Cover Letter 2 Dear reader, After going through peer review last Thursday, we had to revise our drafts. Honestly, I feel like I didn’t have that much work to do (compared to others). Most of my feedback was about clarifying my point and drawing more connections. I played around a lot with rearranging the Modern Medea paragraphs. I did not realize I wrote so much, and that some of my thoughts weren’t necessarily connected. Looking forward to this second peer review session, I hope that my paper makes more sense and the connections are even clearer. Sincerely, Amy
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Cover Letter Dear reader, For this project, students were asked to choose a topic of their choice relating this class to another outside discipline. I chose to research why people are still creating adaptations of Medea today and what about her keeps her relevant. My writing process for this paper began with reading Euripides’s Medea and Rick Riordan’s The Lost Hero. Then I looked up other people’s research on comparing modern Medea to Euripides’s Medea. I took notes, created charts, and drew connections between the various papers I read as well as the texts. I ended up having to change my thesis multiple times. At first I thought I was arguing “No matter how Medea’s traits evolve over time, the moral dilemma her actions present are what keep her relevant to today and what will keep her relevant in the future.” However, I soon realized Medea’s characteristics do not simply exist for Medea, they enhance and bring to life the story itself. Although it may seem like a simple conclusion, this moment was probably one of my proudest during the writing process. Other moments where I felt good about my writing were the introduction and conclusion because I feel like I expressed my thoughts clearly. Usually I have all theses thoughts running through my head, then they all converge into one amazing epiphany, but I always find it hard to lead the reader to that conclusion through my words. During the writing itself, I found it much easier to just type out a stream of conscious of my thoughts and then go back to edit any typos or missing words later. This method was a little challenging for me because I usually like to edit while I go. The fact that I did not edit as much as I usually do creates a concern that not all of my supporting data is as flushed out as I would prefer. Looking forward towards the revision process, I my peers will let me know if they understand my key points or if I need to make them clearer. I also hope to solidify those connecting lines to my claims as well as further improve my word choice. That’s all for now. Sincerely, Amy
Below is a document containing my research for this paper. The document to the right is a copy of Rick Riordan's The Lost Hero. There is also a downloadable version of my project research.
Working thesis: No matter how Medea’s traits evolve over time, the moral dilemma her actions present are what keep her relevant to today and what will keep her relevant in the future. Artifact plan: For my artifact I think I’m going to make a maze with holes in it that you have to get around. I will either make it by hand with cardboard or wood and straws (or something like that) or maybe 3d print it (depending on big I want it to be). By making a maze I want to communicate how Medea can have different traits (different sized marbles) and yet still be able to succeed in modern literature (i.e. no matter what marble you decide to be, you can still get to the end of the maze). Overall, I want people to be interested in my project and be able to interact with it.
Revision 1 elevator pitch My project is about the evolution of Medea as a revenge character. I will specifically focus on how her personality, power, and agency shift over time. The purpose of my project is to determine what keeps Medea relevant to today and how she will remain relevant in the future. Revision 2 pitch My project is about the evolution of Medea as a revenge character. I will specifically focus on how her personality, power, and agency shift over time. The purpose of my project is to show that no matter how Medea traits evolve over time, the moral dilemma her actions present are what keep her relevant to today and what will keep her relevant in the future. Twitter tweet 1
This just in: Medea, an ancient sorceress (who also happens to be one crazed Froot Loop®) is still relevant today. Why? Tweet 2 New adaptations of Medea everyday, yet the plot line never changes? Is the same old story that entertaining or is there more to the formula? Original pitch Have you ever heard of Medea? She's pretty crazy, right? I mean, killing her own children, poisoning another woman just to get back at her ex... Yikes. But how has she evolved over the years? Euripides wrote his famous account of Medea but what keeps her relevant today? What makes her powerful? Is it her sorcery? Her wits? Perhaps, a winning personality? Read this paper to find out! Revised elevator pitch My project is about the evolution of Medea as a revenge character. I will specifically focus on how her personality, power, and agency shift over time. The purpose of my project is to determine what keeps Medea relevant to today and how she will remain relevant in the future. Twitter tweet
This just in: Medea, an ancient sorceress (who also happens to be one crazed Froot Loop®) is still relevant today. Why? Have you ever heard of Medea? She's pretty crazy, right? I mean, killing her own children, poisoning another woman just to get back at her ex... Yikes. But how has she evolved over the years? Euripides wrote his famous account of Medea but what keeps her relevant today? What makes her powerful? Is it her sorcery? Her wits? Perhaps, a winning personality? Read this paper to find out! The main conversation I am joining is one of comparing literary adaptations of Medea. Some of the voices in this conversation that stood out to me included Melinda M. Marks, a graduate student at San Jose State University. In her master’s thesis, Marks observes the ways in which structural factors, such as the use of supporting characters and setting, within modern American adaptations of Euripides’ Medea help enhance the main traits of Medea. Her thesis aims to “create a distinct theory of adaptation by which well known theatrical characters may be assessed” (Marks 2013). Marks’ research is relevant to my project because it compares different versions of Medea over different time spans. Her analysis of the effect of surroundings and other characters can help me think about and draw conclusions for Rick Riordan’s version of Medea.
Another leading source of information is Katharine E. Jordon’s Honors Theses on the The Art of Adaption. In her work, Jordon, examines how adaptations in various mediums (theatre, opera, dance, and film) shed light on still why Medea continues to speak to today’s audience and remains relevant to our culture and lives. This source is helpful to my topic because it is important to examine why Medea is still being adapted today. What makes her so memorable? How do variations affect our understanding of the character? Why and how does she evolve over time? A third source I looked at was an essay written by an anonymous student. In his/her essay, student A, compared Medea’s role in three different films. Their primary goal was to demonstrate how film versions of Medea further our understanding of Medea’s plot and what drives her. All three of these sources are relevant to my topic because they are about how adaptions have changed the audience’s view, the character of Medea, and shed light onto why Medea still remains a popular figure today. My research topics fits into this conversation because while many have written about modern plays, operas, dances, films, tv shows, or movies, I plan to compare Euripides’ Medea to YA novels. This is a completely new comparison to add to the numerous comparisons already out there. My working project argument is that the ability for author’s to change Medea’s personality, agency, and power as needed for the time period keep her relevant today and will keep her relevant in the future. Final project artifact brainstorming
- includes components of their personality, powers, and agency - how: demonstrates the differences and similarities between Hera/Medea and old/new - materials: paper, pencils, colored pencils, markers 2) lucid chart/web - Hera vs. Medea. Old vs. New. - how: demonstrates the differences and similarities between Hera/Medea and old/new - materials: paper, pencils, colored pencils, markers 3) fortune teller - one for Hera/Medea. One for old/new - how: demonstrates the different limitations and “powers” of each woman - materials: paper, pencils, colored pencils, markers 4) board game - you play have a choice between old/new and Hera/Medea - each character has an “end goal” - roll dice? - go around the board and encounter different obstacles based on your character - have additional cards (like in Monopoly) - different pathways that each character can take based on their “power” or agency - how: demonstrates the limitations of each woman: agency, power, and personality. - materials: paper, pencils, colored pencils, markers, cardboard, game pieces 5) maze - 4 different marbles or pieces for each character - has holes in the bottom that you have to avoid - have different sized - marbles - characters - pathways - agency - holes - obstacles - different end goals? - how: demonstrates the limitations of each woman: agency, power, and personality. - materials: card board, glue, sharpie, scissors, marbles OR - construction paper, plastic straws, scissors, glue, marbles 6) marble machin - like rube goldberg for marbles - probably won’t do this because it would take forever, but it’s super cool! |