The Problem of Evil

Bros:

As indicated in your textbook in its discussion on the Book of Job, "the dilemma of why the good suffer and the wicked prosper in this life is known as the problem of evil" (Newland 249). However, the problem is not so simple as to say that only one side perishes while the other thrives. Ultimately, we all experience suffering in some way, often in what seem unjust or undeserved circumstances. It is this kind of suffering--the stuff that seems unfair--that defines the "problem of evil" and which the author, Jay Sklar, of the article, "Why Does God Permit Evil?", I gave you addresses in his essay.

In a well-developed essay of at least three, full paragraphs, give a summary of the article, including the author's name and the title of the article in quotations in the introduction of your essay.

Then give a well-argued and reasoned response to the article, including any agreements and/or disagreements you have. If you recognize any seeming inconsistencies in the author's argument, please state them.

Your concluding paragraph should be a reflection on your own sense of what purpose suffering gives us in our lives.

This is due, Wednesday, May 20, 2009 on the blog or typed hard copy under the following heading:

Your Name
Bro. Rob Peach, FSC
Rel 011.05
May 20, 2009

Into the Film: A Review of Penn's Adaptation

Brothers,

In a well-crafted essay of at least five, well-developed paragraphs, please give your reaction to Sean Penn's film adaptation of Into the Wild, basing your essay on the following five questions:

1. First of all, what was your overall reaction to the film? Explain in detail.

2. Interpret various images or themes as presented in the film.

3. What are three lessons you learned by watching the film? Explain in detail.

4. To what biblical themes that we've discussed in class do the film relate?

5. How is Alexander Supertramp's journey a spiritual one? Be detailed in your response. If a specific Old Testament biblical passage comes to mind, please reference the passage by indicating the book, the chapter, and the verse numbers. (Think prophets of Israel: How is Chris "Alex Supertramp" McCandless like one of the prophets? Explain.)

This assignment is Due: Tuesday, May 5 by class time. It must be typed or submitted to the blog.

Your heading should be as follows:

Your Name
Bro. Rob Peach, FSC
REL 011.05
May 5, 2009

Into and Out of the Wild: Ch. 16-17

Bros:

As we come closer to the concluding pages of the story about one man's journey into the wilderness to not only find, but create himself, I would like you to write an at least three paragraph reflection on what you believe is the most important lesson to learn from his story.

Please use chapters 16 and 17 as reference points, enlightening your classmates as to what you think are the major insights to be gained from the final chapters of this powerful story.

What are some themes, symbols, images, metaphors and other other literary techniques that people should be aware of in understanding the deeper meaning of the text.

Have at it, and be sure to quote from the text, using the proper format for quotations such as follows:

Krakauer writes, "..." (#).
For instance, "..." (Krakauer #).
According to Krakauer, "..." (#).

This reflection is DUE WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2009 by class-time on blog or typed, hard copy. It will be worth 10 points, so put the proper intellectual effort into this.

Brother Supertramp, FSC

p.s. don't forget to head your entries with the following:

Your Name
Bro. Rob Peach, FSC
Rel 011.05
April 22, 2009

Exploring Chapters 10-12

Bros:


You created the questions and so you answer ONE of the following in a WELL-DEVELOPED paragraph (or two or three) that quote(s) from the text for support (for formatting guidelines see earlier posts where I explain it.)


Please indicate which question you are answering by retyping it above your answer.



This blog response is Due Wednesday, April 15, 2009 by class-time on blog (or typed, hard copy if you cannot log-in).

Please follow proper heading format:

Your Name
Bro. Rob Peach, FSC
Rel 011.05
April 15, 2009

The questions:

• Billie points out that Chris was in a picture at the age of eight on a horse. What does this symbolize in his life?
• Why would Chris withold his infomration on his first W-4 form for Westerberg but write his real information the second time he filled the form?
• Why does Krakauer mention specifically the only class McCandless failed in high school?
• Why do you think McCandless gave his dad a telescope before he left for college? What might this say about Chris' relationship with his Dad?
• What are the similarities shared between Chris and his father?
• Why is sit so hard for authorities to identify Chris? How did they eventually find out his identity?
• In chapter 12 we learn why Chris resents his father? Why? HOw does he find out about his father and what is the result of this?
• In chapter 10, what is is strange about the clothes Chris was wearing when he died?
• In chapter twelve, what was a foreshadowing event that took place? Explain.
• Why do you think everyone who met Chris felt so upset when they found out he died?
• In chapter 12, Carine compares Chris to Jesus on the cross because of all the weight he lost on one of his excursions. Interestingly, how is this description of Chris appropriate in some ways besides the mere physical similarities between the two figures?
• Why was it ironic that Chris wrote his real name on a sign attached to the bus in which he died?
• Why is it ironic that Chris gave his father an expensive telescope for his father's birthday?
• Why/how did Chris leave a lasting impression on the people he met, even after he died?
• What aspects of Chris' personality baffled his parents?
• What does Carine's reaction to the news of Chris' death say about their relationship? Explain.
• What was going through Chris' head at the beginning of chapter 11? What was he feeling?
• In chapter 12, what does Chris get emotional about when he is drinking? Explain the significance of this.

The Journey Continues: Ch. 4-9

Bros:

As with I, John Baptist De La Salle, it is up to you to find your own meanings in reading the text. The only way for a story to become relevant, after all, is for you to fully invest yourself into it as if you were an archeologist trying to uncover some long buried secret about existence.

Anyhow, you create the questions and so you answer ONE of the following in a WELL-DEVELOPED paragraph (or two or three) that quote(s) from the text for support (for formatting guidelines see earlier posts where I explain it.)

Your questions should focus on discovering and explaining the literary techniques we discussed in class earlier this week as they are revealed in one of the chapters between four and nine.

This blog response is Due Wednesday, April 8, 2009 by class-time on blog (or typed, hard copy if you cannot log-in).

Please follow proper heading format:

Your Name
Bro. Rob Peach, FSC
Rel 011.05
April 8, 2009

The questions:

• Why is it ironic that Franz actually steps out into the wild? How is it ironic that when Franz decides to live like Alex, a flashflood wipes out his campsite? How is the flashflood a symbol for/representing Alex?

• In chapter eight, we are told that Jon Waterman climbed Mt. McKinley at the age of 16. What does climbing the mountain symbolize? In what way are he and McCandless alike?

• What kind of statement is McCandless making by not wearing socks as told to us in chapter five?

• How does the epigraph of chapter four relate to McCandless' journey as revealed in chapter four? What are some other literary devices used in this epigraph and how do they relate to what is told to us in chapter four about McCandless?

• When McCandless finally gets to the ocean, what is ironic about his situation as recorded in chapter four?

• How does the image of McCandless' drained car help show McCandless what his journey is really about? What does the car symbolize?

• What can be inferred about McCandless' personality based upon the personal possessions found in his car in chapter four?

• In chapter four, we are told that McCandless sends a card to Wayne just before his journey into the Alaskan wilderness. What does this gesture suggest about McCandless' character?

• When he sets out on a hike on Lake Mead, what was the conflict with which McCandless had to deal as Krakauer explains it in chapter four?

• In chapter five, we are told that McCandless spent July and August (circa 1991) on the Oregon Caost and that the "fog and rain was often intolerable" (Krakauer 39). What can this symbolize or suggest about his journey?

• What is foreshadowed by the abandonment of McCandless' car (see chapter four)?

• What could McCandless' burying of his possessions symbolize or suggest after he abandons his car (see chapter four)?

• Why do you think Christopher McCandless such an astounding effect on the people he meets and connects with?

• How does Krakauer use the bear-paw poppy to symbolize McCandless (see chapter four)?

Enter the Wild: Author's Note, Chapters 1-3

Bros:

In the opening pages of Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer's account of the journey undertaken by Christopher "Alexander Supertramp" McCandless, we are introduced to a young man who is in search of truth and beauty--something that he beleives can only be found in the unfettered existence and pure wilderness of the American frontier. At the end of chapter three, Krakauer does well to sum up the philosophy that inspired McCandless' break from the constraints of the "civilized world":

[...]The trip was to be an odyssey in the fullest sense of the word, an epic journey that would change everything. He had spent the previous four years, as he saw it, preparing to fulfill an absurd and onerous duty: to graduate from college. At long last he was unencumbered, emancipated from the stifling world of his parents and peers, a world of abstraction and security and material excess, a world in which he felt grievously cut off from the raw throb of existence.

Driving west out of Atlanta, he intended to invent an utterly new life for himself, one in which he would be free to wallow in unfiltered experience. To symbolize the
complete severance from his previous life, he even adopted a new name. No longer would he answer to Chris McCandless; he was now Alexander Supertramp, master of his own destiny. (22-23)

In this way, McCandless voiced his protest against what he saw were the excesses of modern society, bound by an irrational reliance on money and business and industry and war and politics. Only when man ventured into the unknown, free of the illusions created by capitalism's false ideals of fulfillment in material possession could he truly discover the human spirit, the God in everything.

That said, I would like you to, in a well-developed paragraph, share your initial thoughts upon reading the opening chapters of Into the Wild. Please be sure to quote the text as a way to illustrate any points you make in reference to the story.

The format for doing is would be as follows: Krakauer writes, "...." (#).

This blog response is due by classtime, Wednesday, April 1, 2009.

Remember to place a heading at the top of your response:

Your Name
Bro. Rob Peach, FSC
Rel 011.05
April 1, 2009

In the meantime, please continue reading through chapter seven.

Brother Supertramp, FSC

Finishing Up: The Growing Years and Onward...

Ok Bros:

You made up the questions, now you answer them. Please be sure to quote from the text for back-up.

Remember that the format for quoting goes like this:Leo Kirby, FSC, speaking in the voice of De La Salle writes, "Bro. Peach, FSC schooled Brett Cerussi in basketball recycling two Fridays ago" (45).

Notice that the period goes after the parenthesis, which encloses the page number from which you pulled the quote.

You must answer in depth three (3) of the following questions. Pleas re-write the question and place your answer below.

Please be sure to indicate at the top of the page:

Your Name
Bro. Rob Peach, FSC
Rel 011.05
March 24, 2009

Your blog response is due Tuesday, March 24, 2009, by class time.

God be blessed,
Bro. Peach, FSC

The Questions:

• After six years of a "honeymoon period" why did things become difficult for De La Salle?
• Throughout the tough times, what became De La Salle's strategy to deal with the problems he was facing?
• What did De La Salle say Nyel's one mistake was?
• Why did De La Salle rush from Rheims to Paris in hot July weather? What does this say about him as a person?
• How many letters did one biographer say De La Salle wrote? What does this say about him as a person?
• What do you tink De La Salle means when he says he just went where God's finger pointed and when it was his time he didn't want to say, "wait," "I still haven't..." or, "I need to..."?
• In what way did De La Salle want the Brothers to act toward students?
• Early on in his ministry, on his way back to Rheims, what happened to De La Salle? How did it affect his ministry?
• What was his big move at the age of 30? Why did he make this move?
• Why were the conditions harsh for teachers?
• Why were De La Salle and the Brothers accused of destroying the education system in France at the time?
• Name some ways De La Salle implemented to meet the individual needs of the students in his schools?
• Why did Pop Pius XII name De La Salle patron saint of teachers?
• In 1686, what did the Brothers hold and why?
• De La Salle says that he is a "city boy" at heart. Why can't he get over that feeling?
• When did the biographers say De La Salle died? At what age? What did people shout in the street? What was De La Salle's reaction to people who called him a saint while he was still alive?
• Why did the Brothers establish schools in big cities?
• According to Leo Kirby, FSC, how were teachers asked to conect with the students of differing social or financial status?
• What are some causes of De La Salle's stress towards the end of his life?
• What happened 50 years into De La Salle's death involving the first school he founded?
• What are the countries where Brothers' schools exist? What is the Institute's mission or goals in the modern world?
• According to Leo Kirby, FSC, how was De La Salle's legacy upheld?

I, John Baptist de La Salle: The Seed Years

Brothers,

In Chapter Two of I, John Baptist de La Salle, entitled, "The Seed Years," we are given an account of de La Salle's radical sacrifice in which he gave up everything for the sake of educating the poor of France. Acting as St. La Salle, Bro. Leo Kirby, FSC, writes, "I gave up my salaried position to a poor pirest, and I gave away my money to feed teh hungry. From that time on, I got much closer to the children they taught. I could now truthfully say, 'We Brothers'" (25). Here, we get a sense of how important self-sacrifice is in the life of a Christian. Only when one "takes up his cross"--or dedicates himself to a cause greater than himself--can he truly begin to experience God's kingdom of love on earth.

That said, I would like you to discuss one theme (a unifying idea or subject of a given text) portrayed in "The Seed Years". Support your discussion with back-up from the text; use quotes and format them properly (as modeled for you above)! Notice above how I discuss the theme of self-sacrifice as being an important part of the Christian's call to duty and relate it to De La Salle's life using a quote from the chapter.

Please be thorough and thoughtful in your response. This blog should be at least one paragraph in length, but may very well exceed that length, especially if you get involved in your discussion of the theme you choose. Always ask yourself "how" and "why" when discussing the points you make about a particular theme. When you insert quotes, you must interpret what the author means by them.

This is due Tuesday, March 17, 2009 by class-time.

Brother Rob Peach, FSC

Meeting a Saint: I, John Baptist de La Salle

Bros:

In Chapter One of I, John Baptist de La Salle, entitled, "Roots and Wings," the author speaks in the perspective of De La Salle, telling us of his upbringing and the initial spark that led De La Salle from the "clerical" duties of the priesthood to the founding of something that he "wouldn't have touched the project with the tips of [his] fingers" if he knew where it would lead him (Kirby 21).

In a well-developed paragraph, due by classtime on Wednesday, March 11, I would like you to give a personal response to the beginnings of De La Salle's story. Questions to consider:

• What are some observations about his early life that strike you as interesting or odd?
• What defines "vocation" according to what you read of De La Salle's early life?
• How does De La Salle experience God in his life according to the voice of Brother Leo Kirby, FSC, who wrote the essay in the persona of De La Salle?
• How does De La Salle's early life and call to the priesthood and later to the mission asked of him by Adrien Nyel parallel an Old Testament story of God's call to a prophet? (be specific)
• Why is De La Salle relevant to your own life today? From the little you've read, what about his life could you make relevant to your own?
• What was the role of suffering in shaping De La Salle's knowledge of and approach to everyday life?

If you should at all refer to something in the text, please format as follows: Speaking as the person of De La Salle, Bro. Leo Kirby, FSC, writes, "Adrien Nyel, who later became a good friend of mine, was by experince and nature an originator of projects. I guess he was the spark; I was the bush he set afire. Together, I think, we made a pretty good team" (Kirby 21).

The above quote is placed in quotation marks with an introductory phrase (Bro. Leo Kirby, FSC, writes...) and is cited with the last name of the author and the page number from which you took the author's quote in parantheses, followed by a period.

In order to respond on this blog, you will click the header, I, John Baptist de La Salle, then click the"post comment" link at the bottom of this prompt. You will then type your response with a heading that is formatted as follows:

Your Name

Bro. Rob Peach, FSC

Rel 011.05

March 11, 2009