The+7000+Year+Feud

** The 7000 Year Feud ** // **Simple logic really. Sisters fight. Rachel and Leah are sisters. Therefore, Rachel and Leah fight.** // ​ **By Rachel H** **Audio-Cast**

media type="file" key="Rachel_2.mp3" width="214" height="17" **Introduction **

How long does an average fight with your sibling last? A day, maybe two? At most a week? It probably depends on what the fight is about. Or maybe it depends on how long you live. If that’s the case, you probably shouldn’t marry your sister’s husband in a hugely publicized event that will be written about in the world’s most well known book. You probably shouldn’t believe in heaven and the after-life either. Just an idea. If you do, you and your sibling just might end up like Rachel and Leah from Genesis and bicker endlessly for 7000 years.

In this project, Rachel and Leah are having their bimonthly tea and old wounds reopen with each spiteful word from the mouths of these two women. After analyzing the dialogue from a reader’s point of view, the project also includes an analysis of Rachel and Leah from the point of view of the Genesis and the point of view from an artist, background given in the “About the Artist” section, and the traits that make them so unique. A simplification of the Genesis analysis is included in the form of a more visually pleasing Webspiration chart. The page is rounded out by my reflection on the process and what I learned both as a student and a person.

**Dialogue**

Narrator: It has been a long time since Genesis. The most famous sisters in the world now reside in the happiest place in the world. No, not Disneyland. I'm talking about the big guns. The pearly gates. The great white light. Paradise. I'm talking about heaven. Rachel and Leah are having their bimonthly tea.  Rachel: So, I heard you started a new program for lost souls.

Leah: Yeah. Our grand opening is next week. It's a silent auction. You should definitely stop by.

Rachel: Definitely. I actually think Benjamin's stopping by next week. He's due for a visit; Jacob misses him so; we'll both go. It will be like a family reunion!

Leah: Oh, Ben! How is he? In fact, how are the great grandchildren, the ones still residing on earth?

Rachel: He's doing well. //[Laughs] // One great? More like one //thousand. // But they're doing splendidly. Carly's wedding planning business is doing just fabulously in New York. Henry was recently promoted to a CEO at the water company he's working at. Julie's sculptures are selling for about a half a million apiece so that's exciting, but I would expect nothing less; her artwork is to die for. Of course, Lindsey took over Bob's wool company. //Finally. // I mean, that man needs to look in the mirror and realize that those lines in his face aren't cracks, if you know what I mean. Unlike Lawrence, boy, he is one good looking fella, if I say so myself; in fact, he's one of the top models in the business. He's chased around by paparazzi and everything, it's so exhilarating. How 'bout yours?

Leah: Well, last I heard, Stacy is trying to create that mandrake root thing? You know, the one from that book with the wizard...and the scar...and the bumble door? //[dismissively] // You know what I'm talking about. And you probably know about Billy and his color-changing contact thing that's based on mood. Oh, and Rose just met somebody! This one looks promising.

Rachel: //[voice perks up, obviously interested] // Reeeeeaaaa-lly? Tell me more.

Leah: About the contacts?

Rachel: No, no. About the new guy! //[rapidly] // How old is he? What does he look like? What's his monthly income? What's his job? What are his plans-

Leah: //[interrupts] // Wow Rachel. WOW. Seriously? I mean, seriously? You are NOT doing this right now.

Rachel: //[guiltily] // I just wanted to know...

Leah: ...if he's a candidate for one of your favorites' husband?

<span style="color: #3200d1; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 300%; line-height: 115%;"> Rachel: My descendents are perfect. They don't need //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">help //. I mean, it's //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">obvious // that my direct descendents were always the prettier, smarter, and more loving ones compared to yours. That's why Jacob chose me you know. Because of those traits.

Leah: Whoa there, Rachel. Let's not bring this up. It was a long time ago and you know this will only end badly.

Rachel: You don't want to bring it up because you know I'm right. Men always loved me more. Always have and always will. And tell you what, they always will love my descendents more also. Now be a dear and give me Rose's new boyfriend's number.

Leah: You know, it's one thing to take away Jacob from me, but to take a man away from my //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">descendent //!? Low. Sooooo low.

Rachel: Same argument. Time after //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">tiiiime // after TIME. You need to build a bridge and get over it, Leah. I did not //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">take // Jacob from you. He was mine in the first place!! News flash //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">[spits out] BIG // sister, but the only reason you were his first wife was because Father thought you couldn't find a husband and had to resort to tricking my poor Jacob. He fell for me and he had to burden himself with //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">you. // My poor, poor Jakey.

Leah: A burden? //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">[smugly] // Well, better a burden in the womb than an empty one.

Rachel: Okay, I had two perfect little boys! Ones who didn't //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">murder // or //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">sleep // with anyone they weren't supposed to. Besides, you //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">stole // my children from me. Yeah, I read that book! God just felt sorry for you. Poor, unloved Leah.

Leah: Stole? //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">I // stole? I'm not the one who stole! I read that book too, Rachel, so don't think I don't know about your indiscretion, you...you klepto! And from your own father too! Shame! Shaaaame!

Rachel: //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">[gasps] // First of all, I am not a kleptomaniac! Second of all, Daddy dearest never done anything for me except stick my Jacob with //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">you. // Third of all, I didn't even keep them! You're just jealous of my clever and innovative style of getting what I want. Using my gender to the FULL advantage. You never would've thought of that.

Leah: (//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">scoffs)[gleefully] // Apparently not. My "clever" and "innovative" genes just helped the whole female gender. Don't you just LOVE my great grandchild's invention to prevent the immobilization of a woman during her way? Pure genius, that child is.

Rachel: You know what!? You know what!?You're just a little...little buttface! A stupid nincompoopoohead!

Leah: //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">[bursts out laughing] // Did you seriously just call me a nincompoopoohead? We're like a million years old. The last time I heard the word nincompoopoohead was when we were five and you called that village boy that after he tried to steal our meat pies. Rachel: Oh yeah! After we clocked him good. We made a good team back then...You know what? Why are we doing this? You are my sister! We came from the same womb! Jacob was just a pretty boy.

Leah: You're right Rachel. And he's not even a pretty boy now. Have you seen his wrinkles?

Rachel: //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">[makes disgusted noise] // Makes me wanna hurl up something unpleasant. Then again, he's the one lying with that model.

Leah: You know. I know. the whole Heaven knows. He's paying her. He's SO paying her.

Rachel: //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">[Laughs] // Poor girl!

Leah: //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">[Suddenly] // Darn it! I have to meet with my event planner. Big day next week. I'll expect to see you and Benjamin there?

Rachel: I hope so! If not, same time, same place in April?

Leah: 'Til then!

Narrator: Rachel and Leah have tea every other month. They have a sort of checklist. They fight about Jacob. Brag about their descendents. Call each other names. But in the end, Rachel and Leah always solve their differences, because Rachel and Leah are sisters. And there's no bond tighter than that. Not to mention, Jacob really DID NOT age well.

<span style="background-color: #b92db6; color: #ffffff; display: block; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">​**Dialogue Analysis** <span style="color: #b92db6; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Because of her overdramatically arrogant personality stemming from her desire to be loved, Rachel’s naivety and carelessness in her words and actions often does the opposite and hurts the ones she cares about. During their bimonthly tea, Leah and Rachel are talking about their descendents and Leah mentions one of her girls is dating someone. When Rachel begins interrogating Leah and Leah confronts her about trying to steal the man for her own descendents, Rachel denies it and states that her “direct descendents were always the prettier, smarter, and more loving ones compared to yours [Leah’s]” and “that’s why Jacob chose me [Rachel], you know. Because of those traits” (Hoang 3). Rachel uses descriptive words in the comparative form to unnecessarily raise her above her sister. She feels the constant need to be reassured of her value in life and in society.

Sometimes, Rachel goes too far and actually hurts her relationships, in this case with her sister, by being too outspoken and inconsiderate of the feelings of others. After Rachel brags about her descendents, Leah tries to back off and keep the situation congenial. Rachel refuses to back off and brings up the past and the fact that “the only reason you [Leah] were his [Jacob’s] first wife was because Father thought you couldn’t find a husband and had to resort to tricking my poor Jacob. He fell for me and had to burden himself with //you//” (Hoang 4). The word “burden” not only literally means the physical load, but the mental and emotional one that comes with a person. Rachel does not understand that Leah did not personally ask for Jacob and did not want to hinder the happiness of her younger sister. As the older sister, she does her duty and enters not only into an unwanted marriage but the hatred of her sister. Rachel unconsciously targets all of her sister’s insecurities even though, in the dialogue, she clearly moved on from the situation. She clearly ‘forgives’ Leah, but as in any situation, she never truly ‘forgets.’

<span style="background-color: #cddb43; color: #ffffff; display: block; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">Webspiration Chart

​ <span style="background-color: #008000; color: #ffffff; display: block; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">**Character Analysis**

Although Rachel is a loving and nurturing person, her overdramatic nature often overwhelms people. In the picture //Rachel and Jacob// by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld depicting Rachel and Jacob embracing, Rachel conveys her affection by the way her body is both angling toward Jacob and leaning into him. In this scene, Rachel is not only accepting Jacob’s embrace, but she is also returning it. Jacob looks to her for the warmth and love expected from a wife and it might explain why Jacob favors her over his other women. In Genesis, women are supposed to care for their husband and basically be whatever their husband needs them to be, and Rachel represents that perfectly and understands women's role in society.

Rachel's flaw, her melodramatic nature, comes from her soft personality. When Rachel discovers she cannot conceive, she says to Jacob, “’Give me children, or I shall die.”’ (Gen. 30.1). She gives Jacob an <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">ultima tum with a coordinating conjunction, a word that joins groups of words of equal importance, “or”, stating that if she does not conceive, she’ll die with grief, when obviously, she will not. Her overdramatic pleas convey the cultural values of the people in Genesis where they compare the importance of giving birth and leaving a legacy to the enormity of death, leading to the recurring motif of descendents.

Leah’s craftiness and intellectual observations empower her so that she can stay emotionally strong throughout her trials. When Leah’s firstborn, Reuben, gathers mandrakes that Rachel, her younger sister and husband’s other wife, desires, she questions, “’Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes too?”’ (Gen. 30.15). The modal auxiliary “would” shows Leah’s wiliness as she uses her disgust and the implication of a repeated action in the past to manipulate Rachel. Leah manages to guilt her sister into giving her a night with Jacob by questioning Rachel’s honor and integrity when she asks for Reuben’s mandrakes for free. Unfortunately for Rachel, she trades something far more valuable, allowing Leah to conceive another child.

Because Rachel cannot give birth, Jacob sees Leah as a little more valuable with every child she has, even though he loves Rachel and not her. Her children act as a part of Leah’s shield against obstacles, allowing her to succeed through all the odds. The picture //Rachel and Jacob// by Julius Shnorr von Carolsfeld depicts Rachel and Jacob locked in an embrace while Leah looks on alone represents Leah's solidarity and strength. Her stance shows determination and strength even though she sees her husband and his other wife happy with the apparent support of the townspeople. Her resolution in her fate and making the best of things even though it seems like the whole world is against her allows her to live a full and successful like despite the circumstances. An emotional woman probably could not handle the trials Leah had to. In Genesis, where women usually cower and fade in the background, Leah provides a template for the more modern women of today and sparks a view on the role in society women have today.

<span style="background-color: #800000; color: #ffffff; display: block; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">**About the Artist**



<span style="color: #800000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld (1794-1872), born in Germany to a family of painters, studied in the Academy of Vienna before joining the Nazarene movement in Rome to restore and revive earlier Christian art. After restoring frescoes in places like the Villa Massimo, he then moved to Munich to spread his knowledge as a director of the Gemäldegalerie, all the while painting frescoes of Germany’s historic events. He then spent the rest of his life painting biblical illustrations like //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Rachel and Jacob // and many more, pieces for which he is known for today.

[|Lib Art]: More about the life of Schnorr von Carolsfeld and examples of his artwork

<span style="background-color: #fc9303; color: #ffffff; display: block; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">**Reflection** <span style="color: #ff6600; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I guess that I should start off by saying that now that it’s over and all I have to do is write this reflection and then turn the dang thing in, this project interested, challenged, and intrigued me. Of course, I wouldn’t have said this last week or even last night, when I was cursing this page and my teacher in a very un-ladylike manner, but now, I realize that I actually enjoyed it.

In my perspective, the overall quality of my project ranks high based on my previous work. Nothing in my wiki page stands out as an obvious weak component, but of course, as in any situation, my project can always improve. If I had to choose just one component to focus my criticism on, I would have to say my analyses need some work. Analyses have given me trouble throughout the year, and although I am always improving, perfection takes time and I am reaching for it slowly, but surely.

I find strength in my dialogue, and not just because I received a good grade on it. The peer edit and discussion really helped me figure out my plot progression and climax. Some of the pride I have in my dialogue also comes from the fact that I have, in my opinion, cleverly woven in some allusions within the script. Most of the time, the allusions fly right over the heads of the people reading it, or they just don’t understand it. That’s okay though, because it makes me happy, and I always give myself a mental pat on the back for my cleverness. It’s the simple things in life, you know?

The audio-cast definitely provided me with the most challenge. I have never been so grateful to have awesome technologically intelligent friends. You see, my parents presented me with my laptop in seventh grade. I would compare it to a person of an older age. All the insides are looking a little bit worse for wear, but it hangs in there like an old, reliable friend. If you try to do new things with this friend, it will die.

Keeping that in mind, I began to use Audacity, and disaster struck. I don’t know if it was the computer or the program because of course, it definitely wasn’t me <span style="color: #ff6600; font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Arial; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings; msoasciifontfamily: Arial; msobidifontfamily: Arial; msochartype: symbol; msohansifontfamily: Arial; msosymbolfontfamily: Wingdings;">J <span style="color: #ff6600; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">, but that did not turn out so well. Needless to say, I gave up on that endeavor pretty quickly. Luckily, my friend, the GarageBand master, helped me out, and we managed to record and edit the piece in about thirty minutes, a far cry from the two hours I spent with my dinosaur of a computer and Audacity. I probably would have spent as much time with G arageBand if I was working on it by myself, but we’ll overlook that little detail for now.

Not to toot my own horn, but //toot toot,// because my time management skills improved TREMENDOUSLY if I do say so myself. I actually started making and editing my page at the time my teacher recommended the class to. It helped me a lot because I just had to do a little every day, and it progressed and finished by itself. I understand now how evil and time consuming procrastination is; well actually I lied, I always knew how evil and time consuming it was, I just never cared. This whole new “starting early” thing really kicks some butt. I mean, tomorrow the page needs to be turned in, and while most of my classmates are freaking out and stressing, here I am, laboriously typing up my reflection and watching the Suns vs. Lakers game. Life is good.

In conclusion, I am definitely going to make a habit of this whole “starting early” thing. I realize now that I’m the only one who makes these assignments and projects hard. From now on, I will not procrastinate. I will not procrastinate. I WILL NOT PROCRASTINATE! Maybe if I write it enough times, it will come true. Just in time for summer. Fantastic.

PS I know sarcasm doesn’t translate well over text, so I’m telling you here that the last statement was supposed to be sarcastic. <span style="color: #ff6600; font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Arial; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings; msoasciifontfamily: Arial; msobidifontfamily: Arial; msochartype: symbol; msohansifontfamily: Arial; msosymbolfontfamily: Wingdings;">J <span style="color: #ff6600; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">. Thanks for reading!

<span style="background-color: #800080; color: #ffffff; display: block; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">** Works Cited ** <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">"American Gallery." //Wordpress//. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 May 2010. <http://americangallery.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/two-women-having-tea.jpg>.

//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Cache. //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> Jupiter Images, n.d. Web. 18 May 2010. < <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> []>.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld. N.d. Paskha. Web. 12 May 2010. <[]>.

Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld. N.d. WP Content. Web. 16 May 2010 <[|http://wpcontent.answers.com/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9c/Schnorr Buerkner.jpg/250px-Schnorr Buerkner.jpg]>.

"Julius Scnorr von Carolsfeld." //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Paskha. // N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2010. <[]>.

"Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld" __The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition__. 2008. //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Encyclopedia.com. // 12 May 2010 <[|http://www.encyclopedia.com]>.

"Phoenix Suns." //ESPN//. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May 2010. <[]>.

"Privileged," //CW Television.// CW Television, n.d. Web. 18 May 2010. <[]>.

//The New Oxford Annotated Bible//. Ed. Michael D. Coogan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, n.d. Print.

//Wordpress//. Kyecha, n.d. Web. 19 May 2010. <http://kyecha.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/cute-animals-1.jpg>.