Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Paper Dump of the first! Maus

Maus: Review Paper

Spiegelman, Art. Maus : A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History. New York: Pantheon, 1986.

Maus tells the story of one survivor’s experiences leading up to the Holocaust using mice, cats, pigs, and other animals. It also tells the subtler story of a son struggling to understand a father who lived and was shaped by a world completely alien to him. Maus received several awards, was lauded in magazines, and highly reviewed in newspapers. The highest praise came in 1992, when it won the Pulitzer prize for special category literature. As a comic book work it accomplished what was thought to be impossible; for a comic book, a genre relegated to children, to be considered one of the best literary accomplishments. Maus showed the true depth the genre could produce.

Maus was written and illustrated by the accomplished cartoonist Art Spiegelman. The story blends several oral accounts taken from multiple interviews with his father and is bolstered by secondary accounts from other survivors to enhance accuracy. Spiegelman did exhaustive research to ensure that the loose line illustrations conveyed the sense of the time period and were evocative of pre-War Poland. It was originally released in several parts and finally collected into a digest sized graphic novel.

By using the comic book form, Spiegelman was able to explore history with both visual and written story telling. Oral history is fluid; a collection of nonlinear events pieced together chronologically. Spiegelman involved the reader in the process by using dialect and illustrating his own experience of understanding and relating oral histories. He allows the reader to experience the act of digression and interruption. These simple techniques proved dramatically engaging. They helped tell the secondary story by allowing the reader to associate the frustration the son felt in collecting the information necessary from his father.

Spiegelman embraced the power of a reader’s inference by choosing the comic book as his medium. “Much of the power of Spiegelman’s book lies in his discourse with the reader, a discourse that exists between the panels, beneath the narration and dialogue”(Brown 92). There is a sense of the unknowable that permeates his attempt to tell the history of the Holocaust from one singular survivor’s point of view. By not filling in the blanks, the space between panels, he creates a specific sense of space that is separate from the history as a whole.

Spiegelman’s visual allegory portraying the different social strata of pre-War Poland with different animals is a direct reference to Hitler’s quote: “The Jews are undoubtedly a race, but they are not human.” (Spiegelman 1). There is a strange anthropomorphic quality to the characters because they are portrayed as animals but are undoubtedly human. They are humans wearing the costume of animals. Allowing the reader to distance themselves slightly from the events by using animal characters gives the audience space to identify more readily, to connect with the emotions of an event more personally. By taking away humans as subject matter, Spiegelman gives the reader the ability to see each character as a version of themselves instead of as a specific person, as an other.

The choice Spiegelman made in structure, dialogue, and simple artistic portrayal help capture an emotional story by conveying the sense of the unknowable within the relation of one generation to the next and highlights that same feeling within the events that led to the Holocaust in one survivor’s story. It has gaps in history, it is unreliable, and by being both unknowable and unreliable conveys a touchingly human story. Maus as a literary construct finally managed to blend the world of art and storytelling seamlessly giving the reader a chance to experience history in an entirely new light.


Work Cited

Brown, Joshua. "Review: Of Mice and Memory." The Oral History Review spring 16 (1988): 91-109.

Spiegelman, Art. Maus : A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History. New York: Pantheon, 1986.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Aspasia Paper

So, there were only two students who turned in their critical question papers on time today. Myself and Dana. Dana is this rad dude who sits outside with me every time we take a test (read: finish ridiculously early and wander aimlessly for about an hour afterward) end up discussing philosophy or learning in general. It's quite possibly the best part about taking my western civ tests. I didn't feel as prepared as I would have liked for this particular test, but I'm relatively certain I still got an A. I know I only missed one question on my philosophy test and that was more a question of semantics than actually getting the wrong answer.

But, for the parentals or whoever else might be interested, here's what I came up with for My paper:

Aspasia: Woman Apart

Aspasia of Miletus was an aberration in fourth century Athens. In a society that cloistered its women behind the walls of the house, she walked freely through both the polis and agora. In a culture that gagged the feminine voice with the ties of virtue, she conversed with men in the highest levels of politics and sophistry. In a city that believed the “greatest glory of a woman is to be least talked about by men, whether they are praising… or criticizing”(Thucydides 5.4.2), her name was known to thousands. She taught the great orator Pericles his trade and educated the brilliant Socrates in the craft of discussion. She defied the traditions of the day. Her position as a metic allowed her to disregard Attic tradition and her questionable profession of hetaera gained her access to the traditional world of men’s politics and philosophy.

Aspasia was born in Miletus, a rich city on the coast of Asia Minor. Miletus itself had a turbulent history. It was teeming with education in philosophy, mathmatics, art, and architecture. Miletus gave birth to such scholars as Thales, Anaximander and Anaximenes. As a member of the Delian League there were obvious ties with Athens. Her sister’s marriage to the exiled Athenian politician Alcibiades (grandfather of later notorious Alcibiades) may have had some part in Aspasia’s interest and education in politics(Henry 10). Aspasia emigrated from Miletus to Athens in this man’s entourage. Aspasia’s bios became inextricably linked with that of the most powerful man in politics during that time: Pericles. She emerged as his lover and this controversial relationship catapulted her into the public eye. The leader of Attic democracy lavishing attention on a woman, let alone a non citizen and reputed member of the hetaera, was scandalous. Years after her death, Plutarch commented that Pericles showed her an astounding amount of public affection and that despite the proclivity of later generations to assume their relationship was mercenary, he proclaimed their affair was formed out of the quiet passion and mutual respect of real love (Glenn, Sex 183). In fact, historian Marie Delcourt captured the tone of the public’s fascination with their relationship when she wrote: “no one would have thought the less of Pericles for making love to young boys… but they were shocked by his treating [Aspasia] like a human being “(77). This notoriety garnered a celebrity that was shared by few other women of the time.

Aspasia, like her contemporary Socrates, exists entirely within secondary sources. She has no written tradition of her own, leaving behind a tangle of half truths that have subsumed any philosophical tradition she may have created into the world of male philosophers. Comedians of the period attacked her mercilessly, proclaiming her a whore and epitethets that are significantly worse. Aristophanes was especially harsh, citing her as a whore by parodying the beginning of Herodotus’ Histories and casting her as a waspish madam wanting revenge for the theft of her whores by the Megarians(Frost 69). He defiled her further by referring to her as “Kynna the whore… whose head is encircled with the tongues of one hundred sycophants, deadly torrents of voice, the stench of a seal, the unwashed testicles of a Lamia, and the asshole of a camel…”(Aristophanes 1035). Aspasia’s ability to continue her public life while being lambasted speaks volumes of her character. Political orators used her relationship with Pericles to degrade his abilities and question, in the Homeric tradition, her involvement in the beginning of the Peloponnesian War. “Aspasia was so brilliant she could not possibly be respectable”(Glenn, Remapping 184).

Socrates, however, spoke highly of her as an educator and rhetorician. Through Plato’s Menexenus, Socrates names Aspasia as the person who taught him the art of rhetoric and also as the person who authored the famous Funeral Speech that secured Pericles’ position as one of the greatest orators of Athens (Coventry 3). Plato’s use of Aspasia as a literary device allowed him to place questionable words in his mentor’s mouth. She became a scapegoat so that Socrates could shift around controversial issues in Plato’s plays by claiming the words to truly be from someone else. Socrates and Aspasia both represent remarkable people obscured by several secondary representations. They enjoyed an interesting relationship of student and teacher, but also of friend and mentor. There are many objects of art that display Aspasia and Socrates nearly as equals(Vermeule 54). Their affinity demonstrates a natural tendency for unconventional personalities to bond over common ideals.

Aspasia existed as an outsider in Athenian society. As a woman and therefore a non-citizen, the laws created had no meaning for her. She was able to circumvent a woman’s position in Athens only because the society was created for those who existed within it. The laws governing a woman’s place had little relevance for an outsider. Her intelligence set her apart. Her education made her a maverick and her ability to move freely in social circles by nature of her profession made her unique. She was outspoken only because Athenian women were kept virtuously reticent. She was an obvious target, but because of this she is also one of the few women of record. Aspasia has become a touchstone for the feminist movement in rhetoric if only because she is remarkably present in the literature of the time. The place Periclean Athens had defined for a woman had no space for a woman in Aspasia’s unique position. She became a target. She became a woman apart.



Bibliography

Coventry, Lucinda. "Philosophy and Rhetoric in the Menexenus." The Journal of Hellenistic Studies 109 (1989): 1-15.

Delcourt, Marie. Pericles. N.p.: Gallemard, 1939.

Frost, Frank J. "Pericles and Dracontides." The Journal of Hellenistic Studies 84 (1964): 69-72.

Garland, Robert. "Celebrity in the Ancient World." History Today 55 (2005): 24-32.

Glenn, Cheryl. "Remapping Rhetorical Territory." Rhetoric Review 13 (1995): 287-303.

Glenn, Cheryl. "Sex, Lies, and Manuscript: Refiguring Aspasia in the History of Rhetoric." College Composition and Communication 45 (1994): 180-99.

Gomme, A. W. "The Position of Women in Athens in the Fifth and Fourth Centuries." Classical Philology 20 (1925): 1-25.

Henry, Madeleine M. Prisoner of History : Aspasia of Miletus and Her Biographical Tradition. New York: Oxford UP, 1995.

Plato. Menexenus. Grand Rapids: Kessinger, LLC, 2004.

Swearingen, C. Jan. "Plato's Feminine: Appropriation, Impersonation, and Metaphorical Polemic." Rhetoric Society Quarterly Feminist Rereadings in the History of Rhetoric 22 (1992): 109-23.

Vermeule III, Cornelius C. "Socrates and Aspasia: New Portraits of Late Antiquity." The Classical Journal 54 (1958): 49-55.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Aspasia, you are my HERO.

So I've been writing a new paper for my Western Civ class about one of the coolest chicks I have discovered so far. I say so far because I haven't had the chance to find out more about some of the other historical women on my "LIST OF CHICKS WHO MAY OR MAY NOT ROCK OUT IN HISTORY". It's a very specific list. I keep it in my pocket in a little notebook. I stare at it and think someday I WILL BE ON A LIST LIKE THIS.

*cough* No, really, I am not plotting to take over the world. why in the world would you think that? *cough*

So here is the first paragraph. It's still rough, but I think it generally sums up the idea of the paper:


Aspasia of Miletus was an aberration in fourth century Athens. In a society that cloistered its women behind the walls of the house, she walked freely through both the polis and agora. In a culture that gagged the feminine voice with the ties of virtue, she conversed with men in the highest levels of politics and sophistry. In a city that believed the “greatest glory of a woman is to be least talked about by men, whether they are praising… or criticizing”(Thucydides 5.4.2), her name was known to thousands. She taught the great orator Pericles his trade and educated the brilliant Socrates in the craft of discussion. She defied the traditions of the day. Her position as a metic allowed her to disregard Attic tradition and her questionable profession of hetaera gained her access to the traditional world of men’s politics and philosophy.


More to follow, once I get it finished. Just have to write about her chillin with Socrates and my personal opinions on her life etc. All of this good. It will be done by tomorrow and ready for the reading Thursday. WHEE.

Two tests thursday and finally got the whole class on board for the project. These are all good things.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Fear my skin.

On a random note: Sometimes I want to take pictures of my Biore strips just so I can post them and be like "LOOK WORLD! FEAR WHAT I HAVE RIPPED FORTH FROM MY PORES! ARE YOU NOT PROUD!?"

weird, yes, I know.

So, I'm totally procrastinating on making an outline for the Peter Paul Rubens Class project of Mayhem that I decided would be a GREAT fucking idea to organize and outline. No really, it totally sounded like a rad idea at the time. So now, to find approx 40 things that are vaguely important about Rubens and his one painting and translate it into a working outline then print them out sequentially for class on Tuesday.

Did I mention the retarded metric shit tonne of homework that I have to do on TOP of that? Oh right, maybe because I am being squished under it. WHEE!

Going to dig myself out now and knuckle down until Maria calls to distract me and I can share the glories of my pore prodding with her.

Damn I'm exciting.

OH! Also, I got a new pair of glasses, rockingly red, that I think I subconsciously chose to highlight the killer zit that subconsciously prompted the biore strip buying. Apparently, I'm not too aware of what my deviant brain is plotting until money has been spent.

Friday, October 3, 2008

Same thing we do every night Pinky...

So, I'm trying really hard right now to rein in my urge to take over the world. I mean that in the smallest sense possible. I've accepted the presidency of the English and Humanities Honor Fraternity on campus, I've taken the student ARC position, I've joined the new Think Tank on Campus...

... and I'm considering restarting the Campus Newspaper and running for Student Government to bring the voice of students back to the new President and away from the color scheme of a Fall Formal that most students will never attend. I'm trying to figure out a way to write a magazine article for a new IPhone magazine and possibly flesh out a paper to be published in an academic journal, I'm writing a way too long paper for my Western Civ class, delivering a speech on Stem Cell research, trying to keep up with my homework and readings.

I'm trying to figure out if there is any possibility in hell of getting my GPA up once my transcripts from the first disastrous time in college arrive and if I can get accepted to something other than a State University. I would like to have the option of applying places like Berkley, Brown, Johns Hopkins and other such illustrious establishments and don't want the wreckage of my drunken youth to ruin my future and current opportunities.

I'm trying to work full time to keep my brand new Health Benefits and balance that with a second job so I can afford to live while in school. I'm trying to balance all of that on top of the priority of staying sober and making meetings and working the steps of the program.

So mostly, I feel slightly overwhelmed and exhilarated and wish like HELL there was a pause button so I could sleep eight hours a night and still have the 24 hours I NEED during each day to fit in all of the things I really want to attempt.

After all, I'm taking over the world here. There is no rest for the wicked.