ENGL 2150 // Spr. 2013 // Revisions III Handout
Camus Summaries
Directions: Please read the following entries (which come directly from our in-class writing blogposts). Assess any
grammatical errors by circling where the error occurs. Then, re-write the statements, replacing anything you deem to be vague
or abstract with things that are more concrete, explanatory, detailed, professional, and understandable.
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1. According to Albert Camus in “The Myth of Sisyphus,” from The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays
written in 1945, the gods had condemned Sisyphus to “an eternity of futile and hopeless labor” (74). Eternity
represents something that is endless. Futile can be defined as the act of doing something does not matter for
the outcome will always be the same. Hopeless is to be without faith that something good can happen and
labor represents work. Sisyphus was punished by the gods to continually roll a rock up a mountain. This
punishment that Sisyphus received was thought to be the worst possible sentence. However, there are several
punishments that are far worse that having to repeat a single task for all eternity. Such examples are torture,
being alone and to die from starvation. Though, the worst possible punishment is the act of suicide, to take
one’s own life. Life is treasured for there is nothing similar to living. Sisyphus valued his life dearly. The
reason that condemned by the gods was because he cheated death. To have a person take away their life is the
worst possible punishment for without life, one cannot think, socialize, write, read, or do any of the things
that the world has to offer.
Camus states “Then Sisyphus watches the stone rush down in a few moments toward that lower world
whence he will have to push it up again toward the summit” (75). In the act of Sisyphus pushing the rock up
the mountain, he is aspiring to reach the top. As he retreats back to the bottom, he stands where he started,
but this time it is a new beginning. For Sisyphus, it is the same task but another trial, for the first time rolling
the rock up the mountain is not exactly going to be the same as the second or the third and so on. The gods
thought this to be the worst possible punishment, but instead, one may believe that Sisyphus finds happiness
in this endless task because he knows that he is destined to have another day to push the rock up again and
try to succeed.
2. According to Albert Camus in “The Myth of Sisyphus,” from the Myth of Sisyphus and other essays,
Sisyphus was condemned to “an eternity of futile and hopeless labor,” by pushing a large rock up to the top
of a mountain because of his crimes against the gods and cheating death. An eternity literally means forever.
Forever of anything isn’t a good thing. The sentence is already off to a poor start. Futile means an action or
object is pointless. Hopeless means there is no possibility of solution. Labor means hard physical work. The
gods believed using a huge amount of effort for something that could not be accomplished was the worst
punishment. But, there are far worse punishments. Death could be considered one, but that would be the end
of a person’s life and it would not give anyone closure. The point of a punishment is to reprimand a person
for doing something wrong. The worst punishment would be piercing one with flaming swords for an
eternity. He/she would experience an immense amount of pain. Some authority figures, like parents or
judges, might think death is a worse punishment. But, a punishment is given so the wrongdoer is forced to
reflect on what he/she did. If he/she dies, there is no chance to reflect. It would be the end of the
wrongdoer’s life. Pain forces one to reflect on what happened, why that particular action was wrong and
discover why the pain is present now.