http://www.cervenabarvapress.com/gilgamesh450x677.jpg
Gilgamesh
In Gilgamesh, there are many beginnings. One major beginning is friendship. In the beginning of the book, Gilgamesh didn’t have any true friends. When he meets Enkidu they hate each other and then suddenly realize they should be friends. With this new found friendship comes a new journey. The journey symbolizes a new beginning of their friendship. It’s almost like a test of how strong their friendship is. When Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh has to experience another first. This first would be a life without his best friend. He has to try and find himself on the rest of his journey and he learns that Enkidu will live through him.
Odyssey
The Odyssey is an epic completely filled with journeys and new beginning for Odysseus. Hid first new beginning was when he has to leave his wife and son to go fight in Troy for his land. He was just becoming a parent and starting a new chapter in his life, when he was taken away from all of that to fight in a horrid war. When you assume he’s about to come home, Poseidon, king of the sea, always makes sure that doesn’t happen. He continually faces new challenges and beginning when one of his crew members dies or he’s off to a new island and a new challenge. Even when he arrives home at Ithaca he is faced with killing all of the suitors. The new beginning that comes with that is having his people of Ithaca look at him very differently, even the reader of the story, and he also has to live with what he has done. He was such a hero in the readers’ eyes and then he did something that would make the reader question his motives.
http://redodysseyreflections.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/homer1.jpg
http://thebookdork.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/the_last_lecture_2_000.jpg
The Last Lecture By Randy Pausch
Randy Pausch was a college professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University. He was very intelligent and well spoken. He gave a speech called the Last Lecture about achieving your childhood dreams. This speech listed all of his childhood dreams and how achieved or came close to achieving them. This relates to Genesis because he started out from the beginning with a set of things to accomplish in his life. Those accomplishments influenced how he led his life and how he would do thing in order to get to achieving those goals he set out for himself. A lot of what Genesis is about is something that started out and how it influenced other beginning. He had to face a new challenge in his life which was battling cancer. Instead of feeling sorry for himself and watching himself wash away he decided to share his life with others. At the university where he worked he gave an incredible speech which was very moving. One goal he wanted to accomplish was to experience zero gravity. He found this program that would let a group of College students form a class go on an air plane where you could experience zero gravity for about a minute. He got his class in and was all set when he found out there were no professors aloud on board. He used his wit to pretend he was a journalist from their home town. He got on and was able to experience his childhood dream. Since he was a teacher at a college he was able to get his class into this program and since he was incredibly intelligent he was able to figure out a way for himself to get onto that air craft as well.
Siddhartha
Siddhartha lived in Ancient India with his Brahmin father. Although he didn't show his true feelings, he still participated in the rituals and customs of his religion. A part of Siddhartha felt lonely, and he began to question if this path that he was on was going to lead to Enlightenment because not even his Brahmin father achieved Enlightenment yet. Everyone in the village thought that Siddhartha was going to grow up to be exactly like his father. However, little did they know that Siddhartha didn't feel that way at all. Hence, Siddhartha wanted to begin a new way of life. He accomplished that goal by first joining the Samanas The Samanas technique to receive Enlightenment was rather different than the Brahmin's technique in which the Samanas eliminated self-desires. This was Siddhartha's new beginning. If it wasn't for his change in aspiration, Siddhartha would've most likely been a Brahmin.
http://egyptianmusk.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/siddhartha-book-cover.jpg
http://wa.westfordk12.us/pages/FOV1-0006DB0B/Macdonald/02DBAA44-007EA7AB.5/huck.jpg
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
When Huck Finn lived with his drunk father, he lived a terrible life because when his father returned home at the cabin Huck would get beaten up badly. Also, when his father left home, Huck Finn was locked inside with no form of entertainment. He decided to start new life by escaping this horrible and abusive environment by faking his own death. Huck Finn was able to escape and start a new life traveling along the river encountering both new people and troubles.
The beginning of a newfound friendship occurred between Huck Finn and Jim as well. During this time period, white men and women were not allowed to be friends with those of the African American race. They were considered to be of a "lower class" than whites. However, Huck Finn defied those "laws". Jim and Huck did everything to protect one another. Huck's friendship was put to the test when Jim was imprisoned. Huck Finn did everything he possibly could with the help of another good friend, Tom Sawyer, to help Jim escape.
The beginning of a newfound friendship occurred between Huck Finn and Jim as well. During this time period, white men and women were not allowed to be friends with those of the African American race. They were considered to be of a "lower class" than whites. However, Huck Finn defied those "laws". Jim and Huck did everything to protect one another. Huck's friendship was put to the test when Jim was imprisoned. Huck Finn did everything he possibly could with the help of another good friend, Tom Sawyer, to help Jim escape.
