OK--so I'm definitely behind!!! To get caught up, for chapter 13 and 14, just write a brief response including one thing you learned/thought about/questioned during chapter thirteen and one for fourteen. Then--back to getting on track next week. I will do my best to stay on track!!
21 comments:
I liked how in ch 13 he pointed out the fact that they sometimes have the political point behind it. It completely changed the way i think about A Christmas Carol. I also thought immediately of The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, which is written about the meat packing industry.
I also never thought about the whole figure bit. I think of The Thief Lord. It doesn't fit in all aspects, like the age factor, but it definitely does in the "among thieves" and "good with children" sections.
My favorite part of these two chapters was the fact that he had the guts to state that we are based on a Christian base. Even thoguht this statemnet could make some people mad, I liked the fact that he actually wrote it in a book!
Not only does he state that fact, but I like how he shows the list of things that often lead to religious affiliation.
In Chapter 13, I was surprised to learn that in A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens based the character Ebenezer Scrooge off a political figure of the time. I have read that story several times and knew Dickens was a social critic, but I never caught on that Scrooge was meant to represent a particular person.
In Chapter 14, although I was put off by his somewhat irrevrent portrayal of Christ and Christianity, he is correct when he says that in order to fully understand what an author is trying to say, you have to put aside you beliefs while reading. The rule evidently does not apply when you are writing, because throughout this book he has made his beliefs all too clear.
I never really thought about stories and novels having political point behind them. Whenever I read A Christmas Carol I never thought of Charles Dickens making Eboneezer Scrooge a political character.
I also think that it was very far-fetched that he said we are all based on a Christian base, but if you think about it, it is sort of true, even though it might make some people mad. I wouldn't say that everything and everyone is Christian based but a lot of things are.
I chapter 14 I liked how it talked about now alot of events came from ideas from the bible. Some of the events that he lised you wouldn't think about bibical figures unless you had this list in front of you. Like somebody who is good with fishes and loaves and wine could of came from the people in the bible because they seemed to have alot of those.
In chapter 13 I liked how he pointed out that literary works usually have political undertones sometimes by default, just because the social situation written about is by nature, political. I have never really thought about that before, but when i did, it made a lot of sense.
I can honestly say that i never thought to compare anyone in a work to Christ just based on minimal facts like suffering or self-sacrifice. i thought that it usually had to be evident that it was a biblical parallel before you could consider a character a "Christ-figure". But again, his points and lists made sense, even if i don't completely agree.
In chapter 13 i liked how dickens was actually attacking a political belief while covering it with a christmas carol as scrooege. Also in chapter 14 he says that everything is based on a christian outlook and how you can bring basically anything back to christianity.
i really like the way that these two chapters reminds me of christmas. this is so because whenever i think of A Christmas Carol by Mr. Dickens i cant help but to think of christmas. i like how it talks of things being christian based but i dont know if i share the same views or believe it to the extremes that the author does. whether you feel the same way as me or not it is important to set aside your own beliefs and get the point of the chapters.
I agree with the aimster when she talks about him talking about his religion. He really doesn't care what anyone else thinks about it. He is very faithful to it. I also never thought that the Christmas Carol was based on something political, and i never thought that Scrooge was actually based on someone in the goverment.
I liked talking about christmas in chapter 13. I never would of thought of the political fact behind it. And i also liked in chapter 14 when you can take pretty much anything and refer back to christianity.
I never thought about the Christmas Carol as having a political belief like he talked about in chapter 13. I thought it was just about Scroog complaining about Chrismas and learning a lesson.
Chapter 14 kind of felt like the other chapter that we read about the bible. The one where it was saying the bible is always refenced. Its hard to compare somebody in a book to a christ figure...
These days in our society some people get upset when other people talk about God, for example the people who were trying to get in God we trust signs out of schools. So i think that it is good the author talks about how we are based on a christian base. I also liked the fact he said scrooge was a political figure I never thought about that.
I thought it was intersting to learn that A Christmas Carol actually had political ties. I never would have known that otherwise. I also thought it was interesting how he could tie so much stuff to the Bible, even with minimal actual references to it.
I did not realize that Scrooge was not just some sort of "everyman." With Dickens and other older authors, it is very hard to tell if he is trying to make a point about a certain mindset that was popular at the time. I am reminded of Shakespeare's quip about the child actors. Without any information about the time in which he lived, I would not know that he was critiquing someone.
As far as all of us having a "Christian mindset," regardless of our religions, I disagree. I am a non-Christian, and I have a tendency to overlook very Christian symbols in literature, or see them as a something secular. For example, Mr. McElrath interprets Robert Frost poems very differently from I do, because of his Christian mindset. That does not mean that I don't notice overt references to Christian characters (I have read the Bible), I just don't read Christianity into the literature I read.
In chapter 13 it suprised me how he talked about A Christmas carol and said there was politial facts behind it. I never would have thought about that.
I also thought it was pretty interesting how in Chapter 14 refered it back to the bible. i never would have thought that you can take almost anything you read and refer it to Christianity.
i thought it was neat how a christmas carol was put into a political view. i never realized that it was based on a certain person
After reading Chapter 13 I realized that Scrooge wasn't just a chosen character, but a politic. I guess I never put much thought into it. Which I guess means I never thought of any other story having a political background. I will look out for that in the future.
I agree with him in chapter 14, I believe everything results from what happened in the bible.
Like everyone else, I was very surprised that Scrooge was based after a politician of the time, but now that I know that, it makes perfect sense.
And also the fact that you have to put aside all your prejudices and beliefs to get the full impact of a book is very important.
in chapter 13 it says that a christmas carol scrooge character was based off of a real political man in that time. and then the author surprised me by relating it to the bible in chapter 14.
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