Post 19: Dante's Concepts of Hell

According to Dante, there are 9 levels of hell. All of which have their own certain punishment for the level of sin committed. The sins are limbo, lust, gluttony, greed, anger, heresy, violence, fraud, and treachery. These sins are similar to the seven deadly sins that are: pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed, and sloth. 

Dante may have been influenced by the seven sins.

Throughout Dante's journey he supposedly saw many people he knew or had heard of. This is kind of ironic considering most of us like to believe that everyone goes to Heaven but there are some that to go to Hell. 

If Dante's idea of Hell were to be modern, there would be a lot of people in Hell. But luckily, for most people, they believe in Jesus being the Savior and work to earn their right in Heaven through Him. 

Post 16: Leading by Example

No matter if you're the president of the United States, mayor of a small town, or the big sister of 4 younger siblings you should always lead by a personal example. If you hold a position where there are people underneath you, you need to always make sure you are leading in the right direction.

If high government officials work without caring for the people, then they are working for themselves and are bound to make selfish/ignorant choices. For example, a high government official forgets to humble his or herself, they may make a decision that could cost them their job. Either they could scam a way for more money, or have a scandalous affair that leaks out to the people.

Overall, anyone who is leading anyone needs to make good choices because every move they make is looked at and may or may not be followed.

When it comes to government officials, the people need to be able to trust that their country is being ran by trustworthy and humble people.

Post 15 Presidency with the ideals of Socrates & Confucius

The president of the United States serves as the most well-known job in America. The president is the leader of a whole county and he or she speaks for all of America. The president's roles are to work with Congress to make laws, to act as the Commander in Chief, enforce laws and treaties, prepare national budget, and to appoint federal officials.

Confucius' ideas were more involved on the people as a whole rather than oneself. For example, the government needs to be ran with the people first in mind. Therefore, the president should make decisions thinking about how it will affect Americans.

According to Socrates, his ethics and values were much more personal. He taught that a person's happiness is chosen by themselves. He also believed that in order to change/move another person, one must work on themselves before. This can compare to the president's work experience in local governments before they move to the national government. Theses officials must work on bettering themselves with education and experience before they can lead a nation.

Post 12: Tragic Public Figure

Robin Williams
Comedian & Actor
July 21, 1951 - August 11, 2014

I grew up watching Mrs. Doubtfire, Jumanji, Hook, Flubber, RV, and many of the other movies Robin Williams was in. Robin Williams could make anyone laugh or smile or even cry. His was a dynamic actor and a hilarious comedian. He was truly loved by America, that is why his death was devastating to nearly everyone.

I remember when the news came out, I couldn't believe it. Then I found out his committed suicide I was in even more disbelief. How could someone who makes people laugh for a living, be suffering with depression?

President Obama said, "Robin Williams was an airman, a doctor, a genie, a nanny, a president, a professor, a bangarang Peter Pan, and everything in between.  But he was one of a kind. He arrived in our lives as an alien -- but he ended up touching every element of the human spirit.  He made us laugh.  He made us cry.  He gave his immeasurable talent freely and generously to those who needed it most -- from our troops stationed abroad to the marginalized on our own streets." http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/11/showbiz/robin-williams-dead/index.html

For some, his death hit close to home. We realized no matter what a person portrays on the outside, we never know what they are battling on the inside.

Modern tragedy is something that moves an individual or group in how they perceive the world. We become affected by the tragedy since we can relate to it in our personal lives.

Classic tragedy normally involves a hero or heroine and the gods. This isn't relatable to our everyday lives, but the classic tragedies have a deeper meaning that we can relate to.

Post 11: Tragic Short Story

October 23, 2012
"What about naming it Alexander Wren if it's a boy and then Auden Rose if it's a girl?!" she exclaimed excitedly as the points at the circled names in her notebook dedicated to their first born child. Her husband smiles at his wife and says, "Sure, I love them both." This made his wife smile and jump with excitement.
The couple was going to wait until the day the baby was born to find out the sex of the baby. The couple chose on a yellow and green bedroom set and already decorated the whole room. The wife spent hours and hours in the room rocking in the white rocking chair reading to her unborn child.

December 14, 2012
The couple was on their way to their last doctors appointment before their due date. The wife was in the passenger seat pinning things to her Pinterest page while her husband drove. The weather out was nice, but there was a lot of traffic due to the holidays.
"I'm so excited for our growing family. This will be the best Christmas present I will ever receive," said the husband as he reaches for his wife's hand. His wife looked up from her phone and had tears of joy in her eyes. This was the last time her husband will ever see her smile. The couple was hit head on by a drunk driver. The couple was taken to the hospital. The wife was taken into the O.R and had an emergency delivery. The wife lost too much blood and did not make it. The husband suffered minor injuries and survived. The baby was delivered and was healthy.

December 25, 2013 (one year later) Christmas Day
The husband sat in the yellow and green room holding Auden Rose in his arms. His daughter was one year old. He sat there looking at the best Christmas gift he ever received. He sat there and was mesmerized by how a tragic accident was both the worst and best day of his life. He knows that he could not have made it through this year without his daughter. He is living every day trying to be the man that his wife knew he was.

Post 10: Comparing Modern Epic Heros

After reading a few of my classmate's post, here are 2 that stuck out to me: One was Shrek and the other was Katniss Everdeen. Both of these characters are heroic in their own ways. Both characters go on a journey that make a change in their world. However, Shrek's acts are more revolving around himself while Katniss' acts are selfless out of love for her sister. When it comes to my chosen character, Oh, I think he may compare more closely with Shrek. Both are characters going onto a journey for the better of themselves (for the most part.) This does not make either character less of a hero though.
These 3 characters are similar to classic epic heroes in the sense that they are all brave and make a huge change without that even being their drive for doing whatever it was that they were doing.
These characters are all heroes because they took it upon themselves to make a change.

Post 9: Modern Day Epic Hero

An epic hero is defined as a character in a poem who is noble and brave and is affected by great events or admired by his achievements.

In the CrashCourse video, John Green states that tragedy is most interesting when the mostly good character makes a big mistake. This invokes compassion and more emotion from the audience. This statement made me think of the animated movie called Home.

In this movie, the alien named Oh, is a clumsy alien and most of the other aliens do not like him. However, the audience cant help but to fall in love with his cute, quirky character. But since Oh is clumsy, he makes a big mistake and ends up sending out an email to the "bad guy" telling him where him and his people are moving to. Long story short, Oh ends up fixing the situation, with the help of his human friend Tip. While fixing his mistake, he leads his new friend back to her mom and he helps save the planet Earth. Oh shows bravery when he is on is journey to fix his mistake.

The aliens who first did not like Oh and were annoyed by him, end up admiring him for his achievement and befriend him.