Garrett's Presentation

   The ideas Garrett presented on Wednesday were of the type I want to instantly stick my fingers in my ears and start repeating Lalalalalalalalala as loud as I could. I didn't want to hear a single word he said, because once the idea entered my head I would never know if, left to my own devises, I would have discovered it myself. Shame on me for being such a procrastinator and not finishing the book yet.
    The way in which Prof. Sexson gives us hints in class then waits for us to clue in is a testament of his patience as a teacher and his knowledge that discovering the hidden treasures in a piece of literature is the sweet reward for reading a 800+ page novel. I am anxious to chew on the entire Brother's K. I just hope a few of Sexson's hints are still stashed in my head somewhere.
    I know my last two blogs are only loosely tied into class topics, but I thought I'd practice writing and why squander my thoughts by not posting them.

Me Ole Brain

I find that the principle "... the notion that in order to be a good writer, one must practice. A lot. If you're not writing on a regular basis, you forget how to formulate ideas and become a sub-par writer."- Seth  Seth had learned this semester is one of the same ones I have learned. I just hadn't given it any thought until I read Seth's blog. I found it very difficult to articulate my thoughts or even come up with a thought some days. Now that it's the end of the semester I'm finally getting my Ole brain warmed up. I have chosen to revisit the anthology and the Brothers Karamazov over the summer. I have also chosen to keep blogging so I too can in the future see what I thought. Seth, I Thank you for your blog that got me thinking on the notion of practice makes better, I'm not shooting for perfection just yet. I actually would like to thank several of you for articulating so beautifully the same thoughts that I had made such a mess of in my head. After I had read one of those beautiful blogs my thoughts straightened right up, almost like therapy. So I Thank You for sharing your thoughts, they have made a difference in me.

Thesis paper topic

My topic for my paper will be that Alyosha does fit the archetypal design of the Hero.

The Crutch of Religion

I got to thinking quite the opposite as Annebelle has reflected in her blog thoughts. I realize she's still pondering, but she got me thinking. The mere thought of religious being the tool for humanity to bare sufferings is the exact ideal that I believe leads Ivan to reject religion. If religion can allow an individual to endure their sufferings by allowing god to be their strength, then doesn't that make the individual weaker for not learning to bare the weight of suffering themselves. Like Annebelle said she learns from the sufferings of others as well as her own. What do we learn? I believe we learn the strength of our sole, the strength of our heart, the strength of our morals. I have always bore the weight of my sufferings and I know without a doubt that I still do not know the limits of my strengths or the boundaries of my weaknesses. I say this because along the way I grew stronger and stronger because I taught myself by learning from my experiences. By no means does this mean I don't have a breaking point, but it means just that my breaking point is that much stronger. Ivan may see religion as a crutch, a crutch by which to weaken him, by giving him false strength through excepting the mysterious ways that god himself works. Ivan may believe If he believes in God then he is not relying on himself, he may believe he will never know his true strengths or weaknesses if he excepts the ways god works. How do you know your own strength until you've flexed your own muscles? Ivan may even see it as religions way of keeping us from knowing our own strengths, keeping us weak, to keep us relying on religion, the church, Father Z  rather than ourselves. One might say it's Ivan's ego that got him thinking these thoughts. Ivan's portrayed ego, may be Ivan simply figuring out what he thinks by saying things he's thought. Now that's a thought.

Thoughts, just as were Annebelle's.

Sparknotes

Reading the spark notes of the Brothers Karamazov is like watching the movie rather than reading the book. The director had to read the book so he could direct the movie, but the movie is never as good as the book they say. The spark note author had to read Brothers Karamazov so he could write a condensed version of it, which they say is never as good as the book. Just as the author of the Brothers Karamazov had to experience first hand before writing his greatest novels, because before his run in with the firing squad they say his novels were never as good as they were after he began to live. So that would make books the spark notes of Life.