I hope everyone's had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I enjoyed my pie (the green bean casserole was too salty, and the turkey and ham were too... vegetarian unfriendly). But the pumpkin, apple, and pecan pies were there to make sure I didn't go hungry! I also tried a new recipe this year, and it turned out great, if you wanna try it! I loved spending time with all my family. We don't often ALL come together, and I truly enjoyed the company of loved ones, as I hope you did, too.
But now back to school... We've been talking a great deal about metaphors in English class lately. What I found interesting was that there are several categories, or tiers, of metaphors. We all know what makes a metaphor (if you don't, please educate yourself before reading on!) The stars in the sky are diamonds. My homework is poison.
HOWEVER, metaphors aren't just things we come up with to make a point. Conventional metaphors are things we use every single day. So yeah, when you win an argument or run out of time, you're METAPHORING when you say so! The first conventional metaphor my class dealt with was "Argument is War." Then we learned that life is a flame or a day or a year, and how death is a departure, people are plants, and romance is fire. These metaphors affect the way we think about these things! Our brains are just wired to think this way. The way we form moral opinions on something depends on the language we use to describe such things.
Simply the way we communicate ideas in our language affects the way we think about the concepts. In Spanish, to give birth, dar a luz, literally translates to "give to light," indicating that the "life is a fire/light" metaphor rings true in both our language and theirs. However, not every conventional metaphor reaches across languages. In English, time is money. We waste it, we try to save it, but we're always spending it on something. The same is simply not true in Spanish. I'm not claiming to have found a different metaphor (In Spanish, time is an elephant!... just kidding...), but I do know that you pass time instead of spend it (pasar tiempo). Now compare how Americans treat time to how the Spanish do. In Spain, stores close in the middle of the day for siesta. More people are out later in the night. They're not as stingy with their time as we Americans who work from 9-5 (or stay a school from 6:55 to 2:55, then rehearse til odd hours, then go home and do homework until even odder ones).
That's about the only good comparison I could come up with due to my limited language skills. Anyone else know of interesting differences in conventional metaphors across languages? I'd love to hear them :)
Monday, November 29, 2010
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Class
I've been hearing "class" a lot lately. But not always in the same way. Out of curiosity, I looked it up, and much to my surprise, "class" has twenty-nine definitions. TWENTY-NINE! So how do all these forms of class relate to me? Well, My choir is going on tour pretty soon, and we're flying coach class. The hotels we stay at won't be of the highest class, either, but it's okay because we're going to Disney World!
Most of all, I hear "class" at school. I'm a student, so I go to class every day. Even this blog is an assignment for my English class, and people in my class often read my posts. In statistics, I've heard of "classes of data," and in biology, I've heard of class as a group to categorize organisms. In social studies, I've learned about people in societies being ranked by socioeconomic class. Also, there are often merchant classes or artisan classes, or in some cases, religious classes.
Oddly enough, the first definition that pops into my mind when I hear "class" is an informal one, #14: "elegance, grace, or dignity, as in dress and behavior." This type of class never has a negative connotation. Sitting through class can be boring. Coach class flights can be uncomfortable. Your social class might not get along with another. However, the class I think of is something you can possess in almost any of these otherwise unfortunate situations. You can control the way you carry yourself and the way you react to situations, and this can make you "classy."
So, what's the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear "class?" Which definition do you think applies to you most, and why? Are there any other words you've been hearing a whole lot of recently? Any that apply to more than one context?
Most of all, I hear "class" at school. I'm a student, so I go to class every day. Even this blog is an assignment for my English class, and people in my class often read my posts. In statistics, I've heard of "classes of data," and in biology, I've heard of class as a group to categorize organisms. In social studies, I've learned about people in societies being ranked by socioeconomic class. Also, there are often merchant classes or artisan classes, or in some cases, religious classes.
Oddly enough, the first definition that pops into my mind when I hear "class" is an informal one, #14: "elegance, grace, or dignity, as in dress and behavior." This type of class never has a negative connotation. Sitting through class can be boring. Coach class flights can be uncomfortable. Your social class might not get along with another. However, the class I think of is something you can possess in almost any of these otherwise unfortunate situations. You can control the way you carry yourself and the way you react to situations, and this can make you "classy."
So, what's the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear "class?" Which definition do you think applies to you most, and why? Are there any other words you've been hearing a whole lot of recently? Any that apply to more than one context?
Managing Lately
Last week Carl Wilkens came to speak to my class. Before his visit, I had a very basic understanding of the Rwandan genocide -- just dates, rough numbers, definitions of Hutu and Tutsi -- so, in all honesty, I hardly considered it important. But this genocide happened in my own lifetime; the years I associate with my early childhood, others will associate with that. Wilkens really did open my eyes to that piece of history, and I'm thankful for my new appreciation of this history.
You may wonder why Wilkens's visit resonated with me so much. Think of what he has done, and then compare my own experiences. I've never set foot in Rwanda. I've never lived the midst of a genocide. I've never taken on responsibility for an orphanage. On that level, I guess I can't relate to his stories. But I have looked at a situation with positive eyes, and seeing someone else do just that and succeed comforted me. I have had doubts about my optimism. Maybe I'm just stupid and naïve. Especially this week (Warning: Next five sentences may follow "irritating rant" format!) I've been pretty swamped. Yes, I finally got my first batch of college applications turned in, but the next deadline (November 15 for CC, for anyone who's curious) is creeping up fast, and school has not relented in the least. The end of the quarter was just a time for me to find out my current grades and feel the pressure of what marks I have to maintain. Express, one of the choirs I sing in, is starting Christmas Season, so I have 2-and-a-half-hour reheasals every day after school. On top of that, Variety Show auditions are Monday, and with so many different numbers (such as the ones I've just linked) to rehearse I haven't gotten home before 8 p.m. yet this week.
I was just going through blogs on my reader account, and I came across this one. Emily reminded me of Mr. Wilkens's visit, and how inspired I felt after listening to him. I'm gonna emulate Wilkens (very consciously this week, though it wouldn't be such a bad thing to do all the time). I'm going to accept some things that I cannot change and trust that I will reap the best possible results if I work hard. My schedule this week isn't gonna change, but I can get through it, and I can enjoy it if I look at the situation the right way. Thanks, Carl Wilkens, for making this all manageable.
You may wonder why Wilkens's visit resonated with me so much. Think of what he has done, and then compare my own experiences. I've never set foot in Rwanda. I've never lived the midst of a genocide. I've never taken on responsibility for an orphanage. On that level, I guess I can't relate to his stories. But I have looked at a situation with positive eyes, and seeing someone else do just that and succeed comforted me. I have had doubts about my optimism. Maybe I'm just stupid and naïve. Especially this week (Warning: Next five sentences may follow "irritating rant" format!) I've been pretty swamped. Yes, I finally got my first batch of college applications turned in, but the next deadline (November 15 for CC, for anyone who's curious) is creeping up fast, and school has not relented in the least. The end of the quarter was just a time for me to find out my current grades and feel the pressure of what marks I have to maintain. Express, one of the choirs I sing in, is starting Christmas Season, so I have 2-and-a-half-hour reheasals every day after school. On top of that, Variety Show auditions are Monday, and with so many different numbers (such as the ones I've just linked) to rehearse I haven't gotten home before 8 p.m. yet this week.
I was just going through blogs on my reader account, and I came across this one. Emily reminded me of Mr. Wilkens's visit, and how inspired I felt after listening to him. I'm gonna emulate Wilkens (very consciously this week, though it wouldn't be such a bad thing to do all the time). I'm going to accept some things that I cannot change and trust that I will reap the best possible results if I work hard. My schedule this week isn't gonna change, but I can get through it, and I can enjoy it if I look at the situation the right way. Thanks, Carl Wilkens, for making this all manageable.
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