Noah and the Flood Sinnerman (where you gonna run to) - Nina Simone

Cultural Foundations: The Right to Power On the proper limits and relations of power: (the right of some to have power over others) On legitimate power and the right to violence: (what kinds of power are right, what are not) On the transfer of power: (from God to men; from Noah to his “rightful” heir)

Cultural foundations: (Re)telling stories about origins Why is this story being told, in this way? What is it trying to explain, or bring about? What differences are introduced in retelling a story, and how are they important? What techniques are used (e.g. what ‘style’), and how do they affect the story’s meaning?

A modern “Noah’s Ark”

Noah’s Ark Deluxe Hotel and Casino

A success story: surviving and thriving

(Tell him what he’s won…)

NOAH (the story is more than you imagined...)

Noah and the Flood A figure for success: who wins, what they win, and why An end and a beginning: “corruption,” and wiping the slate clean Making the covenant: new powers, new problems What just happened?? the problem of the ending

Overview The “laconic” style and its effects Origin stories: reflection or cause? Conceptual knots in Genesis a. between seeing and sin b. between power and difference The ends of reading: reproduction or change?

Bette Davis (“All About Eve”)

Betty Davis

They Say I'm Different...