Responses to presentations in English 251, January 30 2006

Kevin Harper

251-02

Presentation Response

            The second Symposium presentation by Mike Watson, Joe Alsup, and Ted Clifton was the most meaningful to me because of its modern interpretation the work.   Instead of listening to Socrates and his buddies out dated version of love, they presented an entertaining modern dating guide.   They were right on with there assumptions and stages of people in love.   There are the people that love anything and just wish to be with anyone.   Then there are people who are in love with certain features, such as Sir Mix A Lot and his infatuation with large behinds.   Another stage in the process of love is when people begin to value the soul of others and do not base their love solely on appearance, and beyond that there is the type of person who finds beauty in everyday life.   They see beauty in nature, art, and everything else.   Finally there are those who contemplate love and meditate to be close to it.  

            These stages represent love throughout a person's life for the most part.   When people are young they are generally in the first stage where they go for whatever they can get, but through experience they narrow their search to others with distinct features.   Then as a person matures they move to the third stage and this is when people marry.   Then as a person starts to slow down they cherish life more and move into stage four, and stage five is like a remembrance of past love and experiences.   The presentation was well thought and humorous.   They were well rehearsed and dressed and obviously enjoyed what they were doing.   They made clear and easy to follow power points and found songs to go along with what they were saying.

I really enjoyed the Ladders of Love presentation done for the Symposium. They had me laughing through the whole slideshow. The guys found a unique way of tying together modern movies, well-known celebrities, popular music, and an ancient tale in order to better deliver the message of Socrates's view on love. Their music selections fit perfectly and added an even funnier aspect to the whole thing - and yet, there was still a strong message and breakdown of the steps to loving maturely. The symbolism of using a ladder made it easy to see how we view love at different stages in our lives and how our minds, as well as our hearts, progress as though going up a ladder. Including Yoda topped it all off and I noticed him to be a symbol that both young and older generations (students and teachers) recognized. I was pleased with the conclusion because they summed it all up that love is complex with many steps and stages; everyone expresses love differently and views it through a different perspective; and finally, that love and BEAUTY is internal and all around us, as well as physical.

Marie Kooman

            Out of all the presentations the one on Genesis made the biggest impact on me.   This is because they dealt with a topic (Genesis/the Bible) that is a major part of most of our society today and made its teachings in a more modern way.   The party scene in one way or another is something almost all of us have encountered in some way by this time in our lives.   Alcohol is a big temptation to all of us especially in college with the influences of frat parties and keggers around every corner.   Many times the stories in the bible, while still relevant today are overlooked because the messages aren't as obvious to our culture as they could be were they written today.   I personally haven't run into this exact situation, but it does make you think the effect and influence that friends (and especially girlfriends) might have over you.   What things you wouldn't normally do, but would because someone you care about or want to care about, want you to do and what those consequences might get you thrown out of.

Trevor Koritza

Damien Micallef
English 251
Response to Student Presentations

My favorite presentation was the one from Genesis. Some of the readings in this class are very difficult for me to understand, though this reading was quite simple and easy to follow along. When I saw the students present Genesis, I could follow along everything they said and did. For that reason, this is why this presentation is the one that stood out the most for me.

This presentation was clearly executed and done very well. It kept me focused for a few simple reasons. First of all it made me laugh. I did like "Kenny the evil kid" and all the other references such as eating ribs, drinking from the forbidden liquor cabinet, and the fact that Adam wanted his dad to invite someone else to the party, being make a being compatible for him. They also kept everything to the point and presented it with good acting, and an excellent interpretation of the story line.

This presentation made me realize a few things. The most important of which is that this story, although thousands of years old, still has meaning today! They did a perfect example by bring a modern side to it. For example, Dad creating the party, was the same as God creating the Earth. Dad inviting Eve, was God Creating Eve. Kenny making them drink from the forbidden liquor cabinet was the same as the serpent telling Eve to eat the Forbidden Fruit. Everything came together perfect and made me realize how meaningful that story is because it can happen to people today, as it did then. The moral is more meaningful to me now than it was before, and that's because I can now relate this story if Genesis, to everyday lif

Matt Clarke
English 251
31 January 2005
Response Paper
The presentation that was most meaningful to me was the skit that recreated the creation story as a house party. The performers did a great job in relating the story?s message to into a modern day situation without augmenting the backbone of the story much at all. They used many effective parallels including the overseeing father, ?Eve the neighbor?, the bad kid at the party, the liquor cabinet, the vodka, the breath mints, and the wrath of the father being enforced. I particularly liked the use of the breath mints to hide the vodka smell, because it represents perfectly of how Adam essentially convicted himself of wrongdoing when he hid from God. I also enjoyed the sentencing sequence when the father induced pain in childbirth and kicked Adam out of the house. The childbirth part was obviously tough to translate, but the kicking out of the house worked well to compare to how God kicked Adam out of Eden. The story did a good job on all accounts to cement the Genesis creation story into my mind.
After the story, the performers provided their own perspective of what happened from the point of view of the actual characters in the story. Adam and Eve had differing stories that were skewed to put the blame on someone else. Playing the blame game would not have been a reach at that time either, seeing as they were as human as we are now and blaming others seems to be a common solution today.
I enjoyed every project that was presented on Monday. However, the project that I felt that the Group that did their presentation on Plato's Symposium (part 1) most accurately portrayed what we have read. The project included many parts, such as a poem, painting, book, and play. I thought that the painting that was presented was amazing. I liked how the elements of the Symposium and other Greek aspects were all brought together. The use of water to distinguish the earthly from heavenly realm was very insightful. I also liked how flowers were used to signify Agathon's speech. I thought that it was also insightful that the book used to compile the project was distressed to give it an ancient feel to it.
The play, which was the main part of the presentation, was written beautifully. It was a good allegory for the encomiums in Symposium, yet spoke to the people of this generation. I was amazed at how well the speech was written as well. The symbolism, word choice, and conversations that occurred in the play echoed that of Plato very precisely. I felt that all aspects of the presentation represented all of the aspects that were presented by plato in the Symposium. All different parts of the presentation were unique, just as all of the speeches in the Symposium were and this group presented that idea very thoroughly and accurately.

Rachel Vinatieri

The first group to present, Symposium part one, was my favorite group.  I especially liked the painting that Ashley did to represent the relationship between eros and man.  It is one thing to read a book or piece of literature and imagine or visualize it in your head, but when someone creates a visual for you, it becomes a whole new experience.  Ashley provided a whole new set of ideas and insights about eros and its meaning.  The thing that stuck out most in my mind was how she portrayed the picture as taking place in two different worlds.  I felt that she was trying to say that eros has a world of its own, and it controls man, who lives in a whole separate world.  The two worlds are interconnected, but man somehow cannot grasp or truly dicover the world of eros.  It is simply one of lifes mysteries, and I know that many feel that man will never truly understand love. 
Also, I liked how she represented the different speakers, and chose to portray the different types of enconiums like the different types of flowers.  Everyone had their own interpretation of eros, and how it effects man.
I must say, I also enjoyed the second groups presentation on the ladder of love as well.  It was very entertaining and humorous, and I especially enjoyed how they integrated popular culture into their presentation.  It made some of the concepts of the Symposium a little easier for one to digest and understand.  I felt that they did a great job in reaching their audience and providing them with something that was not only entertaining, but educational as well. 
I'm looking forward to the next set of presentations!
 
Kimberley Dubovik

I believe it was Ashley who did the water color painting to represent the first part of the symposium. I really liked this expression because I am a visual person and all the little details that were so well put together really hit home for me. I liked that she took ideas and not necessarily scenes from the actual play. The hands of Eros working through all the speakers as they are praising him and being skewed by the water so that he looks bigger was such a good idea. She took the notion that Eros can be different to different people and expressed that through the flowers surrounding the whole “tapestry.” That is really ingenious, not only is Eros working this dialogue but he is always surrounding it and influencing it. I like that the circle was used in conjunction with Eryxmachiaus speech about unity and the wholeness that! ! Eros suggests for him. I appreciate that she didn’t finish the circle. The thought that Eros is multi-faceted and represents multiple forms of love in our lives suggests that we may never experience them all. People tend to get frustrated when they don’t see how Eros is working in their lives or if he is working at all. This suggests the openness of the circle. We can distinguish that this shape should be a circle just like we know we should be whole and completely happy once we find that missing piece, but until then it’s all up to Eros. This painting was really well done and nicely thought out. I liked all the hard work and dedication that went into this project.

Katchew

Francisca Reyes-Acosta

Engl 251– presentation response

February 1, 2006

The Symposium (1a) presentation stood most prominent in my mind of all presentations. It was wrought with symbolism and creativity. I also enjoyed their various expressions of imagery: art, poems, the distressed book, and the skit. The painting, first, was successful in holding my attention and was really imaginative. The transfer of Eros’ hands from the world above to the human world and depicting the change in form of his hands was on point in referencing the section of the Symposium in which Socrates depicts the analogy of the fish below water having no concept of the world above. The poem was accurate in referencing the Symposium’s ideas of love, i.e. common love and appropriate love. What stood out most was that she wrote the poem encompassing her experiences with love and the Symposium’s ideas. This communicated that the ideas presented in the Symposium transcend time, as we youths can describe our experiences with love and that they uncannily parallel the Symposium’s ideas. The concept of the Symposium transcending time was also literally communicated with the distressed journal holding the groups presentation on love.

The skit not only gave us a good idea of the characters involved in the Symposium but also helped me to better relate, having it staged in modern times in a setting I find familiar. The skit also parallels the Symposium in communicating some of the characteristics of certain speakers at the symposium. For example, the ideas of Heavenly and Common Aphrodite are expressed by Pausanius in the skit as they are in the Symposium. I enjoyed this presentation the most and believe that it most encompassed the guidelines of the assignment.

The performance for Symposium 2 (Socrates' ladder of love) was a fantastic presentation taht combined humor with a knowledge of the source material. By showing the difference between base aphrodite and divine aprodite as a ladder, the two can be clearly explained. Even the idea of looking beyond the outward appearance to find a truly good match resonated with the book, particularly with the view of homosexual activity as love's truest expression, since it's based on personality and not sex. The presentation explained a lot of the ideas in teh source material, and did it while holding the class' attention.

The presentation for Sappho and Catullus was remarkable. Instead of just using the words the two had written, they went for the meaning behind them, adding their own when it was needed. By taking the words out of the strict historical setting and using anachronism, they were able to draw out a lot of the feeling in the text. Each author was represented accurately, and their major ideas and beliefs were still intact, even if the setting was different. Plus, who doesn't like togas?

Daniel Ely

Each of the projects presented on Monday were very enjoyable but the group I enjoyed the most was Group 1 that presented on the Symposium (part1). I liked how each person contributed their own individual part to the presentation (painting, poem, book, screenplay) and then they followed with a play performed by all the group members. Ashley?s painting of her reflection of the Symposium was amazing. The attention to detail from the hands of Hermes, to the flowers around the circle representing the different speeches, to the different figures representing the characters was extraordinary. I appreciated the way Caitlin took the time to distress the book to make it look more authentic to the time period instead of just stapling all the pieces together. I loved how Michael was able to incorporate the aspects of the play into his version located at the Dunes. The conversations between the characters were very similar to those in Plato?s Symposium but the actual content was quite unique and humorous.
This group did a very good job of expressing Plato?s Symposium in their own way but paid attention to the detail and accuracy of the original.

Michael McCaig

The presentation that stood out for me was about Adam and Eve from Genesis. The group created an updated version of the story based around a father throwing a party for his son. As the dad was tired from planning (a play on God?s seventh day of rest), he agrees to be gone during the party and sets only one rule: do not drink from the liquor cabinet. As the story goes, Eve is tempted by the serpent (or Evil Kenny in this case), and then tempts Adam before God banishes both of them. What I enjoyed about the play overall was definitely the variety added to a story that has been told for centuries. It gets boring to hear the same story retold, and this displays new faces and a situation that we as students can relate to: drinking.
As the story revolves around drinking, it is not a stretch for the population of the class that does partake in partying to think back to sneaking around and throwing house parties when our parents were away. There would tend to be one major rule that if broken or overlooked would blow the entire cover (an overflowing trash can of bottles for one). As we all feel rebellious and enjoy the thrill of getting away with such a huge secret, the harsh reality of who is paying the bills hits when we are caught and punished. Suddenly we have no more lies and feel naked in the eyes of our parents, as in this story of Adam and Eve. Therefore, I felt the portrayal of this classic story in a party setting was perfect for relating to college students the emotions the characters could have experienced and the moral that breaking rules will have consequences.

-Jeffrey Nabity

Daniel Clerou
MW 2:10-4

After watching all of the groups present I was both surprised and impressed. All of these groups were very creative and quite funny. The group that I am choosing to critique was the first presentation of the Symposium. It seemed like the group put quite a bit of time into the presentation as they had the picture, the book, the poem, and the skit. Each one of these seemed very creative and lots of time and effort had to be put into the presentation. The picture was phenomenal with the great detail that was put into the art. It also portrayed the story very well through the symbols and other parts of the picture. I especially liked the story as it captured the mood of what the events of the Symposium would have been like in person. It was also very amusing and encompassed the important aspects of the book. This group did a good job, as did all of the other groups who presented.

Monday?s presentations were all very entertaining and insightful. I feel that the first student presentation of the Symposium was the best of all the groups. Their presentation was very well put together and encompassed all that we have learned. The presentation was made up several parts; including a painting, a poem, a book of their project, and the main piece: a play.
I was amazed by the artistic skill and talent of the girl who created the painting. I really liked the division between gods and mortals by the use of land and water. The detail in this painting, such as the illusion of a split image that water creates, added to the painting?s appeal.
I liked how the poem was not just only about love, but also encompassed the meaning behind the Symposium. It was very insightful of the author to not just create a poem about love, but to also incorporate the message that Plato was trying to get across.
The book was a creative way to organize their project. By decorating the book to appear ancient the group incorporated the theme of love ?transcending time?. I found this to be very cleaver and inventive on their behalf.
The play, which was the main part of their presentation, was well written in its use of symbols, language and imagery. The play included much of what was written in the Symposium, but was presented in way that was both understandable and entertaining.
This group did a wonderful job in presenting the meaning of the Symposium to the class.

Nicole Stromsness

I was impressed by all presentations that were given on the symposium and bible readings. My favorite presentation would have to be the one on Symposium II. I thought that the group chose one of the most important aspects of the Plato's dialogue to present on. That is, the ladder of love. I thought the group did a great job of modernizing the different steps and relating each of them to things that we can easily identify with. I thought they were very creative in doing this as well, adding in certain things that they believed were relevent but were not explicitly stated in the dialogue. For example, the second step on the ladder -- which is the step were you see beauty in more than one thing and begin sense in general what is beautiful -- was compared to the way we like certain traits in people such as Jennifer Lopez's robust buttox. Each step was creative and I could see the connection to the actual dialogue. In addition, the group had numerous slides with pictures and captions that portrayed their message well. And to top it all off, my favorite part, the epic soundtrack. I think it was a great idea and it kept the audiences attention and set the right mood, which is often difficult in such classroom presentations. It seemed like the group, being as small as it was, put a lot of effort into the presentation. I applaud it.

-Kameron Dunkle

I really enjoyed the watching the first Bible group perform. I liked how they were able to relate the Book of Genesis to a modern day version of it.   I think that by modernizing it people are more able to grasp the concept.   God, the father, had done so much for his son, and yet he always wanted more.   I like how they interpreted God creating the Earth in seven days as the father preparing his son's party for seven days.   He had arranged this great party for him, but yet Adam still wanted someone else to come to the party--Eve. The son is seen as very naive, as was Adam. The woman is very persuasive.   And yet, as she states in the performance, Adam does nothing to stop her or the situation. Which he could have if he had done or said something. The character playing the snake, Kenny, is a bad influence on both Adam and Eve.   However, this relates to everyone's daily lives.   As much as there are bad influences on our lives, we alone have the will power to know what is right and wrong. I liked how they used alcohol to represent the forbidden fruit.   Alcohol numbs the mind and skews the truth.   It shows how both Adam and Eve had different perspectives on life after they tasted the alcohol.   It was only then that they realized how much they had to lose.   Overall, I really liked their take on this Bible.

Heather Suguita

First I would just like to express my pleasure in viewing all of the project presentations. However, the one that really stuck out in my mind was the skit that was an allegory for the story of Genesis. It was in my opinion just perfect. The skit was so simple yet mirrored the tale of the Garden of Eden perfectly. I would even go on to say that the opening monologue describing what the skit will be about and what it represents as unnecessary. The other thing that I thought was interesting is that in Genesis eating the apple gave Adam and Eve the knowledge of good and evil, and elsewhere in regard to the Symposium, we discussed inebriation causing a ?higher? or different level of consciousness. So, the group?s use of alcohol as the ?apple? in a way tied together these two texts. When the father or ?God? returned, the snake character and Adam got issued the punishments directly similar to those in Genesis, but Eve was given the exact same punishment from Genesis, which was quite funny to the class due to its absurdity in this situation. However, afterwards I could not think of a punishment that would mirror Eve?s and not seem absurd in the father/party situation. The skit as a whole works great as a parallel to Genesis and at the same time a warning against stealing/drinking. All in all, a wonderful story and job well done.

G Lasseter

Madeline Dauphine
February 1st, 2006

Response to Presentation Set #1
The Ladder of Love


I found the presentation on the ladder of love to be the most meaningful presentation and the easiest to relate to our modern journey of love and eventually being able to love beauty itself. As a teenager, as the presentation suggests, you start off by seeing only outer beauty and you seem to find so many different people beautiful or ?hot?, the term more commonly used for beauty. Eventually you start to love one specific part of the body. Growing up, girls seemed to find height a very attractive quality in young men, but eventually as you mature, you start to see that beauty is not something that can be seen from the outside. You may start dating a man who is good looking, but on the inside has no personality at all. This forces you to start looking for inner beauty. In The Symposium, Plato describes this as, ?[one] must come to believe that beauty in souls is more to be valued than that in the body, so that even if someone good of soul has but a slight bloom, it suffices for him? (155). This quote shows that even somebody who may be lacking in appearance will find happiness due to his good soul. Growing up, you truly come to realize that beauty is what is in the mind of the person that you love. Your best friend may be dating somebody that you don?t find attractive, and she may tell you that she is in love with him. What does she love about him you may ask? Perhaps she sees the true beauty in his mind. The next step after finding beauty in the mind is being able to love knowledge, which gets you closer to loving beauty itself. As I have found, everybody will have a different definition of what beauty is when they find it and everybody will have found beauty in a different way.

Ryan Murphy
English 251
Response to Student Presentations
 
My favorite presentation was the presentation on the second half of the Symposium. They portrayed the Ladder of Love that Diotima described in an accurate yet modernized way that really helped me take home the core ideas of the dialog.
 
The presentation was not only extremely entertaining but also very insightful. I was very impressed at the amount of materials they found in today’s pop culture that related so closely to the different stages in the ladder. This really made me realize that what Professor Cushing and Marx said in class about the Symposium transcending time was very true. Even our most modern ideas about love are not modern at all. As we discussed during lecture, even at the time of the Symposium they talk about love as if the ideas were not new to them either. The modernization of the ladder seemed so natural that ideas of love must be eternal for them to last several millennia.
 
The section of the Symposium where Diotima discusses the Ladder of Love took me a few times of reading to really understand each of the five steps. This presentation had a very simple format to follow and I felt like I really understood the key concepts without having to rewatch it several times. I could have not read the Ladder of Love and just seen this presentation and would have understood it perfectly, which in my opinion is the ultimate test of a good presentation. They kept me laughing the entire time and there modernization helped me think of the Symposium in a new way, solidifying the concept that it transcends time. The group did an excellent job.
The presentation that I found to be the most intriguing was the Bible Genesis presentation.  The presentation had a lot of symbolism and really showed the way the characters felt about the actions of one another.  The symbolism showed everything from the creation of earth, to eating from the tree of life.  The really important thing was the acccurate portrayal of the characters' feelings. 

The Monologues showed that God was angry and Adam regretted listening to Eve.  Eve showed that she shouldn't be blamed for other people's actions.  Kenny the snakeshowed that the snake has no remorse for the destruction of other people's lives; furthermore, the snake kind of enjoys tormenting Adam and Eve.  The humor in the re-enactment made it memorable and helped enforce the meaning of Genesis.

Brian Brandt

Michael Nelson, English 251

Presentations (1/30) Response

            I felt that all groups were equally informative, original and worth the presentation time.   However, I feel that I must write my response on the Sappho and Catellus group.   Their performance was great.   They started off my giving background information, which is always good, just incase the audience is not known on who the performers are speaking of.   Yet, that is not why I enjoyed the performance.   I very much liked the "soundtrack," I thought that the songs that were played and performed kept my attention on the group that was performing, plus the groups own lyrics to the melody was great.   This is a very shallow reason for enjoying the groups presentation, however, with students it is very hard to keep the attention on the performance, and I thought the reciting of the poets works added with the music was awesome.   Plus Sappho and Catellus intended their poems to be recited as lyrics.   My applause goes to this group, for their original and informative performance.

I was impressed with all the groups, but I think overall I was most impressed by the first group. Each member did there own thing. The painting was very good, it seemed as if it is an historically accurate painting, since she was inspired, and brought parts in from, the same sources of the painters of that time. The poem was also very good, quoting lines from the Synposium, it almost seemed to be as if it would have fit in the book.
Mostly I was impressed with the little play that they did at the end. Even though it was a modernized version it was written as if by Plato himself. It set up a real situation, a bonfire party, that we could all relate to and also talked about things we know and do, I won't quote here but things that were done in the tent for example. And, overall it discussed loved in a way that was fitting of the Synposium. This was a well planned, written, and executed performance.

by Bryan Coggins

Cortney Elliot
February 1st, 2006
 
Presentation Evaluation
 
 
I really enjoyed all of the presentations given on the first day. My favorite one however was group #3 who did a modern story of Adam and Eve. I thought it was very well thought out including all of the modernized versions of events that took place. It was done in such a way where it was not painstakingly obvious, but shown through very well. The beginning scene in which the father explains how he will not be attending the party because he has worked on it for so long, in fact 7 days, and is tired and needs to rest directly corresponds to the biblical version in that it took God 7 days to make the world for Adam and on the 7th day he rested. The friends that the dad invited also corresponded to the biblical version in that God made animals for Adam.
 
Another example was the liquor cabinet which represented the Tree and apple. This was done in a clever way, and related directly to how teens today behave. If you are told not to do something, it is quite common that you try to do it anyways.  The breath mints that were used to hide the alcohol in their breath related to the clothes that Adam and Eve put on when they realized that they were naked.   The monologues at the end were entertaining and yet still referenced Adam and Eve. When the father is handing out punishments he tells Eve he is going to make it harder for her to have children. This was also done in the biblical version.  This group played out this miniature dramatic presentation very well, and referenced things while doing it! ! in a humorous way. I thought that it was very well done.
Response 1
February 1, 2006

All the projects that were performed on Monday increased my understanding of the pieces of literature and engaged me throughout the duration of the presentation. The one I felt most embodied the work was the presentation on The Symposium (part a). They used many different means in which to convey Plato?s ideas to the class: a painting, a poem, a book, and a short play.
The watercolor painting done by Ashley Allison covered all the themes discussed in The Symposium. She used the different flower designs in reference to Agathon?s speech. Eros?s hands were coming down into the water to merge the plate together in order to make it whole again and Ashley said that the reason the plate was under water and Eros was on land was to distinguish between earth and the heavens.
Janet Coakley wrote a poem based on her experiences with relationships. She based her poem off of Socrates? speech in The Symposium, incorporating his teachings and his definition of love. It was apparent that Janet comprehended the main themes that Socrates was trying to verbalize.
Michael Casalinuovo?s short play written from the Symposium text pulled the whole presentation together. The language used was that of Socrates? time but with a modern twist. Michael was able to express Plato?s thoughts and words into something that a person living in the present world could relate to.
The presentation was a completely accurate representation of the piece of literature. The group really tried their best to recreate The Symposium for the class and to share Plato?s ideas on love and Eros.

tcarlson
I enjoyed all four presentations, and thought that they all represented their chosen piece well. However, the second presentation on the Symposium's Ladder of Love explained the concepts in very simple and entertaining terms. The break down of the five steps presented the basic and modernized ideas of what exactly the Ladder of Love was supposed to represent. I was impressed that each one of the three members of the group contributed equally to the presentation, and all had valuable insight to add on to the ideas they were presenting. The presentation seemed very well thought out, and I could tell that they put effort into trying to relate the concepts to the rest of the class through current pop culture references. It also made the presentation more interesting and easier to follow. Also, this presentation was the one that made me laugh the most, so perhaps that is why I am more partial
However I felt that all of the presentations did an amazing job and were great examples of what future presentations should be.

-Ashley McMullen

Congratulations should be given to all of Monday's groups. However, the group that had The Song of Solomon and First Corinthians did a fine job using their skits to explain the pieces. Although they broke down the Song of Solomon well with the props, such as apples and "raven black hair", I preferred their futuristic interpretation of The First Corinthians. The children they used to portray desire and transformation showed the innocence of love in The First Corinthians. They showed that with the "love rocket", or power of the knowledge of love, they can meet the one they were meant to be with. I found it very true to the bible when they confessed the blindness of their childhood. They both had faith and hope but, like with the scarf, they could only be bound together by love.

Heather Chandler

After evaluating the group presentations that took place in class this week, I felt most impressed by that of Genesis. By presenting the story in a more contemporary setting ( high school party), I felt the class connected strongly to the story. Also, the use of symbolism through modern objects and ideas was both highly entertaining and funny. The party itself, organized by the "father" in the play, or God, represented God's creation of heaven and earth in seven days, and when he tells Adam he will not be attending because he will be too tired exemplifies his period of rest following creation. Then, when God told Adam not to touch the liquor cabinet, and he would be punished for doing so, he was referring to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The liquor cabinet was a well-chosen symbol of the tree of knowledge of god and evil because, like the tree, the liquor cabinet strikes up curiosity and desire that tempt one's morals. Also, the representation of the serpent through the boy who peer pressures Eve to eat from the tree was a very strong component of the presentation, as probably nearly all students have been subject to peer pressure. In another example, when Adam and Eve attempted to cover up their wrongdoing of drinking from the liquor cabinets by eating mints, modern items were again used to portray parts of the story, in this case where Adam and Eve use fig leaves to cover up their naked bodies.

All throughout the presentations, such symbolism was used and was affective. I felt it helped students better understand the story and the nature of its message by connecting it to today's society. Also, this approach made for a very funny, very interesting, and overall, very entertaining presentation.

Justin Barr

Group #1's presentation (Symposium 1a) was very meaningful to me because it had captured the Symposium's various definitions of eros, and displayed them through numerous works of art. Eros was first beautifully portrayed through a painting of hands submerging a vibrant plate in water, where the broken plate seemed to symbolize our wandering, lonely hearts searching for that missing piece in our lives. The explanation of water's ability to split images as being connected to eros descending from the heavens to earthly life caught my attention the most because that feeling of eros, which I believe I have felt before, truly feels as if it were passed down from the sky.  The second work of art I enjoyed was the poem entitled "What is Love." This poem related to the speaker's (Janet Coakley) experience with love in relationships. I wholeheartedly agreed with what she had said, which was mainly that love is a feeling that is always trying to be reached, and if it has already been reached, it is never forgotten. In being an ex-boyfriend who had loved his girlfriend so much, I know it is impossible to forget that feeling of being whole. I also know that I am looking forwar! ! d to feeling eros again. Lastly, the adaptation to the Symposium performed as a modern day college party had huge meaning because I could easily relate to this setting as I myself am a college student. This play was well made as it exemplified college students' outlook on love, spoken in the way of the speakers at the Symposium, and I found this to be unforgettable. In conclusion, Group #1's presentation was very meaningful in my opinion, because the various works used to present the symposium could be easily understood by any college student.

Yno Teotico

I enjoyed seeing all the presentations today, but one in particular was memorable to me.   It was the second presentation that was done on the "five steps of love."   I liked this presentation for a couple reasons.   Probably the main reason was how the "lecture" broke down ideas of love into progressive steps.   I also enjoyed the humor in the lecture form and power point slides, and also the pop culture examples that were provided for better understanding of their points.

.   I liked how it was easy to tie in each step of their lecture with different views of speakers in the symposium.   I enjoyed hearing about all the steps four and five, and how 4 and 5 are deeper and more interested in personality than 1 and 2, which are interested in the physical body.   It is pretty interesting to realize that the speakers of the symposium had basically the same viewpoints and issues with love and relationships as people do today.   I think that I, being a student in college, am at a time where different steps/ideas about love can be conflicting.

In conclusion, one of the things I really enjoyed about watching this presentation was how you could see the parallels between thoughts on love by ancient philosophers and normal people today.   I think knowing that we are not alone in this thinking makes us all feel better, and at the same time it ties us together with the rest of the human race.

Anita Crompton

 
    I was particularly interested in the fourth group's depiction of 1 Corinthians 13. Not only did they clearly display the notions of mature love vs. immature love, growth and change in love and knowledge, and the power of selfless love, they also very uniquely juxtaposed "transformation" and "desire." Using Transformation and Desire as characters in their skit, they were able to probe slightly deeper than a simple surface interpretation of the chapter would afford. It seemed as though group four was attempting to convey that desire is always a human emotion at any stage in an individual's life, and the level of maturity of that desire will often determine the type of love that the individual is able to express. When desire was a child, her love was self-seeking and self-oriented; as she grew up, she became focused on other(s) (her "desire" for love/loving changed). Transformation as a character seemed to portray one's journey of development. Not only did he have changing "desire," he was change. He was the growth of self. As an individual matures, he/she decides how their love will be characterized. In doing so, they allow themselves to be somewhat defined by their love. Both characters offered interesting insights into a human's experience with love, and thus, they were effective tools to accomplish what was intended.
    Complete with the symbolism of the scarves and the "love rocket" to represent the bond of love and the power of love, this performance was both entertaining and intelligent. Cheers to group four and all of the presenters.
 
-Luke Hawkins
All of the presentations were really creative and entertaining.  I regret not being able to see them in person, and I can only assume that I missed a lot of meaningful discussion that followed each presentation.  After reviewing all the videos online and reading the responses, it was hard to write about just one.  The Symposium I group had an excellent painting and well-crafted journal, Professor Cushing’s reading of the “Ladder of Love” Lyrics was classic, and th! ! e Sappho and Catullus group’s live musical accompaniment and dramatic recreation in costume was very well-done.  However, even before reading the responses I concluded that Genesis I group’s recreation was by far my favorite.
 
Like many of the other responses concluded, the symbolism used to compare the tale of Adam and Eve to a modern day situation was very well done.  Alcohol=apple, Kenny=snake, God=Father, 7-day creation=7-day to plan the party, Adam asking for a guest from “dad”=Eve, breath mints to hide the vodka=hiding from God after eating the apple, etc.  It was basic, to the point, and very entertaining.
 
When reviewing the comments, it seems that every group got some credit as being a favorite.  The Genesis I seemed to be among the more popular along with both Symposium group’s receiving fairly equal acclaim.  I agree with the class’ recognition of the artistic creativity of Symposium I painting, poems, and book.  In addition, I agree with the simple steps and modern musical associations presented by the group representing Symposium II.
 
Overall, I think everybody did well, and I look forward to seeing what the other groups come up with….including my group’s interpretation of The Odyssey.
 
Tyler Bridges
Jenae Avila

All the group projects on the thirteenth were very interesting. Honestly, I was suprised because everyone made their presentation very exciting. They based the old stories to moderation so everyone can understand each different situation. However, my favorite presentation was the Symposium 2. The group showed power point presentations. They showed steps of how love occurs. But, they use modern photos and music to catch the eyes of the listners. The team used pictures of famous actors and singers. I laughed during the presentation and it held my attention. I believed they proved their point and stated it in a interesting way. The group used five steps to prove their point in love. The first step was based upon looks and their first example was of Brad Pitt. The second step was still based upon looks, but they used the famous song "! ! Baby got back" and Jennifer Lopez as a icon. The third step the transitional phase where what you see is what you get. Then they use a example of a women going into the grocery store with just sweats on and with no make up. Proving there is more to a person than looks. The fourth step is where individuals find beauty in everything aroud them and they used the movie "Field of dreams" as a symbol. Finally, the last step was contemplation of love and is the meditation stage. The group used Yoda as a icon. Moreover, this group used a lot of immagination and did a great job.