Tag Archives: ELP

Academic, English Learner Profile (ELP)

Tarot Card Interpretations

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Scythe: Could be a representation for harvesting and the work done to provide something new. This could connect to a fresh start for myself in my own life and the beginning of something pure and new as I move onto later stages in my life. However, it could also act as a warning, and indicate that there may be future danger in my personal life, where I must be careful and observe potential harm.

Mountain: A symbol of an on-going journey and current struggles and obstacles that could be in my way, as I attempt to navigate my way through school and onto later education. The reflection of the mountain may represent the idea of self-awareness and ensuring that one is completely acknowledgeable of themselves and their actions.

Fish: Could represent current and flow. It could be something that is inevitable and that I should allow to happen without interference. Or is could show sharing in a society where ‘schools’ come together to communicate and navigate as one, through any obstacles and challenges that may come their way.

Academic, English Learner Profile (ELP)

Is Odysseus a complicated man?

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I agree that to some extent, Odysseus is a complicated character, which can be seen through his naturally deceptive nature. However, by acknowledging the journey that he has undertaken, I find the majority of his decisions reasonable and justifiable. For example, after being sent off by the Phaeacians, Odysseus visits Eumaeus, but disguises himself and creates a story where he has come from Crete. Although Odysseus knows that he is back home in Ithaca, he chooses to lie. I believe that due to his struggle of making his way home, it would be difficult to trust anyone, even those who he knew before the battle of Troy. Perhaps, he believes that everyone and everything is against him, causing him to delay disclosing his true identity to anyone, even those who he used to know so well. Odysseus even questions Penelope’s loyalty and is worried that she might turn against him on his arrival. Odysseus connects this belief with the unfortunate situation that Agamemnon was put in when he arrived back home, where his wife, Clytemnestra took Aegisthus as her lover when he was away. However, when Odysseus reunites with Telemachus at the swineherd’s hurt, he immediately reveals his identity, which contradicts his other decisions where he has chosen to lie until he truly trusts the other person.

Academic, English Learner Profile (ELP)

3 Lines – The Odyssey

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Reveals so much about the world of The Odyssey —the many turns, the echoing story, the ideas hidden inside it:

“This is absurd, that mortals blame the gods! They say we cause their suffering, but they themselves increase it by folly.” Page 106, Book 1: The Boy and the Goddess

It seems quite lovely —a beautiful expression, for whatever that’s worth:

“But when the brightest star that carries news about the coming Down rose up the sky, the seaborne ship neared land.” Page 319, Book 13: Two Tricksters

Is satisfying on a pure storytelling or image-making level:

“Another slave brought water for my hands, in a gold pitcher, and poured it over them, to a silver bowl.” Page 271, Book 10: The Winds and the Witch

Academic, English Learner Profile (ELP)

Greek Poetry Discussion Thoughts

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Ithaka Translated by Edmund Keeley

  • Although the voice of the poem describes the journey as something joyful and hopeful, the ending is rather upsetting.
    • “Ithaka gave you the marvellous journey. / Without her you wouldn’t have set out. / She has nothing left to give you now.”
    • I think that through this stanza, the idea that going back home is not as significant as one might hope is quite evident as it clearly states that their home has nothing that it can give to them and that they need to prepare themselves with what they can in order to stay at home and make it feel like what it used to.
  • The ending is also quite confusing, as it leaves the readers questioning what “Ithakas,” mean?
    • An idea was that it could act as a symbol of home and a place of comfort and familiarity, but it could also represent the journeys that one has undertaken and the suffering that one has had to endure before coming back home. We can also question why one might be set on this specific journey and the significance of how that could impact others.
      • For example, the journey that Odysseus has taken after the Battle of Troy, might have a reason behind it. Perhaps the Gods set him on this path in order to portray his son, Telemachus, a certain way.

Parable of the Hostages By Louise Glück

  • I felt that there was a lot more going on in this poem, which is why I had to read it a couple of times in order to process it.
  • Although I preferred the other poem, there was one line that I did really like.
    • “what if war is just a male version of dressing up, a game devised to avoid profound spiritual questions?”
    • Although there are many texts that have mentioned the connection of war to men, I have never thought of it like this. However, the concept of war and battling others is brought up many times in the Odyssey and plays a huge part in Odysseus’s journey.
    • This line also implies that women dress up in order to avoid dealing with much more significant issues.

 

 

English Learner Profile (ELP)

IO Practice Reflection

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  • What was the hardest part of the task?

I found it more hard to analyse Sappho’s poetry as it was definitely more implicit than Wilde’s play, in terms of connecting ideas to the global issue. I think that in the moment (during the IO), I was quite nervous so I was hesitating quite a lot and I felt that I was repeating a lot of my ideas.

  • What do you feel was the most successful part of your effort?

I think that I was able to effectively compare both texts and show how they use different techniques in order to convey similar messages. I was able to point out how both author’s convey beauty in different ways.

  • In what ways was your outline incomplete? What did it leave you to keep track of in your head? 

In my outline, I left my main starting points with the quote below in order to guide my train of thought. However, I felt that I focused too much on close micro analysis rather than connecting my ideas to the global issue.

  • What did you “leave out” that you wanted to say (or wish you’d said)? 

Something that I wish I focused more on (and prepared more for) was the global issue in itself and how both texts show this idea. I wish that I also commented on the societal differences in both texts as they were written in two completely different time periods.

  • How do you feel the questions went? Were you taken by surprise? Able to speak well? 

We only managed a couple questions, but I felt that I could grasp the idea of the question but I was not able to clearly articulate a response that fully showed my knowledge of the texts.

 

English Learner Profile (ELP)

James Wright Poem

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Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm In Pine Island, Minnesota BY JAMES WRIGHT

I think that the last line of the poem extended our knowledge and interpretations, rather than bringing the poem together. The last line was surprising, although once I read it, I was able to notice other small details in the poem that supported the conclusion. For example, in the first line of the poem, “Over my head, I see the bronze butterfly,” I noticed that the pronoun used was “the,” instead of “a,” which suggests that that the poet was more used to the setting than we originally thought, and that his observations were not necessarily random and that the last line proved that he had in fact “wasted [his] life.”

English Learner Profile (ELP)

Jesus Hopped the A-Train

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I think that this play is a dark comedy drama, and I believe that this is because within each conversation between the several main characters, the topics of justice and faith are brought up often, yet the language is less sophisticated. However, I believe that we were laughing because of what the characters were saying, especially the inmates, but more importantly why they were reacting in such ways. I found that whilst reading this play I grew to like both Lucius and Angel despite the fact that they were both murderers. I think this is because the author initially introduces Lucius without mentioning why he is in custody, although later reveals why. The depiction of both characters is perhaps different to what I was expecting, considering their background, and is probably why I was more concentrated on their disagreements and petty threats rather than immediately disregarding them based on their crimes. Lastly, the more obvious reason would most likely be the vast use of vulgar language.