English papers are fun!
I had a paper due in English today and it was seriously my fave paper I've had to write in there so far. We had to think of a way to modernize the Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex ... I've decided to post the rough draft, so feel free to comment, but please remember that it IS a rough draft!
Oedipus Bush
When people think of drama, certain genres and play-writers spring to mind: tragedy, comedy, Shakespeare, Homer, etc. Occasionally, the movie industry will remake a popular drama. An example would be Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliette. Another would be Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, which was the basis for the popular teenage movie Ten Things I Hate About You. Still another example is the movie O Brother Where Art Thou?, which was based on Homer's The Odyssey. By modernizing, or updating, the dramas, not only do they tend to increase appeal, but they help viewers better understand, and therefore, relate to the plots. The play Oedipus Rex, although generally well known among high school and college students, is not necessarily an easy, quick read. In fact, it runs the borderline of being downright tedious. If it were to be modernized, more people would actually read the play and be able to form stronger opinions of the behaviors and actions of the characters.
One reason why the play should be modernized is simply because readers have a difficult time of identifying with the characters. So many elements of the play rarely, if ever, apply. For example, the idea of fate in today's society no longer has such a large following. Today, people need to "see it to believe it." However, in ancient Greece, a person's fate was believed to be controlled by the gods, and prophecies and oracles were common occurrences. Since so many people today do not believe in destiny and fate, a modernization of the drama might allow them to more strongly agree or disagree with whether Oedipus' demise was caused by cruel predestination or by his own faults.
One such way of creating such strong opinions would be to take one major controversial issue of today and apply it to the play. For instance, in my case, I would use the War on Iraq as an example. Many people are either for or against the war; basically everyone has an opinion on the issue. since the War on Terrorism has so much to do with George W. Bush and his decisions, I decided that he should represent the main character - Oedipus. I found that Oedipus finding out the former king was killed, declaring to find the murderer and severely punish him can be paralleled to Bush's reaction after the 9-11 tragedy. Bush vowed to put a stop to terrorism by finding those responsible for initiating the attack and making them pay the consequences for their actions.
Continuing to modernize the tragedy, John Kerry would be Kreon - Oedipus' brother-in-law and also his uncle, although he is unaware of it at the time. And good old Barbara Bush would play the part of Iokaste. Primarily, George would become so preoccupied with running his country that he fails to remember killing the former king - his father - until it is brought to his attention by Bill Clinton, who would play the part of the blind seer, Teiresias. Bill would tell George that unless he rid his country of the evildoer that caused 9-11 to occur, terrorism would never end. He also attempts to subtly tell George that he isn't who he thinks he is and that he is the one that committed the crime. George, not believing Bill at the time, becomes angry and orders Bill away.
Eventually, George would discover that he actually IS the person responsible for the previous king's death, which therefore spurred the 9-11 attacks since his real father had been in debt to Iraq. (Note: this play would NOT follow political fact; it would merely be written in a way to parallel Oedipus Rex.) He would also find out that he had married his mother and had two unbelievably mischievious daughters with her. By the end of the play, George would have gouged his eyes out with one of his mother's hair pins and gone into hiding in a cave not unlike Saddam's. For the case of the play (and ONLY for the case of the play), George would have gained some insight on life due to his loss of physical blindness and large Republican income. He is therefore, that much wiser without these material items.
In closing, it is easy to see how George W. would fall into this role so well. Most politicians tend to make empty promises to make themselves appear to be superior candidates. By using many contemporary political figures as the main characters, people will more readily identify themselves with one or the other. Not only will the reader be able to identify with the characters more easily, but it is most likely that many will form a strong opinion over issus about whether the whole mess was actually Oedipus' (George's) fault or not. By keeping the general themes of the story the same, but modernizing the dialogue, the characters, and the setting, Oedipus Rex would become a much more enjoyable read.
Now I know the vocab could use some work, and some of the sentences tend to run-on or be slightly confusing, but if anyone has other comments or suggestions, they'd be appreciated! Some other people in the class had interesting ideas too: one girl put all the characters in one house and put them on a season of the Real World.
On another positive note, I called Andrea today because it's her 20th birthday. I haven't talked to that girl since Thanksgiving, and it was soooo good to talk to her again. I called her after I got out of class at 3:20, but I guess even then I still woke her up ... it was only 11:20 in Alaska. But I talked to her during the whole busride home and for about 15 minutes after I got home. I miss her so much, I wish she was closer so she could come hang out.
Well, I'm off to study for chem and pack to go home tomorrow! Can't wait to see my family again ... it's been about 4 months! Hope everyone has a good Easter though!
Oedipus Bush
When people think of drama, certain genres and play-writers spring to mind: tragedy, comedy, Shakespeare, Homer, etc. Occasionally, the movie industry will remake a popular drama. An example would be Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliette. Another would be Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, which was the basis for the popular teenage movie Ten Things I Hate About You. Still another example is the movie O Brother Where Art Thou?, which was based on Homer's The Odyssey. By modernizing, or updating, the dramas, not only do they tend to increase appeal, but they help viewers better understand, and therefore, relate to the plots. The play Oedipus Rex, although generally well known among high school and college students, is not necessarily an easy, quick read. In fact, it runs the borderline of being downright tedious. If it were to be modernized, more people would actually read the play and be able to form stronger opinions of the behaviors and actions of the characters.
One reason why the play should be modernized is simply because readers have a difficult time of identifying with the characters. So many elements of the play rarely, if ever, apply. For example, the idea of fate in today's society no longer has such a large following. Today, people need to "see it to believe it." However, in ancient Greece, a person's fate was believed to be controlled by the gods, and prophecies and oracles were common occurrences. Since so many people today do not believe in destiny and fate, a modernization of the drama might allow them to more strongly agree or disagree with whether Oedipus' demise was caused by cruel predestination or by his own faults.
One such way of creating such strong opinions would be to take one major controversial issue of today and apply it to the play. For instance, in my case, I would use the War on Iraq as an example. Many people are either for or against the war; basically everyone has an opinion on the issue. since the War on Terrorism has so much to do with George W. Bush and his decisions, I decided that he should represent the main character - Oedipus. I found that Oedipus finding out the former king was killed, declaring to find the murderer and severely punish him can be paralleled to Bush's reaction after the 9-11 tragedy. Bush vowed to put a stop to terrorism by finding those responsible for initiating the attack and making them pay the consequences for their actions.
Continuing to modernize the tragedy, John Kerry would be Kreon - Oedipus' brother-in-law and also his uncle, although he is unaware of it at the time. And good old Barbara Bush would play the part of Iokaste. Primarily, George would become so preoccupied with running his country that he fails to remember killing the former king - his father - until it is brought to his attention by Bill Clinton, who would play the part of the blind seer, Teiresias. Bill would tell George that unless he rid his country of the evildoer that caused 9-11 to occur, terrorism would never end. He also attempts to subtly tell George that he isn't who he thinks he is and that he is the one that committed the crime. George, not believing Bill at the time, becomes angry and orders Bill away.
Eventually, George would discover that he actually IS the person responsible for the previous king's death, which therefore spurred the 9-11 attacks since his real father had been in debt to Iraq. (Note: this play would NOT follow political fact; it would merely be written in a way to parallel Oedipus Rex.) He would also find out that he had married his mother and had two unbelievably mischievious daughters with her. By the end of the play, George would have gouged his eyes out with one of his mother's hair pins and gone into hiding in a cave not unlike Saddam's. For the case of the play (and ONLY for the case of the play), George would have gained some insight on life due to his loss of physical blindness and large Republican income. He is therefore, that much wiser without these material items.
In closing, it is easy to see how George W. would fall into this role so well. Most politicians tend to make empty promises to make themselves appear to be superior candidates. By using many contemporary political figures as the main characters, people will more readily identify themselves with one or the other. Not only will the reader be able to identify with the characters more easily, but it is most likely that many will form a strong opinion over issus about whether the whole mess was actually Oedipus' (George's) fault or not. By keeping the general themes of the story the same, but modernizing the dialogue, the characters, and the setting, Oedipus Rex would become a much more enjoyable read.
Now I know the vocab could use some work, and some of the sentences tend to run-on or be slightly confusing, but if anyone has other comments or suggestions, they'd be appreciated! Some other people in the class had interesting ideas too: one girl put all the characters in one house and put them on a season of the Real World.
On another positive note, I called Andrea today because it's her 20th birthday. I haven't talked to that girl since Thanksgiving, and it was soooo good to talk to her again. I called her after I got out of class at 3:20, but I guess even then I still woke her up ... it was only 11:20 in Alaska. But I talked to her during the whole busride home and for about 15 minutes after I got home. I miss her so much, I wish she was closer so she could come hang out.
Well, I'm off to study for chem and pack to go home tomorrow! Can't wait to see my family again ... it's been about 4 months! Hope everyone has a good Easter though!