I jotted down some quick notes while I was listening to the term paper presentations on Thursday. Here's what I have, but they're pretty basic with only the major points recorded. If you presented the first day and think somethings inaccurate just let me know and I'll fix it.



Karen
-circumcision is a "brand" of Judaism
-Jacob carving laws into rock is slave labor for God
-he can't escape God, he'll always be a Jew
-he realizes he's a lsave because he can't love God, yet he is a slave to God

Ashley
-Video: The Bible is Broken: TV show "Firefly"
-the Bible is about believing in something
-the Bible is a social influence

Thomas: Literature in the Bible
-looked at the stories in the Bible
-finds it ridiculous that some people follow the laws in a book as contradicrory and convoluted as the Bible
-however, he'd be a hypocrite since he follows the morals in the stories
-Cain and Abel, East of Eden, Ecclesiastes, Job (4:8), are all great stories. The story of Lazarus especially; he's raised from the dead and then disappears.
-also, it seems like resurrections are tacked on

Jenna: conquering the fear of the Bible
-no one has seen God, and it's surprising how angry he is
-more than one creation story
-babtism: symbolizes the resurrection
-Armageddon: the final battle between Good and Evil
-lots of odd rules were found in the Bible
-the point is to not be afraid, it's just a book

Chris: The Slave and the Bible
-Singer kept the story more modern
-Jacob realizes his namesake in the Bible
-He tries to justify his actions with Wanda
-Sarah ruins Wanda's original character
-conclusion: the archetypes will always continue

Craig West
-really appreciated the "Wisdom" books
-vanity is vanity, all is vanity: all is pointless
-Emerson: people become what they do
-apply the pointlessness of life to your own life
-if you can reach a goal, there's always something beyond it

Alex: What I know now
-Initially intimidated by the Bible, but learned to appreciate it as a foundation of Western Literature and thought
-appreciate it for what it is
-see things through Occam's razor
-notice the continuous rise and fall of their faithfulness with the false idols and weak priests
-exclusively reinforces who we are

Shelby: Hebel
-my life is a story... now what?
- 1. Some people don't want to answer the question
2. Try to seek an answer
3. Devotion: praising the question
-Metanoia: there's something to obtain
-read it distantly, and you reach a mental apocalypse
-Anamnesis: why doesn't Jacob (The Slave) find this comforting?
*because he knows it's alright, so what?

Melissa: Women in the Bible and The Slave
-the Bible set up the first archetypes of women
-women keep the Bible moving
-Wanda is Eve the Seducer and Mary the Mother

Craig Stephenson: Why did I write my paper?
-Patton Oswalt: "I died in the Apocalypse"
-the apocalypse, Revelation, is a wonderful illustration of how awesome our story was

Ben Miller: What do I know now?
-Ben believes 90% of literature is influenced by the Bible
-Anagogy: levels or modes of literature --> myths, metaphor, mystical --> the highest level of reading
-enjoys the literary criticism of Frye

KT: The impact of mythos
-people remember the stories, not the rules
-ex. if after 8 days a boy isn't circumcised, Lilith takes them to hell: now you'll remember the circumcision law

Kathryn: Went from The Slave to Justifying God's Wrath
-started in The Garden of Eden: of course he's angry, we inherently disobey him
-all the bad things that happened (Sodom and Gommorah, the Ten Plagues, The Flood) gives us second chances
-salvation is God's ultimate gift to us and cannot be earned
-you have to have faith that God know's what he's doing


If anyone has anything they'd like me to add or correct, please let me know!