Eastlake High School Major Religions of The Western World Questions Response
What do the three major religions of the Western world Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have in common? Explain at least 3 commonalities.
We saw and discussed how the Resurrection/ transformation motif presents itself in Doris Lessing's Through the Tunnel and Richard Wright's Big Boy Leaves Home. Authors constantly re-tell this motif because it plays out in real life. In literary terms, explain the resurrection motif, also known as the transformation motif. Explain how readers might benefit from constantly re-reading this motif?
Why might author Dante Alighieri place Brutus, Cassius, and Judas in the 9th circle and worst place in hell of his epic poem Inferno? In other words, what is the context and sub-text of this scene?
Name two high renaissance artists and an example of their work. Why are they significant to the Western world of art?
Several art forms including theater, literature, sculpture, philosophical myth etc. from centuries ago and tried to apply those art forms to not only the artists lives, but our modern lives as well. We know that art imitates life, in that we take pictures of what we see, we erect sculptures of famous living people etc. But in what ways does life imitate art? (example: someone who names their child after a literary or movie character) There is a great debate on weather art imitates life, or if life imitates art. What do you think? Explain with examples
Why are we still re-telling Shakespeare's stories? We saw how modern re-telling of Shakespearean plays sometimes change for their specific audiences, like The Lion King as a re-telling of Hamlet for kids has a different ending to suit its audience. Consider the movie "O," the modern re-telling of Shakespeare's Othello, that follows Shakespeare's plot-line exactly, with the same Shakespearean tragic ending. The movie endured some struggles and the release date had to be pushed back because of its content, but eventually opened to a mixed review from American Audiences in 2001. In your opinion,in light of American history, does the story-line of Shakespeare's Othello as is "work" for modern American audiences? Would you have made changes to the characters and/or plot, or are people being too sensitive?
WHETHER IT IS BETTER TO BE LOVED THAN FEARED“[We now consider] the question whether it is better to be loved rather than feared, or feared rather than loved. It might perhaps be answered that we should wish to be both; but since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved. For of men it may generally be affirmed that they are thankless, fickle, false, studious to avoid danger, greedy of gain, devoted to you while you are able to confer benefits upon them, and ready, as I said before, while danger is distant, to shed their blood, and sacrifice their property, their lives, and their children for you; but in the hour of need they turn against you. The Prince, therefore, who without otherwise securing himself builds wholly on their professions is undone. For the friendships which we buy with a price, and do not gain by greatness and nobility of character, though they be fairly earned are not made good, but fail us when we have occasion to use them.Moreover, men are less careful how they offend him who makes himself loved than him who makes himself feared. For love is held by the tie of obligation, which, because men are a sorry breed, is broken on every whisper of private interest; but fear is bound by the apprehension of punishment which never relaxes its grasp.Nevertheless a Prince should inspire fear in such a fashion that if he [does] not win love he may escape hate. For a man may very well be feared and yet not hated, and this will be the case so long as he does not meddle with the property or with the women of his citizens and subjects. And if constrained to put any to death, he should do so only when there is manifest cause or reasonable justification. But, above all, he must abstain from the property of others. For men will sooner forget the death of their father than the loss of their property.”Do you agree with Machiavelli that a ruler CANNOT be both feared and loved? Why? How does this concept apply to our current political leaders?