Friday, February 5, 2010

Reflections of the afterlife

How does what you learned about others’ interpretation of the afterlife, connect with your previous understanding as well as what we have watched, seen and read?

How has the start of the semester been? What is going well for you? What struggles are you having? What can I help with?

21 comments:

  1. I think that the work that we have done over the last couple of weeks has helped me tremendously with my understanding of the afterlife. I like the idea of symbolic retribution shown in Dante's Inferno. My beliefs have not changed, but I have enjoyed learning diiferent interpretations about the afterlife.

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  2. I have learned that most people have the common belief that there is a Heaven and Hell. It was interesting seeing how some people glorify the devil. I had not been very exposed to that in the past. I also thought it was interesting how a lot of the things we looked at made the devil look like the victim.

    The start of the semester has been a little rough with getting so sick, and having to catch up in all my classes while balancing the millions of activities. I have been on the mend so that is good; however catching up is really taking a toll on my body. I would appreciate patience with the thought put into my work because I don't have my mind completely back yet.

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  3. I have learned that most people believe in free will when it comes to good and evil. I also learned that people believe in both a heaven and a hell but they have different interpretations to the different levels of hell and what and who decides if you go to hell or heaven. All the things that we have watched, seen, and read have broaden what I think about good and evil, and heaven and hell. I now understand more about hell and what usually condemns people to hell.

    I think the start of my semester has been good because I have had more time to do my homework because I am not doing a sport right now. A lot of my classes have stepped it up though because they are really starting to prepare us for the AP exam which is kind of stressful. I am struggling a little bit with understanding the readings that we have been doing in class but it helps to talk about them after we read them. You can help me by having detailed assignments that tell me what you expect me to do.

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  4. My picture of the afterlife was most like Dante's center of Hell where the Devil lived. I pictured Hell as this frozen waste land where all the prisioners are trapped waist high in ice completely alone. I never really thought much about the Devil or what he would be like because to me the thought of a God and a Satin is a bit out there, I don't feel like in either afterlife there should be or is a ruler. I never put much thought into the Devil and what they'd be like so I didn't start with anything to compare my thoughts to.
    This semester is going, I don't yet know if it's going well or not but it's going. I feel like already this semester has been harder than first semester plus I've got a lot more going on so I'm getting through it but I'm not having as much fun as first semester.

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  5. For the most part, my views and beliefs have not altered. I still believe in bits and pieces of religions, cultures and ideas. With the pieces of literature, music, movies, etc. I can relate my beliefs to something in them. My ideas have not necessarily been changed, but reinforced from the work we have done in class.

    Semester is going well. Senioritis is getting worse and worse but I'm still keeping up. Sleep is for the dead. Thanks Smith.

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  6. Learning the various interpretations of the afterlife has actually strengthened my beliefs. My beliefs revolve around the idea that you should do good because you want to not because you have to or out of fear of judgment. After reading Dante's Inferno and Paradise Lost, I've solidified my belief system because all these pieces of literature speak of is the punishment that awaits those who choose to be evil.


    So far it has been awesome this semester. I love the open afterlife project, the last lecture idea, and the writings that come with the last lecture project. I'm not struggling with anything at the moment in this class. Therefore, there's nothing that you can really help with.

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  7. I have found this Hell unit to be really cool and interesting because you get to find out all the different perspectives of the people who are sitting in the same class room as you. Also, seeing all the different clips of the movies and listening to the songs really help tied things together for me. When I watched Devils Advocate for the first time I never really thought of the Devil as proud and giving of free choice. But after talking about The Divine Comedy and listening to some songs I really got a better grasp of the character Al Pinchino was portraying. Learning about Hell really got me thinking on a deeper level because while we were doing the connection poster I found it challenging to link things together in a logical way. It just goes to show me that Hell is a very complicated subject and given my beliefs it is something that will take lots of time for me to figure out.

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  8. I think through viewing and learning about others interpretations about afterlife it has made my understanding and my own interpretation of afterlife all over the place. I want to believe that there is a place to go for the people that do right in life and a place for the people that do wrong. I want to believe that there needs to be a separation. But i don't know who decides who goes where. Is there really that one all above guy thats sitting somewhere that is saying "you go to hell" and "you go to heaven"? Is that really fair? Is there one ultimate religion? Is there that one religion that is above all? If life is about making choices and free will, shouldn't you have the opportunity to decide what religion to follow? So are there multiple and different versions of hell? Through this unit, it has not settled and connected with my previous understanding, frankly i dont know what i thought about afterlife on the beginning; but know i have so many questions and blank thoughts going around in my head, that i dont know what to think, and what to connect to. I enjoyed this unit though, and liked how it made me think and question my own belief system and made me pull from my own life to attempt to decide what is right and wrong.

    This semester has been going very well for me. I have found out what college i am going to attend so i feel the rest of the semester is going to be a down hill ride for me. I will still work hard and keep good grades, just because thats my morals. I am definitely struggling in keeping up with my homework and doing it when i get home instead at an unreasonable hour later and night. At the moment i dont think there is anything you can really help me in particular with, but possibly the whole class...in by not giving us a lot of homework, that would be awesome.

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  9. I really felt the views of the afterlife we learned were very interesting. I really liked how none of the versions of hell and the devil were the same, but in all of them you could compare the similarities. my favorite version of hell had to be Dante's version. I really liked the idea of symbolic retribution and the different levels of punishment. It was also the one piece that showed hell as something other then what i had previously thought of with the cold and wind instead of the heat and fire. What i really enjoyed about this unit was learning about what other cultures and even different people within the same culture, had to say about the afterlife. It is a very personal subject and this made it a lot more interesting. What I struggled with was the different pieces we took from everything. We very rarely finished a piece before we started a new one and this made it difficult to follow. Other then that i feel as if this was a very fun unit.

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  10. I think that everything we have learned has made me realize how similar most religions and cultures are. I think it is interesting that there are so many reoccurring themes in so many different cultures. I think that Dante's idea of symbolic retribution is very interesting. I think its weird that he groups everyone in the same levels and is not very forgiving in his punishments at all. All the songs and movies depict an American view of religions so it makes sense that they are similar, but I found it interesting that there was still a lot of carry-over with the books. My views have not changed much since we started this project, but I am more open-minded about other cultures.

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  12. its been good i feel like the work we have been doing has helped a lot it has helped me realize what the diferent religions believe for their afterlife. Everything is going well i would like to work harder on grades i need some help with my last lecture but i am coming in to get help with that .

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  13. This unit has giving me a broader understanding of how other religions see afterlife and how they interpret death. It hasn't necessarily changed my own interpretation but it has given me a more open mind towards what could be out there. It has also helped to reinforce what I already believe.

    The first part of my semester? Hehehe.... I've gained a class I don't want, lost off hours I need and to quote a button I once found, "Sleep? People still do that?!"

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  14. From what i have seen from all the different examples in class my ideas of the afterlife haven't necessarily changed, but showed me how other cultures and religions view death and the afterlife. I have also learned a lot of new details on other afterlife ideas but i have not changed my views at all.

    This semester is going well so far and i am proud of my grades so far. 1 thing i may suggest is not giving so many assignments at the same time, it gets hard to distinguish what is due when, and for which project. Other than that everything is great!

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  15. I thought that being introduced to many different views of the afterlife was very interesting. There were a lot of things presented that I have never thought about before, so I think it challenged me to decide for myself what I believe. There were bits and pieces from each perspective that I agreed with and there were a few things that I confidently disagree with. Overall, it was very interesting to be opened up to the beliefs of others.
    This semester has been harder than last, but it is still relatively easy. I think I am doing a good job of managing my time, but I think my motivation is lacking. I think the only thing that you could help me with is by giving more instruction with projects and assignments because I am confused a lot.

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  16. What I have learned about other people's beliefs is that everyone is still based off the same principles of good and evil. There is always a good ruler of the upper world and a bad ruler of the underworld. This has made me think that everyone is still based off the same old principles of life.

    This semester has been ok. I have been really tired lately with a lot of medical problems that are happening with me, but I have enjoyed my last last semester of high school. The struggles I am finding is not being interested in anything I am learning. It is not that it is not interesting; it is that it is all presented in boring ways. There is nothing you can do because it deals with other teachers and not you. It is their teaching style and not yours. I agree with Rachel. I feel like the projects and assignments you are giving us are good, just we as a class do not know what your looking for and we do not know how to present what we learned in a way that you want. We just do not understand what you’re asking us to do with these projects and assignments. The thing that is going well for me is gaining a lot of friends back that I lost back in the early years of high school. I am learning new things about people and learning to forgive and forget.

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  17. Other peoples interpertation of the afterlife are different than mine. Basically mine are there is one hell and only one layer of hell. Has that changed since class started? Yes it has. I beleive that there are sections in hell depending on what you have done in your life.

    Semester wise: Its going good, not really having struggles, and as of right now there isnt much anyone can help me with.

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  18. I think that through all of our readings and the movies we have watched I have realized how so many religions have such a similar view of what happens in the afterlife but each has a separate way of presenting it. My personal views have not changed at all to reflect any of the things that we have learned about but instead reflect somewhat of a mix of many of them. I found it interesting how strict some of the guidelines we read about are and how there really is no way to atone for sins. Once you are condemned to hell there is no way to save yourself.
    As far as the semester goes I think that this is a very fast paced unit and am doing my best to stay on top of all of the assignments, but I am currently happy with where I am in terms of grades and schoolwork.

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  19. What we've read about the afterlife has not changed what I believe, for I don't really know what I believe in; but it has shown me many different views. Some views are a bit shocking in my mind, because I can't see how anybody can even believe certain things.

    This semester is going very well! The only thing you can help me with is this blog, I wasn't here on Friday so this is a make up, thanks!

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  20. I think from what others have talked about in class, the readings, the songs, the movies, and my classmates, the afterlife is still what I believe which there is a heaven and a hell. I think that Hell is an awful, scary place and hopefully don't end up there!

    This semester is going well and I think is very interesting and different then any other english semester I've had because of what we are talking about in class but I enjoy it!

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  21. Everything we've read in class and watched hasn't changed my intepretation of the afterlife. I still think that hell is an evil place and heaven is paradise. I don't believe in heaven and hell, but I do believe there are divine powers that are good and evil, that may influence how people lead their lives. Also I think that the reason some people sing songs about hell and heaven just sing because they are interesting topics.

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