WORDS … WORDS … WORDS

See the linked article for what’s happening in the country - Thanks to Adam L

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/idiom_shortage_leaves_nation_all?

Sorry I can’t seem to embed the link.  You’ll have to cut and paste.

Select any one of the pairs of words below - or add a pair of your own - and discuss whether or not we need both words. What is the function of each? What occasions the use of one or the other? Wouldn’t it just be easier to get rid of one? If so, which one? Etc.

happiness/joy     beautiful/pretty     sad/unhappy     angry/mad

true/real     evil/bad     accurate/correct     skeptical/cynical

belief/conviction     reasonable/sensible     freedom/independence

teach/instruct and so on …

If you would like, you may respond to one another rather than directly to the prompt.

Phyllis Rose says that “what people read helps form their views of their own experience.” Think of a book that had a significant impact on your life. (Do not feel you have to impress us with the book you choose. I think every book I read has some impact on my life - and some of them are not literature.)

So … please tell us its title, the author, and make a brief statement about the impact the book had on you. Feel free to read and respond to the books mentioned by others.

In Inventing the Truth, William Zinsser states that “Memoir writers must manufacture a text, imposing narrative order on a jumble of half-remembered events. With that feat of manipulation, they arrive at a truth that is theirs alone, not quite like that of anybody else who was present at the same events.”

The simple question that follows is: Why?

The more complex question is, then: Is a memoir true? Or, perhaps, does a memoir contain truth?

The most complex is, of course: what is truth? But I don’t think we should go there!

As you’ve read Baker’s and are about to begin Dillard’s, I thought these would be good questions for the moment. Please feel free to respond at your leisure, either independently (just stating your own opinion) or in response to someone else who comments.

Well, it’s official. The old class has “passed on,” and all of you are signed in for the new year. I have deleted most of the past discussions, and am writing this new post for our new beginning. Feel free to comment as you desire. Have any questions so far? Any suggestions? Any comments on the class discussion or the assignments to come? If anyone wants to write a post for others to comment on, just let me know; it will probably be OK. That’s it for now. See you in class -

Mrs. A

Congratulations on your scores on the AP Exam.  I just received them today - and I was SO PROUD!

 The following was sent to me by one of your classmates.  Since we are about to discuss 1984 at length, I think this would be a good place to start commenting.  It’s an intriguing question…do add your thoughts.

What is freedom? Are we all just prisoners of varying degrees - what makes us different from the prisoner of war who etches fingernail marks into the cell wall to mark the passage of time? - don’t we “free” men all do the same thing, but just call it a “calender”? because in the end, all of our lives are limited - the pow is at the mercy of his captor, while the masses are at the mercy of their bosses, their governments, their pocketbooks. Maybe a dozen people will set foot on Mars in our lifetime, but that’s it — maybe during its operation, the prison will let a dozen men walk, but that’s it. So then does freedom really matter? Does it matter if Big Brother controls our lives, since our lives are controlled no matter what? Because in the end, we all have the same end behavior, we are all prisoners of time.

Period Six suggests that in our day and age we are more and more prone to inhabit fantasy worlds, and they wonder why.  Look at our viewing, they say, the world of The Matrix, Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter.  Are we trying to escape?  Is the “world too much with us?”  What do you think?  Do you enjoy fantasy?  Do you view it as a positive or negative?  Has it “invaded” your reading?  your viewing?  your imagining?  Do respond.

Period 7 has suggested the following as the basis of our next series of responses:

In today’s society, a wealth of information is available on the Internet. Because the Internet is so easily accessible, it has replaced books as the main source of information for many people. Will the Internet eventually replace books entirely? Should books be labeled “endangered?” (And, is it too ironic that we are discussing this question by means of the Internet?)

Do post your comments - at least one per person in all periods - and period 6, it’s your turn next, so start thinking of a post idea.  You might also check out the last couple of posts - interesting discussions going on there.