Post 12

I chose to write about David Sheff as my tragic public modern figure. David Sheff is an American author and journalist who is a father trying to save his son who struggles with addiction. Sheff is known for his #1 New York Time's Best Seller, "Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction", and his book, "Clean: Overcoming Addiction and Ending America's Greatest Tragedy". He's also written for numerous magazines and is the author of several other books. Sheff is a figure who has been through pain, fear, doubt, hopelessness, and broken promises caused from the roots of addiction. He has made numerous attempts trying to save his son in the face of addiction, which often left him with a broken heart and broken promises. Sheff is an advocate for promoting addiction and mental health awareness throughout college campuses and the public community. This is different from classical tragedy because his story is based on repeated attempts at trying again and again, not losing hope. In classical tragedy, you don't see other people with realistic problems as a tragedy. Today, modern tragedy is known to have more than one character and usually involves people's problems, aspirations or ambitions. 
“David Sheff knows addiction as no parent would ever want. Through it all, he’s tapped into a unique ability to convey the pain, wisdom and love that he’s experienced through many turbulent years with his son Nic. As a journalist, father and clear-eyed chronicler of addiction, David is without peer.”http://davidsheff.com/about/

Post 11

Someone very close to me, a family member, struggles with addiction. Over the years, I've witnessed someone I love lose jobs, money, friends, their identity, everything. They continue to fight this inner battle within themselves. They live with this constant black cloud over their head. Addiction has become an epidemic in this country and too many die young because of this heartbreaking disease. Nobody wants to lose their entire life to a drug. I've seen my loved one go through multiple attempts trying to get sober. Multiple rehabs, jail time, recovery, relapse, it's a vicious cycle.

Post 10: Modern Heroes - Compare and Contrast

I view a hero someone who goes more than the extra mile to help and make a positive impact on society. I compared and contrasted my hero, Robert Langer, with two of my peers epic heroes and noticed more similarities than differences. 

Porsha's Blog Post
Detaria's Blog Post

I highly agree with Porsha's statement about modern heroes not requiring actual superhuman or supernatural powers. She explains why Batman is a hero in her eyes, and makes some key points as to why Batman's qualities match her definition of a modern hero. These qualities included courage, responsibility, and good judgement. I personally wouldn't consider Batman a hero mostly because he's fictional. But, his character does include several characteristics of an epic hero. I also read Detaria's blog who chose Veterans as her hero. I agree that veterans are an excellent primary example of a modern epic hero. Porsha and Detaria both chose heroes that don't have any superhuman or supernatural powers, which seems more common because of the modern era. My hero, Robert Langer, doesn't have any supernatural powers. He does share the qualities that my peers heroes have, like courage, being helpful to others, and nobility.

Post 9: Robert Langer

In my eyes, a hero is someone who goes more than the extra mile to help and make a positive impact on society. I believe modern heroes can be fictional or real. They also don't require a superhuman power in order to actually be a superhero. Robert S. Langer comes to my mind when I consider one of my modern day heroes. He is a world renowned chemical engineer with over 220 major awards. In fact, he is one of the 5 living individuals to have received the United States National Medal of Science and the United States National Medal of Technology and Innovation. Langer has made outstanding outstanding advancements and achievements for cancer research and treatments. He has worked in areas ranging from pharmaceutical, chemical, biotechnology, and medical device companies. He is well-educated, loves helping other's, respected, courageous and a passionate leader.

Langer received the world's largest prize for his invention being "one of history's most prolific inventors in medicine". Langer's research work is at the center of biotechnology and materials science. The discoveries he's made the past few decades have helped millions of people all over. I admire his work and findings that have been used to help patients in the healthcare industry.


http://web.mit.edu/Langerlab/langer.html

Post 8: "The Parson's Tale"

Geoffrey Chaucer's, The Parson's Tale, is the final tale of "The Canterbury Tales". According to Wikipedia, "The Parson's Tale", seems to be the end of Geoffrey Chaucer's cycle to "The Canterbury Tales". The tale is one of the longest contributions of work by Chaucer's pilgrims. Since the tale is neither a poem nor a story, this makes the make all more intriguing. Throughout the tale, Parson spells out the Seven Deadly Sins, that must be avoided by all men: pride, anger, envy, sloth, gluttony, and lectery. But, the key thing for all these sins is forgiveness as well. Personally, Parson's character seems noble and trustworthy as a reader. Many readers have been known to skepticism when it comes to ending of Chaucer's tale.

Post 7: Romantic Love

Romantic love has been around for centuries and mostly all of eternity. It has been studied by philosophers, writers, and psychologist. To some people love can be an irrational thing, while it can be an emotional affair to other people. The concept of love has even changed for some as time passes on. Most religions have quite a bit to do with one's belief on love. It can effect when one loves, gets married, has sex, and what type of person they claim to love. In Europe, the English Reformation had lots to do on romance, sexuality, and love. It was mostly the rise of Christianity that influenced this era the most. India treated marriage as a "task" or "job". All marriages were arranged in "political alliance and economic exchange". On the other hand, the Chinese thought love and sex was a logical, reasonable act. This wasn't as much of a controversial topic for them. "Love is mostly tender and quiet. Love is a light that allows people to see things that are not seen by others. Romantic love is a deep emotional, sexual and spiritual recognition and regard for the value of another person and relationship."

Post 6: Eroticism and Music

Metamorphoses and The Wife of Bath's tale were focused on sexual relations and desires. The song "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails reminded me of Alisoun's sexual affairs, promiscuity and her multiple marriages. The song is very straight forward when it comes to her erotic experiences throughout the tale. In The Wife of Bath's tale, Alisoun speaks of God and even quotes some of the bible scripture. For example, Alisoun makes the statement, "Tell me also, for what purpose were members of procreation made, and made in such a perfect manner? Trust well, they were not made for nothing (p. 29)." She's stating that God wants us to engage in sexual relations for a reason. In the song Closer, it has a verse which says, "My whole existence is flawed, You bring me closer to God". This relates to how God is brought up throughout the stories and the ways religion was used to justify the sexual actions and relations that occur through the stories.

Help me, I broke apart my insides 

Help me, I've got no soul to sell 

Help me, the only thing that works for me

Help me get away from myself 

(Closer by Nine Inch Nails)

Post 5: Sexuality & Romance - The Wife of Bath's Tale

 In The Wife of Bath's Tale, Alisoun remarries multiple times in the story. To be exact, she has five different husbands. Nowadays divorce and separation rates happen much more often and even seem to be a common occurrence. In the story, Alisoun uses scripture to justify her sexual behavior and actions. I've heard people say things along the lines of, "God wouldn't have given us something so pleasurable (sex) if he didn't want us to do it." I feel a lot of people take sex much more lightly then they did back in time. Alisoun never truly marries for real love though, at least not until her very last marriage. This is not so much the case these days. Why marry someone you aren't in love with? That's the first thought that pops up in my head. Alisoun's last marriage was the only one that wasn't revolved around money or wealth. She married because she truly loved him, regardless of his income. Throughout the medieval era, love seems to be bought. Woman are much more independent now. Most have careers and make just as much, if not more, then men. Most couples try to split things equally and I believe that's how it should be. Something else I noticed in The Wife of Bath's is the fact that Alisoun remarries after her fourth husband's death, which is not shamed upon today. Who are we to judge?