Saturday, September 27, 2008

Similes, Metaphors, and Cliches



Alrighty here it goes:

I am a yo-yo, I go up and down, and sometimes I get tangled. I am also like an ocean, with it's waves going in and out and crashing ever so often. It's ridable, but not always. I am sometimes as funny as a monkey. But I'll let you decide.


Now version #2:

From my toes to scalp, I am person who tries to be as approachable as a rich, creamy bar of dark chocolate. Sometimes I'll fail as miserably as those annoying shoelace things that you don't have to tie they sold during elementary school, and sometimes I'll succeed as well as Oprah, the women whose influence is unmatchable. I can adjust to a new environment, but it'll take as long as it'll take for our sun to collapse massively on itself. That's me.

I tried my best, and thanks for reading!

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

The Epic: My Literary Blog Post



What is an Epic?

An epic in my opinion is basically a long story that is told in a poetic style. It usually will talk about an important event that seems heroic to a society. For me this is a very difficult form of literature to write and comprehend.

3 Examples from the Iliad

#1: Long texts consisting of dialogue that reveals the character

Lines 217-224:
"I came to see if I could check this temper of yours,
Sent from heaven by the white-armed goddess
Hera, who loves and watches over both of you men.
Now come on, drop this quarrel, don't draw your sword.
Tell him off instead. And I'll tell you,
Achilles, how things will be: You're going to get
Three times as many magnificent gifts
Because of his arrogance. Just listen to us and be patient."

I selected this quote because the only way the author shows the character is through the use of dialogue. Here we listen to Athena speak to Achilles.

#2: The use of Patronymics

Line 212:
"Daughter of Zeus!"

Epics often refer to characters by their relation to someone else.

#3: Introduction

Lines 1-4:

"Rage
Sing, Goddess, Achilles' rage,
black and murderous, that cost the Greeks
Incalculable pain, pitched countless souls
Of heroes into Hades' dark,"

The beginning of an epic usually puts you right in the action and doesn't provide an introduction.

The Image

The reason I selected the image at the top was because the very first thing that comes to my mind when I hear "epic poetry" is Ancient Greece and their strong religious beliefs. I can just picture generations handing down stories until they were finally written down. The columns are also a reminder to me of Ancient Greece.