Antigone #3

“A fortune won is often a misfortune” – Creon (pg. 202) “Tell me, Tell me briefly : Had you heard my proclamation touching this matter?” – Creon “It was public. Could I help hearing it?” – Antigone “And yet yo dared defy the law.” – Creon “I dared. It was not God’s proclamation. That final Justice That rules the world below makes no such laws” – Antigone (pg. 208) “No pride on earth is free of the curse of heaven” – Chorus (pg. 215) I believe these are the most important and interesting points in the play because they have a major meaning for all the characters regardless of whether they said it or not (referring to the Chorus). Creon quote is ironic as he win a fortune (King of Thebes) but it becomes a misfortune when everything gets out of control and his family dies. The second quote between Antigone and Creon is also very important because Antigone reveals to the person that created the law that she does not believe in it and that she would not follow through with it because it unjust and following the law would break the laws of the gods. The final quote said by the chorus is basically referring to Creon and Antigone because they were both very proud of themselves for different reasons and in the end it left them in misfortune. This quote also gives us an idea of what the Ancient Greeks believed because they believed that they would be judged and punished for their sins after they died. Overall, I found this a very good book that allowed me to think about what the Ancient Greeks believed and it was interesting to read about someone who was willing to risk their life in order to do the right thing.

Key Information on the book Written by: Sophocles Type of work: Play Genre: Tragedy Language: Ancient Greek Time/Place Written: 441 BC in Athens. Analyzing the book allowed me to learn more about the Ancient Greek culture and their beliefs. In the book, I noticed many themes that I believe correspond to the Ancient Greek culture and beliefs in one way or another. Some of the themes that I noticed was religion, fate, struggle of women, natural law v. human law and action v. inaction. Religion is a major theme because it impacts Antigone's choice on whether to bury her brother or let him get eaten by animals Fate is a major theme as well because it has on impact on Creon and what will happen to his future if he makes the wrong mistake (Teiresias tries to warn him ) Struggle of Women is revealed in the book and it gives us a good idea of women's status around the time that this book was written - there is alot of proof in the book when Ismene and Antigone are discussing how they are only women who have no say in what goes on in the Thebes Natural Law v. Divine Law is the biggest one of all because it is Antigone's biggest conflict on whether she should follow human law or the unwritten laws of the gods Action v. Inaction is the final major theme that I believe has a major impact on everything that happens within the book. (eg. Ismene - whether she should take action and help her sister bury their brother or just pretend as if she knows nothing, Antigone - to bury Polyneices or not to bury him, Creon - whether he should kill Antigone or not)

Character Observations

Key observations: Antigone:

• sharp-tongued


• manipulative – pg 190


• willing to take control


• risky, brave


• loyal, family oriented


• secretive


• uses a sarcastic tone – pg 193


• motivated


• religious

Ismene

• deliberately ignorant


• cautious


• pessimistic


• follows by the laws

Creon

• power struck


• changed a lot since Oedipus was king


• became a tyrant


• seems to be a big threat especially with the proclamation


• politically talented


• impatient very quickly

The Final Look at the Tipping Point

While reading the rest of the book, I discovered many interesting points that I never knew had an impact on one another. Gladwell uses real life events in order to explain his argument making it more comprehensible for readers. In chapter 3, “the Stickiness Factor”, Gladwell discusses how something memorable can have a major impact on the tipping point. The fact that something appeals to a large group helps to set off an epidemic in some sort of way. Sesame Street and Blues Clues are two examples used by Gladwell in order to explain his “stickiness” theory. He explains how children can learn through different teaching methods of reading and counting rather than the in class technique. It appeals to children in different ways as the shows bring in different characters or puppets in order to express teaching in different ways. Overall, this chapter covers the fact of “the stickiness factor” which is the phenomenon to “stick” a thought or trend etc. in the minds of people and influence their behavior. The next chapter, “the Power of Context (part 1) refers to the fact that the enviornment or something historical can have a impact on the tipping point as well. The main thing that stood out to me in this chapter was the fact that the decline in crime rates occurred in New York City due to a couple of enviornmental changes made by the mayor and the city officials. They began with small goals that could possibly make a difference within the whole community. City officials began painting over graffiti, cracking down on subway toll skippers, and dissuading public acts of degeneracy. Gladwell continues to explain how this also helped the decline in crack cocaine use and the aging of the population. This is very amusing as it particularly proved his point regarding how little things make a big difference. I also never thought about how the atmosphere could have a major impact on someone or a city as it did in New York City in the 1990s where a decline in crimes occurred due to all those little changes.
The next chapter pretty much explains how groups of less than 150 members usually display a level of intimacy, interdependency, and efficiency that begins to disappear as soon as the group gets bigger than 150 showing how something has to appeal to a large group of people. In the final chapters of the book Gladwell continues to explain different things that help the tipping point occur as a social epidemic. The blowout of the airwalk shoes and how they were designed for skateboarders but became a big hit for the nation. Gladwell then brings up the relationship between suicide rates of teens in a city and the problem of persistant use of cigarettes by teens.

This was a very interesting example as he continued to explain many reasons of these events “tipped” through the methods described in previous chapters. The second last chapter “Conclusion: Focus, Test, Believe” interested me the most as Gladwell’s final chapter talks about how something low-key, cummulative can build up over time and then turn into a massive tipping point. This book overall, gave me a greater perception of the world and how everything is affected by one thing or another. This was a very interesting book that helped to explain arguments of the tipping point but it also explained the many events that occurred in the past and what “tipped” them in the first place.

The Law of the Few

Gladwell continues to prove his point regarding his thesis that “the possibility that sometimes big changes follow from small events, and sometimes these changes can happen very quickly” (11). He began the book by telling the readers about the hush puppies phenomena and continued to expand is point on how little things make a big difference. He begins to explain to the readers the Rules of Epidemics by introducing us to The Law of the Few which is a separate chapter. In this chapter, he begins with a very interesting point that I never realised of the 80/20 Principle which states that 80% of the work will be done by 20% of the participants. This really surprised as I never realised as this was the case almost most of the time. A historical occurrence is mentioned later in the chapter when Paul Revere, a silversmith, rode across many cities in America and told every city and town that he passed about the British trying to cause problems. This is one of the most historical examples of a word-of-mouth epidemic as a piece of extraordinary news that travelled a long distance in a short period of time. The word-of-mouth continues even in this age today as companies use multimillion-dollar advertising campaigns to get what they need to get across. Gladwell continues to explain that it is an important form of human communication and that it remains very mysterious. Furthermore, he also mentions that the word-of-mouth appeals have become the only kind of persuasion that most people respond to anymore. He continues to explain within the book as Paul Revere’s success of starting this word-of-mouth epidemic was “heavily dependant on the involvement of people with a particular and rare set of social gifts.” (33)
Once Gladwell introduced the chapter to the readers, he got into the different people who help these social epidemics occur. Connectors are the first people mentioned by Gladwell who have an impact on social epidemics. He says connectors are people with a special gift who bring the world together and have a “knack” for making friends and acquaintances. He then mentions the next people who have an impact on social epidemics; they are mavens. Mavens are people who want to “solve other people’s problems, generally by solving his own”. (66) This is very interesting as he also mentioned that it also works the opposite way as these people solve their own emotional problems to help others. Mavens seem to be “information brokers” who like to share and trade information that they know. (69) The last set of people brought up by Gladwell that have an impact on the social epidemics is salesmen. They are charismatic people with powerful negotiation skill. He refers to the businessman Tom Gau and how his traits help him to be a salesman and start a social epidemic of word-of-mouth. There are many interesting facts brought up by Gladwell that allow readers to think about as to who has an impact on the word-of-mouth epidemic. As he states closer to the end of the chapter, “Mavens are data banks. They provide the message. Connectors are social glue: they spread it. Salesmen have the skills to persuade us when we are unconvinced.” (70)

The Tipping Point

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference is an interesting book that includes various thoughts and ideas on actions and choices that have occurred throughout time that have proved that a small act of any kind can make a big difference. The author, Malcolm Gladwell, portrays his ideas and facts in a knowledgeable way that is also very understandable to all readers through the use of various techniques. The organization of the book gives readers a greater understanding of how Gladwell wants to explain each idea. This allows the reader to have a better comprehension of how everything corresponds with one another. Repetition is consistent within the book as Gladwell repeats his points several times in a variety of ways in order to relate to each reader individually.

Gladwell also gives a brief introduction on the topic that he is about to address, explains a couple of details and then expands on them in a separate chapter dedicated to that idea. The first couple of chapters allow readers to see that the author likes to support his information with a lot of evidence. The writer has a great deal of knowledge in the topics that are being discussed due to the fact that Gladwell has evidence to support each argument. Gladwell says, “Big changes follow from small events” (Gladwell 11), this is interesting as he has evidence to back up that quote with the Hush Puppies phenomena where the shoes became quite popular due to the fact that young “hipsters” wore them because no one else would. The author also likes to tell the readers where he gets his information from due to the fact that he gives us a brief explanation of where the term “the tipping point” was first introduced.

References to social, political, environmental, health and fashion matters are made by the author. We can also tell that he has researched a lot due to the fact that he has found quotes that people have said before regarding an event but also provides evidence for his explanations. Gladwell is an intelligent author who has a general knowledge of various topics due to the fact that he observes different possibilities and then analyzes them accordingly. There is so much knowledge in the first couple of chapters that gives readers a grasp of the world around them.

Distinguishing Literature from Life

" literature hasn't yet become distinguished from other aspects of life: its still embedded in religion, magic, and social ceremonies" pg. 19

I felt profoundly about this quote due to the fact that it allowed me to think about all the different things that literature is part of. Frye asks in the beginning "What difference does the study of literature make in our social or political or religious attitude?" this allowed me to think about how literature is part of stories, religion etc. and without it there would be something missing in our lives and since literature hasn't been distinguished from all the aspects of life , I don't think it will ever be due to it connecting many events or things that we believe in or that are part of our lives.

The World we see and the World we want

“…We tend to think of the sciences as intellectual and the arts as emotional: one starts with the world as it is, the other with the world we want to have.” (p.9)

I think what Frye is trying to say here is that we think of sciences as intellectual because it already exists and gives us the world that we see in front of us today. All we have to do is “accept the data and try to explain the laws” of science which demonstrates intellect. Art, we see as emotional because it has to do with what we think and what we want to see and feel which can be portrayed through writing, painting music etc. It begins with the imagination and wanting it which eventually leads to experience. I agree with Frye because it is how society views science and art due to the facts, which we have regarding science, and the need for something new allowing our imagination to create new things. I think there is a connection to McCullough’s speech because he tells the graduates to read and to learn but also to travel and see and live every day of their life. McCullough makes some connections to this because he wants the graduates to know that you can be intellectual not only regarding science because you can read other things and experience emotions and we can see the world as it is and as we want it.