Pathos

Last night, Alexa and I were lucky enough to be at the evening's most exciting event in Philadelphia, the Mountain Goats concert. The lead singer John Darnielle had a tendency to share little introductory anecdotes before he played each song. While stopping to figure out the chord progression for his next song, he began to talk about how a person's legacy can become so infused with pathos that they become more in death than they ever were in life. Upon hearing pathos, Alexa and I turned to each other and said "English!" at the exact same time. Please do not judge.
The impact of the introduction was somewhat lost, considering that neither of us had any idea who the subject of the song was (Dana Plato, who John described as an actress gone too soon). Regardless, John Darnielle's reference to pathos got me thinking about what we've been discussing in English class. Are there American icons that are associated with so much emotion that they become detached from their actual accomplishments? Marilyn Monroe immediately comes to my mind. Though only an actress, she is an immortal in pop culture. To a lesser extent, I think of JFK. While he was undoubtedly a remarkable man, his political accomplishments weren't as impressive or revolutionary as those of many of his predecessors, and many of the domestic reforms with which he is credited should rightfully go to Lyndon Johnson. In this respect, does Kennedy deserve to be deified in US history the way he has been? Both these instances seem to exemplify an American tendency to wrap those that have died early in a shroud of pathos and raise them to a level above what their actions would warrant. Or perhaps the Mountain Goats and I are just a cynical bunch.

-Colin

Responding To Societal Cues

Even though it's been awhile since we discussed memorials, and the emotions that accompany them, in class, I had an experience on Friday that reminded me of our discussion. I was volunteering in my mother's classroom, and on this particular day she just happened to be reading The Wall by Eve Bunting. The book deals with a child's visit to the Vietnam War Memorial. My mother is an extremely empathetic person, so as she was reading she began to cry. It was only after several of the children in the class began to well up, that I remembered our discussions in class. Seeing so many of the children being emotionally connected to a memorial that they most likely have had little or no previous connection to reinforced the idea that it's not the memorial itself, but the reactions of others dealing with the memorial that causes emotional responses. I found it really interesting to see one of our discussions played out in real life.

-Tara

Another Translation

I was reading the play Antigone by Sophocles (it's in our book) and noticed some things pertaining to class. I noticed two vocab words were used, clement and augur. One of the characters in the play is a blind augur who with the help of an assistant who can see, forecasts that the king will have great misfortune if he kills Antigone. The more interesting relation to class, however, was the translation. Antigone was written in ancient Greece, and thus, in Greek. In the English version, there are several references to "God". This is anachronistic because no one believed in God then; they believed in the gods, and most importantly Zeus. I assume the translator meant "Zeus" when he wrote "God". I found it odd and don't really understand why he didn't just write Zeus since it was more historically accurate and a closer translation to the original. Does anyone else have any thoughts on this translation?

~Becca

Atonement

I'm reading Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol and one passage caught my attention:

"...In fact, man's oldest spiritual quest was to perceive his own entanglement, to sense his own interconnection with all things. He has always wanted to become 'one' with the universe...to achieve the state of 'at-one-ment....' To this day, Jews and Christians still strive for 'atonement'...although most of us have forgotten it is actually 'at-one-ment' we're seeking."

I looked it up on the Online Merriam-Webster dictionary and the "at-one-ment" idea is there! In the tertiary definition. I never knew that before. Just thought I'd share this with you so that we can all celebrate one of our vocab words. =)

-- tori

Healthcare Wordplay

One of the things I've noticed in the healthcare debate recently has been the rhetoric used by people on each side of the argument. The Left uses phrases like "universal coverage" (which has a positive connotation), while the Right responds with phrases such as "government takeover" and "socialized medicine" (which have very negative connotations). The Democrats label the public plan as an "option" (options are good, right?), while the Republicans call it a "government takeover" (eeeek!). And list of common words and phrases used by each side goes on and on. Democrats say we need "cost controls" and a public plan to increase "competition". Along with this, they frequently mention insurance companies "denying coverage". The Republicans, on the other hand, label the Left as "tax and spend liberals" and use words like "waste", "fraud", and "abuse" to describe the results of current government programs. But these words pale in comparison to the Right's big guns, words like "bureaucracy" (my personal favorite quote happening to be "death panels of government bureaucrats") and "rationing" which send chills down our spines.
In the end, the healthcare debate has turned out to be a debate over words, and it seems that whoever can win this battle will emerge the victor. How do you all feel about this? (and if you have more words and phrases to share, it will be greatly appreciated)

-Bryce Cody

Bad Luck?

Hi guys! Well, today is Friday the 13th. Now were all going to fail our vocab quizzes because of the bad luck, right?

Seriously however, while I realize the fact that I realize that both Friday and the 13th of the month are both human inventions, and wouldn't exist with out us making the artificially dividing what we perceive as time into portions like days, hours, weeks, etc., and furthermore there is no proof that a day can be "unlucky", I still can't help but believe the superstition to an extent. There are other superstitions I still semi-believe, even though it makes no sense too. I guess my question is, why? Is it because I have heard these superstitions my whole life, and they have become habitual? Is it because I'm going along with tradition? Or am I just not able to totally break myself from the idea of the symbol equaling the thing symbolized.

So, my question to the rest of you; do you still believe in any superstitions or have any thoughts on the matter?

-Melissa C.

Moment of Silence

In homeroom this morning, during the moment of silence, I was in the middle of putting my hair up. I didn't want to start over again, so I continued the process. But then I began to look around and think, 'everybody stopped what they were doing for the moment of silence. Am I being disrespectful by doing something else?' And this question later became, 'will other people think that I am disrespectful?'

Is doing something else in the middle of the moment of silence disrespectful even though I was participating? Is it important to prove my participation to others?

-Joanne