NOTE: POSTING OF ESSAYS WILL BE ON JANUARY 16, 2015, FROM 8:00 P.M. UNTIL 10:00 P.M.
Reminder:
Alphabetical names per pair.
3-4 paragraphs, 3-4 sentences each. Clear and direct sentences.
Only one idea that you will dicuss. Proofs (quotes from songs) may span several songs.
Proofs must mention the singer and song title: e.g. As sung by Cossette in
A Heart Full of Love).
Rubrics:
Sample Essay:
Castillo, Ronald
Political and social concept of the human condition of love as sacrifice.
Political and social concept of the human condition of the need to belong.
Every character in the novel/musicale are examples of being ‘Les Miserables’, the miserable or as mentioned in Do You Hear the People Sing – wretched. As we watched the concert, I remember the words in philosophy: ‘the human condition’, and one particular condition that caught my attention was that of Eponine. She loved and was loved in return only at the very last moment of life.
It was Aristotle who claimed human are political animals. And this is so because people are social, and they need to properly interact with other people to survive. In this respect, I also claim that every human being has the need to belong. What perpetuates the ‘wretchedness’ of the community is that most people are too busy, care only for themselves, some do not really care while some are blind to the plight of others.
This human condition is symbolized by Eponine as she walked the streets of Paris singing On My Own. The beginning of the song succinctly describes: “And now I’m all alone again… without a home, without a friend, without a face to say hello to.” The song continues to narrate her unrequited love for Marius, but it also shows how a person can be all alone in a well-populated city. And every individual faces personal problems that other people actually help alleviate if only they knew.
The same song also mentions the duality of hope (“and all though, I know that he is blind, still I say there’s a way for us”) and hopelessness (“without me, his world will go on turning”). People live in the polis – a community – and yet people are not communitarian. Eponine’s personal situation is a fiction of the novel, but the essence of the need to belong is a real condition of humanity. The feeling of not belonging brings about dejection which can further weaken society.
