Avatar Article Reaction

Nick Upper

English

9/12/2012

Reaction Paper

When I first read the avatar racism article I had mixed reactions. Initially, I thought some of his points had validity. But then as I started to think about each of the points presented I saw that each one had two sides.

            “A ‘race traitor’ to his fellow humans, Sully leads the cat people in thwarting the military invasion.  ‘This is the essence of the white guilt fantasy, laid bare,’ Newitz wrote.”(Milloy, 1) The first line of the quote is part of Milloy’s summary, while the latter is a quote from another article that ties in with Milloy’s argument. At first I thought this was a very valid point (posed by both Milloy and Newitz, the quoted author). As I began to think about it, I realized that the Newitz quote contradicted Milloy’s initial argument. Milloy’s plot summary glorifies Sully, while Newitz’s quote tears him down.

            Newitz was once again quoted in Milloy’s argument. “Sully has the power to choose between being a dominating Sky Person or a Na'vi victim, which in the end yields greater power -- the audience's empathy. Only white men are privileged enough to have such choices.”(Milloy, 1) This quote is completely ridiculous. Of course the main character, who so happens to be a white man, has the power. There would not be a plot or the need for characters if Cameron didn’t give power like that to someone.

            Perhaps the most contradictory statement lies in the final section of the article. “Sully becomes blue and puts his life on the line for the Na'vi.” (Milloy, 2) If he is trying to antagonize the white man’s treatment of the Na’vi, the last thing he would want to say is that Sully became a martyr, the ultimate sign of respect.

            All in all, this essay contained quotes that contradicted Milloy’s main argument. In my mind this made the whole essay boring to read.

Myth Paragraphs

Chelan Myth

The Chelan creation story we read employed some of the themes discussed in class. This myth, although not as well as the myth last night, displayed elements of four. There are four wolf brothers, and the beaver is split in to twelve parts, twelve being a multiple of four. It also shows equality between man and animal, one of the recurring themes discussed in class. Of the seven types of creation myths, this one is clearly a Deus Faber myth. There is only one god and he makes everything, which is exactly what a Deus Faber myth is.

Nick Upper

English

8/26/12

Raven Myth

            The Raven Myth is a story about how light was brought to the earth. One of the key themes employed in the story was the seed of life. When Raven turned into a seed, he then turned into a baby, turning a seed into life. The story also puts a lot of importance on children, because the chief puts a lot of trust in his grandchild while they are playing. The story also does not name any of the characters as the chief is simply called chief.

Nick Upper

English

8/27/12

Thrown Away and Lodge Boy.

1.                  This myth really puts a lot of emphasis on the importance of children. Lodge-Boy and Thrown Away, both children, are able to outwit all of their adversaries and even their own father. The children were an important part in Native American culture, as this theme is seen throughout, not only this myth, but almost all Native American myths.

2.                  The main fantastic element in this myth other than the magic shoes is the mother coming back to life. Other than separate magic items, the only fantastic elements are the strength of family, and rebirth.

3.                  Yes, the boys are heroes. They enter the ordinary world, they are born. They are called to adventure; Lodge-Boy plays with thrown away. The refusal, they don’t come together right away. Meeting the mentor, the dad brings them together. The initial threshold is the first tasks that their dad assigns. The innermost cave is the old man’s mountain home, where they return with different rewards. Finally, thunder bird calls them to take on the big bad guy, where they return alive and successful.

Nick Upper

English

8/28/12

            The hair string myth is a very repetitive and very confusing myth. Unlike the past myths, it does not feature animals. One of the elements in the myth is the single chief; it starts out as the actual chief and then transitions to the son. This myth was very confusing to me because it kept using the same words for each different scenario, whether it was a visit to the daughters, or a trip into the woods. This myth is not a creation myth and therefore does not employ any of the cosmogonic themes.

Nick Upper

English

8/23/12

Yokut Myth

            The Yokut myth is a clear example of earth diver. The duck in the story dives to the bottom of the sea so that Crow and Eagle can make the earth. The myth also shows how food is the driving force Duck keeps getting mud for Crow and Eagle because they provide him with fish to eat. The only true example of anthropomorphism in the story is that the animals are talking, because otherwise they perform solely animal actions.

Sedna Myth

This myth is by far the most confusing one we have read so far. It includes a few, if any of the elements discussed in class. It could hardly be considered a creation myth, because all that is created are the animals. However, it is still a good example of a secretion myth, because he fingers become different sea creatures. While reading this myth, particularly the ending, it seemed more like a Greek or Roman myth rather than a Native American myth. One of the parallels between the two is that the main character has a name, Sedna, and she eventually becomes a god.

Creation Myth

Nick Upper

9/3/12

English

The origin of preseason football

(A new version of my sophomore year myth)

Long ago the Earth was nothing. It was a round, flat, uninhabited rock. Then, the great Sky Chief created four animals, Dolphin, Ram, Eagle, and Jaguar. Sky Chief told each of them to build their own home. Dolphin used his blow hole to fill his land with water. In his watery kingdom he erected a giant stadium in honor of Sky Chief. Here he could keep his food and shelter himself in time of war. Ram used his tremendous strength to form a mountain playground, where, he too, built a stadium fortress. With one flap of his wings, Eagle was able to draw up enough dust to form clouds. The clouds provided enough shade to grow grassy plains. He, like Dolphin and Ram, also built a giant stadium. Lastly, Jaguar grew trees to hide himself in. Deep in the forest, he too built a stadium monument.

            Life like this was good, until the food ran short, and the four animals started to argue. Sky Chief decided to settle this by creating humans to live with each animal, and Pig to moderate the four regions. But, only naturally, the four regions began to argue about everything. Pig came up with a solution to the arguing. He said that each region would select 49 of their young athletes and pit them in competition, using himself as a medium for competition. This would unify the regions, and give an indicator as to which region would win, should there be a war.

            Each region elected a council of leaders for their team. Pig’s idea was truly great, and kept the nations at peace, because no team would establish a clear year to year dominance.