Page 689: “My senses at times tingle and itch with my romantic, idealistic outlook on life.” I love this line. It perfectly describes how I feel at times.
I love the metaphors he uses, so descriptive! With his Ichabod Crane and describing Gar’s arm disintegrating, “like a long ash off the end of a cigarette.”
The comparison of the pall bearers’ gloves and the gloves doctors use to do a prostate exam were great. Really illustrated the disgust he felt about it all.
Page 694: “[Garth would] Wind up killing some innocent person or wasting another nigger.” Ouch. Sly way to separate the two.
The voice of Robby was done well and quite different that his own voice. I like it.
I think he captures the essence of his mother very well. I hope to be able to describe my parents in a similar way in my essay.
He had to beg to get paper from the guard cuz they wouldn’t let him bring it in. Ah, I know these stupid rules all too well.
It makes me feel weird to see the atrocities of the prison in print cuz I immediately wonder what would happen to Robby if they had known that he was the one to leak that information. It ties into the whole scared into silence mentality that I’ve had for the last year.
I can relate to the part about Robby reading to the fellows in prison: “What else you gonna do but think of the people on the outside….Just the same old sad shit we all be thinking all the time.” The laments in jail all start to sound the same on the inside. Who still loves them and writes or visits. Dramas you have no control over. Court talk. But mostly about our loved ones that are still free.
I really liked this line too: “I listen to my brother Robby. He unravels my voice.”
The part about Robby already doing his time in the hole for a crime he was found innocent for is again a great illustration of the injustices that go on in the legal system that you have no control over. They should give him some free time or money on his books for the lost time in the hole, but yeah right. Only in a just world, huh?
I’ve met quite a few people named Squirrel. Funny.
My mom left me in jail. She didn’t have that soft spot in her heart at all; but it all turned out for the better I think. My dad on the other, he definitely had that soft spot and bailed me out.
I really like this essay. Partly because I could relate in a lot of ways. Also cuz the voice in this essay was so different than most and it read like a story.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Sunday, October 14, 2007
“Indians”: Textualism, Morality, and the Problem of History
Textualism: Strict adherence to a text, especially of the Scriptures
When Tompkins uses the words “In simpler language” it made me feel like I wasn’t smart enough to understand her first sentence. That’s probably not what she intended (or maybe it was) but I would have said, “To extrapolate…” or “To specify…” etc.
Page 656: “This was the kind of past ‘mistake’ which, presumably, we studied history in order to avoid repeating.” This theme is a common one in some of the essays we have read.
The word ethnography has become ubiquitous….
I am impressed with the objective viewpoint Tompkins is able to take (given that I can believe what she writes) in analyzing the different accounts and it is cool that she thinks this is an important subject enough to find the truth.
So far, this essay flows nicely and is easy to understand.
I wasn’t aware that whites were taken captive by Indians so often. I’ve seen Dances With Wolves but I didn’t know it actually occurred.
Page 666: “Kupperman’s book marks a watershed in writings on Euorpean-Indian relations…” I had to look up ‘watershed’ cuz I’ve never heard it used in this context:
Watershed: A critical point that marks a division or a change of course; a turning point
This essay is so in order and flows neatly. She thought this, so she did that and discovered this and so on.
I liked the ending. It’s progressive and leads me to think that she will continue to try to solve this problem.
When Tompkins uses the words “In simpler language” it made me feel like I wasn’t smart enough to understand her first sentence. That’s probably not what she intended (or maybe it was) but I would have said, “To extrapolate…” or “To specify…” etc.
Page 656: “This was the kind of past ‘mistake’ which, presumably, we studied history in order to avoid repeating.” This theme is a common one in some of the essays we have read.
The word ethnography has become ubiquitous….
I am impressed with the objective viewpoint Tompkins is able to take (given that I can believe what she writes) in analyzing the different accounts and it is cool that she thinks this is an important subject enough to find the truth.
So far, this essay flows nicely and is easy to understand.
I wasn’t aware that whites were taken captive by Indians so often. I’ve seen Dances With Wolves but I didn’t know it actually occurred.
Page 666: “Kupperman’s book marks a watershed in writings on Euorpean-Indian relations…” I had to look up ‘watershed’ cuz I’ve never heard it used in this context:
Watershed: A critical point that marks a division or a change of course; a turning point
This essay is so in order and flows neatly. She thought this, so she did that and discovered this and so on.
I liked the ending. It’s progressive and leads me to think that she will continue to try to solve this problem.
The Loss of the Creature
It’s true that a tourist will never experience the awe that a discoverer would. But is there a solution to this problem? Of course not. Besides, it’s a great thing when a human being has found something or created something beautiful and wants to share it and spread the beauty.
‘Value P’ is a strange way to name this abstract. It makes me want P to stand for something.
Percy almost sounds like a stuck up, gung-ho hiker type to me that abhors campsites that come with outhouses and shops at REI.
I totally disagree that the average tourist can’t appreciate the natural beauty as much as one that would choose the ‘beaten path.’ It depends on the tourist and his or her viewpoint of nature. There could be likewise a hiker that is more concerned with the sport and physical aspect of hiking than the views offered.
Parts of this essay are very wordy and repetitive. Other parts seem extremely pointless. What does this line on Page 477 mean? “The dogfish, the tree, the seashell, the American Negro, the dream, are rendered invisible by a shift of reality from concrete thing to theory which Whitehead has called the fallacy of misplaced concreteness.”
Everyone learns differently and a dissection in a classroom could be just as rewarding or more so than on the beach for someone. I don’t understand his argument.
‘Value P’ is a strange way to name this abstract. It makes me want P to stand for something.
Percy almost sounds like a stuck up, gung-ho hiker type to me that abhors campsites that come with outhouses and shops at REI.
I totally disagree that the average tourist can’t appreciate the natural beauty as much as one that would choose the ‘beaten path.’ It depends on the tourist and his or her viewpoint of nature. There could be likewise a hiker that is more concerned with the sport and physical aspect of hiking than the views offered.
Parts of this essay are very wordy and repetitive. Other parts seem extremely pointless. What does this line on Page 477 mean? “The dogfish, the tree, the seashell, the American Negro, the dream, are rendered invisible by a shift of reality from concrete thing to theory which Whitehead has called the fallacy of misplaced concreteness.”
Everyone learns differently and a dissection in a classroom could be just as rewarding or more so than on the beach for someone. I don’t understand his argument.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Grief and a Headhunter’s Rage
There were times in my life after losing my closest that I felt the rage in the ‘anger stage’ of grieving (that’s what I was told anyway) to the point of headhunting (in my head).
I liked the part about Rosaldo trying to impose the exchange theory to make the headhunting seem more noble and acceptable in his mind. This read is intriguing to me thus far.
Wow. The part about Christianity relieving the bereavement process is so true. Grief over a death would be so much more without an afterlife as a possibility.
He mentioned Clifford Geertz!
I found it odd that he called his wife by first and last name through the beginning of the essay. I think I know now why (after reading the abrupt story of how she died). I think it was a respectful way of presenting her to the world. My boyfriend of 3 and a half years died in a motorcycle accident last April and I find myself talking about him with his full name also. Josh Cornell.
I was watching Last One Standing on the Discovery Channel and they showed a ritual that the tribe members mourned for their lost ones. Rosaldo talks about ritual dancing to express mourning. I almost wish that our society did some sort of symbolic ritual like that without it being weird. I can totally see the cathartic value of it.
I liked the part about Rosaldo trying to impose the exchange theory to make the headhunting seem more noble and acceptable in his mind. This read is intriguing to me thus far.
Wow. The part about Christianity relieving the bereavement process is so true. Grief over a death would be so much more without an afterlife as a possibility.
He mentioned Clifford Geertz!
I found it odd that he called his wife by first and last name through the beginning of the essay. I think I know now why (after reading the abrupt story of how she died). I think it was a respectful way of presenting her to the world. My boyfriend of 3 and a half years died in a motorcycle accident last April and I find myself talking about him with his full name also. Josh Cornell.
I was watching Last One Standing on the Discovery Channel and they showed a ritual that the tribe members mourned for their lost ones. Rosaldo talks about ritual dancing to express mourning. I almost wish that our society did some sort of symbolic ritual like that without it being weird. I can totally see the cathartic value of it.
Arts of the Contact Zone
I found the beginning of this essay entertaining and endearing but the voice and tone changed immediately when she started to get historical. I don’t think it was a smooth transition. I feel cool when I say ‘autoethnographic.’
So Adam and Eve appear in an Inca drawing? Interesting…
“Communities are distinguished…not by their falsity/genuineness, but by the style in which they are imagined.” This applies to more than the speech community. We live in a society that puts a lot of blind faith in people being honest and not cheating. Again, a style that is imagined.
Page 527: “…from the point of view of the teacher and teaching, not from the point of view of pupils and pupiling (the word doesn’t even exist, thought the thing certainly does).” I love this. She could’ve just said nothing and I wouldn’t have known any different but it is true. Although “learner” could have been used, but not as effectively.
So Adam and Eve appear in an Inca drawing? Interesting…
“Communities are distinguished…not by their falsity/genuineness, but by the style in which they are imagined.” This applies to more than the speech community. We live in a society that puts a lot of blind faith in people being honest and not cheating. Again, a style that is imagined.
Page 527: “…from the point of view of the teacher and teaching, not from the point of view of pupils and pupiling (the word doesn’t even exist, thought the thing certainly does).” I love this. She could’ve just said nothing and I wouldn’t have known any different but it is true. Although “learner” could have been used, but not as effectively.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense
The opening to this essay reminded me of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
Further on it seems like pointless rambling when he discusses the stone being hard…. Who cares? Subjective stimulation? What’s the point of language then? So, yes, I agree, words are metaphors, but again, so what?
I just realized this author is Nietzsche and that compels me to change my viewpoint and how I read this essay but I don’t want it to. I’m going to attempt to pretend I don’t know the author, to be objective.
“…a leaf is the cause of leaves”??? what does that mean? I know what he’s trying to say but he’s being a dumbhead and wordy.
Metonymies: a figure of speech consisting of the use of the name of one thing for that of another of which it is an attribute or with which it is associated (as “crown” in “lands belonging to the crown”)
I found Pascal’s theory very interesting: “…if the same dream came to us every night we would be just as occupied with it as we are with the things that we see every day.” Dreams are a different animal though… everything in a dream is fascinating and in your face.
So, Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense should have told me it was going to be pointless to me...
This was a difficult read. I don’t think I liked it.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Haunted America
I wonder if Limerick talking about her experience with finding themes in graduate school was a way to give her validity so we believe what she is about to say… I think this essay would be more helpful to me if she mentioned how these patterns apply to other wars also.
Page 419: The first acts of violence usually were more accidents of impulse and passion than the considered and chosen opening acts of an intended war. That sucks. Tragic. Wasn’t there a battle in the Civil War that started that way too?
Limerick states that “…the terribleness of violence may seem to be shrinking over time.” I’ve never thought of this but it is certainly true. Crimes are less gruesome than the torture that occurred back then.
I wonder what factors it takes for an incident to be labeled a massacre. Number of people killed on one side?
Earlier, Limerick stated “historians are quick to make cheerful remarks about how the understanding of history will help us to understand ourselves and to cope with the dilemmas we have inherited from the past…” It is also said that if we don’t know our history, it will repeat itself. I don’t how true this is. Looking back, people have been oppressed and tortured and land taken away throughout history. On the other hand, knowing the horrors of the past does bring more tolerance today.
Duplicity: contradictory doubleness of thought, speech, or action; especially : the belying of one's true intentions by deceptive words or action. Cool new word!
I like how she goes into the history of the pioneer woman. It’s a viewpoint we don’t hear often. I wonder if they objected or were supportive or if they even had a choice.
“We live on a haunted land…” what a great line that ties neatly into the essays title.
“The light of the sun seems fresh and innocent, as if it knew as yet but few of the secrets of the world and none of the weariness of shining.” This too would go in my Book of Quotes. There have been many morning where things were fubar-ed but the sun still shone bright and uncaringly.
Page 419: The first acts of violence usually were more accidents of impulse and passion than the considered and chosen opening acts of an intended war. That sucks. Tragic. Wasn’t there a battle in the Civil War that started that way too?
Limerick states that “…the terribleness of violence may seem to be shrinking over time.” I’ve never thought of this but it is certainly true. Crimes are less gruesome than the torture that occurred back then.
I wonder what factors it takes for an incident to be labeled a massacre. Number of people killed on one side?
Earlier, Limerick stated “historians are quick to make cheerful remarks about how the understanding of history will help us to understand ourselves and to cope with the dilemmas we have inherited from the past…” It is also said that if we don’t know our history, it will repeat itself. I don’t how true this is. Looking back, people have been oppressed and tortured and land taken away throughout history. On the other hand, knowing the horrors of the past does bring more tolerance today.
Duplicity: contradictory doubleness of thought, speech, or action; especially : the belying of one's true intentions by deceptive words or action. Cool new word!
I like how she goes into the history of the pioneer woman. It’s a viewpoint we don’t hear often. I wonder if they objected or were supportive or if they even had a choice.
“We live on a haunted land…” what a great line that ties neatly into the essays title.
“The light of the sun seems fresh and innocent, as if it knew as yet but few of the secrets of the world and none of the weariness of shining.” This too would go in my Book of Quotes. There have been many morning where things were fubar-ed but the sun still shone bright and uncaringly.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
States
This world Said speaks about is so foreign. Refugees and exiles and such. Such a contrast from Utopia Achieved. Nicely foiled! (Juxtaposed)?
History is forbidden. Flag is forbidden. No free travel. And here I am bitching about my civil liberties.
Page 623: “I heard it said in Lebanon that Palestinian children in particular should be killed because each of them is a potential terrorist. Kill them before they kill you.” How horrid.
I appreciate how the pictures show happy faces even in their situation.
It’s interesting that Said suggests that a person’s physical surroundings, (i.e. misplaced state or home) directly affects his writing.
I admire his lack of resentment in his voice. He does a better job than Harriet Jacobs in this aspect. He presents the facts in such a way that the reader doesn’t question its validity. It also helps that the Palestine issue, even today, is so hidden and foreign to us.
History is forbidden. Flag is forbidden. No free travel. And here I am bitching about my civil liberties.
Page 623: “I heard it said in Lebanon that Palestinian children in particular should be killed because each of them is a potential terrorist. Kill them before they kill you.” How horrid.
I appreciate how the pictures show happy faces even in their situation.
It’s interesting that Said suggests that a person’s physical surroundings, (i.e. misplaced state or home) directly affects his writing.
I admire his lack of resentment in his voice. He does a better job than Harriet Jacobs in this aspect. He presents the facts in such a way that the reader doesn’t question its validity. It also helps that the Palestine issue, even today, is so hidden and foreign to us.
Panopticism
I had to look it up; never heard of the word before. I couldn’t find it in Merriam-Webster online but there was this blurb on Google that I believe came from this essay itself: The panoptic mechanism arranges spatial unities that make it possible to see constantly and to recognize immediately… I guess it has to do with surveillance?
The scary panopticon reminds me of jail. Ada county specifically has these huge two way mirrors at the top front and center of the dorms that I guess is the break room for dorm officers. They can see all four tiers (at least in the female dorm) at all times. It’s eerie and perverted somehow. I liked how he compared it to the dungeon. I had forgotten older ways of imprisonment.
Foucalt stated that “in order to make the presence or absence of the inspector unverifiable….” They made the the central tower not visible to the prisoner. This same method is used in Canyon county with the use of 2 way mirrors that look into a central officer’s pod.
It’s crazy that plague regulation is applied to prison systems. They treat the criminal like a deadly disease.
This essay is really hard for me to get through. It’s interesting material for me but it’s so dry and lacks voice completely. It almost read like a manual. Boring. It reminded me of scary big brother and retina scans and such.
The scary panopticon reminds me of jail. Ada county specifically has these huge two way mirrors at the top front and center of the dorms that I guess is the break room for dorm officers. They can see all four tiers (at least in the female dorm) at all times. It’s eerie and perverted somehow. I liked how he compared it to the dungeon. I had forgotten older ways of imprisonment.
Foucalt stated that “in order to make the presence or absence of the inspector unverifiable….” They made the the central tower not visible to the prisoner. This same method is used in Canyon county with the use of 2 way mirrors that look into a central officer’s pod.
It’s crazy that plague regulation is applied to prison systems. They treat the criminal like a deadly disease.
This essay is really hard for me to get through. It’s interesting material for me but it’s so dry and lacks voice completely. It almost read like a manual. Boring. It reminded me of scary big brother and retina scans and such.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Utopia Achieved
Whew! This read is chock full of big words (-isms and such). Very dense!
Calling Japan a satellite of the earth (moon, right?) is interesting. I hope he expands cuz I’m curious as to what he means.
Page 111: “that it [United States] is the realization of everything the others have dreamt of-justice, plenty, rule of law, wealth, freedom: it know this, it believes in it, and in the end, the others have come to believe in it too.” This is key to why I believe this country is great. Baudrillard has such a wide viewpoint, to be able to state this sentiment in one sentence is amazing to me. It’s like he’s talking from a really tall ladder overlooking the U.S.
Oh! He’s not an American. Maybe that’s why he can have that far away viewpoint.
Some of his lines sound like he just likes hearing himself say big words that don’t mean anything (when he’s discussing the utopia paradox and Americans’ beliefs in facts and facticity).
It sounds like he’s describing animals in a National Geographic documentary when he is describing the French and the American families at the beach. Seems a little silly to me and stuck up.
It’s cool that he likes America; but he seems a little long winded and though the things he says are flattering and inspires feelings of patriotism for the United States, he lacks love for his own 'homeland' and it seem strange to me. Not exactly sure why...
Calling Japan a satellite of the earth (moon, right?) is interesting. I hope he expands cuz I’m curious as to what he means.
Page 111: “that it [United States] is the realization of everything the others have dreamt of-justice, plenty, rule of law, wealth, freedom: it know this, it believes in it, and in the end, the others have come to believe in it too.” This is key to why I believe this country is great. Baudrillard has such a wide viewpoint, to be able to state this sentiment in one sentence is amazing to me. It’s like he’s talking from a really tall ladder overlooking the U.S.
Oh! He’s not an American. Maybe that’s why he can have that far away viewpoint.
Some of his lines sound like he just likes hearing himself say big words that don’t mean anything (when he’s discussing the utopia paradox and Americans’ beliefs in facts and facticity).
It sounds like he’s describing animals in a National Geographic documentary when he is describing the French and the American families at the beach. Seems a little silly to me and stuck up.
It’s cool that he likes America; but he seems a little long winded and though the things he says are flattering and inspires feelings of patriotism for the United States, he lacks love for his own 'homeland' and it seem strange to me. Not exactly sure why...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
