Disscusions for the Tempest

In the discussions regarding the Tempest, one controversial subject  has been between colonialism and imperialism and whether or not Shakespeare supports either of them. On one side of the argument you have a political commentator George Will that claims literature is important cause of its beauty. Will opposes the practice of reading important literature in a way that is not a very good way to understand it therefore not respecting the literature. On the other hand you have Stephen Greenblatt a Professor at Harvard in the department of Humanities, and he argues that more critical thinking and reading the piece of literature the way that best helps you understand is the side of the argument he supports. Furthermore this makes reading more enjoyable and not just memorizing text but, ultimately understanding what the main purpose of the literature is. Others may even maintain a different view such as taking a little from both sides of the main argument and fusing Greenblatt's ideas and Will's ideas to make and ultimate policy, but i think i would be quite difficult in reaching a compromise between the Greenblatt and Will since they are so attracted to there own ideas they may not want to accept outside ideas. However the view that i am taking is one siding with Stephen Greenblatt, but there are still different parts in Will's philosophy that I can stand firmly on.

Literary Debate

In George Will's article "literary politics", he talks about a woman by the name of Carol Lannone and how she was turned away the NEH(National Endowment for the Humanities) advisory board. George Will often takes the role as the politician in a sense. Will says, "as esthetic judgments are politicized, political judgments are estheticized: the striking of poses and the enjoyment of catharsis are central in the theater of victimization in academic life." George is ultimately trying to attack critical thinking gesturing that there is no need for it when you have political reference to different texts. Also Will debates on trying to preserve Shakespeare's works and not letting different professors  of literature destroying the image Shakespeare was attempting to create by stating "it is a symbolic issue such as imperialism."  Greenblatt says it is " collective amnesia and deculturation." Greenblatt on the other hand says its impossible to understand Shakespeare without mentally grappling with it and try to critical think and understand and formulate ideas. studying both sides of this argument i have sided with George Will in the fact that he is attempting to preserve they teachings of Shakespeare works and upholding the image Shakespeare wanted.

Does the tempest and colonialism have similarties

When a country or a power tries to colonize something they bring there culture and customs to the region that they think is needed to be colonized. In the imperial age the name of the game was colonization and if you had the most territory you had the most power which everyone strives for. In a sense you can say that Caliban is the Native Americans for instance and Prospero is England trying to educate and civilize Caliban cause in his cultural he is a savage. Also there was a moment in time were Caliban and Prospero were able to coexist with one another, but Caliban broke this trustworthy bond between them by attempting to have his way with his daughter Miranda. As soon as Prospero found out the trust was broken and Caliban was sentenced to a cave were he lives now, and is now Prospero slave. The parallel I'm trying to depict is when , the Native Americans had a trust bond with the pilgrims and when the Natives broke that, the pilgrims didn't take it lightly and they were punished, but is it right to colonize a "savage" culture or does that culture think the colonizers are the savage ones ?    

um? Tempest blog

Prospero is a crafty and majestic man. He can manipulate things people imagine of doing. The most noticeable act of manipulation is when he conjures up a storm to bring his enemies to the island, but what some people could have missed is when he explains the past to Miranda. "Twelve years ago, Miranda, twelve years ago your father was the Duke of Milan, a powerful prince and your mother was extremely virtuous, and she said you were my daughter. And your father was Duke of Milan, and you were his heir, a princess"(act1,scene2,page4). This excerpt from the story is revealing the beginning of Miranda and what was to become of here. Also Prospero could just be manipulating her into believing something that possible is not true. Knowing that Prospero could create a storm so that all his enemies could come to the island, i would think that creating a false story to Miranda to get her to believe she could have been more.

Mi Blogio

Last week during Thursdays block period we had an activity called a Socratic circle. in the Socratic circle we discussed a issue concerning a women who thinks there should be a change on the way information is taught to students. Kristen Gardner says," use critical-thinking skills and a variety of primary and secondary source material to explain and apply different methods that historians use to understand and interpret the past, including multiple points of view and historical context." Instead of just shoveling facts into young minds, you can teach them to use critical-thinking, to theorize, and to make-up assumptions. Students can gain more knowledge using critical-thinking. For example, instead of just knowing that the A-bomb was dropped in Japan during world war 2, students will get more understanding out of this situation by thinking on"why did president Truman decide to allow the bombs to be dropped" or "if he decided not to initiate the bombing what else could he do to resolve the war." Allowing students to think for themselves will be more beneficial towards them learning. Everyone in the Socratic circle would agree that they would much rather think and use there brain then memorize facts and regurgitate them when needed to. Who has the rights to allow or prohibit someone trying to gain knowledge on a greater level than memorization. I believe when people start learning they start making emotional bonds to that subject and start formulating opinions and when people try to stop that is just inhumane.     

steve nash

All though he is only 6''3' (that's short in the NBA) Steve Nash is a dominate force in the league even at old age. Through the years of his career, he has accomplished things people dream about. Achieving two MVP awards in two consecutive seasons is a accomplishment for anyone. Also he is a critically claimed to be one of the point guards the NBA has yet to see.

I had some trouble uploading a picture so ill just make a link to one.