Class Summary

I believe this class was an important class to take in order to be prepared for any type of writing that I have to do not only in what’s left in my educational journey, but also in what lies beyond it. While in English 101 I learned the expectations that were in place when it came to writing essays and doing presentations, this class allowed me to apply what I had learned to meet those expectations. If I had to choose what my favorite thing in this class was, I would have to say that it was learning about the lives of the authors. Furthermore, If I had to choose the most important thing that I learned in this class I would say it was learning how to cite different types of literature. To me, the most enjoyable element of this class was exploring literature and the writers who were behind each piece. I have never been one to read on his own or take joy in reading and while I still believe that has remained unchanged, I did enjoy discussing the literature during classes because it usually resulted in me being surprised with the different things that I had missed. As I stated before, the aspect that I found most enjoyable in this class was learning about the personal lives and the literary styles of each author. This is what interested me the most because although this is a literature class, I believe that one should know about the people creating the literature rather than just the literature itself.Furthermore, you could sometimes tell what point in their lives the author was living in by paying attention to the connections between the literature and their personal lives and the context of their stories. On the other hand, the most important skill that I learned in this class was how to properly cite different types of literature.This is a skill that I will have to use when writing an essay or any research paper so having the knowledge as to how it is properly done is necessary. I think that this has a huge importance because not knowing how to give people credit for their work often comes with big consequences. As a skill that I will need to keep using often in my academic career, I think that citing was the most important skill I could have learned. I believe that after taking English for these past two semesters I am now a better writer who is capable of doing well in any writing assignment as long as I put in the effort. This class allowed me to learn about the lives of famous authors and their pieces of literature. Additionally, I got to learn how to improve my writing and how to properly cite. Without this class I do not think I would be prepared for the writing that I will have to do as I continue with my academic career.

Attic Theory and Thespis

The Attic theory of the origin of Greek tragedy connects tragedy to the famous tragedian Thespis by claiming that he was in fact the inventor. Thespis was an ancient Greek tragedian born in the small town of Icaria, which was located in the southern part of Attica, in the 6th century B.C. He is widely known as the first actor of ancient Greek theater. The word “thespian” used to describe actors in Greek theater was created in his honor. Besides being famous for being an actor, Thespis is also regarded as the person responsible for creating the chorus and having it directly involved with the plot. His contribution to not only Greek theater but Greek tragedy as a whole undoubtedly left a big impact. The Parian Marble which is a large stone column with inscriptions dating from 264 BC located in Attica Greece mentions Thespis and states that he may have been performing even before Greek theater competitions started to take place. This is not the only piece of ancient writing that declares Thespis as the first tragic poet as the poem Ars Poetica by Horace mentions Thespis as the original tragedian by stating, “We are told that Thespis invented tragic poetry, unknown before him,/ and that he carried his plays around in wagons…” (285-286) This quote hints that Greek tragedy started of as a new way of writing plays that Thespis shared with the villagers in his hometown and was not something that was widely shared or taught as it is today. Regardless of whether he did create Greek tragedy or not, Thespis undoubtedly had a big role in turning tragedy into one of the three genres of Greek theater and making it as popular as it is today.

Interests and Goals

My name is Cesar Hernandez. I live in Port Washington. I usually spend my free time fishing or watching soccer. I played baseball from a young age and I started playing soccer later in my life. I am an Applied Psychology major. I am very interested in the biological side of psychology and I want to go into the field of neuroscience one day. The reason for this is because I have developed an interest in how the brain functions and how it affects human behavior. From a young age I have known that I want to work in a clinical setting and I hope to be able to do that as either a neurologist, psychiatrist, or clinical neuropsychologist. Although I have not decided which of these three occupations I want to have, I do not think I will be disappointed with whatever my final choice is.

My Background

I come from a Hispanic background. Although I have lived in Long Island for most of my life I was actually not born in this country. I was born in El Salvador and lived there until I was four years old. When I first came to this country I did not know English too well but I was able to pick up the language pretty quickly. After a few months of living in the United States I was able to read, write and speak English just as well as other kids my age. After English started becoming my primary language I started developing an accent when I speak Spanish. I still go back to visit El Salvador often and it is one of my favorite things to do. When I go there I usually spend my days playing soccer, hiking, and working at my grandmother’s bakery.