Cristina Diaz, Period 8, 10/5/21

Cristina Diaz

Period 8

Blog- 10/5

Modern Mythology 2022

Literacy & Learning

    Today we discussed the story of Icarus and Daedalus, the Bruegel painting, and

the two poems. What I found most interesting was that they each took a different stance

on the story. The Bruegel painting and Williams’ poem emphasized Icarus’

insignificance, while Auden’s poem suggested society vilified and ignored Icarus, even

going so far as to call him a martyr. In Edith Hamilton’s story, she focuses on his folly. In

that version, the importance is not in the relevance of Icarus’ death but in where the

blame falls. His tragic flaw of hubris, which plays such an instrumental role in the story,

does not come into play in the painting or the poems.

    We just finished our first look into critical theories, and it has provided me with so

many more perspectives with which I can look at what we’re reading. In a lot of my other

classes, materials are presented as 2-dimensional. There is the surface, and then there

is the deeper meaning beneath it. However, by looking through the lenses of various

critical theories, I can see each text we are presented with from countless perspectives.

It has opened my eyes to a new way of reading, and of thinking in general. If a story

can have so many nuances and intricacies, then our everyday lives must be so much

more complex than I thought.

    This idea can be applied to many of my other classes, but specifically, it would be

helpful in AP Government. I could analyze history, and modern politics, through these

same critical theories. This would give me a better idea of how different people and

groups would have felt about a given topic. I think this will eventually give me a better

understanding of people in the modern day as well. Each person, with their prejudices

and prior experiences, is almost like one specific combination of critical theories. That

also means I see the world in a very specific way. In the future, I should try to be more

open to seeing real-life situations from different perspectives.