Lecture: Fantasy vs. Reality

Professor Brady's lecture about the difference between reality and fantasy was one of the lectures that really stood out to me this semester. She explained that there are many people who live in a fantasy world because they do not want to face the realities of life. Blanche from “A Streetcar Named Desire” is the perfect example of living in a fantasy world because she had so many hardships in her life that she lived in a fantasy world to try and forget about them. I was really able to relate to this lecture because I know personally that when something goes wrong in my life, I do everything I possibly can to try and forget about it and avoid it. This lecture also really will force me to truly think about other people and what they are going through, and will hopefully allowed me to be more sympathetic towards those people.  

Lecture: Desire

One lecture that really stood out to me was Professor Brady's lecture about desire. Desire is when someone has a need, want, or a passion to get something that they do not already have. Desire can be either created or inherent. Some examples of created desires are cars, women, or money. These are things that you need to work to get and are not just given to you. A perfect example of an inherent desire is the desire for love. Inherent desires are things that you cannot control. This lecture really opened up my eyes and taught me that there are different types of desires and that you need to work to obtain most of them. It also taught me that desire can be controlled and that 90% of inherent desires are sexual. This lecture really helped me realize that if you want to obtain the things you desire, you really need to work hard and never stop until you get what you want.  

Lecture: Empathy vs. Sympathy

One of my favorite lectures of this semester was Professor Brady's lecture about the difference between Empathy and Sympathy. She showed us that sympathy is when you recognize that another person is suffering. On the other hand, empathy is when you suffer along side of that person. When she gave the example of losing her father and having empathy towards her family because they suffered together, I could really relate to this because I also lost my father and suffered along side my entire family. This allowed me to understand the difference between Empathy and Sympathy because I experienced it first hand. I believe that when you can personally relate to a lecture it makes the lecture that much clearer and easier for you to understand. Even though Professor Brady only briefly went over this subject, it really caught my attention and that is why I have chosen to write about it.  

Looking Back on English 102

Looking back on my sophomore year of college I think it is safe to say that the most interesting class for me had to be English 102. Professor Brady is one of the best professors I have had and I truly took a lot away from this class. Even though I missed a lot of classes I still learned an unbelievable amount of valuable information that I will use throughout my life. Professor Brady did a great job of keeping the class interesting and she is one of the only teachers who was actually able to keep my attention for a whole lecture.

Professor Brady is one of the most unique professors I have ever come across in all my years of school. She is so energetic and full of joy and it really makes her class very interesting. There is never a dull moment in this class and that is why I was never upset when I had to wake up for class. Professor Brady is extremely knowledgable and is always willing to help a student with whatever it is that they are struggling with. She truly loves English and that makes her passionate about what she does and allows her to relate to the subject to make it easier for us to understand. I have never had an english teacher more passionate about what they do then Professor Brady and I think that is why I did very well in the class and did not hesitate to ask her any questions I was curious about. Even though I am not a big fan of English, there were many lectures that I enjoyed and that actually taught me things that I did not already know. I usually dread doing essays, but all of the essays and published blog assignments that we had to do for this class were all extremely interesting and that made them a lot easier to do because they kept my focus. One thing I liked about this class was that you always had to be paying attention because Professor Brady will always find you and pick on you to either read or answer a question. This keeps all the students attentive and awake.

The only thing that I did not like about this class was the poetry section. Even though i've always disliked poetry, Professor Brady did a very good job of explaining everything and allowing me to truly understand what the author was trying to say. She also made some great choices on what short stories and plays we read. “A Streetcar Named Desire” and “Antigone” were two of the best pieces of literature I have read throughout my years and I actually looked forward to coming to class when we were reading them. I think this is extremely important for a professor because if they have their students attention and respect, they will all come to class and pay attention and not cause any problems. Overall, this one an excellent class and is my favorite english class that I have taken to this day. Professor Brady is a unique lady and does an excellent job of teaching English 102.

Moral Law vs. Civil Law

In the play, Antigone by Sophocles, there is an ongoing disagreement between moral and civil law. Written Law is believed to be the law that is given by a higher power for all the people to obey, while moral law is something that a person believes is right and even though it may not be civilly correct, that person will follow that law because it is what they believe in. In the play Antigone, I believe that Antigone represents Moral law and King Creon represents the Civil law.
I believe that Antigone represents the Moral law because even though she knows she will be sentenced to death by the king, she still buries her dead brother, Polynieces, because he is family to her and even though what he did was wrong, she still believes that he deserves the proper burial. Antigone says “At least he is my brother- and yours too, though you deny him. I will not prove false to him”( Sophocles, 1131). This shows that even though she knows what the consequences will be, Antigone is still going to do what she thinks is morally right and give her brother the proper burial. She also tells Creon that she knows exactly what she did cause she did it publicly(Sophocles 1142). On the other hand, Creon is the King of Thebes and he represents the Civil law. I believe this because he is the King, therefore he represents the government and the laws that he makes are expected to be followed. Creon made it very clear that Polynieces was a traitor to Thebes and “ you shall watch him chewed up by dogs and birds and violated”(Sophocles 1135). This shows that no matter what no one is to bury him and there shall be consequences for whoever disobeys him. 
In the end, Antigone disobeys the King and buries her brother and is forced to face the consequences. When she is brought in front of the King, he says “did you know the proclamation against your action” and Antigone responds by saying “I knew it; of course I did. For it was public.”(Sophocles 1142) This shows that she was fully aware of the consequences she was going to face, but she decided that moral law was more important to her than civil law, and she is willing to die for that. This is a perfect example of how following moral law may not always end well, but for Antigone it was more important to remain loyal to her family than to disgrace her brother and allows his body to rot on the streets of Thebes.

Freedom

Freedom is one of the most important things in the world today. Without freedom the world would be completely different and people wouldn't be able to obtain what they want and desire. Martin Luther King gave us one of the most important quotes of his time when he said, "Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed." When saying this quote, I believe that 
Dr. King meant that freedom is not something that is just given to people, but that people have to fight everyday to gain their freedom and rights. This is true dating all the way back to the American Revolution when the colonies fought of the British to gain their freedom and independence. Dr. King's quote also relates to both the civil rights movement and the feminist movement where men and women fought everyday for equal rights for both blacks and women. I completely agree with this quote because I very strongly believe that nothing is just handed to a person, and that if someone truly wants something they have to give it their all and fight to obtain it.
In the play “Antigone” by Sophocles, the women of Thebes are stripped of their freedom by the king and other men. The most important women who is stripped of her freedoms is Antigone. Antigone's brother, Polyneices, is killed while trying to attack the city of Thebes and he is deemed a trader and is not allowed to be given the proper burial. This restricts Antigone from doing the right thing and giving her brother the proper burial. In the play, King Creon says “We cannot give victory to a woman; If we must accept defeat, let it be from a man.”(Antigone 1145) This shows that even in ancient times, women did not have much freedom and were not well respected by men and were ultimately looked down upon. I think that although it has improved significantly today, this is sort of still the case because many people believe that men are still the dominant sex and that women are inferior to them. 
The idea of freedom and oppression goes way back in time and one of the most important battles for freedom was the American Revolution. The American Revolution was a battle between the colonies and the British because the colonies wanted to be free from British control. The British continued to mistreat the colonies with unfair taxes and constant abuse until finally the colonies had enough and decided to revolt and fight for their independence. The colonies eventually ended up winning the revolution and gaining their independence from the British. This is very important because it allows us to be free today and led to the formation of The United States of America.

Post-Modernism

There are plenty of great examples of Post-Modernism in the short story “Interpreter of Maladies” by Jhumpa Lahiri. Post-Modernism is often based mainly on real life experiences and the truth. Lahiri shows us excellent examples of Post-Modernism through his characterization of Mrs. Das and Mr. Kapasi. Lahiri shows us that both characters have flaws and secrets and when they are revealed it makes it easier for the reader to connect with the characters in the story. Mrs. Das revealed to Mr. Kapasi that she had an affair with one of her husband's best friends and that her son, Bobby, was actually the friends child and not Mr. Das'.(Lahiri 62) Mr. Kapasi also admits that he is unhappy in his marriage and that he dreads going back to his home and sitting in silence with his wife.(Lahiri 60) Both of these examples give the reader a better understanding of the characters because it is a real life scenario and it shows that all people have flaws and no one is perfect. These examples are just a few or how Lahiri uses the ideals of Post-Modernism in his story “Interpreter of Maladies.”
Everybody in the world has a different definition for the phrase “Human Behavior.” It is a very complex topic and Lahiri does an excellent job of showing the reader its complexities by relating it to themes affiliated with the story. The theme that I believe shows us the true complexities of human behavior the best is the idea of lack of intimacy in their marriage. Mrs. Das seems to be falling out of love with her husband and she does not seem interested in any of the family stuff they are doing on the tour. On the other hand, Mr. Kapasi is also unhappy with his marriage because him and his wife don't have a connection anymore and he says they often just sit in silence and he dreads it. This leads to Mr. Kapasi feeling a connection to Mrs. Das until she tells him of her affair and that she thinks he has kids her age and then he suddenly is disappointed that she thinks of him as a parent.(Lahiri 64) This shows that human behavior is very complex and nobody can truly define it unless they have experienced it all.