The Ramblings of an Angry Chipmunk - Zelda Peach
Ok, let me be extremely honest with everyone, I barely have any idea of what I am reading. I don't know if I am just being stupid, or I am just not used to reading ancient poetry, but I guess you could say it's all Greek to me. ;) Ok I know that was a bad joke, I am sorry, but I couldn't help myself. I promise to stop... for now.
Anyways, on a more serious note, I really am having a hard time understanding this book. I can comprehend some certain aspects of it and the general idea of what is happening, but overall this book is very perplexing. I am constantly mixing up who is talking, where they are, and the details of what is happening. I am not sure if I am just dumb or if other people are having this problem too. I do have one question though, who is Hecuba and why does she have 100 daughters? And if there are 100 daughters then why are there only 50 bridal chambers? Like, what the heck? I don't understand this book at all. I just want to understand and be able to know what is actually going on. I promise that I truly am trying, I am just struggling... a lot. Please help me to understand because I feel like the vine where the boys say, "I am confusion, America explain!".
I did find the whole Trojan Horse/ War part very interesting though. Particularly the concept of giving up one's life in an almost "sacrifice" to the war. In this war, some men are literally throwing themselves into the enemy even though they know they cannot win. Is this action because they think it will help the overall war effort on their side? Or is because it is better to die in the glory of battle than to live in the shame of defeat? I am not really sure. Overall I am just hoping that tomorrow in class someone can just explain this better to me. If not I don't know what I am going to do.
Anyways, on a more serious note, I really am having a hard time understanding this book. I can comprehend some certain aspects of it and the general idea of what is happening, but overall this book is very perplexing. I am constantly mixing up who is talking, where they are, and the details of what is happening. I am not sure if I am just dumb or if other people are having this problem too. I do have one question though, who is Hecuba and why does she have 100 daughters? And if there are 100 daughters then why are there only 50 bridal chambers? Like, what the heck? I don't understand this book at all. I just want to understand and be able to know what is actually going on. I promise that I truly am trying, I am just struggling... a lot. Please help me to understand because I feel like the vine where the boys say, "I am confusion, America explain!".
I did find the whole Trojan Horse/ War part very interesting though. Particularly the concept of giving up one's life in an almost "sacrifice" to the war. In this war, some men are literally throwing themselves into the enemy even though they know they cannot win. Is this action because they think it will help the overall war effort on their side? Or is because it is better to die in the glory of battle than to live in the shame of defeat? I am not really sure. Overall I am just hoping that tomorrow in class someone can just explain this better to me. If not I don't know what I am going to do.
p.s I commented on Zane and Kayla's posts
I think one of the things that makes epic poetry so confusing is being thrown in in medias res. Starting in the middle of things and then being thrown back into the back story is really confusing. Personally, I have no idea who Helenus is or how he is related to Pyrrhus. This is where Honors will help us. We're all struggling together but we can all figure it out together.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I am finding it very difficult to link the names of both sides with their corresponding Greek and Roman aliases. The Trojan Horse bit was very interesting and the concept of dying in battle was a personal victory for the Trojan soldier in the war. Although the city was burning and hope was nearly lost, this concept of self sacrifice for the livelihood of Troy was nearly all that was left to rally morale and give them a chance to swing as they were falling down. I'm going to try and make a sheet to keep track of the names before we get any further into the book and hopefully it can at least help us establish a foundation for the characters. Admitting a reading is difficult is very important and encouraging to the rest of the Honors students. It allows us to see that we aren't the only ones struggling through this difficult read. Thank You!!
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