next rabbit trail

Well, the library seized my Shakespeare and the Bible book... Apparently keeping it for over a month is against the rules...

The next rabbit trail that I am supposed to be chasing is, how does Christianity enter into the law field? So I googled "Christianity in the law field" (let's be honest, that is how I find most of my information) and found a number of books to add to my reading list.

Surprisingly, most of them are British...

• Christianity and Law: An Introduction by John Witte and Frank Alexander
• The Teachings of Modern Christianity on Law, Politics, and Human Nature by the same authors
• Life, Death and the Law : Law and Christian Morals in England and the United States by Norman St. Johns-Stevas
• Faith and Law: How Religious Traditions From Calvinism to Islam View American Law by Robert Cochran

So, if anyone recommends any of these books, let me know! (Let's be honest again, the only people that read this are my mom and my Nana....maybe.) But for real. I'm going to read them and then I'll will tell if they are worth the read. What would you do without me?

more "Genesis in The Tempest"

So now that I’ve given you a whole twelve hours to contemplate the greatness that I bestowed on you yesterday, let me continue.

• I think my last point was that both God and Prospero undo an act of creation - God with the flood and Prospero with the banishment of Caliban. This is true, but they also both make vows of mercy with a rainbow. After the flood, God sends a rainbow to Noah and his family, promising never to destroy the earth again. Prospero eventually also apologizes to those that he tormented with drowning and to Caliban for putting him into slavery after expulsion. After this, he presents a rainbow and a blessing of prosperity (here's the theme again!).
• Both books show an important example of lifelong love. Examples from Genesis are Abraham and Sarah (who didn't receive the gift of a baby until they were 100 and 99)AND Jacob and Rachel (whom Jacob had to work fourteen years for in her father's house). In The Tempest, Ferdinand and Miranda seem to have a "love at first sight" encounter when they first meet each other.
• Ferdinand and Jacob both had to yield to father-in-laws. Genesis 29 depicts Jacob and Rachel's marriage. Jacob agreed to work seven years for her father-in-law, Laban, in order to take her hand in marriage. After the seven years, however, Laban secretly switched Rachel with her sister, Leah, without Jacob knowing. Jacob then had to work seven more years in order to actually marry Rachel. Ferdinand also moves logs for Prospero in exchange for his daughter, Miranda.
• Later on in Genesis, Joseph is introduced. Joseph is one of twelve sons born to Jacob, and, as you can imagine, there is intense sibling rivalry amongst the group. Eventually, Joseph's brothers get fed up with partiality within the family, and plot to kill Joseph, just like Prospero's brothers plot to kill their other brother, Alonso.
• What both sets of brothers don't know, though, is that they will both end up at their brother's mercy in the future. Joseph gets sold to slave traders from Egypt and prospers there (there it is again!). He works his way to second in command under the Pharaoh and saves the country from seven years of famine. Even his brothers, who do not recognize him, come to him for food when the famine reaches them. Prospero's brother also come to him, "waterlogged, bereaved, and exhausted."*
• Once both sets of brothers repent of betrayal, "the focus shifts to the hidden controlling brother,"* Joseph and Prospero. The reader starts to feel compassion towards the once corrupt brothers. Personally, I think that this is the perfect picture of Jesus - compassion for the repentant.

Okay, are you ready to know the one difference that Marx points out?
The Tempest opens with chaos that divides species and classes, while the Bible opens with perfect unity and peace.
God walks with Adam and Eve and they don't eat other animals - they abide with them. The Tempest opens with a dark, turbulent feel to it.

Well there you go. I think that Steven Marx sums the similarities up the best when he says,
"I doubt that Shakespeare intended to marry his book to the Bible, as did Dante, Spenser, Milton, and Blake, but I do think he intended them to embrace."





*-From Shakespeare and the Bible, Steven Marx

"Genesis in The Tempest"

In the first chapter of Shakespeare and the Bible, Steven Marx analyzes the book of Genesis and Shakespeare's, The Tempest. In the introduction of the book, Marx says that each chapter would show similarities and differences between the two works being studied, but in this chapter, he seemed to have only made similarities:

• In the title, the word "tempest" literally means a violent windstorm, especially one with rain, hail, or snow; a violent commotion, disturbance, or tumult.* He points out how Genesis started out "formless and empty" with "darkness…over the surface of the earth."** He notes the obvious correlation between Shakespeare's title and the beginning of the first book.
• At the beginning of The Tempest, the protagonist, Prospero, waits for his daughter to awake from periodic deep sleeps, similar to how Adam was put to sleep while God made Eve.
• In both stories, the setting eventually expands. In Genesis, the population of people expands from Eden (when Adam and Eve were expelled) to Egypt (when the Hebrew slaves were in captivity in the next book, Exodus). In The Tempest, Prospero is released from his cell and the story expands to Mediterranean Europe.
• A reoccurring theme in each story is prosperity. In Genesis 1:28, God tells Adam and Eve to "be fruitful and increase in number." Also, "Prospero's" root word is "prosperity."
• God and Prospero both bless their descendants. Like the Creator God, Prospero has a "chosen family"*** to carry out his plans set in the beginning of the play. God establishes the lineage of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob through which His son, Jesus, will carry out the master plan of salvation.
• Both God and Prospero are protagonist and author of their works. (The idea that Prospero is the "author" of The Tempest is simply a theory, but is hinted through his "role as author of plays within the play"***, his addresses to the audience, etc.)
• God and Prospero undo a creation act. God sends the great flood of Noah's time in Genesis chapter 6 because He "regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled." Likewise, Prospero banishes Caliban, the previous ruler Sycorax's son, for trying to take the throne. This act in The Tempest actually has several correlations to Genesis:

"Prospero re-establishes his dominance... by throwing Caliban out of his home, forcing him to live by the sweat of his brow [expulsion from the garden], and reducing his language that he taught him into profitless cursing [the Tower of Babel - Genesis 11]... and by tormenting his countrymen with the prolonged ordeal of death by drowning [the flood]." -The Tempest, pg. 25

Well Marx makes about nine more similarities worth noting, but I think this is enough for now...

*- from dictionary.com

**- from Genesis 1:2

***- from chapter one of Shakespeare and the Bible, Steven Marx

 
 

since september..

Since my last post, I've mainly spent my time reading.


I finished Editors on Editing a long time ago (which I still think that everyone should read), and have read The Elements of Style, as well. I would post my notes from the book on my "book list" page, but my jump drive is now deceased, along with everything on it...


The next book, Shakespeare and the Bible, focuses more on analyzing the Bible from a literary perspective. It takes note of the poetry, history, and epic genres within the different books and illustrates, through Shakespeare, how the Bible has permeated our culture. It's a little dry, but it's very interesting.


The author, Steven Marx (ironic, huh?), does a great job of pointing out how the Bible really is the foundation of all aspects of our lives. When we read Shakespeare, most of the time we don't even notice how much he actually references the KJV Bible.


In fact, some literary professionals suggest (but not highly) that Shakespeare helped translate the KJV because the new Bible and his first collection of great works were published only 12 years apart. Also, did you know that King James ordered the translation of the KJV simply for his own personal devotionals?


Anyways, perhaps the most intriguing topic in the book, so far, is the debate of whether or not we should actually look at the Bible as literature that should be analyzed. In the Renaissance Era, some greatly opposed the action of reading the Bible simply for its poetry. God addresses the same situation in Ezekiel 33:32-33,


" ³¹ My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to hear your words, but they do not put them into practice. Their mouths speak of love, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. ³² Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice. ³³ 'When all this comes true—and it surely will—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.' " 


I think that it is fine to read the Bible as a literary text - as long as we don't forget that it is true, right, just, prophetic, and that it will all come to be, soon, if it hasn't already. We can't just sit by and NOT read the Scriptures; I think that it would be wrong not to. When we do, however, we MUST take them for truth. They are not more fables; they are the living, breathing words of God.


Marx makes numerous other points that even though Shakespeare was considered a secular author, his works support his works through his tragedies and comedies. I guess we'll just have to see when I finish...

it's been a while...

I know it has been a little while since I posted last, but I feel as if I’ve done so much!

First, I’ve started making contacts. One of the colleges I’m looking at is Oklahoma Christian University. I want to get a degree in English, but I just kind of figured that most English departments were pretty standard. I didn’t really know if one college’s department stood out from another’s… I mean, what could really be different. Don’t they all read the same material?

I emailed John deSteiguer, the Senior Vice President for Advancement at OC. He’s a good friend of my family’s and has been a big influence in my recruitment to OC.

From previous knowledge, I knew that he and his wife both attended law school. Together they graduated in the top two places in their class, but they won’t ever say who did better. One of the things that I have been wondering about is, once I get a law degree and decide to practice for a few years, how easy is it to transition out of practicing? Also, is it even practical to go to law school? Will it help at all?

Well, Mr. deSteiguer emailed me back that night with some great answers! He said that law school will definitely help once I start to get into the publishing business. He said to take as many writing classes as I can, as well as some communications classes.

He also referred me to Dr. Cami Agan, the chair of OC’s Department of Language and Literature. She sent me an email about all of the opportunities within OC’s English department. She described the accomplishments of the students’ literary journal, Soundings, and their essays. Dr. Agan did a great job showing how college’s English departments differ from each other.

These are the colleges that I have applied to: OC, Harding University, David Lipscomb University, Union University, University of Tulsa, Oklahoma State University, and Oklahoma City University. Ideally, I see myself at a Church of Christ university, which narrows my list down to OC, Harding and Lipscomb. In Dr. Agan’s email, she said that OC sent 14 students to a national conference in Pittsburgh last year – Harding and Lipscomb sent none.

So, once again, OC seems like a major contender in my college decision. My uncle graduate with an English degree, went on to law school, and now runs a law firm with the County Commissioner. Obviously, he’s done very well with an OC English degree… (sometimes I wonder why I even try looking at other colleges…)

So this is pretty much what I’ve been doing for the past two weeks… Also, I set up a new page on this blog where you can go to see a brief synopsis of the books that I’ve been reading. Enjoy!

week number two

Hello there!

So, I'm still reading Editors on Editing, and I just thought I'd share one more obvious tidbit that I learned while reading this week.

I want to be a copy editor.

It seems to me that, for lack of a better term, "regular" editors do a lot of creative work. Some would say that they are a mix between an author and a businessman. They are an author in that frequently, they come up with the ideas for a book; they are a businessman in that they arrange meetings between the author and their agents.

I am not a super creative person. I can hold my own when given time to think, but it is hard for me to think of new ideas. I would do better if someone gave me a topic, and I tell a fact about it. I'm good at that.

A copy editor deals more with the grammar and analytical side of the manuscript. If the author accidentally spells a character's name one way in one chapter and then a different way in another, it would be the copy editor's job to catch it and alert the author. I would be fantastic doing that, I can tell you that right now.

Well, that's enough for now. Byebye!

first post, don't make fun...

Well hello there, this is my very first blog post...

Background: I want to be an editor (this is the time when you can start scrutinizing every sentence I type for errors). I would love to work in the Christian publishing business, especially in non-fiction, but I'm not picky. On my path to becoming an editor, I want to go to law school and be on the law review. This Senior Academy class (which is what I created this blog for) is for me to research and learn as much as I can about the career I am pursuing, and how to pursue it.

Let's just get right into it -- I'm reading a book right now called Editors on Editing. It's basically about 40 essays written by around 35 editors. They write mainly to authors who want to get their own books published, so that they can kind of learn the rules of the game, before they plunge into the highly competitive and risky cycle that is the publishing business.

Here are some interesting (and probably obvious) little factoids that I have already learned about the editing business:

1. Did you know that editors DON'T actually edit in the office? During office hours, they sort of act as a liaison between the author and his/her agent and the publishing house (herein referred to as "the house" to make myself sound more official). I learned that most of the actual manuscript editing is done at home.
2. I don't know if I've mentioned this already, but I want to edit non-fiction works. I read that most non-fiction book concepts were actually created by the editor, and the author was just hired to write. Well, gosh I have so many ideas! For instance, someone PLEASE write something that people will find intriguing that lets restaurants know that air blow-dryers for your hands are extremely unsanitary... they just blow your germs all over the room... this is another topic entirely...
3. Another point that keeps reoccurring in this book is the strong bond that forms between the author and the editor. It even refers to editors as a "therapist-nag" and as a "meddler." Maybe my past career choice of being a psychiatrist will come in handy...
4. Also, each and every essay I've read has doted on this, apparently, infamous Maxwell Perkins character... After some intense Yahoo-ing (don't get me started on Google), I found out that Mr. Perkins edited The Great Gatsby and many, if not most, of Ernest Hemingway's works. The guy was an editing genius and is the role model of most aspiring editors.
5. Finally, and probably the most important thing I learned, or should I say, was reassured of, so far is that editors are not in it for the money -- they love their jobs and are deeply devoted to the books that they are trying to publish.

So, that's it. Well, not all of it; I still have five pages of notes on just 85 pages of the book. One chapter, I just photo-copied to my word document because all of it was too valuable to paraphrase! I'm learning and I'm loving every minute of it.