For August 28, Sunday

Congratulations on the first discussion on the Aeneid. I am absolutely delighted at the way the discussion turned out. If this is your first time to check out the blog, you may still share your valuable ideas in the first post as well as this post.


Now, on to the task today. We will discuss Nibelungenlied, a Norse saga.

pic from here

Now these are links to help you get acquainted with the story:

http://www.timelessmyths.com/norse/nibelungs.html

http://www.nibelungenlied-gesellschaft.de/03_beitrag/english/summary.html

The story is set in Burgundy.
There are two pairs of love teams in the story:

Kriemhild and Siegfried
Brunhild and Gunther

For the questions to start you off:

1. Give a word each to describe each hero and heroine and discuss these character traits as shown in the story.
2. How are male/macho stereotypes presented in the story? How do Gunther and Sigfried project these stereotypes? In which parts of the story can this be seen?
3. On the other hand, how do Kriemhild and Brunhild reinforce or break the female stereotype? Was girl power alive in the time of Nibelungenlied or not? Why? Why not?

For gender stereotypes, ideals, or roles, refer to any of these links, but I'd recommend the first one: 

http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1982/5/82.05.06.x.html

http://ezinearticles.com/?Gender-Stereotypes&id=1115363

http://www.georgejacobs.net/Analyzing_stereotypes.htm

http://www.forwardsyria.com/story/86/Gender%20roles%20in%20literature%20and%20the%20media

This is bound to be interesting. 

GO!

For August 26, Friday

Congratulations on a job well-done for the first quarter! Please see me if you wish to seek clarification about your grades. 

Today, we'll discuss Virgil's Aeneid. 

Here are three links (other than your brown and white book) that will help you in our discussion today:

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/aeneid/

http://classics.mit.edu/Virgil/aeneid.html

http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~loxias/aeneid.htm

Now, I will post some questions and please give me your ideas in the comments section. 

1. How is the Aeneid similar to or different from the Iliad and the Odyssey? 
2. Which epic do you like more and why? 
3. What are the similarities and differences of the Roman epic and the Greek epics? 
4. How are Romans and Greeks similar or different in the way they treat literature and the arts?

Treat this as you would our discussion group in the first quarter. Agree, disagree, expand the topic, ask questions, give answers, interact, etc. Answers must be in English and must not be copy-pasted from other sources. 

Click this link for the rubrics. 

GO!

6 Days

This is what we're going to do for the next 6 days. You check in on these dates: August 26 and August 28. You'll probably need to spend about 15 - 30 minutes tops for each visit. Aaand...that's it. To prepare for these online discussions, you will need to read two texts in advance: 

1. The Aeneid on pp. 66 - 70 of your Brown and White Book.

2. Nibelungenlied on pp. 100 - 109 of your Brown and White Book (still). 

I will be posting questions and links, and you'll have to post your answers and comments using your OpenID, gmail or blogger username. If you don't have any of these, and you can still comment by going Anonymous BUT please leave your name at the bottom of your post. 

Questions?

See you!

Welcome

This is the site for the CAE IV homework for August 25 to September 30, 2011.