Molly Axe
Eng. 308J
Summary and Rhetorical Analysis Blogposting
The Title Explained
and
Setting Us Up for What Is To Come
Summary of Chapter 4, ‘Males: Death/ Females: Life’
The fourth chapter in Shlain’s novel introduces the idea of women representing life and men representing death. The aptly named chapter, Males: Death/ Females: Life, begins by briefly exploring the roots of this idea. In the early years of human life, when the discovery was made that men also contributed to pregnancy, they began to view having children as gaining heirs and thusly gaining a small victory from the force they feared most, death (Shlain 29). Hence, pregnancy became a sacred idea and women were equated with the idea of life (Shlain 30).
On the other hand, the early humans believed that while women were bringing new lives into the world, the men were taking others out of it. They derived great guilt from hunting. They viewed all life as sacred. But hunting was a necessity for survival, so, somehow, the, “spirits of their victims had to be appeased every time a hunter extinguished another life to feed his family” (Shlain 30). This way of life, however, set the basis for all human living for many thousands of years to come (Shlain 32). The males would be responsible for “bringing home the bacon” while the women bore the children. But just as men cottoned on to their role in the baby-making process, Earth’s early inhabitants noticed alternatives to hunting: growing plants and breeding animals.
Shlain called this, “a reliable food source,” that did not require the males of the households to risk their lives just to bring back food (32). From these discoveries, horticulture grew, and a new era of the Males: Death/ Females: Life mentality was born.
Horticulture, “accentuated the feminine attributes of both men and women,” Shlain reported (33). The image Woman With Baby Harvesting Corn by Magali Papalebelow highlights the feminine connection between the woman’s original role as child bearer and her new role as farmer. The crops and animals needed to be tended to and nurtured for them to prosper, just like with children, so the idea of fertility became “society’s highest value…” (Shlain 33). However, this was all at the expense of men’s psychological development. Having been trained their entire lives to venture out into the wilderness to bring back food, the simple life of farming seemed just that. It was dull work for the men compared to what they were used to (Shlain 33). It was an important milestone in history, though, and for many who crossed paths with other horticulture cultures, it became a new way of life. The traditional hunting and gathering techniques were thrown out the window as this farming revolution swept across the lands. The Earth Mother became the new number one deity, further enhancing the now unbalanced feminine/masculine aspects of life (Shlain 33). But no matter! The men soon found comfort in other forms of bloodlust. “Sport hunting, contests of courage, ritual killings, and human sacrifices came into being because of men’s need to replace the excitement of the hunt” (Shlain 34). However, as it turned out, farming was just as good an outlet as any of the previously stated activities for releasing any pent up anger. In fact, there was a surprising lack of weapons uncovered at dig sites, archeologists discovered. Instead, they found statue fragments of a female deity (Shlain 34, 35). To explain the creation of this feminine artifact, archeologist James Mellaart had gone as far as to say that women had, “created Neolithic religion, developed agriculture, and controlled its products” (Shlain 35). So perhaps the scales had tipped back in favor of feminism. This could explain why patriarchal values began to take over once again. Where this repression of cultural female undertones originated cannot be decisively deduced, but one archeologist by the name of Marija Gimbutas speculated that it was due to the domestication of horses. With the domestication of horses came cavalries, and with cavalries came war (35). It was decided that it was the Kurgan people who invaded a particular small agricultural town. While they appreciated the innovative agricultural lifestyle, they replaced the Goddess with their own male god (Shlain 35). Chapter four of The Alphabet Versus the Goddess closes with more arguments over how the exact downfall of the Goddess took place and ends with the opinion of Leonard Shlain, himself. Where his belief differs from the rest is based off his idea of an internal change in the society rather than an external opposing force. He boldly states, “I propose that the central factor in the fall of the Goddess was a revolutionary development which occurred during the same period- literacy” (39). He ties his argument in to the title of the book itself: “Alphabets are the reason that Western culture’s perception of reality radically shifted” (39). “The invention of books themselves” crushed the idea of the Goddess.
Analysis of Rhetorical Appeals Shlain Uses
In this chapter, it is clear that Shlain goes to great lengths to come off as a credible source. His ethos is aided in part by his continual references to other professionals. He calls upon archeologists, historians, feminists, anthropologists, and others to help drive home points or to give their own takes on certain topics. His use of credible sources also helps to build up the logos side of his writing. For the majority of the chapter, the reader is presented with a deluge of facts, supported here and there by professional references or else otherwise believed to be true simply due to Shlain’s archeological background. Shlain has not yet lead the readers astray, so they feel confident in believing his words. From the facts presented, Shlain is able to end the chapter stating his beliefs through reasoning and he gets us set up for what is to come.
Discussion Question: Given the number of arguments over what finally brought about the demise of the Goddess, do you agree with Shlain’s lone stance on it centering on “forces subtly at work on the inside”: literacy (39)? Has Shlain built up his credibility well enough?
Works Cited
Eng. 308J
Summary and Rhetorical Analysis Blogposting
The Title Explained
and
Setting Us Up for What Is To Come
Summary of Chapter 4, ‘Males: Death/ Females: Life’
The fourth chapter in Shlain’s novel introduces the idea of women representing life and men representing death. The aptly named chapter, Males: Death/ Females: Life, begins by briefly exploring the roots of this idea. In the early years of human life, when the discovery was made that men also contributed to pregnancy, they began to view having children as gaining heirs and thusly gaining a small victory from the force they feared most, death (Shlain 29). Hence, pregnancy became a sacred idea and women were equated with the idea of life (Shlain 30).
On the other hand, the early humans believed that while women were bringing new lives into the world, the men were taking others out of it. They derived great guilt from hunting. They viewed all life as sacred. But hunting was a necessity for survival, so, somehow, the, “spirits of their victims had to be appeased every time a hunter extinguished another life to feed his family” (Shlain 30). This way of life, however, set the basis for all human living for many thousands of years to come (Shlain 32). The males would be responsible for “bringing home the bacon” while the women bore the children. But just as men cottoned on to their role in the baby-making process, Earth’s early inhabitants noticed alternatives to hunting: growing plants and breeding animals.
Shlain called this, “a reliable food source,” that did not require the males of the households to risk their lives just to bring back food (32). From these discoveries, horticulture grew, and a new era of the Males: Death/ Females: Life mentality was born.Horticulture, “accentuated the feminine attributes of both men and women,” Shlain reported (33). The image Woman With Baby Harvesting Corn by Magali Papalebelow highlights the feminine connection between the woman’s original role as child bearer and her new role as farmer. The crops and animals needed to be tended to and nurtured for them to prosper, just like with children, so the idea of fertility became “society’s highest value…” (Shlain 33). However, this was all at the expense of men’s psychological development. Having been trained their entire lives to venture out into the wilderness to bring back food, the simple life of farming seemed just that. It was dull work for the men compared to what they were used to (Shlain 33). It was an important milestone in history, though, and for many who crossed paths with other horticulture cultures, it became a new way of life. The traditional hunting and gathering techniques were thrown out the window as this farming revolution swept across the lands. The Earth Mother became the new number one deity, further enhancing the now unbalanced feminine/masculine aspects of life (Shlain 33). But no matter! The men soon found comfort in other forms of bloodlust. “Sport hunting, contests of courage, ritual killings, and human sacrifices came into being because of men’s need to replace the excitement of the hunt” (Shlain 34). However, as it turned out, farming was just as good an outlet as any of the previously stated activities for releasing any pent up anger. In fact, there was a surprising lack of weapons uncovered at dig sites, archeologists discovered. Instead, they found statue fragments of a female deity (Shlain 34, 35). To explain the creation of this feminine artifact, archeologist James Mellaart had gone as far as to say that women had, “created Neolithic religion, developed agriculture, and controlled its products” (Shlain 35). So perhaps the scales had tipped back in favor of feminism. This could explain why patriarchal values began to take over once again. Where this repression of cultural female undertones originated cannot be decisively deduced, but one archeologist by the name of Marija Gimbutas speculated that it was due to the domestication of horses. With the domestication of horses came cavalries, and with cavalries came war (35). It was decided that it was the Kurgan people who invaded a particular small agricultural town. While they appreciated the innovative agricultural lifestyle, they replaced the Goddess with their own male god (Shlain 35). Chapter four of The Alphabet Versus the Goddess closes with more arguments over how the exact downfall of the Goddess took place and ends with the opinion of Leonard Shlain, himself. Where his belief differs from the rest is based off his idea of an internal change in the society rather than an external opposing force. He boldly states, “I propose that the central factor in the fall of the Goddess was a revolutionary development which occurred during the same period- literacy” (39). He ties his argument in to the title of the book itself: “Alphabets are the reason that Western culture’s perception of reality radically shifted” (39). “The invention of books themselves” crushed the idea of the Goddess.
Analysis of Rhetorical Appeals Shlain Uses
In this chapter, it is clear that Shlain goes to great lengths to come off as a credible source. His ethos is aided in part by his continual references to other professionals. He calls upon archeologists, historians, feminists, anthropologists, and others to help drive home points or to give their own takes on certain topics. His use of credible sources also helps to build up the logos side of his writing. For the majority of the chapter, the reader is presented with a deluge of facts, supported here and there by professional references or else otherwise believed to be true simply due to Shlain’s archeological background. Shlain has not yet lead the readers astray, so they feel confident in believing his words. From the facts presented, Shlain is able to end the chapter stating his beliefs through reasoning and he gets us set up for what is to come.
Discussion Question: Given the number of arguments over what finally brought about the demise of the Goddess, do you agree with Shlain’s lone stance on it centering on “forces subtly at work on the inside”: literacy (39)? Has Shlain built up his credibility well enough?
Works Cited
Papale, Magali. Woman With Baby Harvesting Corn. Images.com/Corbis.
Shlain, Leonard. “Males: Death/ Females: Life.” The Alphabet Versus the Goddess: The Conflict Between Word and Image. New York: Penguin / Compass, 1998. Pp. 28-39.
Shlain, Leonard. “Males: Death/ Females: Life.” The Alphabet Versus the Goddess: The Conflict Between Word and Image. New York: Penguin / Compass, 1998. Pp. 28-39.
I do feel that Schain makes an interesting point that the fall of Goddesses occurs around the same time that written language begins to appear. The credibility however, in my opinion is lacking. As a Christian I feel that God's "word" is more that males, "creating" a male figure to prove male dominance in society. Unlike, what the author conveys, the written word is words from the true God in my opinion and the fall of the Goddess was due God's word showing it to be wrong. Anyone who is a Christian or Jewish, knows the stories of Moses, who is the one who was presented with the ten commandments written on slabs. The ironic things about the rise of the male God in society, it that the belief spread not through words on the tablets, but by visual phenomenons such as Moses parting the red sea, and Jesus curing people so the crippled could walk. The rise of a male God and the fall of the Goddess was shown to people, from miracle, it was later written down. This in my eyes disproves Shlain's theory that a male God was somehow created through the use of text causing the demise of the Goddess.
ReplyDeleteI think that Shlain's argument is actually credible. His credibility on the subject at hand is very well suitable, and he seems to get the facts from credible sources as well. Like Molly said in the statement, Shlain gets his facts and ideas from "archeologists, historians, feminists, anthropologists, and others". The idea of the Goddess was destroyed by a male God being formed is very well suitable. I think that the male dominance that has happened to our country, as well as our culture has definitely diminished the female point of view.
ReplyDeleteI believe Schlain does an excellent job building his ethos in this argument about the demise of the goddess. I also think that male dominance is a prominent ideal in modern times.
ReplyDeleteThe male dominance most likely did follow the fall of the goddess. Schlain uses a great deal of effective logos and ethos in order to show how this is true. I think he did a rather good job of showing that not only is he credible through his use of credible sources, but his argument is logical through the structure and ease of his argument.
ReplyDeleteI think Schlain builds up good points and statements about the demise of the goddess. I think that we will never get away from the prominent male "god" because everywhere and in every religion a male is usually at the top of it. Which I think makes Schlains argument valid.
ReplyDeleteFirst, thanks to Molly for posting an excellent summary and rhetorical analysis of this chapter, as well as a great discussion question. And thanks also to Paula, Isaac, Emily, Jesse, and Kristen for posting in response to Molly.
ReplyDeleteI think Schlain's claim is bold, and I find him credible--believable ethos. And as Molly says, and we mentioned in class Tuesday, he uses a number of scholarly sources from several areas to backup his claim. I find his argument (logos) compelling, but I want to read more evidence, want him to develop his theories more before I decide if I can agree with him or not. I really like that Schlain mentions Marija Gimbutas; I find her work in archaeomythology fascinating, even though I am not sure I agree with her Kurgan invasion theory. I do agree with her reading of some archaeological evidence, selected images and symbols from the paleolithic and neolithic periods, as suggestive of a Goddess worshipping environment.
I think that Schlain's claim's are very opinionated-but has facts to back his claims up. I thought that he used a variety of rhetorical appeals ethos, and logos that also helped his arguments but as well as other classmates comments think he could do more to develop his key points even more, but i strongly agree-but backing up with facts can't hurt. All his facts are backed up from archeologists, historians, feminists, anthropologists, and I think all are credible so his theories about goddesses are credible.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what most people are saying about how his sources are credible and so his ideas make sense and his ethos stands strong. But, although entertaining, I think his ideas are just ideas and theories. They're interesting theories and possible theories, but they're still just theories. Even if literacy did happen around the same time as men tried to take over the world as Schlain said in chapter 1, "Correlation [...] does not prove causality."
ReplyDeleteI do not believe Schlain has built enough credibility to make such a radical statement. Literacy itself cannot repress a person. Literacy was considered a way to free the slaves from their shackles, which is why most slaves were not allowed to be taught how to read or write. Therefore, I believe the repression from literacy, if any, would be as a result of females being forbidden the right to learn reading and writing. I do not recall Schlain making that specific of an argument about literacy.
ReplyDeleteShlain begins the chapter saying that all when humans realized that they too would die they came up with the idea of an afterlife. He goes on to talk about how men finally caught on to the fact that if they had children their namesake would stay alive; hence a part of them would still remain. A woman knew that a child was hers, because she delivered it, but it was not the same for men. Shlain states that, “The male’s heavy-handed solution was to demand virginity in his bride and absolute chastity in his wife thereafter.” (29) It was because of this that marriage came to be. Instead of changing meat for sex, women slept with one man in exchange for his “aid, companionship, and perhaps, love.” (29) Shlain states that, “All things die and return to life through the agency of the female: the earth is both womb and tomb.” (31) In other words, men mostly did the killing, but woman gave life to newborns. Men and women still depend on each other to this day to accomplish a task. “Modern society still depends on the cooperation of approximately ten adults, males or female, to accomplish major undertakings…. Ten vigorous adults usually assure inspiration, cooperation, and purpose.” (Shlain, 32) This is very true it does assure that things will be handled properly since there are so many people to oversee everything that everyone is doing. The groups of families started to realize that if they intentionally planted and tended to crops they would have a more stable food supply. They no longer had to endanger their lives by hunting, because they raised animals to eat. Now they looked to Earth Mother to bless their crops and allow them to be bountiful. “Mellaart concluded that women had created Neolithic religion, developed agriculture, and controlled its products. He believed these factors explained the absence of military castes, central authority, and a science of warfare in Neolithic times.” (Shlain, 35) The chapter goes on to talk about how the earlier societies learned and adapted the more advanced ways of the more modern societies. I do believe that Shlain’s stance, “That he central factor in the fall of the Goddess was a revolutionary development which occurred during the same period- literacy.” (39) I think this makes a lot of sense, if it had not been for writings people would not have known how to adapt and survive in an ever changing society. I think that Shlain has more than built up his creditability with his audience. He uses a number of experts to help support his theory, which defines his character.
ReplyDelete