Derrick Zeng 11/25/19 Period 2 - Blog #1

Derrick Zeng - Period 2

Modern Mythology

11/25/19

Aim: How does irony contribute to the state of catharsis in tragedies?

Do Now:

Read the poem “Pride” by Dahlia Ravikovitch. Rename the poem

What is the role of irony in this poem?

ORACY challenge

*Remember to both pass and respect the ghost of the conch. Talk to each other! Consider EQUITY when it comes to classroom voice*

______________________________________________________

We began class by reading the poem “Pride”:

Even rocks crack, I'm telling you,

and not on account of age.

For years they lie on their backs

in the heat and the cold,

so many years,

it almost creates the illusion of calm.

They don't move, so the cracks stay hidden.

A kind of pride.

Years pass over them as they wait.

Whoever is going to shatter them

hasn't come yet.

And so the moss flourishes, the seaweed

whips around,

the sea bursts forth and rolls back--

and still they seem motionless.

Till a little seal comes to rub up against the rocks,

comes and goes.

And suddenly the rock has an open wound.

I told you, when rocks crack, it comes as a surprise.

All the more so, people

After the readout loud, we spend some time doing the do now, talking about the irony.

______________________________________________________

We began the class discussion with one group saying that the irony of the poem is called pride, but in reality, the pride is not there, that you are putting up a front that represents the rock: strong and after so many years nothing breaks it and after then one catalyst comes along and touch the rock causing it to split open; it’s supposed to represent people. Another group said that part of the irony is that it bears the stress of the weather and the tides and the wind for years and then a small seal comes along and nuzzle it and the nuzzle shatter the rock eventually; pride is a fitting name but it could also be breaking point something that shows like stress that accumulates over time but then when it’s least excepted or some kind of more gentle thing that opens you up and shatters you. Another person brought up a point in the third line, lie having two meanings, for the rock, lying on it’s back and for a person lying and not telling the turn on their backs, creating an illusion of calm and that pride is the perfect name for the poem. The seal is a cute animal but also a seal that is used to wrap things that can be easily broken. Another group says that they agree with the rest of the groups saying that rock represents a person and that some people bottle up their all their feeling emotions and they seem to be ok but in reality, it’s actually affecting them and like there not the type to open up to people, so in that one moment when they do have that one friend to listen to them, everything just comes out and they like show who they really are. 

The type of irony is situational

The poem is about people and pride, and what’s interesting about the title is that this is her opinion on stoicism (the endurance of pain or hardship without the display of feelings and without complaint), and people who don’t feel, or show or feel like they can tack on as much as possible, so all these things are happening to the rock, this illusion of calm and for people all these little things that happen to us, daily stressors, daily triggers that add up over time until finally at one point or another something just seeming meaningless makes us blow up. We just continue to take it, take it, take it, until all of a sudden we just blow up. In the case of the poem, she uses the imagery of a little seal, the puppies of the ocean.

______________________________________________________

The T.A. then tells Miss. Fusaro to tell us a story that is related to the Poem Pride, about her friend’s father who bottled up all his anger for years and then eventually chopped up his second’s wife’s body and then went on to kill himself.

After the discussion, we talked about Character Motivations

Ethical Motivation: Motivated by morals and ethics; the sense of right and wrong

Pathetic Motivation: Motivated by passion overwhelming emotion

We then continued on and began reading from the Greek Tragedies and then talk about it

Student Reflection:

We learn from society not how to work with our emotions, but how to block and avoid them. You see people block off their emotions to hide their pain. But by denying the existence of those pain we suffer and as we continue to ignore it, it continues to grow within until one day we blow up. Being true to your emotions can’t help but make you feel better about yourself, for you’re able to be authentic. In class, we talked about the irony in the story of Oedipus and the Character Motivations that make them do what they do. Greek tragedies were didactic and written early on in trilogy form to teach and often give us pleasure and relief to see that our lives are not like there’s.