Images from the Modern Islamic World
Please stroll through
this gallery here, virtually speaking, to prepare for our next unit on contemporary Arabic literature.
What artwork struck you in particular? Who is the artist? What have you found out about him or her, and about the images you saw?
This painting is by artist
Maysaloun Faraj.
Marc Chagall was a Russian Jewish painter who lived most of his life in Lithuania and France. In 1941, he and his family were arrested by the Nazis, but were spirited out of the country to the United States. Regrettably, soon after their escape, Marc's beloved wife
Bella died of a viral infection. He went on to live to the age of 98, dying in 1985. In later years he created monumental stained glass work for synagogues and churches throughout the world.
His paintings are known for a folk-like feeling
and recurring images of
shtetl life, such as goats, chickens, fiddlers, brides, and bridegrooms.
He frequently painted his figures as seeming to float or fly, or to perch precariously on rooftops (most famously, his fiddlers on rooftops inspired the title of the
Broadway musical based on the writing of the Ukrainian Jewish writer
Sholom Aleichem).
What do these flying, floating, and perching figures make you think of? What do you think the fascination of these states held for the painter?
WTE?!
Here is a link to information on the
Ten Sefirot, considered to be a fundamental emanation of the
Ein Sof in Kabbalistic belief.
And another,
here, provides an interactive version of the map to your left.
You'll see that each
sefira is associated with several things, including a color or colors, a part of the human body, sometimes with masculine or feminine, with one of the names for G-d, and with a variety of other things.
Your assignment is to choose a
sefira and delve a little more deeply into your research on that one. Find out more about why particular qualities are associated with that sefira. Find out more about the Hebrew word that is its name (e.g. Binah), and find out more of the symbologies behind one or more of its individual letters (e.g., bet, yud, nun, and/or hay). For a wonderful aid in that, check out this Web site
right here.
Myth Management
Here are some links you need to check out before plunging into your myth for Friday.
Dictionary of Phrase and Fable: A handy resource for finding out what apples are all about or why the Golden Fleece was such a big deal (hint, the latter is a variation on the "swapping a kid for a kid" story).
The Sacred Texts Archive, a site that is no less than astonishing in its breadth, the Wikipedia of sacred texts, but better, because you can experience the texts directly. Like Wikipedia, by the way, they are free but need support. If you or a parent are grateful and feel inclined, you might treat them like public radio (well, treat them better--donate!).
The Monomyth, also known as The Hero's Journey: Here is one of several sites devoted to explaining the most common elements of the heroic/journey myth (different from the myth of origin/creation). These were first articulated by scholar
Joseph Campbell in his book
The Hero With a Thousand Faces, which continues to be a standard text in the study of myth and legend.
So, while we are at it, and just for fun, here is the sweet little game I told you about in class when we were discussing all the red herrings in "Aladdin":
Windosill.
Now don't play with charming blobs and little cubes all day. Go write!
P.S.
Popeye fans, click
here.
"And he always performs in a coffee house...."
Read the story of perhaps Syria's
last hakawati here.
Comment on aspects of this apparently dying art:
(1) How does the reporter claim this type of storyteller's presentation differs from the recitation of a "rawi"?
(2) Is a coffee house a surprising setting for these story-telling marathons? Why or why not?
(3) According to the article, these stories are "not considered real literature." What reasons does the reporter imply for this? Why do you think this is?
You have until Thursday to answer.
Ok, Finally...
...the question you've been waiting for (well, Kyle anyway).
Please write your own message(s) of wisdom in emulation of
The Poem of Zuhair. Study the form and feel free to write any type of warnings, preachings, wise observations, and the like. The more you write, the better your grade on this assignment. These can be deep or they can be silly. Your choice.
I know
Cobber's going to enjoy this little assignment.
You have till Monday because I have been so lame all week.
Ancient Semitic Poetry
Please read The Song of Songs, also known as The Song of Solomon,
here.
Comment on the similarities and differences between the Arabic poem we are studying in class and this ancient Hebrew love poem.
Some questions to answer:
How do the openings of each poem function? What do they do and where do they place the reader/listener?
Why do you believe human romantic love has figured so deeply in poetry for thousands of years? Why poetry? Why love?
Is there a relationship in each poem between love of a human and love of G-d, or not?
Try not to be
too succinct in your answers. More than a single sentence per question, please!
Please stroll through this gallery here, virtually speaking, to prepare for our next unit on contemporary Arabic literature.
Marc Chagall was a Russian Jewish painter who lived most of his life in Lithuania and France. In 1941, he and his family were arrested by the Nazis, but were spirited out of the country to the United States. Regrettably, soon after their escape, Marc's beloved wife Bella died of a viral infection. He went on to live to the age of 98, dying in 1985. In later years he created monumental stained glass work for synagogues and churches throughout the world.
Here are some links you need to check out before plunging into your myth for Friday.
Read the story of perhaps Syria's last hakawati here.
