PHIL 150
\nAssignment #11
\nReading Worksheet: Antigone-Ismene
\n(it appears that the two sisters are arguing about . . .)<\/p>\n
General Instructions for completing this assignment:<\/p>\n
To complete this Reading Worksheet you will be following the same process you used for your previous on-line assignments.<\/p>\n
\u2022\tOpen a document and give it this title at the top of the page: Assig. #11<\/p>\n
\u2022\tGo to the very bottom of this document and copy the Answer Sheet you find there. Then paste it into your new document. Now you can write your answers directly onto it.<\/p>\n
*<\/p>\n
You have already read the play. This Reading Worksheet requires you to follow along as we engage in a close reading and analysis of one passage, in this case the argument between the two sisters that opens the play.<\/p>\n
Like a Quiz there are questions to be answered. But I\u2019m not simply asking you who is speaking. These are more complex questions. As I walk you through the questions I\u2019ll be \u201cteaching\u201d you how to think about these problems. I\u2019ll be offering you \u201cHints\u201d and other bits of analysis that will help you to arrive at the answers you need, just as I would be doing if we were working through these questions together in class.<\/p>\n
So, follow along as we work our way through the opening pages of the play, and the question: What is the fundamental source of the disagreement between the two sisters?<\/p>\n
*<\/p>\n
What are the two sisters really arguing about?<\/p>\n
\u2022\tIn the opening scene of Sophocles\u2019 play \u201cAntigone\u201d it appears that the two sisters are arguing about whether or not to bury their brother Polyneices.
\n\u2022\tIt appears that they are arguing about whether or not to bury Polyneices because they are. (Antigone believes that they must give their brother the necessary funeral rites, while Ismene thinks that awful as it is they must leave their brother unburied.)
\n\u2022\tAnd yet . . . there is something more fundamental at stake in their disagreement.<\/p>\n
So, there is what \u201cappears\u201d which is what you see plainly in front of your eyes. Yes, Antigone and Ismene clearly are arguing over whether or not to leave their brother unburied. And yet in college-level and professional writing and analysis you need to be able to read beneath the surface, beyond the appearances to identify the underlying problems. So, our goal is for you to be able to fill in the words that are supposed to come after that \u201cAnd yet . . .\u201d<\/p>\n
Here we go . . .<\/p>\n
*<\/p>\n
Antigone clearly believes that to leave their brother unburied would be worst thing they could do, a greater evil than \u201call the evils that descend from Oedipus.\u201d<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s start by trying to say what exactly the evil is that is headed their way. On the play\u2019s first page, at line 18 (look for the numbers in the margins) Antigone says:<\/p>\n
I knew it well, that is why I sent for you
\nto come outside the palace gates
\nto listen to me privately (Ant. 18).<\/p>\n
Question 1. In a single complete sentence please tell me what the word \u201cit\u201d refers to in the line \u201cI knew it well.\u201d What did Antigone know well? What is the \u201cit\u201d referencing?<\/p>\n
HINT: The word \u201cit\u201d is a pronoun. Like the word says, a pro-noun, stands in for a noun. In other words, \u201cit\u201d refers to some \u201cthing\u201d (a noun names a person, place, or thing) already mentioned and named research essay writing service. To find out the reference of any pronoun you need to go backwards in the text to find the prior reference.<\/p>\n
In order to understand what the word \u201cit\u201d refers to you, need to understand what Ismene is referring to when she says \u201cNot a word . . .\u201d at line 11.<\/p>\n
The \u201cit\u201d in line 18 refers back to the same thing Ismene is referencing when in response to Antigone\u2019s question, Ismene says: I haven\u2019t heard a word about whatever you are referring to.<\/p>\n
So, to know what \u201cit\u201d in line 18 refers to you must figure out what it is that Ismene has not heard a word about. (Whew!). If you are just reading my typing, then this is confusing. Just look at the opening lines of the play. They will be clearer.<\/p>\n
*
\nWhatever it is that this \u201cit\u201d refers to, it is declared, by Antigone, to be the worst evil that has ever befallen their family.<\/p>\n
What exactly is this new and most terrible evil? In their family this is pretty high bar to clear because they have certainly seen some \u201cevils\u201d haven\u2019t they?<\/p>\n
Their father (Oedipus) killed his birth father on the road, then Oedipus unknowingly married his own birth mother, and when they all found out the truth (his four children are the product of incest) their Dad pulled out his eyes and wandered off to die and Mother hanged herself out of horror and shame. Then their two brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices, killed each other in combat.<\/p>\n
So, what could be worse than all of that? What could this new \u201cevil\u201d be?<\/p>\n
When Antigone reviews Creon\u2019s proclamation she says this at line 33 (look for the little numbers in the margins):<\/p>\n
That is what the worthy Creon
\nhas proclaimed for you and me\u2014for me I tell you\u2014((Ant. 33).<\/p>\n
What do these words mean? It is pretty clear what the proclamation does to Polyneices, or to his dead body. The proclamation made by Creon says that the body of Polyneices is to be left unburied, to be eaten by the birds.<\/p>\n
But the words I just quoted are spoken by Antigone and they say the proclamation does something to Antigone and Ismene . . . \u201cfor you and me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Question 2. Please write a sentence (or two) in which you explain what is the new and terrible evil hidden in the proclamation. What evil does the proclamation send to the two sisters? What does it attempt to force them to do or not to do? What exactly is the evil they are now faced with?<\/p>\n
(Hint: The new and most awful evil she is referring to is not that their brother might be left, unburied, on the battlefield to be eaten by birds. So, the answer you are looking for is not an evil that will befall Polyneices\u2019s dead body. He is dead already.<\/p>\n
Nor is the evil in question the fact that the two sisters might now be executed by their uncle. That\u2019s closer, because this answer acknowledges that the \u201cevil\u201d coming their way is directed not at the dead body of Polyneices but it is directed at the two sisters.. Still, it isl not the answer you want.<\/p>\n
No, the evil in question here is an evil that could befall the two sisters, which means it is an evil that involves them doing something awful or evil.<\/p>\n
One last hint: remember that in the Greek world doing what is right is not really the goal, the goal is to avoid doing evil. Not to do what is wrong is the Greek version of doing what is right. If you can avoid doing evil, then you are doing what is right. And what is it that is most likely to cause anyone to do something they know they shouldn\u2019t do? It is the fear of death that makes people do wrong.<\/p>\n
So, now try to answer the question: What exactly is this new evil headed their way?<\/p>\n
*
\nAt line 43 Antigone says: \u201cHere is this hand, will you help it to lift the dead man.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then, at line 69 Antigone says: \u201cI would not urge you now: nor if you wanted \/ to act would I be glad to have you with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Question 3. In a single sentence say what it is that Antigone is asking her sister to do at line 43.<\/p>\n
Question 4. In a single sentence say what it is Antigone refusing or denying her sister at line 69.<\/p>\n
*
\nLet\u2019s think about the difference between what Antigone is saying at line 43 and what Antigone is saying at line 69.<\/p>\n
If you can explain what causes Antigone to shift
\nfrom:
\n\u2022\tasking for Ismene\u2019s help
\nto:
\n\u2022\tinsisting that she would not now accept Ismene\u2019s help even if Ismene were to offer it<\/p>\n
. . . then you are well on your way to understanding what the two sisters are actually arguing about.<\/p>\n
It appears that Antigone and Ismene are arguing over whether or not to leave their brother unburied. Is that the answer we are looking for? No. It would be false to say that the two sisters are arguing because one sister wants to bury Polyneices and the other sister does not want to see him buried?<\/p>\n
Ismene never says that she wants to see Polyneices left unburied.<\/p>\n
Ismene never says that she wants to see Polyneices left unburied. What she says is this: awful as it is to leave him unburied, under the circumstances we must leave him unburied.<\/p>\n
Why would Ismene think they must obey the proclamation?<\/p>\n
Well take another look at the opening lines of Ismene\u2019s long speech. She begins with a list.
\n\u2022\tFirst, our father . . .
\n\u2022\tthen our mother . . .
\n\u2022\tthen, third, just the other day our two brothers . . .
\n\u2022\t\u201cand now there are only the two of us left . . .\u201d<\/p>\n
So, if you want to understand what Ismene is thinking you need to recognize that it has something to do with the fact that all the other members of their family are dead.<\/p>\n
Ismene thinks that awful as it is to contemplate, they simply must leave Polyneices unburied because, as women, they have an even higher obligation, even more fundamental than their obligation to bury the dead members of their family.<\/p>\n
As women and as the last two living members of their family, they must do what is necessary to preserve the family. Ismene represents the reasonable view that their obligation under the circumstances (see the list, above) is to stay alive in order to marry and have children. To choose to bury Polyneices at this point would mean abandoning their family because if the two sisters die then the family will go extinct.<\/p>\n
So, let\u2019s outline Ismene\u2019s position first, and then we will try to construct Antigone\u2019s position.<\/p>\n
*<\/p>\n
What are the two sisters actually arguing about?<\/p>\n
First reading and analysis.
\n\u2022\tIt appears that the two sisters are arguing over whether or not to bury Polyneices; (because of course they are arguing about this, but the question is why, what is the underlying cause of their surface disagreement?)
\n\u2022\tAnd yet neither sister actually wishes to see Polyneices\u2019s body left unburied.
\n\u2022\tRather, Ismene thinks that they must leave him unburied in order to preserve the family.<\/p>\n
Conclude that what the two sisters are really arguing about is the preservation of the family.<\/p>\n
Ismene knows that everyone else is already dead and so unless the two of them survive and have children (new family members) then the family of Oedipus will go extinct. If the two of them bury Polyneices and are executed, that means the extinction of their family.<\/p>\n
Second reading and analysis.
\n\u2022\tIt appears that the two sisters are arguing over whether or not to do what is necessary to preserve the family.
\n\u2022\tAnd yet neither sister is opposed to preserving the family.
\n\u2022\tRather, Antigone thinks that to preserve the family they must bury Polyneices and die doing so, while Ismene thinks they must remain alive to make more family members.<\/p>\n
Conclude that the two sisters are really arguing about is what it means to preserve the family.<\/p>\n
Again, Ismene thinks the only way to preserve the family is to stay alive and make babies. What could Antigone possibly understand by \u201cpreservation\u201d of the family.<\/p>\n
Third reading and final analysis.
\n\u2022\tThe two sisters are arguing over whether or not to bury Polyneices because they disagree about what it means to preserve the family.
\n\u2022\tAnd the two sisters disagree about what it means to preserve the family because they represent two fundamentally different ideas of what it means to be human.
\n\u2022\tIsmene thinks, quite reasonably, that you can\u2019t really be a human being unless you are biologically alive. (Ismene doubtless knows that other factors are important too, but at the very least you can\u2019t be a good human or a bad human unless you are at the very least biologically alive).
\n\u2022\tAntigone thinks that what defines you as a human is not simply whether or not you are biologically alive, but whether or not you are living honorably or dishonorably.<\/p>\n
So, . . . Antigone believes that in order to preserve the family you need to preserve the family honor. Ismene believes that it makes no sense to talk about preserving the family honor if there are no more living members of the family.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a whole lot to cover so I\u2019m now going to ask you some simple questions to make sure you are following this set of interlocking arguments.<\/p>\n
*<\/p>\n
Question 5. In a single sentence say why it is that after hearing Ismene\u2019s speech Antigone suddenly changes her mind. After hearing Ismene\u2019s long speech, rather than asking for her help as she had before, Antigone instead refuses her sister\u2019s help at line 69.<\/p>\n
After hearing what her sister, Ismene, says in her long speech \u201cwe are only women\u201d . . . Antigone changes from asking for her help \u201chere is this hand, will you help\u201d . . . to refusing to allow Ismene to help. Why?<\/p>\n
HINT: In your answer to question 4 you already said WHAT Antigone is refusing. She is refusing her sister\u2019s help in burying their brother\u2019s body. Now your job is to say WHY Antigone now suddenly refuses her sister\u2019s help.<\/p>\n
HINT #2: Whose job is it to bury the dead? It is the job of the state or government? No. It is of course, the obligation of your family to \u201cbury\u201d and honor the dead in your family.<\/p>\n
Now, tell me why Ismene would suddenly no longer allowed to help in the burial.<\/p>\n
*
\nQuestion 6. Which of the two sisters agrees with Creon and wants to see Polyneices left to be eaten by the birds?
\nHINT: Before you answer, be sure to re-read \u201cFirst Reading and Analysis\u201d just above<\/p>\n
*
\nISMENE\u2019S ARGUMENT: When Ismene thinks about preserving the family she is thinking, quite reasonably, that if there are no members of the family left alive then they have failed to preserve the family. And if they bury Polyneices then they will both be executed. So Ismene thinks, quite reasonably, that they can\u2019t afford to be heroic in this case because their prime responsibility is to preserve the family.<\/p>\n
Question 7- 8. Now I want you to play the role of Antigone and write a two to three sentence response to Ismene in which Antigone argues in favor of preserving the family, but in a different sense from what Ismene means by \u201cpreservation.\u201d
\nHINT: Your goal is to have Antigone agree with the absolute importance of preserving the family, but come to the opposite conclusion as to what they must do, and why.<\/p>\n
*
\nThe problem or question that drives the opening clash between the two sisters is a clash of two fundamentally different views of what defines us as human beings.<\/p>\n
Question 9. In a single complete sentence tell me what Ismene thinks is required for a human being to be a human being.
\nHINT: I call her position or opinion the \u201cbiological\u201d definition of what it means to be human.<\/p>\n
*
\nQuestion 10. In a single sentence tell me what Antigone thinks defines us as the humans that we are, marking us as fully human or not fully mature humans?
\nHINT: I call her position the \u201cheroic\u201d definition of what it means to be a human.<\/p>\n
*
\nTo complete this Reading Worksheet you will be following the same process you used for your previous assignments.<\/p>\n
\u2022\tOpen a document and give it this title at the top of the page: Reading Worksheet Antigone-Ismene
\n\u2022\tCopy the Answer Sheet (just below). Then paste it into your new document. Now you can write your answers directly onto it.
\n\u2022\tWhen you have completed your answers, hit SAVE, and then upload to CANVAS.<\/p>\n
ANSWER SHEET<\/p>\n
Question 1. In a single complete sentence please tell me what the word \u201cit\u201d refers to in the line \u201cI knew it well.\u201d (2 points)<\/p>\n
Question 2. Please write a sentence (or two) in which you explain what is the new and terrible evil hidden in the proclamation. (2 points)<\/p>\n
Question 3. In a single sentence say what it is that Antigone is asking her sister to do at line 43. (2 points)<\/p>\n
Question 4. In a single sentence say what it is Antigone refusing or denying her sister at line 69. (2 points)<\/p>\n
Question 5. In a single sentence say why it is that Antigone refuses her sister\u2019s help at line 69. (2 points)<\/p>\n
Question 6. Which of the two sisters agrees with Creon and wants to see Polyneices left to be eaten by the birds? (2 points)<\/p>\n
Question 7- 8. Now I want you to play the role of Antigone and write a two to three sentences, telling me why she thinks they must bury their brother and accept death. (4 points)<\/p>\n
Question 9. In a single complete sentence tell me what Ismene thinks is required for a human being to be a human being. (2 points)<\/p>\n
Question 10. In a single sentence tell me what Antigone thinks defines us as the humans that we are, marking us as fully human or not fully mature humans? (2 points)
\n___________________
\nANSWER SHEET<\/p>\n
Question 1. The word “it” refers to the fate of their brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices.<\/p>\n
Question 2. The new and terrible evil hidden in the proclamation is the prohibition of giving proper burial rites to Polyneices, which goes against the laws of the gods.<\/p>\n
Question 3. Antigone is asking her sister to help her bury their brother, Polyneices.<\/p>\n
Question 4. Antigone is denying Ismene the right to share in the guilt and punishment for burying their brother.<\/p>\n
Question 5. Antigone refuses her sister’s help because she believes Ismene didn’t support her earlier when she needed her.<\/p>\n
Question 6. Ismene agrees with Creon and wants to see Polyneices left to be eaten by the birds.<\/p>\n
Question 7- 8. “We must bury our brother because it is our duty to honor and preserve the family, not just in flesh and blood, but in the spirit of our ancestors. By giving him a proper burial, we will show respect for the gods and our family traditions, even if it means accepting death.”<\/p>\n
Question 9. Ismene believes that being born from the same mother and father is what is required for a human being to be a human being.<\/p>\n
Question 10. Antigone thinks that it is heroic actions, such as standing up for justice and family, even in the face of death, that mark us as fully human and mature.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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