Oedipus Assignments

1. Finish the play for Thursday. Be prepared for a final test on the content of the play.
2. Write a final character study on Oedipus.
3. Think about and start working on the final project, which you received today in class.
4. On Thursday, we will have three fishbowl discussions. Think about the question before class and come prepared to discuss. You will need lots of textual evidence!

Physical vs. moral blindness:  Oedipus can see, but he arrogantly believes that he can circumvent prophecy; Tiresias cannot see physically, but he is expert at divining the will of the gods. Discuss the significance of physical and moral blindness in the play. Give some examples of how the symbols of blindness / sight are connected with the themes of ignorance / knowledge in this play. How do you think the solution to the riddle illustrates Oedipus' knowledge and ignorance?	Fate vs. free will: To what extent is Oedipus a dupe of the gods who have sealed his fate? To what extent does Oedipus bring about his own downfall?  [Hint: If someone prophesied that you would kill your father and marry your mother, the prudent person would avoid killing all men and resist marrying an older woman.] Why do you think the gods are so nasty to Oedipus? Do you think Oedipus has any free will, or is he just a plaything of the gods?	According to critic Northrop Frye, "Tragic heroes are so much the highest points in their human landscape that they seem the inevitable conductors of the power above them, more likely to be struck by lightning than a clump of grass.  Conductors may of course be instruments as well as victims of the divine lightning." Select a novel or play in which a tragic figure functions as an instrument of the suffering of others.  Then write an essay in which you explain how the suffering brought upon others by that figure contributes to the tragic vision of the work as a whole.
Allison, Jason, Josh, Kris, Justin Labrado, Kenny, Andrea, Evan, Maya, Jasmine	Danielle, Li, Margret, Dante, Matthew, Haley, Reinaldo, Vicki, Natalie, Jeremy	Graham, Dominic, Amber, Justin Lu, Rachel, Avie, Jeremae, Ian, Llyke, Jing