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The Island WitchAn evolution from Circe to Prospero to Dr. Noby alex-b
I found it intriguing to learn that Prospero's speech renouncing his magic was almost directly copied from a similar monologue by Medea in Ovid's Metamorphoses. Although Medea would at first appear closer to Sycorax than Prospero in origin and intention, her drive for revenge informs her witchery much in...more |
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Transformation through Travel Why all life is a journey and all literature should be by Michael The purpose of literature is to transport us, to take us out of the humdrum of everyday life out into the unknown. Modern society often attempts to glorify the ordinary, however, it is my belief that man was not built for the ordinary, but the extraordinary. In prehistoric times hunters used to return to their camps and...more |
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Guest-Friend RelationshipsHospitality in the Travel Narrativesby madmadmad In ancient times, venturing into unknown lands frequently meant relying on the kindness of strangers. Since the survival of travelers depended on the considerations of the people they encountered along the way, hospitality was a central concept within early travel narratives. For example, Odysseus and his...more |
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The First StepA Journey of 1000 In-Flight Meals Has to Begin Somewhereby Karl The Daoist philosopher Lao Tzu said that a journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step. As we’ve seen in class, sometimes this first step can be the most difficult. The allure of an unfamiliar culture is often undeniable. We want to experience, to come into contact with this other, but as Westerners, how do we see...more |
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"Salutary Anxiety" & Deconstruction/Reconstructionconflict as human natureby bearcat On Tuesday’s in-class discussion of The Tempest, the notion of New Historicist Stephen Greenblatt’s “Salutary Anxiety”—the benefit and pleasure generated from conflict—was brought into conversation. With “The Deconstruction and Reconstruction of the ‘Self’” as...more |
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First-hand Traveling Sifting through fact and fiction when approaching the otherby Colleen I haven’t traveled much outside of the U.S., but my main ambition in life is to see as many places as I can. In the accounts we’ve read in class, the travelers leave their homes for completely new lands; either to known countries that haven’t been visited by many (if any) outsiders or to lands that are...more |
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Knowledge is PowerHow the acquisition of knowledge is integral part of travelby zimmster3 The world is a hunting ground for knowledge. Human curiosity has fueled countless objectives over the millennia. This innate following has led many to seek out knowledge through education. Some took their search to the roads, others to the sea, while some remained in their humble abodes reading books and hearing...more |
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Traveling in Search of TruthOr just a good story to tell?by alex-b
The Tempest was a really great jumping off point for my final thoughts about the course in general, because I've been contemplating the nature of truth in travel writing a lot. In the texts we have read, written as they were before the advent of tourism, the truth undergoes almost inevitable distortion because of...more |
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Love of TravelWhy our authors spent their lives travelingby nicoletta Many of our authors loved travel so much, that they never stopped. Marco Polo, Ibn Battutah, Herodotus, Columbus and Cabeza de Vaca spent most of theirs lives on the road. The question is why? For Marco Polo, I think it was his curiosity that motivated him to...more |
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Truthful TravelCan travelers separate fact and romanticism?by Colleen The essence of travel is to embark on a journey to the unknown. Of course, few people leave home without telling friends and family about their trip, so there is an expectation that the traveler will report back about his wondrous discoveries. This can lead travelers to exaggerate or lie about their trip in order to save...more |
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The First and OnlyWe are no longer explorersby Macabea For centuries many people have enjoyed traveling because of the opportunity to see new places and experience different cultures. Travel though has changed greatly in the past centuries- as opposed to the adventure and newness of traveling in ancient times, current forms of travel are “touristic,” and all...more |
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Where do women fit in?The role of women in the travel storiesby carro.línea I remember sitting in class while we were discussing one of the readings recently and all of the sudden becoming very discouraged with the lack of representation of women in the travel explorations of the past. Where are we? Why do we have to be the ones stuck back at home waiting for the men to return? There...more |
