St. Augustine's Confessions

Bros:

In a scholarly style, I would like you to produce a formal, five paragraph essay in which you discuss a theme demonstrated in "Book II" of St. Augustine's Confessions.

This will require you to follow the format below:

P1 (intro/thesis)

P2 (brief summary of "Book II" including direct quotes and paraphrases)

P3 (a discussion of the theme and how it is protrayed in the text, using direct quotes and paraphrases, as well as an interpreation of what the citations mean)

P4 (a further discussion of theme, indicating another aspect in which it is portrayed in "Book II")

P5 (concluding statement that indicates answers to any questions or observations that still need to be addressed in reaction to the text)

Some writing tips:

• When writing a literary analysis, you will focus on specific attribute(s) of the text(s).
• When discussing these attributes, you will want to make sure that you are making a specific, arguable point (thesis) about these attributes.
• You will defend this point with reasons and evidence drawn from the text. (Much like a lawyer!)

an example of a decent thesis statement:

• In "Book II" of St. Augustine's Confessions, the author demonstrates man's perfectibility as seen in his emphasis on the beneficence of punishment regarding what he believes are the vice-filled exploits of his youth involving undisciplined lust and mischief.

an example of a decent citation and subsequent interpretation:

• Lamenting his fall from grace, likened to the biblical fall of Adam and Eve, St. Augustine admits early on in "Book II" that "I could not have been wholly content to confine sexual union to acts intended to procreate children, as your law prescribes, Lord" (25). He adds, "But I in my misery seethed and followed the driving force of my impulses, abandoning [God]" (25). Here, St. Augustine attributes his despairing loss of God's presence in his life to the lusty desire of his flesh--longings that he seems to have acted on, therefore bringing about a painful guilt. In such guilt for his sins of the flesh, St. Augustine claims to have learned from his mistakes: "I should discover to be in nothing except you Lord, nothing but you. You fashion 'pain to be a lesson' (Ps. 93: 20 LXXX), you 'strike to heal', you bring death upon us so that we should not die apart from you (Deut. 32: 39)" (25). In this way, St. Augustine realizes the upside of "falling" down; man may fall, but he still has the power to pick himself up and move towards perfection in God. What's interesting, here, is that St. Augustine seems to suggest that man's greatest punishment is not directly related to a violent act from God; rather, man's punishment is in the sense of separation he experiences in the committing of his own sin: "Where was I in the sixteenth year of the age of my flesh? 'Far away in exile from teh pleasures of your house' " (Mic. 2:9). Thus, St. Augustine uses the Bible to indicate that punishment is in the isolation from love caused by vice. This is most evident in his concluding remarks: "My desire is for you, justice and innocence, you are lovely and splendid to honest eyes; the satiety of your love is insatiable. With you is utter peace and life immune from disturbance. The person who enters into you 'enters into the joy of the Lord' (Matt. 25: 21)" (34).

This reflection is due on Wednesday, March 18, 2009.

Creating Your Myth

Bros:

In his lecture "The Self as Hero" from Pathways to Bliss, Joseph Campbell writes:

Now, all these myths that you have heard and that resonate with you, those are the
elements from round about that you are building into a form in your life. The thing worth
considering is how they relate to each other in your context, not how they relate to something
out there--how they were relevant on the North American prairies or in the Asian jungles
hundreds of years ago, but how they are relevant now--unless by contemplating their former
meaning you can begin to amplify your own understanding of the role they play in your life.
(132)

In this way, Campbell suggests the importance of understanding our own histories as reflective of the archetypal hero journey, filled as it is with a specific pattern of departure, fulfillment and return. Campbell also mentions the specific quests within the hero's going and returning: the entrance into the darkness of the unconscious, the reconciliation with one's shadow, the integration of the anima (for males) and the animus (for females), and the atonement with the "father."

That said, I would like you to, using one myth that Campbell describes in his lecture, explain the hero journey and what is involved in it. This will involve summarizing the myth and pinpointing trials, the specific psychological correlates of the trials, and spiritual themes of the tests the hero must undergo.

After you have done that, do what Campbell recommends: relate them to your life. Explain an experience that you have gone through that parallels the hero journey as delineated by Campbell.

This assignment is due Thursday, March 12, 2009.