11/25/19 Kevin Wong PD 7

11/25/19

Kevin Wong

Period 7

          

Aim: How does irony contribute to the state of catharsis in tragedies?

Our English teacher in training, Mr. Wu, taught the lesson today instead of

Ms. Fusaro. He started off by asking us to read the poem “Pride” by Dahlia Ravikovitch, rename it based on what we took from it, and what was ironic within the poem. The poem told of a rock that endures hardships for many years, resulting in cracks. However, the crack remain hidden until a small seal comes by and breaks the rock.  After reading the poem, we had a class discussion. Taya renamed the poem “Pressure” and said that the rock in the poem breaks because of the pressure exerted on it, just like how pressure can break us as human beings. Dejon explained how the rock in the poem endured many things, but it eventually cracked under the pressure of a small seal. He compared how sometimes, it is the tiny things that break us. Billy also added that the rock seemed all right, but in reality it was not, just like how humans often put on a facade that they are ok, when they are not. 

What the whole class took away from our discussion is that it is often better

to open up about problems and difficulties, instead of bottling it all up inside

and letting it boil over and damaging us and the people around us. However,

we also discussed that it is often hard for people to do this because we feel

that keeping things to ourselves is showing strength, and often our pride makes

us think we can endure all trials and tribulations. 

After the quick lesson on self-reflection, Mr. Wu got us back onto the topic of

Oedipus Rex. He explained how there are 2 types of motivation; 

      Ethical motivation: being motivated by morals and ethics 

      Pathetic motivation: being motivated by passion and overwhelming emotion 

He then asked us whether Oedipus’s motivation was pathetic or ethical. Kelly

said that it was ethical because Oedipus felt he had an obligation to save

his kingdom, as he is their king. As a whole, the class had multiple reasons for why

Oedipus could have been ethically and pathetically motivated. Mr. Wu then

reveals that it was both, as Oedipus’s passion was to help the city. 

We then read Oedipus Rex’s monologue about Laius, his father and the former

king before Oedipus. We then discuss the irony within the monologue.

Some examples that were discussed were that Oedipus threatens the killer, but

a killer himself.

Oedipus also stated that his father would have had common children

and talks down about it, but he is, in fact, the common child. We then tie all of

this back to the aim. Kelly said that is helped contribute to catharsis because

we can all go into the play without the plot and can walk out awed, even though

the result was known. Billy added that people can make themselves feel better

by thinking that at least they didn’t have problems as bad as the characters.

Mr. Wu then ended the class by stating that the main reason is that people

feel emotions with the characters. 

Student Reflection

Today I learned that we should not bottle up all of our grievances and pain to

the point where we break ourselves. Instead, we should be willing to share the

weight instead of letting our pride control our actions and feeling like we can take

on the weight of the world and come out spotless. I also learned that the Greeks used

the irony often found within their plays to make themselves feel better about their lives.

I can imagine the Greeks visiting the amphitheater just for emotional relief. Both of

hese lessons affect my worldview. I now see the field of mental health in a whole

new landscape and also see the ways that other cultures coped with these afflictions

in different ways. These lessons lead to the ability for me to now go out into the

world knowing and understanding that I should share burdens that I need to, instead

of keeping it to myself, and that sometimes a little bit of tragedy, can lead to better

results.