Alright so I got on here tonight and all of my stuff was gone, including my first reader response to the Genesis assignment. This Wiki space is CONFUSING. So, here goes my second reader response. Sorry Caroline! I'm a terrible partner.
Reader Response #2: On The Marionette Theatre
I'm going to be honest, I had to read this a couple times to fully understand it. And the whole time the song "Human" by The Killers was running through my head (Look it up. Great song, even better band). But I think that this is a really creative concept. In my eyes, the puppets are such beautiful, flawless dancers because they aren't subject to imperfection like us humans are. I felt like the puppets were being compared to humans the whole time. I sort of painted a picture in my head where the puppets were on strings held by God. Then predestination came to mind... Anyways. The first part of the writing about the puppets was too confusing for me, and just seemed too far fetched. But I tried to explain how I felt about it. Now the boy in the baths stuck out to me. He was looked upon to be so graceful and handsome, kind of like the puppets. Then he looked in the mirror and realized his grace and beauty, and that ruined it all. This reminds me of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. Before they ate from the tree of knowledge, they were naked and thought nothing of it. Then when they found sin, they were ashamed of themselves and everything changed. I guess the change in both situations are similar, but the ideas are kind of opposite... I didn't quite understand the bear part of the story. I feel incredibly stupid but I don't think the same way you guys do, I guess! But the part about the infinity idea and how eating from the tree of knowledge AGAIN will reverse what happened, getting rid of sin and adding perfection and beauty... Wow that's crazy. I don't exactly enjoy getting my mind blown. I have a simple way of thinking, so this assignment was tough for me. I do respect the story for its creativity. But anyways... I tried, Mr. Alexander!
My Response to Caroline:
Caroline, I understood what you meant by all of that. Yeah, the whole story is comparing the puppets to the human race. But we aren't perfect like puppets because we have sin, which is imperfection. I agree with you about how dance shouldn't have to be perfect. As a dancer, perfection has been pushed onto me. But I've always tried to make my routines my own. Your response made me think even more. I don't know what else to say. But good job, Caroline!
Haha, it's fine Cassidy! Now that its up though, your response is really good!! By the way though, your response to me goes on MY page;)
I totally feel ya on how long this took to understand! It was confusing for sure. I love the Killers! Good taste in music. Yeah you're right that on the one hand the dancers seem really beautiful because they are so perfect, but I still think that the most beautiful thing about a dancer is how their emotions show through their dancing. Oh goodness predestination....now THAT would because an explosion of arguments in class;) Predestination is a tricky subject though, because while it says and I believe that God DOES decree everything that will come to pass and everything we do, we still do have free will, so it's not quite the same as God playing with us like puppets on a string, which would be a very fatalistic mindset. That's a really good connection between the young man and Adam and Eve! I actually hadn't made that one, so props to you. The bear part was super confusing, and i honestly just didn't think much about it before class. Yeah i did not like that thought either. Still not buying it though. Anyways, good job girl! I enjoyed reading your response. Paradise Lost Book #2: So this book is like a political debate going on in Hell. But then again, it's like a parody of a debate since Satan is controlling the whole thing. I found it so interesting that they made a democratic and NON-VIOLENT decision. I thought that everything that went on in Hell would be awful and violent, but I guess not. However, what happens is still wrong. The demons' decision to pretty much destroy mankind shows the corruption of fallen reason, which makes their idea (evil) seem good in the reading. Milton makes Satan's organization of Hell seem so professional and powerful, while it's actually pretty powerless. The way that Milton portrays the government in Hell makes me think about how he felt about government in real life. The way he made Satan act might be suggesting that political power such as in democracies lead to corrupt power. It also suggests that the public is totally gullible and will jump on the band wagon whenever a decent proposal is made. This makes me interested in Milton's other works to see how he truly feels about democracy, and also makes me think about today's government as well. Anyways... Satan and Beezlebub successfully put on a show for the rest of Hell and tricked them into their ways. It kind of scared me to see how powerful Satan seemed to be... He really is evil and can manipulate people so easily. So Satan is the first of God's people to disobey. I'm really interested in why Satan was so special and different. But I guess he stands for/personifies disobedience. Then from Satan comes sin. It's crazy how tempting and attractive sin can be. Just as Satan persuaded the other demons in the political debate, he tempts us with sin. Very sneaky and evil he is. Overall, I enjoyed reading this book, despite the confusing format. Partner response: Hey Cassidy! I like your point about how its interesting that the demons had a democratic response and not a straight up violent one. I think this can be relates to how people get at each other. Its well known that it hurts someone far more to attack their emotions and say mean things about them and trip them up on the inside that to just punch them in the face. In the same way the demons decided that the best way to get back at God was not to do it by force, but by destroying the hearts of His creation. That's a good point about how Milton felt about politics....I totally think that He mustve thought people are gullible and buy into every lie that leaders feed us. (and there certainly are plenty of them!!) Satan IS crazy powerful - as Milton said he was right below the trinity. creepy/ Paradise Lost Book 4: Oh my goodness, I'm so glad we skipped ahead to this book! I found this totally interesting because I've always wanted to know more about exactly what went on in Eden. I began to see Satan differently than I have throughout my life. I guess I never really thought about how he felt, but apparently he was bothered by envy and despair. The envy part particularly stuck out to me. Besides, didn't he used to be totally confident and collected with his master-mind plans back in the previous books? I guess once he got a glimpse of paradise, all that confidence slipped away for a while. Maybe now he realizes that he makes hell out of heaven instead of making his perfect heaven out of hell in hell (wow this is confusing). He seems to bring evil and corruption with him everywhere he goes, because sure enough, he begins to ruin God's perfect paradise. He sneaks into the garden and starts to mess around with Adam and Eve, and is jealous of them when he first sees them. The different disguises that Satan uses are kind of despicable and are perfect examples of how degrading he is... The bird, the toad, the snake, And the funny thing is seeing how from book to book he is becoming less respectable. In book 1 he is such a monumental figure, and book 2 he is a little less respectable since he is in Hell and all, then in this book, he stoops to become the animals. I thought it was very sad to see paradise go to waste... After reading what joy and bliss Adam and Eve were in and then to see it all be destroyed was pretty depressing. Oh, also! I was reading where Eve was looking down at herself in the reflection of the water and I connected that to Narcissus. She realized who she really was and things were never the same. Another part of the book was how Adam and Eve had sex with no sin. I don't know why that stuck out to me, I guess because they were in such bliss and because sin was not yet part of their lives. They loved but did not lust. This book was also super interesting and I enjoyed reading it. I'm beginning to dislike Satan even more though!
Partner response: I just love thinking I responded to something I didnt and then making a zero!! Its my favorite. Good point about thinking about how satan felt cassidy - ive never thought of that either. And while of course he is still evil, i think its interesting to think that he did have a lot of emotions on the subject - and we experience those same feelings of envy and despair sometimes. "hell out of heaven instead of a heaven out of hell".....thats cool. Aww, its like hes cursed! Which, i suppose he is. Satan can never escape what hes doomed himself to be. I wonder why he would choose to deprave himself on him own accord? Maybe satan hates himself. I bet he does. I suppose that path of more and more awful with time shows what can happen to us if we keep going our evil way....Good points Cassidy!! I have to admit i am soooooo glad we are finished with this book!
Reader Response #2: On The Marionette Theatre
I'm going to be honest, I had to read this a couple times to fully understand it. And the whole time the song "Human" by The Killers was running through my head (Look it up. Great song, even better band). But I think that this is a really creative concept. In my eyes, the puppets are such beautiful, flawless dancers because they aren't subject to imperfection like us humans are. I felt like the puppets were being compared to humans the whole time. I sort of painted a picture in my head where the puppets were on strings held by God. Then predestination came to mind... Anyways. The first part of the writing about the puppets was too confusing for me, and just seemed too far fetched. But I tried to explain how I felt about it. Now the boy in the baths stuck out to me. He was looked upon to be so graceful and handsome, kind of like the puppets. Then he looked in the mirror and realized his grace and beauty, and that ruined it all. This reminds me of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. Before they ate from the tree of knowledge, they were naked and thought nothing of it. Then when they found sin, they were ashamed of themselves and everything changed. I guess the change in both situations are similar, but the ideas are kind of opposite... I didn't quite understand the bear part of the story. I feel incredibly stupid but I don't think the same way you guys do, I guess! But the part about the infinity idea and how eating from the tree of knowledge AGAIN will reverse what happened, getting rid of sin and adding perfection and beauty... Wow that's crazy. I don't exactly enjoy getting my mind blown. I have a simple way of thinking, so this assignment was tough for me. I do respect the story for its creativity. But anyways... I tried, Mr. Alexander!
My Response to Caroline:
Caroline, I understood what you meant by all of that. Yeah, the whole story is comparing the puppets to the human race. But we aren't perfect like puppets because we have sin, which is imperfection. I agree with you about how dance shouldn't have to be perfect. As a dancer, perfection has been pushed onto me. But I've always tried to make my routines my own. Your response made me think even more. I don't know what else to say. But good job, Caroline!
Haha, it's fine Cassidy! Now that its up though, your response is really good!! By the way though, your response to me goes on MY page;)
I totally feel ya on how long this took to understand! It was confusing for sure. I love the Killers! Good taste in music. Yeah you're right that on the one hand the dancers seem really beautiful because they are so perfect, but I still think that the most beautiful thing about a dancer is how their emotions show through their dancing. Oh goodness predestination....now THAT would because an explosion of arguments in class;) Predestination is a tricky subject though, because while it says and I believe that God DOES decree everything that will come to pass and everything we do, we still do have free will, so it's not quite the same as God playing with us like puppets on a string, which would be a very fatalistic mindset. That's a really good connection between the young man and Adam and Eve! I actually hadn't made that one, so props to you. The bear part was super confusing, and i honestly just didn't think much about it before class. Yeah i did not like that thought either. Still not buying it though. Anyways, good job girl! I enjoyed reading your response.
Paradise Lost Book #2:
So this book is like a political debate going on in Hell. But then again, it's like a parody of a debate since Satan is controlling the whole thing. I found it so interesting that they made a democratic and NON-VIOLENT decision. I thought that everything that went on in Hell would be awful and violent, but I guess not. However, what happens is still wrong. The demons' decision to pretty much destroy mankind shows the corruption of fallen reason, which makes their idea (evil) seem good in the reading. Milton makes Satan's organization of Hell seem so professional and powerful, while it's actually pretty powerless. The way that Milton portrays the government in Hell makes me think about how he felt about government in real life. The way he made Satan act might be suggesting that political power such as in democracies lead to corrupt power. It also suggests that the public is totally gullible and will jump on the band wagon whenever a decent proposal is made. This makes me interested in Milton's other works to see how he truly feels about democracy, and also makes me think about today's government as well. Anyways... Satan and Beezlebub successfully put on a show for the rest of Hell and tricked them into their ways. It kind of scared me to see how powerful Satan seemed to be... He really is evil and can manipulate people so easily. So Satan is the first of God's people to disobey. I'm really interested in why Satan was so special and different. But I guess he stands for/personifies disobedience. Then from Satan comes sin. It's crazy how tempting and attractive sin can be. Just as Satan persuaded the other demons in the political debate, he tempts us with sin. Very sneaky and evil he is. Overall, I enjoyed reading this book, despite the confusing format.
Partner response:
Hey Cassidy! I like your point about how its interesting that the demons had a democratic response and not a straight up violent one. I think this can be relates to how people get at each other. Its well known that it hurts someone far more to attack their emotions and say mean things about them and trip them up on the inside that to just punch them in the face. In the same way the demons decided that the best way to get back at God was not to do it by force, but by destroying the hearts of His creation. That's a good point about how Milton felt about politics....I totally think that He mustve thought people are gullible and buy into every lie that leaders feed us. (and there certainly are plenty of them!!) Satan IS crazy powerful - as Milton said he was right below the trinity. creepy/
Paradise Lost Book 4:
Oh my goodness, I'm so glad we skipped ahead to this book! I found this totally interesting because I've always wanted to know more about exactly what went on in Eden. I began to see Satan differently than I have throughout my life. I guess I never really thought about how he felt, but apparently he was bothered by envy and despair. The envy part particularly stuck out to me. Besides, didn't he used to be totally confident and collected with his master-mind plans back in the previous books? I guess once he got a glimpse of paradise, all that confidence slipped away for a while. Maybe now he realizes that he makes hell out of heaven instead of making his perfect heaven out of hell in hell (wow this is confusing). He seems to bring evil and corruption with him everywhere he goes, because sure enough, he begins to ruin God's perfect paradise. He sneaks into the garden and starts to mess around with Adam and Eve, and is jealous of them when he first sees them. The different disguises that Satan uses are kind of despicable and are perfect examples of how degrading he is... The bird, the toad, the snake, And the funny thing is seeing how from book to book he is becoming less respectable. In book 1 he is such a monumental figure, and book 2 he is a little less respectable since he is in Hell and all, then in this book, he stoops to become the animals. I thought it was very sad to see paradise go to waste... After reading what joy and bliss Adam and Eve were in and then to see it all be destroyed was pretty depressing. Oh, also! I was reading where Eve was looking down at herself in the reflection of the water and I connected that to Narcissus. She realized who she really was and things were never the same. Another part of the book was how Adam and Eve had sex with no sin. I don't know why that stuck out to me, I guess because they were in such bliss and because sin was not yet part of their lives. They loved but did not lust. This book was also super interesting and I enjoyed reading it. I'm beginning to dislike Satan even more though!
Partner response:
I just love thinking I responded to something I didnt and then making a zero!! Its my favorite. Good point about thinking about how satan felt cassidy - ive never thought of that either. And while of course he is still evil, i think its interesting to think that he did have a lot of emotions on the subject - and we experience those same feelings of envy and despair sometimes. "hell out of heaven instead of a heaven out of hell".....thats cool. Aww, its like hes cursed! Which, i suppose he is. Satan can never escape what hes doomed himself to be. I wonder why he would choose to deprave himself on him own accord? Maybe satan hates himself. I bet he does. I suppose that path of more and more awful with time shows what can happen to us if we keep going our evil way....Good points Cassidy!! I have to admit i am soooooo glad we are finished with this book!