My favorite project this semester was my Othello project: “Transformative Justice in Othello.” “On a smaller, community scale, TJ serves a similar purpose – to move beyond anger and arrive at a peaceful, agreed upon conclusion by all parties involved. In practice, this looks like a series of deeply honest conversations, sometimes with a mediator,… Read more Final – Transformative Justice in Othello
Miranda Kaplan
Hierarchy in The Blazing World
I overall really enjoyed The Blazing World, I think it might be my favorite of the texts we’ve done in this class! I do think it presents a very interesting human-centric hierarchy, in a world supposedly without humans. When she arrives, she is given complete power to rule despite having just entered the world. I… Read more Hierarchy in The Blazing World
In Defense of Eve
How can we account for and justify the sexism Eve faces before eating the apple? If the apple was the thing that unleashed knowledge of evil unto humanity, why was she dealing with gender politics? Shouldn’t inequality be included in the “fuck mankind” category? “Whence true autority in men; though both Not equal, as thir… Read more In Defense of Eve
Transformative Justice in Othello
Prominent Transformative Justice advocate Mia Mingus defines Transformative Justice as, “Transformative Justice (TJ) is a political framework and approach for responding to violence, harm and abuse. At its most basic, it seeks to respond to violence without creating more violence and/or engaging in harm reduction to lessen the violence” (TJ, A Brief Description, 2020). It’s… Read more Transformative Justice in Othello
Trust and Distrust in Othello
This post is responding to a question that was posed in class, about why Othello was so willing to believe Iago. Othello supposedly loves Desdemona, so why is he so quick to believe Iago’s accusations about her infidelity? Prior to his accusations, Iago establishes a deep sense of trust with Othello. He is then able… Read more Trust and Distrust in Othello
Una’s Role in The Faerie Queene
Una is an important figure in the Redcross Knight’s life, but is she an important character in the story? What impact does she have in the poem? First, she brings the Redcross Knight to her homeland in order to free her parents from the horrors of a dragon. “Deare knight, as deare, as euer knight… Read more Una’s Role in The Faerie Queene
Sprezzatura
This is going to be a reflection on a term that was brought up for like thirty seconds in class, “sprezzatura.” Sprezzatura essentially means putting a lot of effort into something, such as appearance or artwork, with the purpose of it looking low effort. I came across this enlightening yet horrifying article from 2018. It… Read more Sprezzatura
Beowulf: Life Coach
For my unessay, I imagined a world in which Beowulf took to the internet to impart his wisdom on unsuspecting masses, as a life coach. What better way to draw vulnerable populations to him! To advertise himself and attempt to gather new clientele, I designed the beginnings of Beowulf’s Life Coach website. After viewing around… Read more Beowulf: Life Coach
Greed and Sexism in Beowulf
How is the dragon’s greed portrayed differently from Beowulf’s greed? Are they, in essence, the same thing? Farmers kept vigil, dreading her smokey signs. She was hungry for hoards, tempted by temples, and every burial site was known by her to hold heathen hopes, howling for a new owner” (98). “He’d been ghost-throned by the… Read more Greed and Sexism in Beowulf
Beowulf, Grendel, and Class
The original manuscript of Beowulf long predates capitalism as we know it today, however the characters still interact with class. How does class shape Beowulf’s experiences in Heorot? We get this description of Beowulf and his troop: “They’re well-dressed, thus well born, and thus worthy. And the man who led them here- he looks so… Read more Beowulf, Grendel, and Class