Ruth and Madea
Directions: Choose four of the following passages, two from each section. Write a well-developed paragraph for each passage you’ve selected. Your paragraphs should:
- Explain what is happening in the passage.
- Quote at least three important phrases from the passage and explain why you think they’re important, how they help readers to understand the passage, and how the phrases connect to the text as a whole.
- When you are finished, you should have written four paragraphs, one corresponding to each passage you selected.
Section 1: The Book of Ruth
- But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.
- She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?”
Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”
3. So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he made love to her, the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. The women said to Naomi: “Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.”
Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him. The women living there said, “Naomi has a son!” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
Section 2: The Medea
- Here she’s lived in exile with her husband / and children, and Medea’s presence pleased / the citizens. For her part, she complied / with Jason in all things. There is no greater / security than this in all the world: / when a wife does not oppose her husband. / But now there’s only hatred. What should be / most loved has been contaminated . . . / . . . / Poor Medea, mournful and dishonored, . . . / This disaster made her realize: / a fatherland is no small thing to lose.
- Rulers are fierce / in their temperament; somehow, they will not be governed; / they like to have power, always, over others. / They’re harsh, and they’re stubborn. It’s better to live / as an equal with equals. I never would want / to be grand and majestic—just let me grow old / in simple security. Even the word / “moderation” sounds good when you say it. For mortals / the middle is safest, in word and in deed. / Too much is too much . . .
- Oh no, my spirit, please, not that! Don’t do it! / Spare the children. Leave them alone, poor thing. / They’ll live with me there. They will bring you joy. / By the avenging ones who live below / in Hades, no, I will not leave my children / at the mercy of my enemies’ outrage. / Anyway, the thing’s already done. / She won’t escape. The crown is on her head. / They royal bride’s destroyed, wrapped in her robes. / I know it. Now, since I am setting foot / on a path that will break my heart, and sending them / on one more heartbreaking still, I want to speak / to my children.
For this discussion post, please complete the following: Optional
- Write a working thesis for your essay
- You are not required to reply to students, but I am sure if you offered your peers feedback and encouragement, they would appreciate it.
