Taoism

I have learned alot about Taoism as we have been studying it. If you just looked at Taoism not really studying it, it would seem like a lifestyle that would be fun to live. Not having to worry about anything, always being calm and never having to deal with stress, and always finding good in evil. But if you study it like we have over this week you realize that Taoism would eventually be hard to deal with. You can't always be calm. Stress is apart of life and everyone experiences it sometime. Also in Christianity we don't always find good in evil like they do in Taoism. As Christians we do not believe in incarnation. We belive that once you die, if you believe in God, you go to heaven. Unlike Taoism that believes you can come back after death in some way. We believe that we are saved by God unlike Taoism which is not a salvific practice. In Taoism there is nothing that one needs to be saved from, and belief in salvation would lead to belief in damnation in the same manner as belief in good leads to belief in evil. Also as Christians our goal is to strenghthen our relationship with God and share his word with others unlike Taoism where each belivers goal is to harmonize themselves with the Tao. Reading the book about Pooh really opened my eyes to Taoism. We do not live in the hundred acre woods and we have bigger problems then how many jars of honey are in the cupboard or how to make Eeyore's house stay up. Although i think Taoism is very interesting, i find it very unrealistic.

Koran.

I found the Koran very difficult to follow and understand. Although there are many similarites in the Koran and the Bible the Koran jumped around alot more then the bible does which made it very confusing. Therefore i find the bible a much more reliable source then the Koran. I find the bible much more reliable because Jesus had witnesses unlike the Koran which is bases around Allah who did not have witnesses. Studing this small portion of the Koran helped me understand the Muslim culture alot better. While reading the Koran i learned that Muslims view anyone who is not a beliver of Allah as stupid. Muslims do not like outsiders especially Christians. Also something that caught my eye is that woman are on a much lower level then men. They woman do not have the freedom of speech, their husbands tell them what they can and cannot do. Today in the Christian society although woman are not exactly equal with men, they are pretty close. I learned that instead of judging someones religious beliefs right away because i view it as wrong, i need to understand why they belive what they do. While i was reading the Koran it helped me understand why the Muslims believe what they do and although i do not agree with it i now know the background of their religion and how it differs from ours instead of just saying its wrong. I think this week was very benifical and opened my eyes a ton.

Camelot

I liked the fact that this movie wasnt portrayed as a fairytale where as other movies with kings, knights, queens ect. are usually protrayed as fairtales. For example Guinevere is struggling with who to love. She loves King Arthur but she also loves Sir Lancelot, which makes the movie more realistic. The christian significance i saw in this movie was that everyone sins no matter who they are and that everyone makes mistakes. This shows through the characters actions in the movie. Since we have not seen the ending of the movie i do not know the outcome but i think that forgiveness will be shown towards the end of the movie. Some universal archetypes in this movie that i saw were the maiden, wise old man and sidekick. Guinevere is the maiden in distress because she does not want to marry King Arthur but then suprisingly runs into him in the forest and falls in love with him. Merlin in the wise old man who gives King Arthur advise. The sidekick would be Sir Lancelot. Sir Lancelot becomes King Arthurs new friend and helps King Arthur set up the round table. I found the movie Camelot very interesting. I am not used to watching musical movies and i probably would not have watched this movie on my own. In a way it reminded me of High School Musical because they would sing about how they felt. But in a way i think that this movie had too much singing and would have been better if they cut down on the singing alittle bit.

Iliad/Troy Comparison

Some differences between the epic The Iliad and the movie Troy would be the use of the gods. In the epic The Iliad, it depends on the gods and the gods controlled everything unlike in the movie Troy where some of the gods are mentioned but they do not control everything and the movie is not based around the gods. Also in the Iliad Homer describes the pain the people went through unlike in the movie where they played mournful music. The movie also went beyond the epic in events that happened like the Trojan horse. Some similarities are that both the movie and the epic contained was the description of the armor the Trojans and Greeks wore. Also both the epic and the movie expressed how Achilles could not control his anger.

Strategy and Success Blog

1) What i like best about class so far would be the atmosphere. I love how in class we always laugh and how everyone gets along.
2) My greatest disappointment so far would be some of the grades on my quizes. This has shown me that i need to prepare better.
3) When i study for tests i usually make notecards. I cant study in a loud environment so i usually study in my room with the door close. After i have been studying for a while i stop and quiz myself putting the notecards i know to one side and the notecards i dont know so well to the other side. This way i know what notecards i have to study more. I usually study straight for about 30 to 45 minutes then take a break and let my mind rest then start studying again. When we have Quizes on a story we read i make sure that i read the story slowly and make sure that i understood everything that was happening. I also pay close attention to the bold and italicized words.
4) I am a aural learner. I cannot remember things by just looking at them. It helps me best when people test me verbaly so i can hear and understand what i got wrong rather then just looking at it.

Archetype Blog

In the movie cinderella, Cinderella lives with her step mom and two step sisters. She is viewed by her step mother on a lower level then her step sisters. Because of this she is viewed as the maid of the house and has clean up after everyone else. Cinderella is fortunate enough to have a fairy god mother who helps her in times of need. With the help of Cinderella's fairy god mother, cinderella gets dressed up and goes to the royal ball. Cinderellas fairy god mother told her that she needed to leave the ball when the clock stricks 12. At the ball cinderella meets the prince and the prince falls madly in love with her. When running out of the ball she looses her glass slipper but little did she know that the prince was following her and when her slipper fell of he grabbed it. The next day the prince searches town for Cinderella putting the glass slipper on every girls foot. When it he got to Cinderellas house her two step sisters tried to convince him that the slipper was theres but the slipper did not fit. When Cinderella put the slipper on it was a perfect fit and they lived happply ever after.

The archetype present in this movie would be the maiden. Cinderella is full of dreams and is looking for her prince charming.Cinderella is the maiden and is looking for someone to save her.The prince at the ball could be looked at as her hero. He saves her from her evil step mother and step sisters.

What I find unique and love about this movie is it is a fairytail. There is the princess and the prince who always finds a way to sweep the princess off her feet.What i love about Cinderella so much is the fact that she never stops dreaming. Even though she lives a rough life she finds a way to be happy.

my hero(:

The hero in my life would be my mom.She is the person i look up to most in life,even though she is ill she always puts others before herself.She always trusts god in everything she does and i completly admire her in everyway.She has taught me right from wrong and has showed me whats most inportant in life.She has taught me to always put others before myself and to put my life in Gods hands and trust him in everything i do.She is the strongest person i know.She finds the strength to fight threw all the pain and trys to live life the best way she can.my mother is someone i look up to in everyway.shes not only my mom but my best friend.