Ulman 1

Evan Ulman

Stephen Hinds

HONORS 210

December 14, 2018

Portfolio Capsule

This class was unlike any other I have taken at the UW thus far. I am a Political Science

and Law, Societies, and Justice major, and so most of the reading I am assigned is nonfiction.

Therefore, literary analysis in a VLPA class if for me a skill I have little practice in. However, I

have always been interested in antiquity and in particular of the classical world because of the

Greeks’ and Romans’ enduring influence on law and politics. The symbols of government and

power in Washington are inspired by those in Athens: marble columns and bronze statues are

features of the Neoclassical style. The United States Senate takes its name from the Roman

legislative body, and our written Constitution inspiration from the Twelve Tables. Prior to taking

this class, I was not fully aware of the Greeks’ and Romans’ reach into literature, poetry, and art,

in addition to law and politics. Since taking the class, I have begun to notice connections to the

classics in modern popular culture and have delighted in informing my friends that an important

subplot in Game of Thrones is plagiarized from The Iliad. I have appreciated taking a course that

has exposed me to a wide selection of classic works because my background knowledge of oft-

referenced literature is now stronger, and I like being able to say that I have read parts of

Paradise Lost and The Aeneid. It feels like being let into a distinguished club of people who

“get” literature. Studying the classics is also something I associate with the idea of college—that

is, the core curriculum of required reading that was the primary feature of higher education up

through the mid-20th century and which is still required at many private liberal arts colleges

today.
 Ulman 2

I chose to compare Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s The Lotos-Eaters and Ulysses in my final

paper because I was already familiar with Ulysses. The similarities between the two poems

therefore became obvious, and I thought that the marked difference in themes of the two poems

deserved further analysis. I like Ulysses because of its inspiring and hopeful conclusion. I think it

is for those same reasons that it has been quoted by politicians. Robert F. Kennedy, who was no

stranger to Greek poetry, often quoted Ulysses on the campaign trail in 1968, emphasizing that

while the United States was not “that strength which in old days/Moved earth and heaven,” that

Americans should still remain “strong in will.” Indeed, the title of his campaign book, which is a

collection of speeches and other writings, is titled To Seek a Newer World. Furthermore, I find

both poems personally relevant because I read them to endorse two separate views of how one

should live one’s life: in The Lotos-Eaters, the mariners choose a life of ease, and in Ulysses,

Odysseus chooses a life of adventure in the face of adversity. When thinking about my future

career path, I have considered that it would perhaps be easier to settle into an easy job that pays

fine and doesn’t require a graduate degree, and to not worry about having a social impact in my

chosen career. There are many people who work to live, instead of live to work. However,

Odysseus’ call to action, “To strive, to seek, and not to yield,” resonates with me because I do

want my career to be impactful. Attending law school is expensive, and careers in politics are

competitive and often not very high-paying but doing that kind of work is meaningful to me, and

so I think it is worth pursuing. While I doubt Tennyson had anticipated that college students

would take career advice from his poetry, I think my interpretation speaks to the fact that the

most important part about poetry is what the reader takes away from the poem, and not

necessarily what the poet intended.