Where it all began: 1/26/2023

In the beginning, Professor Brady stated that “literature is supposed to serve a purpose.”

Literature serves as an expression of purpose and emotion. And it is the stepping stone of many forms of media such as art, poetry, music, performances, movies, and many more. The introductory lecture given on Jan. 26th set the tone for the remainder of the semester, and it is one of my favorite lectures because we discussed accountability, control, moral compass, and Professor Brady presented Antigone in preparation for in-class discussions. As a class, we were introduced to several themes in Antigone, including protection of personal dignity, loyalty/obligation to family, freedom, protection of community or nation, observance of law, and obedience to authority/law. 

The class did a mini-activity, where we were told to rank the themes from most to least important. The feedback varied, everyone had a different answer. I ranked the protection of personal dignity as the most important because I hold myself to a certain standard, and straying from that standard causes me feelings of guilt. Alternatively, loyalty and obligation to family are the least important because family does not inherently determine the quality of the relationship. 

****Additionally****

2/2/2023: In the following class, we had a fishbowl where we discussed Greek burial rites, which were important in context to Antigone. We talked about Greek society and we listed some attributes of the main characters, Creon, Antigone, and Ismene. We also introduced some major conflicts in the story, which include good versus (perceived) evil, moral versus law. Lastly, we discussed how an internal conflict can spark into various external conflicts.