I just wanted to say Thank You to Dr. Sexson for being a great instructor. Good luck to my fellow classmates in the Oral Traditions class, thanks for reading, and we will see each other next semester!
Kelsey of the Free Rent
Kelsey Stavnes
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
my term paper- not quite edited
Music, Muses, and Oral Traditions
In ancient times, myths were used to tell stories of the gods and of human origins. Myths and stories were told by the fire or the hearth, allowing the entire tribe or clan to join in with the chorus, giving them the interpretation of their choice. A lot of these stories gave rise to the ideas of culture, survival, and the environment. Stories passed into songs about the gods and about personal reflection. People were able to express themselves in both the oral and the literate traditions through song. Ideas, thoughts and opinions were able to be demonstrated through song, music, words, actions, and gestures. “Music is existence- Gesang ist Dasein.”
Muses were called upon for inspiration before a poet or performer of a story began their tale. The muses served as almost religious figures- an idea and women to be revered and treated with utmost respect. Another woman who receives invocation and reverence is Mother Mary, the mother of Jesus. The purpose of this invocation is a little different however; it is more about personal salvation as opposed to performing as best as one can. For instance, the song “Let It Be” by the Beatles references Mother Mary several times:
In ancient times, myths were used to tell stories of the gods and of human origins. Myths and stories were told by the fire or the hearth, allowing the entire tribe or clan to join in with the chorus, giving them the interpretation of their choice. A lot of these stories gave rise to the ideas of culture, survival, and the environment. Stories passed into songs about the gods and about personal reflection. People were able to express themselves in both the oral and the literate traditions through song. Ideas, thoughts and opinions were able to be demonstrated through song, music, words, actions, and gestures. “Music is existence- Gesang ist Dasein.”
Muses were called upon for inspiration before a poet or performer of a story began their tale. The muses served as almost religious figures- an idea and women to be revered and treated with utmost respect. Another woman who receives invocation and reverence is Mother Mary, the mother of Jesus. The purpose of this invocation is a little different however; it is more about personal salvation as opposed to performing as best as one can. For instance, the song “Let It Be” by the Beatles references Mother Mary several times:
When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
And in my hour of darkness
She is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
Let it be, let it be,
Let it be, let it be.
Whisper words of wisdom
Let it be.
And when the broken-hearted people
Living in the world agree
There will be an answer, let it be.
For though they may be parted
There is still a chance that they will see
There will be an answer, let it be.
Let it be, let it be
Let it be, let it be
Yeah, there will be an answer let it be
Let it be, let it be,
Let it be, let it be.
Whisper words of wisdom
Let it be.
Let it be, let it be,
Let it be, let it be.
Whisper words of wisdom
Let it be.
And when the night is cloudy
There is still a light that shines on me
Shine on unto tomorrow, let it be.
I wake up to the sound of music
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
Let it be, let it be
Let it be, let it be
Yeah, there will be an answer let it be
Let it be, let it be,
Let it be, let it be.
Whisper words of wisdom
Let it be.
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
And in my hour of darkness
She is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
Let it be, let it be,
Let it be, let it be.
Whisper words of wisdom
Let it be.
And when the broken-hearted people
Living in the world agree
There will be an answer, let it be.
For though they may be parted
There is still a chance that they will see
There will be an answer, let it be.
Let it be, let it be
Let it be, let it be
Yeah, there will be an answer let it be
Let it be, let it be,
Let it be, let it be.
Whisper words of wisdom
Let it be.
Let it be, let it be,
Let it be, let it be.
Whisper words of wisdom
Let it be.
And when the night is cloudy
There is still a light that shines on me
Shine on unto tomorrow, let it be.
I wake up to the sound of music
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
Let it be, let it be
Let it be, let it be
Yeah, there will be an answer let it be
Let it be, let it be,
Let it be, let it be.
Whisper words of wisdom
Let it be.
By means of the song “Let It Be,” writers John Lennon and Paul McCartney could reflect on their experiences as humans in a crazy media world. Music and lyrics gave to them a sense of relief and a way to express their thoughts. With music, Lennon and McCartney did not have to spell anything out for their listeners. Music is up for interpretation and each word can mean something completely different from one person to the next. That is what makes music what it is now and how it can change lives. “Let It Be” is a reassurance of my faith and a reminder that things happen that I cannot change. Rather than try to change everything, especially things that are out of one's control, sometimes it is better to leave them alone. “Let It Be” also serves as a reminder that there is a higher power and that God or Mother Mary or the gods or even the muses are out there in the world. Sometimes life is better if left alone and given whole-heartedly up to fate and chance.
Myth, as well as music and song, also reflect on the past. Memories and past decisions give writers and song-writers alike ammunition for their arsenal of words. The “If only” motto is apparent in a lot of songs and it shows the regret and feeling of what might have been. Yesterday becomes an obsession of sorts, and gives a person a wish to go back and change events that happened.
Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away
Now it looks as though they're here to stay
Oh, I believe in yesterday
Suddenly I'm not half of the man I used to be
There's a shadow hanging over me
Oh, yesterday came suddenly
Why she had to go
I don't know, she wouldn't say
I said something wrong
Now I long for yesterday
Yesterday love was such an easy game to play
Now I need a place to hide away
Oh, I believe in yesterday.
Why'd she had to go
I don't know, she wouldn't say
I said something wrong
Now I long for yesterday
Yesterday love was such an easy game to play
Now I need a place to hide away
Oh, I believe in yesterday.
Now it looks as though they're here to stay
Oh, I believe in yesterday
Suddenly I'm not half of the man I used to be
There's a shadow hanging over me
Oh, yesterday came suddenly
Why she had to go
I don't know, she wouldn't say
I said something wrong
Now I long for yesterday
Yesterday love was such an easy game to play
Now I need a place to hide away
Oh, I believe in yesterday.
Why'd she had to go
I don't know, she wouldn't say
I said something wrong
Now I long for yesterday
Yesterday love was such an easy game to play
Now I need a place to hide away
Oh, I believe in yesterday.
“Yesterday” by the Beatles gives insight to the human world and mind. The human race, in general, desires what they do not have and wish for what might have been. Songwriters tend to focus on love because of the necessity of it for a full life. “Love, love, love is all you need...” Myth and other oral traditions focus on necessity but more so the primary necessity explained is survival. Lessons come about after the essentials are discussed and described. Beliefs and ideals are developed into the story and into the deeper meaning. Songs also have hidden meanings and one has to look inside of oneself to find the deeper meaning. The deeper meaning is something personal and something intrinsic. It is not easily explained and it can mean something different to each person that hears it or reads it.
Traditions, both in the oral and literate worlds, give the reader, the viewer, or the participant something different that they may not have experienced otherwise. The experience gives to the person time for reflection and introspection, thus giving him or her the chance to become a better person. Following in the steps of those around a person, he or she can reassess their life map and make a new path for themselves. They can choose to copy other writers and take “The Path Not Taken.” He or she can decide to carve their own way through life, experiencing everything for themselves and learning through mistakes and trials. Without the works of literature as a framework to guide us, we would be lost. Oral and literate traditions give the world something that we cannot give back. We have learned from them and we grow using the lessons they give us every day. Oral and literate (literacy) traditions give us the strength to step through the door but it is our own courage and conviction that we can greet the world and embrace it.
The Beatles. “All You Need is Love.” The Beatles 1. Martin, 2000.
The Beatles. “Let It Be.” The Beatles 1. Martin, 2000.
The Beatles. “Yesterday.” The Beatles 1. Martin, 2000.
Frost, Robert. “The Road Not Taken.” Mountain Interval. New York: Henry Holt and
Company, 1920.
In response to John Nay's blog/ our group wrap-up
JOHN NAY'S BLOG ENTRY:
So my group and I have just finished our project, and my, it is quite a relief. I would also like to compliment all the other groups on their work, and the entertainment they have provided. I look forward to seeing the final group’s perform on Monday. The purpose of me writing this blog today is to explicate the script our group performed for class. I am sure all our group’s presentations will be on the test, so I hope this blog will be of some service to you in the not too distant future. I will also provide a copy of the script in this blog; feel free to read it. I am going to primarily focus on my role in the presentation—we broke our group down to individual areas of expertise—so I will not soil what my other group members might have to say on their subject. As you learned from the brief explanation provided at the end of class on Friday, my role was a teacher who was completely stuck in the literate tradition—and very stubborn about outside opinions. In the word of Chris of the laughing rats: “Freytag would be proud”. But to give some more depth to my character in perhaps the best way I know how, I shall attempt to round him in the form of literacy. My character is a man that has just recently graduated college, and is at bit of a loss in terms of finding an appropriate, and successful means of teaching his students. Other than the few (perhaps in poor taste) joke’s I made about bestseller authors(John Grishram, Dan Brown), Kane in his chapter on context—which I drew a character from—makes interesting observations on how myth is taught, particularly by none the wiser English teacher’s, in a poor way that stays completely removed from the human life world. There a few things that I tried directly to allude to from the text, but other things I incorporated in, from contrasts that had arisen out of the other books we had been reading. I noticed there was some confusion on what I was exactly doing while I was stroking the binding of a book. I was doing it in a supposedly erotic way; poking fun at what Dr Sexson has explained is an obsession of the literary tradition. Which brings me to a key point into what my character was supposed to represent, which is, the safety that many modern teachers find in textbook studies of myth—and I suppose this is supposed to be ironic, the book is erotic, yet we shun sexuality, which I made a point of doing when addressing the students.Anyway, the reason that this is an inaccurate way to study myth, is that often times these textbooks will only give poor explanations about the meaning of the myth, with no sympathy towards the culture, and many of the contextual elements that made myths powerful and provocative when the oral poet spoke them. Instead as Kane demonstrates on the Myth of Demeter and Persephone, and the vague understanding textbooks provide, “[that] if these essentialist sentimentalities about human nature were all that mythtelling were about, myths would deserve their bad name”—which is a consequence perhaps, mostly of teachers not having any ability to expound upon anything other than that which the textbook provides.Another point I made about a teachers inadequacy on teaching myth was—teachers often have a very difficult time explaining truly what these myths are about, and they will often rely on the books graphics, as a means of supplementing any deeper meaning. This is why when I was sitting down at the desk in the middle of the room, rubbing an apple I said, “My…look at these pictures”.What I also tried to emphasis in this presentation was the political correctness that Kane explains has drawn out much of the meaning of these de-contextualized myths. For example, the myth of Demeter and Persephone is about fertility, and the contact between city dwelling cultures and rural cultures. Yet much of this context is absent in the text versions of these myths. Kane, in his research actually found this, “According to the sources of this myth (none of this in the high school anthology), she knows the secrets of the marriage-bed, and blesses couples on their wedding night.” Instead of including vital information such as he has provided, these anthology’s usually settle on abstract concepts such as compromise (which I wrote on the board)—which Kane explains is completely of myth a that should in fact “echo the knowledge of the agricultural seasonal cycles of the Mediterranean”. There is much more to this subject, and perhaps a bit more explanation into what my group did, but since it is Saturday, and I am a bit de-contextualized myself in the written word, I think I will go enjoy the rest of the day.
MY RESPONSE:
I agree whole-heartedly with what John said. Our group was trying to that literature and the appreciation of literature is not just within the content or the text, but also within the reader and what they experience (the context of how they read it). A lot of this appreciation can take place in activities that John, as the bad teacher, would not let us do. Writing and literature are to be experienced, to be challenged and to make meaning of it. I guess I am a little bit of a believer in the Reader Response theory but writing has whatever meaning you make it to mean. It can change based on personal experiences and from person to person. We were trying to show what not to do in order to establish the point that the context of the text is not easily decipherable.
So my group and I have just finished our project, and my, it is quite a relief. I would also like to compliment all the other groups on their work, and the entertainment they have provided. I look forward to seeing the final group’s perform on Monday. The purpose of me writing this blog today is to explicate the script our group performed for class. I am sure all our group’s presentations will be on the test, so I hope this blog will be of some service to you in the not too distant future. I will also provide a copy of the script in this blog; feel free to read it. I am going to primarily focus on my role in the presentation—we broke our group down to individual areas of expertise—so I will not soil what my other group members might have to say on their subject. As you learned from the brief explanation provided at the end of class on Friday, my role was a teacher who was completely stuck in the literate tradition—and very stubborn about outside opinions. In the word of Chris of the laughing rats: “Freytag would be proud”. But to give some more depth to my character in perhaps the best way I know how, I shall attempt to round him in the form of literacy. My character is a man that has just recently graduated college, and is at bit of a loss in terms of finding an appropriate, and successful means of teaching his students. Other than the few (perhaps in poor taste) joke’s I made about bestseller authors(John Grishram, Dan Brown), Kane in his chapter on context—which I drew a character from—makes interesting observations on how myth is taught, particularly by none the wiser English teacher’s, in a poor way that stays completely removed from the human life world. There a few things that I tried directly to allude to from the text, but other things I incorporated in, from contrasts that had arisen out of the other books we had been reading. I noticed there was some confusion on what I was exactly doing while I was stroking the binding of a book. I was doing it in a supposedly erotic way; poking fun at what Dr Sexson has explained is an obsession of the literary tradition. Which brings me to a key point into what my character was supposed to represent, which is, the safety that many modern teachers find in textbook studies of myth—and I suppose this is supposed to be ironic, the book is erotic, yet we shun sexuality, which I made a point of doing when addressing the students.Anyway, the reason that this is an inaccurate way to study myth, is that often times these textbooks will only give poor explanations about the meaning of the myth, with no sympathy towards the culture, and many of the contextual elements that made myths powerful and provocative when the oral poet spoke them. Instead as Kane demonstrates on the Myth of Demeter and Persephone, and the vague understanding textbooks provide, “[that] if these essentialist sentimentalities about human nature were all that mythtelling were about, myths would deserve their bad name”—which is a consequence perhaps, mostly of teachers not having any ability to expound upon anything other than that which the textbook provides.Another point I made about a teachers inadequacy on teaching myth was—teachers often have a very difficult time explaining truly what these myths are about, and they will often rely on the books graphics, as a means of supplementing any deeper meaning. This is why when I was sitting down at the desk in the middle of the room, rubbing an apple I said, “My…look at these pictures”.What I also tried to emphasis in this presentation was the political correctness that Kane explains has drawn out much of the meaning of these de-contextualized myths. For example, the myth of Demeter and Persephone is about fertility, and the contact between city dwelling cultures and rural cultures. Yet much of this context is absent in the text versions of these myths. Kane, in his research actually found this, “According to the sources of this myth (none of this in the high school anthology), she knows the secrets of the marriage-bed, and blesses couples on their wedding night.” Instead of including vital information such as he has provided, these anthology’s usually settle on abstract concepts such as compromise (which I wrote on the board)—which Kane explains is completely of myth a that should in fact “echo the knowledge of the agricultural seasonal cycles of the Mediterranean”. There is much more to this subject, and perhaps a bit more explanation into what my group did, but since it is Saturday, and I am a bit de-contextualized myself in the written word, I think I will go enjoy the rest of the day.
MY RESPONSE:
I agree whole-heartedly with what John said. Our group was trying to that literature and the appreciation of literature is not just within the content or the text, but also within the reader and what they experience (the context of how they read it). A lot of this appreciation can take place in activities that John, as the bad teacher, would not let us do. Writing and literature are to be experienced, to be challenged and to make meaning of it. I guess I am a little bit of a believer in the Reader Response theory but writing has whatever meaning you make it to mean. It can change based on personal experiences and from person to person. We were trying to show what not to do in order to establish the point that the context of the text is not easily decipherable.
group presentations
Muses and journeying- I really liked this presentation. The ideas expressed showed thought and concern for making sure the presentation made sense. I like that they included children's literature and things we have talked about in class. Very well done!
Story time: This was a good idea. It was entertaining and covered the Kane material well.
Dream sequence: I liked the idea of acting like we were all in a dream and that they worked with the material, as opposed to going against it.
Story time: This was a good idea. It was entertaining and covered the Kane material well.
Dream sequence: I liked the idea of acting like we were all in a dream and that they worked with the material, as opposed to going against it.
test review
The body is the medium for communication- Yates page 189
1. Nietzsche says we are all what? Ong page 104: walking dictionaries
2. Lull: motion, rotating memory system, no images, non-corporeal, ladder, tree
3. What shape does literature use to tell the story? the triangle, mis-en-enbyme (into the abyss)
4. Reformation not possible without the printing press
5. significance of mandela to Finnegans Wake- attempt to reconcile opposites
6. democratic alphabet, learn to read, out to the masses
7. Gesang ist Daseim. Song is existence Ong page 142
8. finality, closure. Ong page 130
9. Memory of divine man Yates page 224 (Bruno)
10. Alethiometer- truth measurer, alethia- unforgetting
11. Who built 7 pillars of Solomon's House of Wisdom? Camillo
12. Illiad: Such were the funeral rites of Hecktor, the tamer of horses
13. How many times was the alphabet invented? 1 Ong page 88
14. 1/3
15. What did Tae and Robert use instead of a typical memory theater? their bodies
16. Finnegans Wake article: writing to speech to gestures
17. Lull and Cabbela Yates page 188
18. hypertext-opening up into more (definitions, articles)
19. What is the ancient Hebrew alphabet lacking? vowels
20. LTRTR
NGLSH
21. Bruno rushes out of the convent Yates page 203
22. blank space portrays silence Tristram Shandy Ong page 126
23. Easter wings Ong page 126
24. notoriously unread book: Finnegans Wake
1. Nietzsche says we are all what? Ong page 104: walking dictionaries
2. Lull: motion, rotating memory system, no images, non-corporeal, ladder, tree
3. What shape does literature use to tell the story? the triangle, mis-en-enbyme (into the abyss)
4. Reformation not possible without the printing press
5. significance of mandela to Finnegans Wake- attempt to reconcile opposites
6. democratic alphabet, learn to read, out to the masses
7. Gesang ist Daseim. Song is existence Ong page 142
8. finality, closure. Ong page 130
9. Memory of divine man Yates page 224 (Bruno)
10. Alethiometer- truth measurer, alethia- unforgetting
11. Who built 7 pillars of Solomon's House of Wisdom? Camillo
12. Illiad: Such were the funeral rites of Hecktor, the tamer of horses
13. How many times was the alphabet invented? 1 Ong page 88
14. 1/3
15. What did Tae and Robert use instead of a typical memory theater? their bodies
16. Finnegans Wake article: writing to speech to gestures
17. Lull and Cabbela Yates page 188
18. hypertext-opening up into more (definitions, articles)
19. What is the ancient Hebrew alphabet lacking? vowels
20. LTRTR
NGLSH
21. Bruno rushes out of the convent Yates page 203
22. blank space portrays silence Tristram Shandy Ong page 126
23. Easter wings Ong page 126
24. notoriously unread book: Finnegans Wake
More notes for March 30, 2009
Reincarnated/reincarnation:
memory
related to the gods
related to religion and remembrance
Read "An Imaginary Life"
By David Malouf
Nothing is ever lost
If nothing is ever lost, why do we forget so much? Why does amnesia take place? How can psychology function (for instance in traumatic situations, victims or observers often "forget" what happened to them or what they saw as a coping mechanism)? I like the idea that one does not forget anything and it is just hidden away from sight, but if nothing is lost, where did it all go?
memory
related to the gods
related to religion and remembrance
Read "An Imaginary Life"
By David Malouf
Nothing is ever lost
If nothing is ever lost, why do we forget so much? Why does amnesia take place? How can psychology function (for instance in traumatic situations, victims or observers often "forget" what happened to them or what they saw as a coping mechanism)? I like the idea that one does not forget anything and it is just hidden away from sight, but if nothing is lost, where did it all go?
my memory theater
my memory theater is pretty basic:
I started at one end of the hall and walked past each person in order of their room to get my order. My memory system was not just the names but while I "walked" in the classroom through my hallways, I pictured the person and recited in my head what I know about them. Sone of those facts could not be shared and some were really personal but it was more than just the names of my "neighbors."
I started at one end of the hall and walked past each person in order of their room to get my order. My memory system was not just the names but while I "walked" in the classroom through my hallways, I pictured the person and recited in my head what I know about them. Sone of those facts could not be shared and some were really personal but it was more than just the names of my "neighbors."
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