Iliad/Troy Comparison

In the Iliad and Troy there were some similarities and differences in the book and the movie. They had much more similarities then differences. For example, they both portray Achilles as being almost immortal and being a strong and reliable fighter. Both the book and the movie also show that Achilles is a very angry person and that sometimes his anger can get the best of him. It displays this when he kills Hector and drags him around the city. Also, they both had many fight scenes and in both of them the cause of their fighting was Helen.

Some of the Differences I found were that in the book, the gods were more a part of the battles and they altered the outcome in them. Where as in the movie there was not much reference to gods or anything supernatural. Another difference was that in the movie the slave girl and the priest were combined to form one character and in the movie they are separate. I believe they did this so that it would be easier to understand all the characters and not get confused by adding more characters to the plot.

I preferred the movie over the book because it was much easier to understand all the characters and visualize what was going on. The movie was also easier to follow along just because the book was in a poetic format which made it much harder to read and comprehend everything that was going on.

Strategy and Success

1) I like the relaxed atmosphere of the class and that we are able to have open disscussions during class.
2) I'm not really dissapointed in anything, but if I had to say something it would probably be having vocab on wednesdays just because I am used to having it on fridays
3) Usually for vocab, I study for about a half hour with flash cards and a partner
4) I'm a visual learner, I usually remember things better if I see them.

Maid of the Mist

For my folktale, i chose an Indian folktale called Maid of the Mist. It is a tale about a young beautiful girl that loses her husband and all hope. It seems as if she is trapped in her own saddness and cannot find her way out. Until finally, her canoe gets caught in the water and as a result she gets hurled into the water. Luckily, the thunder god, Heno caught her and took her back to his home. Heno and his sons tended to the maiden until her heart could heal. The youngest of Heno's sons began to fall in love with the young girl and they married and had a son of their own. Then, she found out that there was a snake that was going to poison her people and she wanted to return to them and warn them of the evil snake. She told them to stay away from the water and move to higher ground. So they did. When the snake returned it was very angry and Heno heard the vicious cries of the snake and killed it with one thunderbolt. The snakes body became lodged in the water making a large semi circle and forcing it to deflect large amounts of water into the falls. Heno tried to fix the water but it was too late.

In this folktale, there were many examples of archetypes. The most obvious one being the maiden. The young girl was no longer married and helpless. She needed a man to come save her from her grief. The hero (monomyth) would be Heno the thunder god that saved her. The trickster would be the snake that wanted to poison the village. Also the snake stands for the decietfulness and vengefulness.

This folktale was clearly Native American. It has a distinct Native American feel to it and refers to nature as they did often. In the story, the gods pertained to nature (heno). It also could be written from a somewhat christian perspective because Heno, the god, saved the village and over powered and punished the snake just as God did with Satan.