Ten canoes essay

HUM 210-006: World Mythologies Take-home Midterm Exam Due: Tuesday, March 21 (in class) Please type your answers, include your name and page numbers on EVERY page, and indicate clearly which questions you are answering. PART ONE 25 points Answer any FIVE of the following. Each response should be a PARAGRAPH in length. 1.In Saramago’s Cain. A Novel, we read the following scriptural excerpt even before the opening sentences of the opening chapter: (5 points) By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet he speaketh. -- Hebrews 11:4 Book of Nonsense This short verse of scripture provides the basis for Saramago’s text. Explore the significance of the tag “Book of Nonsense” that is added to the scriptural reference, Hebrews 11:4. How does this short phrase relate to the story of Cain that is originally presented in the Hebrew Bible (in Genesis), and then, much later, revised and rewritten in Saramago’s Cain. A Novel. 2.In the opening scene of Rolf de Heer’s Ten Canoes, we hear the voice of the storyteller: Once upon a time, in a land far far away… (laughter)… No, not like that., I’m only jokin’! But I am going to tell you a story – it’s not your story, it’s my story, a story like you’ve never seen before. But you want a proper story, eh? I must tell you something of my people and my land…(5 points) What does this communicate to the viewer about the storyteller and the story (or should that be stories?) that will be presented in Ten Canoes? (5 points) 3.Towards the end of Saramago’s text, the narrator offers the following insight into the main character: Cain may be a murderer, but he’s an essentially honest man, and even the dissolute days he spent in concubinal bliss with Lilith, however reprehensible in bourgeois eyes, were not enough to alter his innate moral sense, one has only to think of the way he bravely stands up to god, although truth be told, the lord has not yet noticed, unless one recalls the discussion they had over abel’s still-warm body. (131) Is this an accurate assessment of Cain in the context of the novel as a whole? How does this insight explain the main concerns of Saramago’s creative rewriting of the biblical material? (5 points) Midterm/1 4.In the final episode of Saramago’s narrative, we read the following: Cain is wrestling with his anger against the lord, as if he were caught in the tentacles of an octopus, and his latest victims are, as was abel in the past, merely further attempts on his part to kill his god. (156) Explain the significance of this statement for the presentation of Cain (and his adventures) throughout the novel. Does this adequately explain the motivation for Cain’s actions and attitudes? (5 points) 5.