DISCUSSION n. 21: CHRIST IN CONCRETE Due after spring break

And now the final and most difficult issue of them all:

For people of faith, God is never wrong ("There must be a reason.")

This is the reason why SOME PEOPLE, when they actually see that there are a lot of 'wrong' things in the world (hunger for millions; genocides -- American Natives, the Shoah, Armenians, Rwandans; and other garden-variety events of ordinary sadism), THESE PEOPLE conclude that God doesn't exist.

Basically both groops agree that it is an essential requirement that God is always right.
Since *IT* can't be wrong, the presence of evil in the world is proof that *IT* doesn't exist.

That's Paul's conclusion.


COMMENT Focus on Paul, not on yourself. He loses his faith because his faith presents him with an absolute choice: either accept the suffering, injustice etc. as a "gift" from God, or get out.

REPLY  to the comment of your choice.

Discussion n. 20 -- CHRIST IN CONCRETE -- JOB due after break

COMMENT:  in the chapter JOB, what is the most heart wrenching moment? Use a citation (quote/unquote) with page number to identify it.

It's OK if you choose something that has already been mentioned. In this case, write a second paragraph (2) with an additional moment. There are plenty to choose from.

REPLY:  choose a COMMENT that identify a moment you had overlooked but that seems particularly poignant.

Discussion n. 19 - CHRIST IN CONCRETE -- Friday March 30

Here are the most relevant quotations from the chapter "GEREMIO".

COMMENT: the first student will comment on n. 1, the second on n. 2 and so forth.

REPLY: the first student will REPLY TO comment of STUDENT 2 (come back to see what your classmate has written and reply to his/her comment.)

In you COMMNENT: did you notice this quotation while you were reading the book? How would you connect it to your own choice. OR, is it completely separate and reveals a different order of concerns?

========================
1) “They are tired as hell but happy that today is Good Friday and we quit at 3’oclock”


2) “Pushing the job is all right (when has it been otherwise in my life?), but this job frightens me. I feel the building wants to tell me something just as one Christian to another.  Or perhaps the Easter week is making of me a spirit-seeing pregnant woman. I don’t like this.” 


3) "Is it not possible to breathe God’s air without fear dominating the pall of unemployment? And the terror of production for Boss, Boss, and Job? To rebel is to lose all of the very little. To be obedient is to choke. O dear Lord, guide my path"          

4) “The language of worn oppression and the despair of realizing that his life had been left on brick piles. And always, there had been hunger and her bastard, the fear of hunger”

5) “To rebel is to lose all of very little. To be obedient is to choke” (13)

============================

 

Discussion n. 18: Suggestions from your classmates: How to read "Christ"

Your classmates Annie and Amanda recommend: "I feel like while approaching this text we should also make little notes after each paragraph." "I think it could be helpful to write down things that really stood out while reading the text and jot down what we feel or what we think about it so that it can help us to remember points made as well as understand what is going on in the text." Thank you to both for starting the conversation and for the suggestions. COMMENTS and REPLIES: Does "finding a rhythm" work for you? What about written notes? Or post-it stickers?

Discussion n. 17 Video lecture on READING CHRIST IN CONCRETE Due MON MARCH 19

Watch the video lecture and start reading the book.


COMMENT: How hard is the book? Did the suggestions in the video help at all? What else should be mentioned to help readers approaching this text?

REPLY: what suggestion in the comments do you agree or disagree with?

DISCUSSION n. 16: EMIGRANTE / MOONSTRUCK (due MON March 12)

Is there a danger in POSITIVE, apparently HARMLESS stereotypes?

COMMENT: identify clearly at least one positive, harmless stereotype in the two films. What is your opinion about perpetuating those stereotypes?

REPLY: offer a different perspective (maybe just slightly different) on an opinion expressed in a comment.

DISCUSSION 15: Moonstruck (due March 12)

Is this film about Italian Americans?

 

Or is it about "DESIRE"?

 

One of the most fundamental drives of humans, "desire" is seldom considered and even referred to in explaining behavior.  What if "being in touch with your own feelings" were only knowing what your desires are? And then: what's wrong in trying to fulfill them?

 

COMMENT

Can Moonstruck be seen as a complex film, or is it just mildly entertaining escapism that exploits harmless stereotypes?

 

Next paragraph: what did you get, out of it? What is the 'message' that you heard?

 

REPLY to a meaningful and insightful comment that talks about something you had not thought about.

Your classmates chose:

 

Joy Kameo

 

 

 

 

 

Annie Cen

 

 

 

 

 

 Ashley Calandra

 

 

 

Raneen Elshehadeh

 

 

 

 

HARIS IBRAR

 

 



 

 KHADIJAT TESLIM

 

 

 

 

 Michal Yefet

 

 

 

 My choice (FGC)

 

Discussion n. 14 THE WAY THEY LIVED Due March 5

What photo in The Way They Lived would you choose for the cover of Son of Italy?

 

Take a screenshot and email it to the course email, subject "photo".

 

COMMENT  Unfortunately you can't upload an image in COMMENT.

Describe the photo but most of all explain WHY you chose this image and how do you connect it to the content of Son.

 

REPLY recommended but not required.

Discussion n. 13 THE WAY THEY LIVED Due March 5

What was your first, immediate, unfiltered reaction while you were watching the slideshow?


COMMENT

REPLY to a comment that describes a state of mind or emotion you also felt but weren't able to articulate as clearly as your classmate did.

Discussion n. 12. L'EMIGRANTE Due March 5

Would you have noticed the critique of American society in L'emigrante without the introductory lecture?

Did the critique rise to the level of anti-Americanism?


COMMENT in two separate paragraphs.

REPLY to an opinion you disagree with. Offer a different perspective WITH A DECENT argument.

Discussion n. 11 -- SON OF ITALY -- Due March 5

OK, Pascal made the right call when he decided to immigrate and then to stay in America when the others returned home.
But, was it all worth it? In INDIVIDUAL TERMS, probably Pascal concludes that it was.
But in COLLECTIVE terms, in terms of the history of humanity (think big, don't be shy), was the mass migration of large populations to this continent worth it?
What about the pain, the suffering, the slavery, the tragedies that befell them?
All of that resulted in the colonization of the continent.
Progress exacts a price to be paid in innocent victims.
What if you were the victim?

COMMENT and REPLY ad libitum.