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This semester has been nothing but normal. For one thing, this class is asynchronous, a very interesting experience, and something that I wish I had in-person. It evoked critical thinking and helped me develop my mind in ways I never knew about. Here I will be discussing all the modules and material that I have been reading and analyzing over the past semester which aided in that journey for me. Hoping to express all of my thoughts through this presentation, please come with me on this summed up path, unveiled through the words within this book.
In the book, Don Quixote goes on an adventure, much like other chivalry tales and creates his own chivalry story for himself, where he is the main protagonist of his story. He is seen as crazy to many that come across his path, some even playing along.
This book and module touches on the ideas of subjectivity, objectivity, truth, perspective, and self-certainty.
I've learned that we are what we make ourselves out to be, while staying within those objective truths that society and the world has created to be the norm. We can never be like Don Quixote as he is someone who went to the extreme to drop everything to pursue his chivalry tale's dream. Yet this story has taught the readers that we are just like him in ways we don't even know. We desire to have that freedom but are bounded by the world.
This module holds three separate readings: The Epic of Gilgamesh, Genesis, and Myth & Psyche.
Even though these stories are old, they all have something to tell us. It shows that even back then we are all striving to have the same understanding. It is to understand ourselves (our psyche) and the world around us. The common theme between these text is the idea of mortality and the idea of understanding our psyche. They all show that we do not live long, and that we have to make use of the time we have right now.
I've learned more about the ideas of mortality and learned more about the understanding of oneself. We are all confused and struggling in life, but we don't have to struggle alone. It shows the importance of storytelling as it helps us understand that we aren't alone. We are all trying to make sense of this complicated world that we call our own.
This module includes readings from Plato, Trials of Socrates and Parable of the Cave.
This module, similar to the first module, talks about the ideas of subjectivity and objectivity, in relations to our rational thoughts. The problem with subjectivity is that we are too certain of our own authority that we fail to realize that we can't really trust that. Instead of feeding into our subjective thoughts, we must think rationally as it helps overcome the limits of subjectivity and arriving at objective understanding of our experience. Both Trials of Socrates and Parable of the Cave help readers understand the problem with subjectivity and shows us ways to reach that objective thought. I learned to not really trust what I believe and to be open to more rational thoughts, as I dissect my thoughts and questions. We have to understand that we continue to learn, even when we are older. Though we can not know everything, knowing some things is still better than none and our acceptance to become more knowledgeable makes all the difference. Subjective and objective thoughts are opposites, yet there is harmony between them, something that fundamental to expanding our current knowledge.
As we go on with the semester, we come to readings that deal with Greek Mythology and their Gods and Goddesses. The readings include: Homer's Odyssey, as well as passages dealing with Aphrodite and Ares.
These readings help us understand the ideas of a polytheistic consciousness. Many of these ideas can still be applied to our modern society. Odyssey helps us understand the importance of these Gods and Goddesses on their lives, helping to explain different phenomenons and questions of the world. All the gods have different roles that they play, making them all important in a variety of ways. In a way, though I do not believe in these gods, I still can take the ideas of war and love from these passages and apply it to my life. It helped evoke my understandings of why people go to war, and the connection between love and procreation in a much more deeper way.
In the reading of the graphic novel, Persepolis, the readers get to experience the perspective of the writer, Marjane Satrapi, during the Iranian War. She grows up during the war and it ends up shaping her sense of self through politics, religion, and perspective.
It also talks about her struggles of growing up. Just like anybody else, she tries hard to fit in. Such as the time when she was in Austria where she was a teen and trying to fit in with the crowd.
Just like how Satrapi developed her story through what she experienced, we notice that we all experience different things as our perspective on many situations are different from one another. It is also the idea of finding ourselves at a young age, as we grow with the author throughout the novel. We all go through a similar transformational path toward adulthood, but the way we approach and take away from the path to adulthood varies between people. That is what makes us unique in how we think and take from experiences. Though we can be influenced by many factors within our lives, it is the variety of experiences, choices, and opinions that make us who we are. Taken from the discussion board, we are all still trying to find ourselves in this process of life. What I learned is that it is not necessarily something where we abandon the authority of our cultural identities because of that demand of modernity, but it is something that we see fit for ourselves and our minds. We take what we want from our cultures, as it is something that aids us in becoming our unique selves. We still have the authority to govern our decisions and mind.
Girlhood is an autobiographical nonfiction book that touches on the ideas of gender, sex, empty consent, sexuality, intimacy, and even patriarchal socialization. As hard it was to read the stories that was discussed and described by the author, it showed many hardships that come from these societal roles, specifically for women.
This book also shows the growth of the author as it takes us on the journey of self-care, self-growth, and self-love.
This shows the ideas of societal roles that affect all of us in our world. We are built off of what we learned from childhood where in some cases, we have no sovereignty over ourselves. As I have said in the discussion board, the expectations built from those impressions from our surroundings and society are what determine the limitations of the roles we play. It is not something that is absolute and essential, not something built in our biology, but rather learned. However, through reading this book, I have learned that I must learn to be with my past, rather than completely blocking it from my life. This reading was hard to read as it talks about topics that are triggering, yet so essential for everybody to know and understand. It helped me reflect on these topics and understand the struggles that many other women face.
What I have drawn from all of our readings is the main arching theme, that is, the idea of identity and self. That "good life" that this class is named after, is the version of life that we see that best fits ourselves. It is something that we can apply to our lives. We are all different, and that understanding that we are all different is what helps us grow at our own pace and helps us find that "good life". We can find inspirations from our experiences and other people’s experiences, as life is a collection of all of those things. That is what I have done with these readings from many different people and cultures.
I am slowly starting to help myself in the this growing process that I call life. It is not something that I can grow off of subjective thoughts alone, as I still live in a world full of many different people, those unique in their own ways. I think that the way I think of life is different now, as I can use more rational thinking and critical thinking within my daily life. What is key to growth in my opinion, is the idea of encouraging different thoughts and being open minded. We should take what we see best fits our interest, and improve with those ideas. Though we live in a world full of different people, the one who truly matters in our lives is ourselves. We are all capable of growth, and that growth starts with you. That is something I want to pursue as I grow older.
for a wonderful semester of thoughts and reflection