn't discuss the story in as much depth as I would have liked to. So, I'd probably find myself rereading Inferno in my spare time to satisfy my interest in the story.

Post 26: Hamlet as a modern hero

                    Hamlet is more of a modern hero than an epic hero because he exhibits more "humanistic" traits. Hamlet isn't portrayed as a God or someone gifted by the gods to complete a task; in fact, he is incredibly human and displays human-like wants and desires.Ultimately, everything that Hamlet does in the play is for his own agenda and not for the greater good. This also makes Hamlet more of a modern epic hero because he is more relatable than an Oedipus or a Dante. His conquests are desirable and appeal to human emotion and instinct.

Post 25: Hamlet in comparison to other heroes

                    Hamlet is an archetypal hero, just like the other protagonists that we have read about and discussed in this semester. He does not begin the story in a bad way, he actually begins with several things to look forward to, specifically being heir to his father's throne. As time passes in the story, he falls from grace and it eats him alive and exposes some of his flaws as a hero. This fall from faith could be compared to Dante, as his actions lead him to traverse through the circles of Hell. Hamlet could also be compared to Oedipus as far as the royalty archetype goes.

Post 24: Utopia in comparison to the United States

                    Thomas More's Utopia is a story of a "perfect" nation that was created separate from the other nations of the world. The main premise of the nation that More writes about is a place that is free from debt, religious difference and persecution, and racial equality (Despite the existence of slaves). Although the United States aims and strives for such things, they simply fall short. Distinctions between the rich and poor still exist, some religions are still thought of as ludicrous or pagan if it does not coincide with Christianity, and racial inequality is still very prevalent throughout the nation.

Post 23: Leadership as written by Machiavelli

                    Machiavelli's ideas of leadership are strong indicators of what a good leader is in today's society. In many facets, according to Machiavellian literature, Donald Trump would have received some slight criticisms, but all in all he would have been considered a great leader. An important quality that Machiavelli would commend President Trump for is his nation's self sufficiency. Although we rely on others for several of our goods, we are ultimately self reliant, and we have the power to increase our already large military force. Machiavelli "[considers] those who are able to support themselves by their own resources who can, either by abundance of men or money, raise a sufficient army to join battle against any one who comes to attack them[...]". By this notion, we are more than self sufficient because our army is strong and can hold their own against most any military threat. President Trump's men are also "Well-organized and drilled", another facet which complements his military strength.
                   

Post 22 : Beauty in Song Lyrics

                    One of my favorite songs was released last year on Bon Iver's album, 22, A Million. The album features a very particular and obscure sound, and the same can be said about the lyrical content of the short album. The song that I want to discuss lyrically is 715 - CR∑∑KS, which is found early on in the album. The most interesting thing about this song is that it has no instruments, only extensive vocal harmonies, leaving the vocals and lyrics very exposed. The lyrics of the song are very vague and ambiguous, which leaves room for interpretation. The full lyrics are displayed in the video, but they are also located here. 

                    The lyric has a ton of imagery in lyrics such as  "Down along the creek

I remember something" and "low moon don the yellow road". Also the lyrics feature a narrator who is obviously distraught about something that is left to interpretation which is displayed more in Justin Vernon's voice than anything else. His crying vocals on the "turn around you're my A-Team" lyrics are almost physically felt. The most beautiful thing about this lyric is that it is almost entirely up to the listener on what it means, and the delivery of the entire song.