Alex Cogar

3/22/17

A tragic hero can be defined many ways but one definition sums it all up. A tragic hero is someone who is very well-known having some kind of downfall that makes them infamous anymore. Some very well-known fictional tragic heroes are Oedipus and Othello. There are also some modern day tragic heroes that are well-known such as O.J. Simpson and Bill Cosby. Aristotle describes a tragic hero as “A person who must evoke a sense of pity and fear in the audience. He is considered a man of misfortune that comes to him through error of judgment.” All of these people share characteristics that Aristotle described including being Anagnorisis, Hamartia, and Catharsis.

One of the characteristics of a tragic hero is being Hamartia. Hamartia is the tragic flaw that causes downfall for a hero. We see many examples of Hamartia in Oedipus and Othello’s stories.  In Act 5 Scene: 2 of the book Othello we see Othello’s Hamartia when he strangles his wife, Desdemona, then he finds out that Iago was manipulating him. Even in the story of Oedipus we see the same characteristic when he kills his father and marries his mother just as the prophecy foretold. All tragic heroes share the characteristic of Hamartia because it defines who they are.

Another characteristic of a tragic hero is being Anagnorisis. Anagnorisis is when the hero makes an important discovery in the story that impacts him or someone around him. An example of this is in the Oedipus story when Oedipus discovers that the prophecy that he was trying to avoid actually came true. Anagnorisis is a characteristic found in Othello as well. In the story of Othello,in Act 4 Scene: 1, he finds out that Cassio is, supposedly, having an affair with his wife Desdemona. Later on in the scene Othello was so angry that he volunteered himself to kill Cassio. Anagnorisis is an important characteristic in a tragic hero because it causes them to do something careless if the discovery was difficult for them to understand.

The final characteristic of a tragic hero is Catharsis. Catharsis is when the audience feels bad for the protagonist and also fears what he will do next. This perfectly coincides with the O.J. Simpson trial. Everyone felt bad for O.J. when they found out this huge football star was on trial for murder.  They were afraid of what would happen if the court found him guilty. This was also shown in the end of the book Othello. When they found out that Iago manipulated Othello to kill his wife they were sad for Othello and afraid because they didn’t want to see what Othello was going to do next.

In conclusion, there are many ways to define a tragic hero but three characteristics stick out the most. With Anagnorisis the hero makes an important discovery in the story that might have an impact now or later on. The Hamartia where our hero finds what he is searching for but causes a downfall for the hero. With Catharsis the hero is changed and the people are upset for him but also afraid that he might do something completely reckless. All of these characteristics and more define what a tragic hero is and how the hero’s actions are shown through these characteristics.

In the article, “Even popular kids are bullied in high school, researchers find” by Mary MacVean, she emphasizes the reality that bullying doesn’t just happen to the unpopular. Many researchers at the University of California are getting a consistent response from the teens that they have interviewed. They are all saying, “For most students, gains in status increase the likelihood of victimization and the severity of its consequences.” These researchers hope to learn more about the anatomy of bullying so that it can be put to an end. They put together a group of more that 8,000 students in 19 North Carolina schools. There results were very clear and concise on the information that was presented. What they found was that about half the students that get bullied are white and a third black but girls had higher rates of victimization. The researchers state in the conclusion, “We have very precise measures of the status and we have access to the social map of the school. We can assign a score to each kid. The kids don’t have access to that degree of precision.” So, as the issue progresses, the researchers will continue their studies and eventually put their information into a book or maybe a tome.

The theme that the author puts into this article, “Even popular kids are bullied in high school, researchers find.” The author puts all of these incisive information to convey you, the reader, that bullying is indeed a major issue. The researchers wrote, “Perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise that popular kids get targeted: If the tormentor is aiming to raise his or her own status.”

http://newsela.com/articles/bullying-popular/id/3271/

The recent presidential election created a new form of media, “fake news”. Fake news is information that has been manipulated by a writer to create a story that draws an audience. Fake news sounds true, and the place where it is published looks like a real news page, but it is all created to make money or create chaos. In the article, “Fake news author is fired; apologizes to those ‘disappointed’ by his actions,” by Joe Marusak, Cam Harris, a recent Davidson College grad and Republican intern, states, “While the initial motivation behind launching a fake news site was financially-based, the lesson I learned from the experience is far more important-and it’s one that can’t be covered in a tweet or even a NYT article.” Harris was the author of a fake news article, “BREAKING: Tens of thousands’ of fraudulent Clinton votes found in Ohio warehouse,” that may or may not have swayed voters. His argument evinced the mantra, “the election is rigged” and “was eventually shared with 6 million people.” “Fake” news can be used for political propaganda or for financial gain, but it is ethically irresponsible. Harris and Davidson College apologized for this action; however, there is no way to retract the information people have read and shared. Many are unable to deduce that the news found in these articles are not true.

Cam Harris author of “fake” news.

In the article, the author uses numbers and statistics to induce the reader to look closely at the news for validity. The fact that “Harris is a 23-year-old” who created such chaos at such a young age indicates the issues with fake news. The author may be saying that the younger generation does not realize how dangerous this type of news can be. The mention of “Tens of thousands’ of fraudulent Clinton votes” was an impetus for the article to be “eventually shared with 6 million people.” Harris’ use of such large numbers caused people to believe and spread the news. In his statement, Harris’ use of the phrase “large-scale changes [are] occurring in America” makes the reader weary of “fake” news articles that are intractable once they get in the mainstream media.

To me this “fake” news article makes a personal connection in my life. About three or four years ago my brother and I had the worst grades. Our parents would constantly check our grades even if it was the first day of school and nothing was put in. One night when I was about to go to bed I overheard my mother and my brother talking about his grades. Being that our grades were so poor I thought my mom was going to kill my brother. At this point in time Sun Valley had the different teacher Moodle pages to check your grades. He would always tell my mom that the Moodle pages were down every time she asked him. This would go on for five or six more months until it came to exam day. When my mom asked him to check his grades he said the moodle pages were down. My mom did not believe him and asked him again five more times. Determined to get an answer out of him she had a wild card. She had a phone call from the principal talking about the exam dates and that the grades will be posted on the moodle pages so parents can see them. Feeling defeated my brother consented to looking at his grades prepared to feel the wrath of my mom. He indeed felt the wrath not for his grades, however, because he lied to my mom.

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