Sunday, January 6, 2019

Education in the Margins, Fall 2018


Education in the Margins

Writing with Style:

The rhetorical device for “Yoda speak” is called anastrophe
Discussing “Joyas Voladores”: So frantic and fast-paced that I felt frazzled by it.
Sometimes classes work out like “syntax support groups.” You defend your choices and it helps you refine your work.
Viewing punctuation as traffic signals. A period really is a “full stop.”
The present is such a pleasant place.
“Use accuracy and restraint, like a burn to an in-law.” (certain style principles)
That hilarious moment when our professor forgot the projector screen was down and went to underline something: we brought a magic eraser for the mark, but it was there for quite a while.
Getting frustrated is part of the assignment.
“Variation in sentence types as well as length is a mark of the professional.”
 “Excess is the common substitute for energy” -Tuftee.
“It’s like we’re doing yoga, but with English.”
Punctuation is the unsung hero, determined more by choice than by rules. Dash their hopes with an em dash.
Reasons for letter writing: “You can’t ‘scent’ an email. You can put cologne on a letter.”
“A problem well-put is half solved” – John Dewey

Freelance Editing:

It’s very vulnerable to be a writer.
It can be “fine” even if it’s not “mine.”
Making every word count
Sometimes you strive not to burn bridges. Other times, you light the fire yourself.
Personalization pays off.
Just get a job and move from there.
“I have found that threatening works great.” -Professor Bills

Spain Culture and Civilization:

Practicas, Productos, Perspectivas.
So the Koran says not to drink alcohol, but the word is Arab, and their culture made great developments in the fermentation process. It’s hard to practice what you preach.
“Le digo por secreta, chicos: la vida es aburido.”; “Si escucho Ingles, me pongo como Franco”
 -Profe Stallings
“3 minutos de calidad y 2 horas de basura.” -Profe Stallings, movie review.
Everything is a reworking of Don Quijote.
The current art trend is Neo-Baroque.
Picaso could draw like an old Master at 15, and spent the rest of his life learning to draw like a 5-year-old.
We read to “entrar en la mente de alguien diferente”
“Become acquainted with real nobility as it walks the pages of history and science and literature.” -President Hinckley.
The Humanities: Our aspirations for the good and the beautiful
The moon is a symbol of Romanticism: it reflects reason, but is its own “ser.”
“lluvia de ideas” = brainstorm
Interview tips:
Practice your voice: Am I squeaky? Am I Star-Lord?
study and practice for an interview like you would for an exam.

European History:

“Oh, nobody falls in love” regarding the nobles of ruling countries.
The word “freelance” probably comes from the mercenaries (paid/professional soldiers) in the middle ages, also known as “free lances” because they worked without nationalistic ties.
“Quarantine” comes from the 40 days ships had to wait in the harbor during the plague outbreaks to prove that they were “safe” to allow in.
“hock es corpus mayum” (or something like that) is the Latin “spell” for transubstantiation (This is my body) Misinterpretation of this phrase gave birth to the popular phrase “Hocus Pocus”
Pre-internet days: “I remember when you just had to wonder about stuff instead of looking it up.” ; “I must be listened to”; “When it comes to revolutions, it doesn’t matter that the facts really are—it’s what the people believe.”; “No one say any of this in your Sunday School ever” (speculation of the fate of dictators) -Professor Carter.
Russians were literally “behind the times” in the 16th century because they didn’t skip October 3-13th like most other nations did.
Perks of being a professor: “I am paid to read and tell other people what I read.” -Professor Carter
“Cities eat people” – why there’s a higher death rate in urban areas than in the country.
“I don’t believe in changing the days of the week” – Regarding the finals week schedule.
Fighting European battles on colonial ground; Malaria has killed more people than any other disease in the history of the world ; Africa was called “White Man’s grave.”
“A lot more things get resolved in this era just because people die more frequently.” (Era of reformation)
Oliver Cromwell = The White Witch
What if Russia was France’s Frankenstein’s monster?
The mentality of everyone ever throughout history: “Let’s just blame the Jews for the political problems and the women for the social problems. We’re good.”

European Studies:

“I feel most at home when I am abroad.” -Professor H. Belnap
“Lifelong learner” is an ideal you should shape for yourself.
Geography molds people.
Everything looks different behind the iron curtain.
“A little taste of Freedom in the form of a Big Mac.” (The Baltics/Gorbachev)
“You have to learn acronyms to speak ‘European’”
People created schools to indoctrinate the children for nationalism.
Our modern trench coat came from the uniform for soldiers in the trench.
“Anxiety is now an existential condition of the modern world” – a therapist
“The French pride themselves on everything

Book History:

Samuel Johnson, “sea of ink”
How can you navigate being approachable and not reproached?
“A book exchanged between lovers—notes on the text and notes to each other” – Tom Mole
I found the source of the word "Muggle?" : The Muggletonians, named after Lodowicke Muggleton, were a small Protestant Christian movement which began in 1651 when two London tailors announced they were the last prophets foretold in the biblical Book of Revelation.

My Musings:

How cool would it be to collaboratively annotate a well-loved and well-known book?
Where did the phrase “stem the tide” even come from?
She is strong
I am human, I can exhibit human emotion. I am allowed to exhibit negative emotion.
When did my generation stop wearing watches?
It is better to be at rock bottom with someone who knows how to climb than to be well-established with someone who will only fall.
I’m surrounded by companionable strangers.
An armchair traveler = a reader

Recommendations/Favorites:

How to write a great title
Sexy : Not sexy
“Woman in Gold” (movie about art in WWII)
Amy Cuddy, Power stance Ted Talk
A James Bond movie with Pierce Brosnan was filmed at the Guggenheim. Look it up!
Contently.net ; ldsjobs.org ; moonlighting.org ; etc.
*Conversation with a Korean citizen overheard in the frontrunner: “Wait, you did military service?”
-“Yeah, we have that crazy neighbor named North Korea”
Book: “Policing the Veil” (or something like that)
“Lean In” by Sheryl Sandberg
“How to live, work, and play when nobody has the time.”
TV show: “Slings and Arrows” a Canadian theatre company
Art-house cinema: “The Broadway” and “The Tower”. Get student passes to Sundance.

Words:

Splenetic: bad tempered, spiteful.
Epistemic: relating to knowledge (degree of validation)
Ecumenicalism: promotes cooperation among religious denominations.
Ostensibly: apparently or purportedly, but perhaps not actually.