Extra Credit Blog Post

            This was probably one of the weirdest stories I have ever read, but I still liked it! I feel like there was a lot of symbolism behind the story, and a good lesson to learn. At the beginning of the story the narrator is not very happy about the blind man visiting. I’m not sure why this is, but I think it might be because of jealousy. The narrator says it is because he doesn’t know any blind men, so he doesn’t know how to interact with them. But I think he is jealous of the relationship that him and his wife have.

            When the old man arrives, the narrator seems extremely stand offish; he doesn’t really interact with the blind man. I got the impression that the narrator thought that he was better than the blind man. But as the story went on, the narrator started to interact with the blind man. He was hesitant at first, but once he started talking, things got easier. It could have been the odd fact that they were high, but it also could be because the narrator decided to be the better man. I think the turning point in the story was when the narrator started describing the cathedral on the television to the blind man. I think when the narrator realized that him and the blind man did the same things, had somewhat of the same interests, and could actually have a conversation, that he could start talking to him.

            The interesting thing about this story is what brought these two men together; cathedrals. The narrator started explaining what a cathedral looked like, and he decided that describing it was too hard. So the blind man suggests he draws it. Then the narrator and the blind man start drawing this cathedral together. At the end of the story the old man asks if he sees how cool their drawing is, and without opening his eyes, the narrator says yes. I think this story teaches everyone a lesson. The lesson I got out of it, is don’t judge someone just based on external facts. Just because this man was blind, the narrator thought that they would never be able to relate. Another lesson is even if you just have one thing in common, that one thing can bring you together. These men found a connection through a cathedral. This story was very interesting, but I enjoyed reading it!

Greece Post

           I chose question number 3: What one work of art from ancient Greece most resonates with you? Why? What do you like about it? What purpose do you think it serves? Discuss it, its connection to the world view of Greece, its connection to your world view, and its connection to our world today. 

            One work of art that I found extremely interesting was the Acropolis. I like what it meant, and what it represented. The Greeks built this to show their strength, and to show how they are better than everybody else. I like how they named it Acropolis because it translates into “highest point.” They built this building on the highest point in their city to show how important it is. I also like how much planning went into building this building. They didn’t put the posts straight up because they wanted it to look more “human.” They used a lot of math to build this building, but they also used entasis-“eyeing it.” I think this made the building look better.

            I think the world tries to do the same thing today that the Greeks did back then. The Greeks built this building to show that they were better than everyone else. Just like today, everyone tries to outdo everybody. It seems as if everything is a competition. Not just with building the strongest, highest building, but with everything. School, work, money, popularity; everyone wants to do better than someone else. Just like the when the Greeks built this building; they already knew they had defeated the Athenians, so why did they have to build this building? It was out of spite. They were so full of pride that they built this building to show how great they were. They couldn’t just be content with knowing they won, but they had to show it. I think it is an amazing building, but I think it was built for the wrong reasons.