Eric Chen, Period 2, 11/21/2022

 Write about your thoughts regarding any of the fiction or nonfiction covered in class.

One of the works of fiction that we covered in class, is the story of Oedipus Rex. During both the reading and the learning of the background information, it makes the story messed up and revolting. The moral dilemmas oedipus rex brings to us, such as the problems of the Oedipus complex, patricide, and multiple kids as the product of incestuous relationships, makes us question the essence of humanity. From the group discussions of these topics, I gained a larger understanding of morality, what makes a character good or evil. The morals from the background information, that Laius kidnapped a boy and raped him was disgusting. The fact that he eventually became a king later seems to add to the revolting story. After all, how could such a monstrous being of a human reach such a high position of power. Oedipus too, started killing people after an argument at the crossroads, and then just forgets about it, only realizing that it was perhaps his father after jocasta brings it up. Perhaps that might have been accepted back then, but based on the morals now, it would have been looked upon differently. Furthermore, I feel empathetic for Jocasta, for marrying her first husband who wouldn’t have sex with her until he got drunk by accident. Then when she got pregnant and carried the baby for 3 months, they had the baby’s feet staked together and thrown out in the wild. I couldn’t imagine how she felt, especially later when she realized that she married her son and had kids with him. Throughout this reading, I was able to gain a better glimpse of the society back then, for such a depressing story to be written and then played out for catharsis, making you cry from the series of unfortunate events. 

Tyrone Chen, Period 6, 11/21/22

 Write about your thoughts regarding any of the fiction or nonfiction covered in class.

One piece of work that we covered in class is the story of Oedipus Rex. When discussing this story we were given the Do Now of a bunch of moral dilemmas that make up the essence of a Greek Tragedy. Thinking about these situations was a very weird experience as if these situations happened to me I would be very conflicted. Though some were very easy to solve like telling the leader they were wrong, others were very hard to think about such as the one about being family with a direct kin. This relates to the story of Oedipus Rex. Though we are only up to the part about going to the temple to visit the priest of Apollo, the students in the class already got a bunch of backstory about the character who married his own mother and killed his own father. This is a very interesting dilemma as we don’t know what he would do when he finds out about the truth. It personally makes me very curious as to the whole backstory of Oedipus and how he came to marry his mother and how he came to find out that the one he married turned out to be his mother. If this situation was in modern times I think it would be even more weird as killing would immediately lead to murder and marrying ones kin is even more of a taboo. But this story took place in ancient times where inter family marriage is common as you can see from the gods. So I am very curious and excited to see how the story will unfold. Though I already know the ending of the play, it still makes me curious as to what will happen throughout the play. It really puts meaning to the quote about “It’s not about the destination but about the journey”. 

Anna Fora, Period 2, 11/22/22

Anna Fora

Modern Mythology 2023

11/22/22

Socio-Political Consciousness

What are your thoughts and feelings about issues of inequity, oppression, and/or power?

How do you reflect critically on your own beliefs, assumptions, values, and experiences, and how these can influence your perception of self and others?

As a child, I never understood my mother's judgmental remarks about others concerning their looks or background. I always got embarrassed when my mother would whisper jokes in my ear about a guy's unruly hair or lesbian lovers on the subway. Sometimes, my extreme reactions would send my mother and me into a fight over my tone of voice. However, this doesn't mean that I claim myself as a saint. I still catch my trains of thought falling into stereotypes, sometimes negative ones. But growing up in a society that normalized prejudice, discrimination, and oppression against minorities, I never understood why it was so customary to be mean to others simply because they're different. I never understood why people found it normal to exercise their power over others harmfully.

Maybe I'm biased because I've been experiencing such unfair uses of power, specifically over me, since I was born. Growing up as a girl meant I was regularly told to keep quiet and look pretty in public or around others. It meant that I was at the disposal of harmful comments about my appearance and weight from men around me because "they knew better than me" and were "saving me from humiliation in the future." Even after acknowledging my non-binary identity, I knew it would allow everyone to judge and question my identity because it was different from their perception of normal. So maybe I've rarely come in contact with figures in power who genuinely cared and considered every last person in their decisions, not just people like their own.

Let's take the character Oedipus as an example. Even though he's a very self-centered and stubborn King of Thebes, he's shown to still care for the safety and well-being of his country. That's an essential quality some modern leaders lack when they chase positions of power for fame and reputation. Maybe he proves this genuineness wrong later in the play, but I can go off of what our mythology class has read so far.

On a micro-level, I try to make everyone who feels the pricks of inequity feel heard and equal. For example, in conversations, I try to remind others to listen to the voices of those talked over or interrupted. I make sure anyone who feels they don't have the right to vent their problems knows they can. I know how harmful a word or comment can be to excluding someone and making them feel like an outsider, so I take small steps in my everyday life to influence society's perceptions of others positively. And hopefully, my little efforts and everyone's hard work in trying will change the future into one more accepting, equal, and those in power who can handle the moral responsibility that comes with it.

Eric Chen, Period 6, 11/18/22

 Modern Mythology 2023

Eric Chen, Period 6, 11/18/22

• What are your thoughts and feelings about issues of inequity, oppression, and/or power?

• How do you reflect critically on your own beliefs, assumptions, values, and experiences, and how these can influence your perception of self and others?

There are a multitude of factors in our life that we are not able to control. These include our family status, our ethnicity, and our sexuality. Ironically, these are usually the same factors that can influence the opportunities we get. Someone born into wealth obviously has more opportunities to gain influence and power than someone born into poverty after all. That is not to say that the person born into poverty can’t make use of the opportunities they do get; that is why we have systems like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program that provides food aid for people that can not afford basic human needs as well as free education. Of course, someone with a higher status will get those opportunities and then some and there are people living in places that don’t care about the wellbeing of others. 

Oppression is an issue that hits home for me. Being an Asian American I was very aware of the Asian American hate crimes that were committed during the COVID era. Additionally I as well as a large portion of my friends are queer. Many of us haven’t even talked with our parents about this fact out of fear of being rejected. Even worse is the fact that there are people in positions of power pushing to take healthcare from the LGBT community as well as trying to outlaw same-sex marriage. There are very clear instances of oppression here.

I think the best way to influence your perception of yourself and others is to have an open mind. The ability to judge others without prejudice is an important trait to have. In my opinion, I believe that it’s fine to have bias, as they can happen subconsciously. Additionally the reasons we might have bias might be out of our control now. However, I don’t think these biases should have a major effect on our perception of people. Not everyone is the way they seem after all. 

Something I’ve had to come to terms with is the fact that there are supportive people out there who can say they’ve come out of similar situations as you. I may be Asian American but there are millions of other Asian Americans out there who might’ve even been attacked during COVID. The amount of support for the LGBT community is frankly overwhelming and I’m glad that such a warm community has been established. Human connection is an amazing thing and in my case and I’d like to believe that in many others that it helps our perception of ourselves as well as many others in our communities. 

Miles Chen, Period 2, 11/17/2022

 

• Socio-political Consciousness

• What are your thoughts and feelings about issues of inequity, oppression, and/or power?

• How do you reflect critically on your own beliefs, assumptions, values, and experiences, and how these can influence your perception of self and others?

I think that inequity and oppression are reflected in Guseyn Zarbaliyev. He constantly oppresses those that are unfortunate enough to be on his team in a first person shooter. I know him as Gus, but the North American server knows him as “The Weight” because players must fight and drag him to a victory for a chance to climb up the ranks. In a way, I guess Gus has power because he is completely in control of the winner of each of his games, although it tends to be the opposing side. I could ramble on and on about Gus and his teammates' inevitable rage at his inability to hit anything in a shooting game, but on a much more real note, this situation is concurrent with modern society and the growing disparity between the “powerful” upper class and the lower class as well as the minorities. The rich only continue to earn more money by the hour, while the poor continue to suffer. It saddens me to see the groups of homeless people huddled at the bases of skyscrapers, which are probably worth millions of dollars. Too liken it to a game again: even if a beginner had good aim, they would still lose in a game full of pros because of the difference in game knowledge and experience. It is a bit of a jump, but what I really mean is that I believe our society could be so much more advanced if we simply focused our resources on making sure that minorities and the poor are able to have access to the opportunities and resources they need to support themselves. After all, the saying is “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link”.

After really thinking about this problem, even something as amazing as the recent attempt at reaching the moon seems trivial and even unreasonable. I guess it only goes to show why this problem has existed for so long though. Power lies in the hands of the rich, whether it’s to further their own wealth or to fund research for new advancements. I’ll admit that there isn’t a reliable way to completely support every single person that needs help, but I still believe that there should be at least more attention being given to our situation. I also admit that even after saying all this, I don’t think I’d do much to further this cause either because I need to make sure I can sustain myself and my family first, so maybe that’s something I have to work on before I start judging others. I consider oppression as including withholding resources from a group of people even if it is because they can’t afford it, so as an aspiring engineer I hope I can find a career in aiding in the construction of affordable housing for poorer people. I don’t know much about agriculture or any possible solutions for starvation, but maybe if I do my best to provide every person with a house others will be inspired and come forth with the same goal.

Justin Zhou, Period 7, 11/17/22

As a senior in high school, the expectations are nearly always stacked against us. The ever looming deadlines and college dread paints the perfect backdrop for inequity and angst to run rampant throughout the class of 2023. But in a time of chaos and a constant barrage of deadlines, I’ve found a simple release and an effective way to stay sharp: by attending to my relationships. In the past, I’ve found myself missing fun times with friends and family just to get that extra credit assignment in or to study for the infinite line of tests and quizzes laid before me. But in doing so, I lose the individuality and people that matter far more than the number set on a screen. Tying my worth to a number or grade has brought out the worst in me and further degraded the time spent with others. Another standard I uphold constantly is to always find the time to talk to anyone, whether it be in a class discussion, with friends or with complete strangers; I’ve found true respite in talking or speaking in front of others. It has become a skill I’ve devoted my entire high school career to refining, which I plan to continue honing as interpersonal skills have had a much more significant impact than the smoke and mirrors of a grade. The interpersonal skills I have gained from simply overcoming the fear of conversation has led me to where I am today. A final standard I’m struggling to maintain (but will stop at nothing to refine!) is to hold my head up high in the face of oppression. Climbing the ladder against self doubt has felt impossible for the last couple of years, but each time I confidently rise against the odds or lose and learn from my stumble, I ascend one painful rung at a time. My issue with self doubt has indirectly made me very sheltered as I lacked the confidence to project myself. But the more I can stride with the confidence knowing I can has made me adopt this standard as a key tenet of my life. 

Even now, I sometimes find myself poring over a single test grade or caught up in the snowball of a bad day. However, I still proactively think about my three core standards. On bad days (colloquially known in my friend group as “L” days), bouncing back came in the form of going out with friends to divert my mind from the issues without betraying the sanctity of my standards. Within a group of friends, I can find myself easily attending to relationships, talking constantly and naturally confident. “L” days are still invaluable learning experiences I take in stride. I acknowledge the mistakes and self reflect in short but frequent moments throughout the day. Reminiscing about my previous class or what I had said to someone earlier allows me to assess myself quickly and accurately throughout the day, giving me more time to make adjustments and ultimately improve. These adjustments soon form habits, giving me the motivation and strength to continue the slow and interminable climb towards my version of the gates of nirvana: self improvement. 

Alexandra Vasilenko, Period 6, 11/7/22

Sasha Vasilenko, Period 6, 11/7/22

Modern Mythology 2023

At this point of time, I’ve set the standard of balancing school work and college applications without procrastinating, while also going to sleep at a semi-normal time and having some time to just do nothing. I set these standards because I believe that balance plays a crucial role in day-to-day life. It’s important to be able to get work out of the way as soon as possible, so that you have time to spare. As someone who would procrastinate everything for as long as possible, I’ve learned that work will continue to pile up. Due to this, I began allotting time every day to put away any distractions and focus on what really is important, rather than anxiously looking at the deadlines. 

I demonstrate resilience towards achieving these standards by trying to follow that routine daily. Although it isn’t ideal for me sometimes, I’ve learned the consequences of procrastination. I’m also really big on the idea of structure, so following this routine nearly daily has become easier little by little. I can assess myself by looking on Google Classroom. When I see that there are many assignments, I may need to put in more time for homework, and maybe even take away from my personal time or go to sleep later.