DigitalCommons@C.O.D.

Weston-Slapinski, Alexandra Rose

The Prairie Light Review
Volume 41 | Number 1 Article 60
Fall 12-1-2018
Festival of Lights
Alexandra Rose Weston-Slapinski
College of DuPage
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr
This Artwork is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at DigitalCommons@COD. It has been accepted for inclusion in
The Prairie Light Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu.
Recommended Citation
Weston-Slapinski, Alexandra Rose (2018) "Festival of Lights," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 41 : No. 1 , Article 60.
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol41/iss1/60
Festival of Lights
Alexandra Rose Weston-Slapinski
Fall 2018 Journal .indd   29 1/3/19   4:36 PM
1
Weston-Slapinski: Festival of Lights
Published by DigitalCommons@COD, 2018


English

Festival of Lights

Bandusky, Dorothy

The Prairie Light Review
Volume 41 | Number 1 Article 72
Fall 12-1-2018
The Emperor
Dorothy Bandusky
College of DuPage
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr
This Selection is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at DigitalCommons@COD. It has been accepted for inclusion in
The Prairie Light Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu.
Recommended Citation
Bandusky, Dorothy (2018) "The Emperor," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 41 : No. 1 , Article 72.
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol41/iss1/72
The Emperor
Once upon a time, time stopped
Mattering to a little girl
Whose heart sat down heavily
In the gutter of a crowded highway
Down which the emperor danced,
Arms over his head, flaunting his scepter.
“He doesn’t have any clothes on,”
The little girl whispered, and buried her face,
Like something dead,
In her folded hands he’d held once.
No one understood her,
Because it was obvious to all
The emperor was, literally,
Not wearing any clothes. This
They could understand, and this
They enjoyed immensely,
Shushing the child
By stuffing the emperor’s scepter
Into her mouth.
Choking, she wandered alone
Down a narrow footpath
In hopes of meeting the author
Who could tell
How the fairy tale ended:
Death by exposure
Or white robes ever after.
Dorothy Bandusky
Fall 2018 Journal .indd   43 1/3/19   4:36 PM
The Emperor
Once upon a time, time stopped
Mattering to a little girl
Whose heart sat down heavily
In the gutter of a crowded highway
Down which the emperor danced,
Arms over his head, flaunting his scepter.
“He doesn’t have any clothes on,”
The little girl whispered, and buried her face,
Like something dead,
In her folded hands he’d held once.
No one understood her,
Because it was obvious to all
The emperor was, literally,
Not wearing any clothes. This
They could understand, and this
They enjoyed immensely,
Shushing the child
By stuffing the emperor’s scepter
Into her mouth.
Choking, she wandered alone
Down a narrow footpath
In hopes of meeting the author
Who could tell
How the fairy tale ended:
Death by exposure
Or white robes ever after.
Dorothy Bandusky
Fall 2018 Journal .indd   43 1/3/19   4:36 PM
1
Bandusky: The Emperor
Published by DigitalCommons@COD, 2018


The Emperor

Broda, Paulina

Staudte, Carina

German Journal Sprache Literatur Kultur
Volume 1 | Issue 1 Article 1
7-2018
Willkomen Beim German Journal - Welcome to
German Journal
Paulina Broda
DANK Haus Chicago German American Cultural Center, paulina@dankhaus.com
Carina Staudte
DANK Haus Chicago German American Cultural Center, carina@dankhaus.com
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/gj
Part of the First and Second Language Acquisition Commons, and the German Linguistics
Commons
This Editorial is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@COD. It has been accepted for inclusion in German Journal Sprache
Literatur Kultur by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu.
Recommended Citation
Broda, Paulina and Staudte, Carina (2018) "Willkomen Beim German Journal - Welcome to German Journal," German Journal Sprache
Literatur Kultur: Vol. 1 : Iss. 1 , Article 1.
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/gj/vol1/iss1/1
 
Volume 1, 2018 
Editorial: Welcome to German Journal 
Paulina Broda, MA und Dr. Carina Staudte 
 
Pauline Broda kommt ursprünglich aus Polen, hat dann in Stuttgart Deutsch studiert und schließlich ihren Master 
in Business Administration absolviert. Außerdem hat sie mehrere Jahre als Produktmanagerin bei einem Kinder- 
und Jugendmagazin gearbeitet. Zurzeit ist sie unter anderem am DANK Haus in Chicago als Deutschlehrerin tätig. 
 
Dr. Carina Staudte hat nach einem erfolgreichen Magisterstudium ihre Doktorarbeit in amerikanischer Literatur 
abgelegt. Seit dem folgt sie als unabhängige Forscherin ihren Interessen in den verschiedensten Sparten der 
Literatur – seien es YA Literatur, Sportliteratur, oder gender studies. Außerdem arbeitet sie zur Zeit ebenso als 
Deutschlehrerin am DANK Haus in Chicago. 
 
Liebe Leser/innen,  
Wir freuen uns riesig, unsere erste Ausgabe des German Journals herauszubringen. Natürlich 
stecken wir noch in den Anfangszügen, aber wir sind stolz, zwei sehr interessante Artikel zu 
veröffentlichen. Doch warum eigentlich ein „German Journal“? Die einfache Antwort: weil es so 
viele spannende Themen gibt, die sich um das Deutsche drehen und wir dafür eine Plattform 
bereit stellen möchten. Und gerade weil es so viele Themen gibt, wollen wir uns nicht nur in eine 
Richtung festlegen, sondern wollen über die verschiedenen Tellerränder schauen und Kultur und 
Sprache zusammenbringen, oder politische Gegebenheiten mit Literatur, oder historische 
Ereignisse mit Spracherlernen, oder, oder, oder. So wollen wir im Großen aufzeigen, dass 
Deutschland ein Komplexität inne hat, die es sich lohnt zu erforschen. Da das Deutsche sich aber 
in einer globalen Welt befindet, in der das Englische, und auch gerade das Amerikanische großen 
Stellenwert besitzt, wollen wir zudem diese beiden Teile zusammenbringen, und auch 
englischsprachigen Forschern und Forscherinnen die Möglichkeit bieten, ihre Erkenntnisse über 
„das Deutsche“ zu teilen, sodass die Kommunikation zwischen den Welten gefördert wird. Denn 
1
Broda and Staudte: Willkomen Beim German Journal - Welcome to German Journal
Published by DigitalCommons@COD, 2018
German Journal  Volume 1, 2018
 
2 
 
sprachliche Kommunikation gehört zu den wichtigsten Bestandteilen unseres Lebens. Dank einer 
Sprachfähigkeit sind wir imstande, mit anderen zu kommunizieren und gerade Deutsch wird in 
vielen Ländern gesprochen und seine Kenntnisse bringen Vorteile in der realen Welt der 
Kommunikation – ganz unabhängig davon, ob es sich um den täglichen Gebrauch handelt oder 
um Reiseverständigung. 
Der Erwerb der Deutschkenntnisse kann sehr vorteilhaft sein, verlangt jedoch  viel Arbeit und 
Geduld. Besonders komplex ist, vor allem für Sprachlerner/innen aus dem englischen 
Sprachraum, die deutsche Grammatik. Der Erwerb der deutschen Sprache als Zweitsprache ist 
daher für unser Journal von großem Interesse und unser Einstiegsartikel von Dr. Nikolova in der 
Sparte „Sprache“ untersucht die Möglichkeiten deutsche Modalverben dem oder der 
Sprachlerner/in besser zu vermitteln, denn es gibt erfahrungsgemäß viel Verwirrung zwischen 
der direkten und der epistemischen Übersetzungvon, zum Beispiel, „müssen“. 
Diese Fähigkeit, eine andere Sprache zu kennen geht allerdings auch in dieser globalen Welt 
über ein simples Studieninteresse hinaus. Denn Deutschland ist trotz aller aktuellen politischen 
Geschehenisse eines der wichtigsten Handelspartner Amerikas, und bietet gerade in der 
Automobil und Maschinenbaubranche Arbeitsplätze im In- und Ausland. Die Voraussetzung 
dabei ist natürlich, dass man ein gewisses Niveau an Deutsch- und Kulturkenntnissen mit sich 
bringt und so wird Deutsch als Zusatzqualifikation in der internationaler Wirtschaft sehr 
geschätzt. Dabei geht es nicht nur um die Sprache per se, sondern auch um kulturelle 
Besonderheiten. Denn obwohl die USA sowie Deutschland westliche Länder sind, und eine 
gemeinsame Vergangenheit haben, gibt es doch auch große Unterschiede. Unser Autor Leo Roth 
untersucht in unserer Kultursparte hingegen ein Thema, dass in beiden Ländern Bedeutung hat: 
die Tendenz, dass die Grenze zwischen Arbeits- und Privatleben zusehends verwischt. Das 
sogenannte BYOD (bring your own device) sorgt dafür, dass immer mehr Menschen ihre 
Arbeitsmails in ihrem Privathandy oder PC abrufen und somit das Berufsleben zum Privatleben 
wird. Dabei ist der elektronische Übersetzer auf dem Smartphone auch ständig dabei, denn 
Deutschland gehört zu den wichtigsten Exportländern in der ganzen Welt, wodurch sich viele 
Möglichkeiten im internationalen Handel ergeben.  
Natürlich bezieht sich in der Wirtschaftswelt das weltweit geschätzte „made in Germany“ auf 
hergestellte Produkte, aber auch die deutsche Wissenschaft und Künste veröffentlichen trotz der 
englischsprachiger Tendenz gerne weiterhin auf Deutsch. Und um diese beiden Seiten ein wenig 
dichter zusammen zu führen, hoffen wir auf viele weitere Veröffentlichungen in der Zukunft – 
sei es in Sprache, Literatur, oder Kultur. 
Viel Spaß beim Lesen unserer ersten Ausgabe wünschen  
Paulina Broda und Dr. Carina Staudte 
2
German Journal Sprache Literatur Kultur, Vol. 1, Iss. 1 [2018], Art. 1
https://dc.cod.edu/gj/vol1/iss1/1
 
Volume 1, 2018 
Editorial: Welcome to German Journal 
Paulina Broda, MA und Dr. Carina Staudte 
 
Pauline Broda is originally from Poland, but she studied German in Stuttgart and eventually received her Master’s 
degree in Business Administration. She also worked as a Product Manager for a children and teenagers magazine 
for several years. Currently, she is, among other things, working as a German teacher at the DANK Haus in 
Chicago.  
 
Dr. Carina Staudte received her doctorate degree in American literature dissecting some of Philip Roth’s work. 
Since then she has been an independent researcher, exploring literature’s various angles, be it YA lit, sports lit, or 
gender studies. She also currently works at the DANK Haus in Chicago. 
 
Dear Reader,  
We are so excited to publish our first edition! We are of course still in the beginning stage, but 
we are proud to publish two very interesting articles.  
But why, you might ask, a “German Journal” in the first place? The simple answer: because there 
are so many fascinating areas when it comes to „German,” and we want to offer a platform for 
all those who are exploring those topics. And especially because there are so many different 
subject matters, do we not want to pin this journal down into only one direction, but we want to 
look beyond the simple scope and bring together culture and language, or political issues and 
literature, or historical events and the learning of a language, or, or, or. We are thus looking for 
the big picture, where we can see the innate complexities of Germany which is fascinating and 
worthy of exploration. Since Germany is part of the modern global interconnectedness, however, 
and America plays a great role in the German world, we also want to connect the two and offer 
English-speaking researchers a platform to share their explorations and knowledge of “German.” 
This way, we want to facilitate communication, as communication itself comprises a great part of 
3
Broda and Staudte: Willkomen Beim German Journal - Welcome to German Journal
Published by DigitalCommons@COD, 2018
German Journal  Volume 1, 2018
 
2 
 
our lives. After all, because we can speak a language we can communicate, and especially 
German is spoken in many countries so that its knowledge offers advantages in the real world – 
whether it is in our daily lives, on vacation, in the sciences, or art. 
Learning German thus can be very advantageous, but it also requires a lot of work and patience. 
Particularly complex, and especially so for English-speaking learners, is German grammar. 
Learning German as a second language is generally a very interesting topic for us, as we are 
working closely together with the German American Cultural Center (Deutsch Amerikanischer 
Nationalkongress, or DANK) and Dr. Nikolova is exploring this in her article in our “language” 
section. Her interest is in finding out how we can teach modal verbs better, since there usually is 
quite some confusion when students are asked to differentiate between the direct and the 
epistemic sense of, for example, “müssen.” 
This ability to speak another language goes further than a simple academic interest in the subject, 
however. After all, besides recent political events, Germany and the US are still important trade 
partners, and Germany does offer employment in various industries (the auto- and the machine 
building industry spring to mind). Naturally, a candidate has to have some knowledge of German 
and this extra qualification is still sought after in the global industries. In fact, not only the 
knowledge of the language per se is sought, but knowledge of its cultural particularities. After 
all, despite being a part of the western world, and having a quite entangled past, the US and 
Germany still differ in many things. Yet our author Leo Roth worked on a cultural connection 
that both countries share: the tendency that the border between work and private life becomes 
more and more blurred. He is looking at what is called BYOD (bring your own device) and how 
more and more people are using their private devices to check work e-mails and are constantly 
available, which turns private life into work life. For those who do work in both the American 
and the English world this means that the electronic dictionary is always on – and always 
available on our smartphones, independent on whether we work, or we engage in a private 
activity. 
And finally, while the worldwide highly valued “made in Germany” usually refers to actual 
goods, German researchers, artists, and thinkers still like to publish in German, despite an ever 
growing tendency toward using English. To bring these two sides together, we hope to publish 
many more articles in the future, be it in our language, literature, or culture section.  
Enjoy reading our first edition! 
Paulina Broda und Dr. Carina Staudte 
4
German Journal Sprache Literatur Kultur, Vol. 1, Iss. 1 [2018], Art. 1
https://dc.cod.edu/gj/vol1/iss1/1


German

Willkomen Beim German Journal - Welcome to German Journal

Durkin, Eric

ESSAI
Volume 16 Article 14
Spring 2018
The Battle of Algiers
Eric Durkin
College of DuPage
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/essai
This Selection is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at DigitalCommons@COD. It has been accepted for inclusion in
ESSAI by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu.
Recommended Citation
Durkin, Eric (2018) "The Battle of Algiers," ESSAI: Vol. 16 , Article 14.
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/essai/vol16/iss1/14
26 
The Battle of Algiers 
 
by Eric Durkin 
 
(History 2237) 
 
 
 
t would be remiss of us to discuss terrorism without speaking of the Front de Libération 
Nationale, or National Liberation Front–the FLN of Algeria. The organization holds a very 
important place in terrorism’s history, for at least two reasons: The first is that they created an 
extensive organized network by which to operate, one that is seen as a model for many others who 
come after, and the second is that they were successful in their endeavors, at least in attaining their 
set goals. Here we will discuss a bit of the context that contributed to the rise of the FLN and what 
necessitated their organizational structure, how the structure actually worked along with the 
advantages it brought, and then the disadvantages and examples of how the structure failed the FLN 
in certain ways, and how their disadvantages were acted upon. Lastly, a few points will be made on 
how the FLN could perhaps have performed better. 
 It is important to note the circumstances that brought the FLN into being and what forced 
them to adopt such an experimental system. First and foremost, the country of Algiera had previously 
been a territory of the Ottoman Empire before being taken over by the French, which by the time of 
the “Battle of Algiers,” had been under their control for more than a century. The French 
implemented a policy of settling areas in Algeria, mostly along the coast with their own people but 
some Italians and Spaniards as well; however, the settled population by and large remained French. 
Following the end of the Second World War, where France had been occupied by Nazi Germany and 
was mostly recognized in the form of the Vichy French who collaborated with the Germans, with the 
French returned to power and in the process of rebuilding, riots broke out in Algeria, protesting the 
Vichy government for their collaboration with the occupying power, viewing them as just the same 
as the Nazis. This rift would remain, compounded by the fact there was already a divide between the 
French and the “French Muslims” as they liked to call their Algerian citizens, now with many of the 
merits of citizenship revoked. This divide would continue to exist and even strengthen with news 
from French Indochina, where the people there were somewhat successful in driving out the French. 
This led to an increasing call for independence within Algeria. Several movements began to form, 
though they bickered amongst themselves over how best to attain what they wanted. The FLN and 
their military branch, the ALN, would become the dominant and most powerful faction, where a 
cycle between the FLN and the French of death and terror would begin, with the “Ultras,” right-wing 
colonial extremists would begin committing attacks on both the Muslims and at times the French 
government, examples of false-flag operations, blaming the Muslim population for those attacks as 
well as other undesirables like communists. The Muslims would then retaliate against the French, 
bombing targets as well as shooting police and organizing civil unrest, and the French in turn would 
retaliate to these FLN retaliations by sending in troops such as the para-commandos and the Zouaves 
to search the Casbah, the Muslim quarter. This series of retaliations on both sides, and the subsequent 
searching of the Casbah, would help to cement the system by which the FLN would operate, though 
the organization had been using this structure for quite some time now. 
 The structure in question was the “cell” structure. In The Battle of Algiers, Colonel Mathieu 
briefs and instructs his men on how the organization works, where the organization has a leader but 
begins to branch off as it enlists more and more members. Starting with the leader, who knows his 
two subordinates and is aware of the organization as a whole, he hands orders down to his 
lieutenants, who in turn have people who are subordinate to them.i  One may look at this however 
I
1
Durkin: The Battle of Algiers
Published by DigitalCommons@COD, 2018
27 
and think it looks like your typical hierarchy; however, this is most definitely not the case. The 
organization may have a head and subordinates, but each set of members functions as their own 
“cell” or working group, semi-autonomous in their workings. The cell will carry out orders passed 
down from a higher-ranked member, or the leader of the cell will plot actions and put these concepts 
into practice in whatever manner they think best serves the overall goal of the organization. These 
could be everything from small secretary work and courier work, to more complex plots like 
demonstrations and bombings. Cells were encouraged to meet their challenges in unique ways and 
with creative solutions, thus the activities of one cell were not necessarily going to follow the same 
methodology as another cell, making it harder to trace cells and at the same time confuse their 
enemies. Cells were also not strictly limited to the 3-person system shown in the film–they could 
have multiple members but tended to stay small. 
 At the beginning of Zohra Drif’s memoir, Inside the Battle of Algiers, she recounted how at 
first she would only know her friend Samia Lakhdari, the two of them only recently inducted into the 
organization, and their contact, “Brassens” as they called him. “Brassens” would in turn report to 
somebody they dubbed “The Desert Fox,” real name Mustapha Fettal.ii  Later on, their connections 
would come to include some of the highest-ranked members of the FLN such as Ali la Pointe and 
Saadi Yacef, as well as Larbi Ben M’hidi. Thus, even in an organization as large as the FLN, they 
were decentralized and members were not likely to know a full roster of who was in the organization; 
only when it was necessary were other members revealed. This was in an attempt to limit the 
potential damage that could be inflicted upon the organization. If one cell’s leader died, someone 
within the cell would take charge, or they could find somebody else who was competent and able 
enough to take over. This extended all the way to their leaders, as even when Ben M’hidi was 
arrested and found dead, the organization surely felt the pain but did not back down, perhaps only 
intensified, seeing M’hidi as a martyr. This event was of great enough import that both the film, The 
Battle of Algiers, and Drif’s own memoir discuss this.iii  iv  
 In addition to being hard to track and hard to crush completely, the FLN also had great sway 
with the local peoples of the Casbah, potentially because they left a small footprint where they set up 
shop. Though they endangered whoever they were hosted by, they did not require a large amount of 
space for a single cell to operate–only an apartment was required per cell, and the construction of 
bomb labs and safe houses did not require a massive complex to house them. The nature of the 
homes in the Casbah, being small and compartmentalized, complimented the FLN, whose cells could 
have the same said of them. Thus, this footprint and pledging to help the people would afford them 
support almost anywhere they went within the Casbah, in providing a host family and location as 
well as sustenance and resources for a cell’s members. 
 The cell structure, as undoubtedly effective and robust as it was, was not without its 
shortcomings. There is no perfect system, and the FLN was no exception. In exchange for their guile 
and small footprint, their ability to lose a section while being able to replenish that loss effectively as 
well as their ability to maneuver with relative stealth and discretion, they did have their weaknesses 
in that they lacked an up-front strength when compared to the Colonial Army. Members maintained 
weapons, but did not use them to effect large ambushes and assaults – their use of infantry weapons 
were more for defense in case their cells were compromised and they needed to regroup elsewhere. 
The FLN was not interested in fighting the French on a battlefield, not in Algiers. Nor were they 
interested in fighting a protracted war with the French, as a war of attrition is one of the greatest 
threats to an organization like the FLN. Because they were fighting on unequal footing, using 
alternative methods of attack, the FLN were largely strapped for resources. The French simply kept 
applying pressure onto the FLN, raiding their cell locations repeatedly. Over time, the French 
managed to start bringing down the total operating cells, vastly diminishing the capacity with which 
the FLN could act. Though the FLN were determined to the end, it was clear that eventually they 
would run out of resources, run out of places to hide, and run out of people capable of continuing the 
2
ESSAI, Vol. 16 [2018], Art. 14
https://dc.cod.edu/essai/vol16/iss1/14
28 
fight. They began to slow down, constantly being hounded by the French, moving from safe house to 
safe house with little time to rest and recuperate, which drained their members of their vitality, 
becoming sleep-deprived and ill. Zohra Drif would recount one such flight in her memoir: 
 
El Kho had sent Petit Omar to find us new accommodation, but there had been no 
response. Thanks to Massu’s policy of terror, we were seeing our possibilities for 
refuge dry up. Finally, a departure plan was set. But it was Ramadan, and at this hour 
the streets of the Casbah were swarming with people and patrols. They decided that 
Ali and El Kho would wrap themselves in haïks to try to conceal their identity. 
Despite our fatigue, despite the dejection and sorrow we felt, the process of Hassiba 
and me trying to fix a haïk onto Ali’s athletic frame cheered us all up.v   
 
In addition to their physical fatigue, the cell members began to feel mental torpor from the repeated 
raids upon their homes by the Paras, as well as the ever-constant threat of being tortured, something 
the Colonial Army used extensively in an attempt to extract more information from the populace, but 
more as a weapon to terrorize them, to induce this mental and emotional fatigue, to instill this fear to 
break the morale of the FLN and the FLN’s supporters. In the end, what truly dealt a lethal blow to 
the FLN’s presence in Algiers was the fact that one of their own had betrayed them and sided with 
the French, a leading member of the ALN by the codename of Safi.vi  He was responsible for getting 
Drif and Yacef into French custody, and for acting as the bait to draw out Ali la Pointe and Hassiba 
Ben Bouali, where a French-planted bomb destroyed their current safe house, killing them as well as 
Petit Omar and Mahmoud Bouhamidi.vii  His betrayal allowed the French to gain intimate knowledge 
of how the ALN and the FLN worked, giving them precise locations of other cells and their 
activities, bringing down the whole organization. 
 Though a strong and efficient organizational structure leaving little to chance, the FLN and 
ALN were eventually brought down by the French war of attrition, through depletion of resources, 
wearing-down of their members so that they would become more reckless, and a mole on the inside 
providing in-depth information on their movements, their activities and their refuges, as well as the 
current level of equipment that the FLN and ALN members were working with. An unknowable 
enemy became a knowable one, and the French set about dismantling them with this knowledge in 
hand. The FLN never intended to outlast the French in a protracted battle–that was the job of the 
people, to rise up and join them and throw a full revolt against the French, as well as earn recognition 
on the international stage to win some support from other countries.  Though this did indeed come 
later and won the Algerians their independence, it came after the FLN had their cells scattered. The 
damage was done, but if the FLN perhaps addressed the problems that began to plague them later on, 
either through planning or further outmaneuvering the French, then maybe they could have continued 
their fight alongside the forces that would win them independence. For example, during the phase 
where the Paras were raiding the FLN in the Casbah, another cell could work in collaboration to 
create a diversion to draw the French away, possibly acting as a warning to the French that every 
time they attempted to raid the Casbah, a retaliatory strike would occur at nearly the same time in a 
French-controlled part of the city. This could act to leverage the raids, with the potential of a strike 
making the French more wary of sending further raids into the Casbah, which in turn would allow the 
FLN and the ALN more time to stock up, move resources and regroup. Whatever happened and 
could have happened–either way, the FLN proved their ingenuity with their new organizational 
structure and the manner in which they took the fight to the French while staying operational, longer 
than a typical terrorist group of the time would manage, and achieving their goal of a free Algeria 
while also providing both a role model for later organizations of the same kind, and a valuable lesson 
to be learned from the French in how to conduct counter-terrorism. 
 
3
Durkin: The Battle of Algiers
Published by DigitalCommons@COD, 2018
29 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
i “The Battle of Algiers,” 1966. 58:52. 
ii Zohra Drif, Inside the Battle of Algiers. (Charlottesville: Just World Books, 2017), 76. 
iii “The Battle of Algiers,” 1966. 1:31:15. 
iv Drif, Inside, 235. 
v Drif, Inside, 250. 
vi Drif, Inside, 315. 
vii Drif, Inside, 332. 
4
ESSAI, Vol. 16 [2018], Art. 14
https://dc.cod.edu/essai/vol16/iss1/14


The Battle of Algiers

Yun, Jenny

ESSAI
Volume 16 Article 31
Spring 2018
The Iliad
Jenny Yun
College of DuPage
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/essai
This Selection is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at DigitalCommons@COD. It has been accepted for inclusion in
ESSAI by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu.
Recommended Citation
Yun, Jenny (2018) "The Iliad," ESSAI: Vol. 16 , Article 31.
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/essai/vol16/iss1/31
86 
The Iliad 
 
by Jenny Yun 
 
(English 1159) 
 
 
 
  
Shelby: We recently finished reading about the violence within Homer’s epic poem The Iliad. Is it 
possible to compare it to the violence we experience today? 
Hannah: I mean, yeah, I think it is because weapons and warfare change but pure humanistic 
tendency to crave violence doesn’t change. 
Tyler: Hannah, are you basically saying that it is human nature to love violence? 
Hannah: Yes, because we all have something we fight for. In the modern world we fight for our 
nation, for our families, and for our future. In The Iliad Athena gave the Achaeans the courage to 
keep fighting as stated in Book 2, lines 532 -538, 
 
Her shield of lightning dazzling, swirling around her, /headlong on Athena swept 
through the Argive armies, /driving soldiers harder, lashing the fighting-fury/ in each 
Achean's heart—no stopping them now, /mad for war and struggle. Now, suddenly, / 
battle thrilled them more than the journey home, /than sailing hollow ships to their 
dear native land. 
 
Athena, known as the goddess of war and wisdom, is Ares’ counterpart. She loved the good fight and 
was described throughout The Iliad as a fierce, angry, and cruel warrior. Athena gave the Achaeans a 
slight push to keep fighting, and once she did, they continued the bloodshed without much 
encouragement. Meaning she might have urged them, but they fought for their own personal gains. 
Barry: I’m going to add onto Hannah’s point that we humans crave violence, if you don’t mind, of 
course. 
Hannah: Not at all, continue. 
 
Setting: 
 
Six students huddle together in their small group to discuss The Iliad, 
more specifically the violence they read within the epic poem and how it 
may relate to modern acts of violence 
Characters: 
 
Jamie 
Kathy 
Barry 
Shelby 
Tyler 
Hannah 
1
Yun: The Iliad
Published by DigitalCommons@COD, 2018
87 
Barry: There are so many examples throughout history of our cruel nature such as the genocides we 
have had in the last seventy or so years, the most notable being the Holocaust during World War 
Two, the Cambodian genocide of the late 1970’s, and the Rwandan(Tutsi) Genocide of 1994. Other 
examples of extreme violence are the hundreds of murders we have in our nation each year, and how 
our country keeps fighting useless wars. My point being that humans crave violence because it gives 
us power over another. 
Kathy: What do you mean by that?  
Barry: The act of taking a life is the greatest power humans can ever possess because killing another 
person goes against our natural biological tendencies. Humans are programmed to feel emotions that 
deter us from committing acts of violence because we are empathic to others and we feel immense 
guilt in taking a life.  Basically wars, genocides, and homicides are all power plays in the sense that 
we all want control. Some dictators, warlords, and others in powerful positions might say that the 
genocides and wars were just a cleansing of the nation to make it better, but how is killing innocent 
civilians not considered an extreme act of violence? Isn’t that how governments silence the people 
through fear and ignorance? 
Tyler: I totally agree with Barry; we never really get over taking a life. I have heard of medical 
professionals who cry with the families after they fail to save someone, and how some soldiers who 
suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder because of all the violence they witness over and over 
again. A better example is my uncle who is a police officer. During his career he had to use deadly 
force on someone who was a danger to public safety. When he came home that night he sobbed on 
my aunt’s shoulder. He was a trained officer crying because he shot someone. An act of violence 
leads to another and as Herbert Hoover once said, “Older men declare war. But it is the youth that 
must fight and die.”(“Herbert”) 
Kathy: Let’s move on now shall we? What did you guys think of the description of Menelaus when 
he saw Paris in Book 3, lines 25-29: “Atreides thrilled/ like a lion lighting on some handsome 
carcass, /lucky to find an antlered stag or wild goat/ just as hunger strikes--he rips it, bolts it down, / 
even with running dogs and lusty hunters rushing him.” 
Shelby: Personally, I thought it was a bit too much to compare Menelaus to a hungry lion because I 
understand that Paris stole Helen from him, but is Helen really worth it to Menelaus for him to be 
described as a wild deranged animal? 
Jamie: To answer your question Shelby, yes, Helen was worth it because first off she was considered 
the most beautiful female, and second, women were considered nothing more than property during 
this time period. Therefore, stealing Helen from Menelaus is like someone going to your house and 
stealing your $4,000 television along with your brand new $34,000 car.  Sure she could have been 
replaced, but the biggest reason, in my opinion, why it is worth it to Menelaus to be described as a 
wild deranged animal is because of pride. 
Kathy: So you interpreted the violent scenes as acts of pride. Could you explain that a bit more 
because it is hard to see a brutal killing spree as an act of pride? 
Jamie: In Book 16 Achilles agrees to lend Patroclus his armor and men so that they may drive the 
Trojan forces away from the ships. Wearing Achilles’ armor, Patroclus is basically a moving target: 
the way this relates to pride is because Achilles’s armor is quite recognizable, meaning he had to live 
up to the hype of Achilles and do his name justice. In Book 16 lines 480-489 Homer describes 
Patroclus as he is in battle: 
 
2
ESSAI, Vol. 16 [2018], Art. 31
https://dc.cod.edu/essai/vol16/iss1/31
88 
“Patroclus rising beside him stabbed his right jawbone,/Ramming the spearhead 
square between his teeth so hard/he hooked him by that spearhead over the chariot 
rail,/hoisted, dragged the Trojan out as an angler perched/on a jutting rock ledge 
drags some fish from the sea,/some noble catch, with line and glittering bronze 
hook./So with the spear Patroclus gaffed him off his car,/his mouth gaping round the 
glittering point/and flipped him down facefirst/dead as he fell, his life breath blown 
away.” 
 
Shelby: Oh, yeah, I remember that scene. As I was reading, I was thinking that all these acts of 
violence were childish, as if stabbing a man through the mouth wasn’t enough, Patroclus in Book 16, 
lines 491-494  is described as continuing to mutilate the body of  Sarpedon; “He flung a rock and it 
struck between his eyes / and the man's whole skull split in his heavy helmet,/ down the Trojan 
slammed on the ground, head down/ and courage-shattering Death engulfed his corpse.” I thought  it 
was quite brutal the way Patroclus killed Sarpedon, but then again, Achilles, is compared to the god 
of war, Ares when he avenges the death of Patroclus as Homer states in Book 20 lines 554-559: 
 
“Achilles now/ like inhumane fire raging on through the mountain gorges splinter-
dry, setting ablaze big stands of timber, /the wind swirling the huge fireball left and 
right-/chaos of fire-Achilles storming on with brandished spear/ like a frenzied god of 
battle trampling all he killed/ and the earth ran black with blood” 
 
But am I really the only one who thought the acts of violence were a bit childish? Literally, this 
whole war was started because Paris stole Menelaus’ shiny new toy(Helen)and Menelaus wanted his 
toy back. So he gets his older brother, Agamemnon, to gather up all of his friends and go seek 
revenge against Paris and the Trojans. Also before you say anything about the whole pride thing, I 
already heard it when you said it the first time, Jamie. 
Barry: While on the subject of Achilles, what did you guys think about Hector’s death and the way 
Achilles treated the corpse? 
Hannah: Let me just start off with this: Achilles is such a child! I mean, literally, he sulked the 
majority of the poem only to come and fight to avenge his friend. Like really? I understand that 
Hector stole his armor from the body of his best friend, but to mutilate Hector's body as stated in 
Book 22, lines 466-472: 
 
“So he triumphed/and now bent on outrage, on shaming noble Hector. /Piercing the 
tendons, ankle to heel behind both feet, /he knotted straps of rawhide through them 
both, lashed them to his chariot, left the head to drag/ and mounting the car, hoisting 
the famous arms aboard, / he whipped his team to a run and breakneck on they flew, 
holding nothing back.” 
 
Like seriously, he poked a hole through Hector’s tendon and attached him, like some animal he just 
hunted and killed, to his chariot and dragged him in plain view of not only his parents, but also 
Hector’s wife. That is just plain childish, like Shelby said, and also it’s plain cruel! 
Tyler:  I know, right? After Hector begged Achilles to return his dead body to the gates of Troy so 
that he may have his rites and proper burial, Achilles says to Hector, in Book 22, line 417 “The dogs 
and birds will rend you-blood and bone”. Since the ancient Greeks believed the way your body was 
at death is how you shall remain in the afterlife meaning the last rites and a proper burial were 
important in order to not insult the dead(Mark). Which can explain why Apollo pitied Hector when 
he helped him out in Book 24 lines 21-25: “But Apollo pitied Hector-/dead man though he was-and 
warded all corruption off/ from Hector’s corpse and round him, head to foot, / the great god wrapped 
3
Yun: The Iliad
Published by DigitalCommons@COD, 2018
89 
the golden shield of storm/ so his skin would never rip as Achilles dragged him on” The gods and 
goddesses intervened so often during this poem. Sometimes it was for good reason and sometimes 
for stupid reasons. Sure, Apollo did send a plague to punish the mortals, however, I feel that Apollo’s 
pity is admirable because Apollo is the only sane one. Since he saw Achilles as a mortal who  has let 
his mom’s influence and Athena’s favor get to his head. Apollo by saving Hector’s corpse,  is finally 
setting something right in the mess that was the Trojan War. 
Jamie: Ok, moving on, I have a question for you guys. Due to the violence we see and experience 
today, do you think it made us immune or blind to violence? 
Barry: I don’t think we'll ever really be immune to it. Rather we are starting to just not care about 
the violence because we all have a common mindset that as long as the violence doesn’t influence 
our daily lives it doesn’t really deserve a second thought. 
Shelby: Also think about all the video games we play or how modern movies and music all have 
references to extreme violence such as shooting, rape, gangs, and drugs. Compared to the poem, 
there is not much difference in the way violence is depicted because The Iliad had people’s body 
parts being cut off and murdered. The modern society has gunshot wounds leading to a person’s 
death. 
Kathy: I disagree with you, Barry. I feel like the violence we experience today has made us more 
conscious of the issue of violence. You said that as long as our daily lives are unaffected we do not 
care. But the thing is all, past examples of violence are the reasons why we are wary of some groups 
of people or why, when we travel on an airplane or go to a public event, we are thoroughly searched. 
Also our actions and conversations are continually monitored by our government. As for popular 
culture and the way violence is described, I understand where you are coming from. We see so many 
stupid acts of violence, whether it be in video games or movies, that we really stopped caring because 
it is no longer shocking to turn on the news and see a report about a shooting in which x amount of 
people were killed. Which is why now is the time to fight back to raise our concerns to Congress. If 
we don’t fight back now, a few years down the road we are no longer going to be humans. 
(Slowly conversations quiet  down as everyone refocuses their attentions towards the front of the 
class as it is time to report out what the students have been discussing.) 
 
 
  
 
Works Cited 
 
“Herbert Hoover Quotes.” BrainyQuote, www.brainyquote.com/quotes/herbert_hoover_108439. 
Homer. The Iliad. Translated by Robert Fagles, New York, Penguin Books, 1998. 
Mark, Joshua J. “The After-Life In Ancient Greece.” Ancient History Encyclopedia, 18 Jan. 2012, 
Accessed 5 Mar. 2018. 
 
 
4
ESSAI, Vol. 16 [2018], Art. 31
https://dc.cod.edu/essai/vol16/iss1/31


The Iliad

O\u27Keefe, Brian

Brian O\u27Keefe reads a selection from A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riots of 1919 by Claire Hartfield

Cianciosi, Christine

The Prairie Light Review
Volume 40 | Number 2 Article 24
Spring 5-1-2018
Morning Stillness
Christine Cianciosi
College of DuPage
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr
This Selection is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at DigitalCommons@COD. It has been accepted for inclusion in
The Prairie Light Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu.
Recommended Citation
Cianciosi, Christine (2018) "Morning Stillness," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 40 : No. 2 , Article 24.
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol40/iss2/24
Prairie Light Review 28
Morning Tea
I wait for my orchids to bloom all at
once. Just then my white lace curtains
will flow and billow with the fall breeze.
The lemon wedges line the saucer, lie
near the spiced tea bag dripping with
the remnants of freshly steeped nostalgia.
 
I sit across the desk from the man who
killed my brother. His voice, meant to
comfort, covers me with unending shame.
I swallow his words, one by one, each
a thorn pinched from his memorial rose.
 
Remember always
How to peak meringue
Change a tire.
Yellow paint, blue trim
Collaged wallpaper
Stolen posters
Kitchen puppet shows
and Neverland.
 
The curtain flows, but it is 
cold, so I lower the window.
Before I die, I will learn to 
savor every morsel of my life. 
-Susan Trestrail
1
Cianciosi: Morning Stillness
Published by DigitalCommons@COD, 2018


Morning Stillness

Liefeld, Robin

The Prairie Light Review
Volume 40 | Number 2 Article 43
Spring 5-1-2018
Warrior Princess
Robin Liefeld
College of DuPage
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr
This Artwork is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at DigitalCommons@COD. It has been accepted for inclusion in
The Prairie Light Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu.
Recommended Citation
Liefeld, Robin (2018) "Warrior Princess," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 40 : No. 2 , Article 43.
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol40/iss2/43
Prairie Light Review 50 1
Liefeld: Warrior Princess
Published by DigitalCommons@COD, 2018


Warrior Princess

Elaine, Linda

Linda Elaine Reads  Poem About My Nights  by June Jordan

Anderson, Heather

The Prairie Light Review
Volume 40 | Number 2 Article 29
Spring 5-1-2018
He Was Powerless All Along
Heather Anderson
College of DuPage
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr
This Selection is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at DigitalCommons@COD. It has been accepted for inclusion in
The Prairie Light Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu.
Recommended Citation
Anderson, Heather (2018) "He Was Powerless All Along," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 40 : No. 2 , Article 29.
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol40/iss2/29
Spring 201833
He Was Powerless All Along
I cannot recall the day I realized he was a weak man. 
I only remember the moment:
when I let his booming voice evaporate into thin air before it hit my ears
and suddenly the venom he spat at me sizzled in front of my feet.
As I saw the look of horror suddenly stretched across his face,
I realized that within my chest,
 I held strength like gold 
and that he was no more than a desperate thief
pillaging for riches he did not possess.
In the moment I locked my doors,
he looked like he was drowning in the blood rushing to his face, suffocating 
on the first taste of the filth he had spewed.
He wouldn’t stop himself from screaming,
so insistent that if he kept it up,
I would eventually let him inside,
and save him from his own doing by giving up a piece of myself.
In the moment I didn’t, I watched him self destruct.
-Heather Anderson
“Self  Portrait”
Susan Schubert
Photography
1
Anderson: He Was Powerless All Along
Published by DigitalCommons@COD, 2018


College of DuPage

Not a member yet

Festival of Lights

The Emperor

Willkomen Beim German Journal - Welcome to German Journal

The Battle of Algiers

The Iliad

Brian O\u27Keefe reads a selection from A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riots of 1919 by Claire Hartfield

Morning Stillness

Warrior Princess

Linda Elaine Reads Poem About My Nights by June Jordan

He Was Powerless All Along

7,467

11,908