[William Foley]

When you come into a situation you bring all of your prejudices and predispositions with you due to the different things you have been subjected to in your life. I think these things definitely change the way in which we learn and the overall effectiveness of which we learn.

A large reason i became an English major was for this reason. I wanted to better understand interpretive communities and thus be able to understand why and how people may react to certain situations and facts differently.

[William Foley]

I would have to agree with the two posters above me. I think when a picture is taken and subjectively observed there are specific emotions that are brought up that are individually romantic and unique to each person who views it. Because there are no words or thoughts attached, the observer can be completely free to interpret it in the most truly subjective and individual way. To answer the question, i would say that it is the emotion conveyed, but not necessarily the artist’s intended emotion or the same emotion that other people would feel.

[William Foley]

The change from “We have come” to “We have met” *** in first sentence of 2nd paragraph

[William Foley]

The most significant change that jumped off the page for me that changed the meaning of the address was located in the “Hay” version of the address. It was the change from “We have come to dedicate a portion of it as the final resting place of those who…” to, “We are met to dedicate a portion as a final resting place for those who…”

The change from “We are met” to “We have come” is a significant change because it alters the tone of the sentence, and thus the overall meaning of the address. This change alters the tone by shifting the responsibility to the soldiers and the individual themselves and away from some intangible phenomenon that has just come about. This changes the meaning because it reiterates the idea that the soldiers deaths were of high integrity, and that they were taking responsibility for their own fate in a questionable situation for the betterment of the nation. This would be seen as basically the highest form of honor; opposed to just “having come” to meet your fate, these soldiers met with their fate head on and honorably, knowing full well what could happen. And this admirable sacrifice they made, is reiterated here in the change of vocabulary. This change basically changes the tone from one that is a bit laid back, to one that is more fierce and prideful.

The change that most effected the rhythm of the address was in the “nicolay” version. This change was from “It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this,” to “This we may, in all propriety do.”
This changes the rhythm of the text but eliminating a long sentence and replacing it with a much more succinct and rhythmic phrase that still expresses the same inevitability.

[William Foley]

I would have to agree with Jess on this point. I think that Thoreau does believe in experiential learning, but to his own degree and to his own confined standards. While this is a bias that does slightly effect the integrity of Thoreau’s original point of true experiential learning, i still believe that his point is valid and true.
I think the society that Thoreau was brought up in is what constituted his overly elitist attitude and rigid confines of his beliefs. Truely i believe he did believe in going out there and generating a solid foundation through experiences.

[William Foley]

That is an extremely interesting point that Dr. Clapper pointed out. At this time many Irish immigrants were being taken advantage of, so it would make sense that Thoreau would try to do the same to prove a point. I think historical context like this helps us deal with the pretentious tone that Thoreau constantly has. This goes along with an idea that has been reiterated many times throughout the book; Thoreau’s elitism is a product of his environment and when ignored it is easy to see that his intentions were genuinely for good.

[William Foley]

I also think there is a significant relationship between our preconceived notions and the way in which we interact with people. From a sociological POV, as people within a society we know the norms for almost all social situations. We know what is appropriate, or “normal”, when we are talking to certain people and tend not to deviate from those norms. Due to this it would be hard to suggest that there is not a significant connection between our preconceived notions and the way in which we interact with individuals.

When discussing text as English majors however, we are trained to identify these preconceived notions and understand the interpretive communities within a text and how they may be influencing the text. So while the influence of preconceived notions on our interactions is most definitely unavoidable, it is important to be able to identify them and their influence.

[William Foley]

Experiential learning*

not experimental

[William Foley]

While i do agree that some of the effects are naturally occuring, i think saying they are “natural” is a bit of a cop out. When these processes take their natural time, Nature allows species (decomposers, primary, secondary) to compete and adapt. That to me is what the natural process is supposed to be. When these processes are sped up exponentially (literally) and solely anthropogenically, it does not allow Nature to take it’s time and do what it does. When Nature is altered so obviously by ONE species, the only one with the ability to use their free will to make conscious decisions about the future and comprehend concepts, i just can’t call it “natural”.

[William Foley]

There is an obvious link between humans and nature simply because we are just like any other animal, we use it’s resources to survive and maintain our selected lifestyle. However, i do not think Human actions should be seen as natural acts. This is due to the fact that we are the only organisms who have the ability to utilize free will. This free will can be manipulated by emotions and feelings such as greed, jealousy, hatred, etc. and it has been. We have used this free will to basically separate ourselves from our environment and create a never give and only take relationship with Nature. In fact, it would be better for every other living organism if Humans did not exist. So yes, Humans are just another organism that has evolved from and depends on Nature, but it is not as much as relationship as it is just plain exploitation.

I also don’t think Humans living independently from Nature is all too possible. Whether you realize it or not, or whether you think it needed natural resources to produce or not, it probably did. So no matter how disconnected you are from Nature, you are still leaving behind a footprint. Eventually, it will not be able to be ignored and that is when you will see the movement towards Thoreau’s idea of “living deliberately”.

[William Foley]

Just in response to what was discussed in class today, i am not sure the act of looking something up in a dictionary is that relevant or important anymore. In today’s day in age, i feel as if information is so readily available, it may just be irrelevant and a waste of time to spend time on such a dated way of inquiry, rather than just clicking and getting the information. While it does show a great deal of enthusiasm and dedication to your studies, i am not sure the act of finding is that important anymore. With such a great deal of information at our finger tips, wasting time searching and maybe picking up a couple facts along the way seems more like an opportunity to get sidetracked or unenthused instead of something positive and informative.

I feel as if the market today is getting too fast-paced to be that concerned with such outdated ways of query. The different types of values that are instilled by methods of searching can be instilled in many other ways that are not as time consuming and antiquated.

[William Foley]

I am also inclined to disagree with Thoreau on this one point. I believe all literature, contemporary and classic is equally important, and neither are necessary in being an adventurous and thus successful student. An adventurous student in my eyes is just someone who has the passion to always be learning. Someone who thoroughly enjoys the learning and query process, and so they never are satisfied with the amount of expertise on a subject. Although there is definitely important things that we can learn from the “classics”, we must always be critical in why they are considered classics and to whom are they considered classics. Whenever there is a perception of “classics” or some form of canon, it commonly will follow an extremely intellectually/politically elitist model and is not always as necessary as the scholars make it seem. So while there are things to be learned from the “classics”, one must always be aware of this potential bias and not devalue any form of literature.

[William Foley]

In my experience, the author does not take any responsibility for the different kinds of interpretations of his or her work. All interpretations separate from the authorial intent are taken as secondary and just as valid, but should not be the author’s responsibility to control.  Typically when an author is creating a novel, it is similar to the creation of any other kind of art, in that they are creating it to be interpreted in many different ways. So if we attack the author because of a couple specific “negative” interpretations, when Art (including literature) can be interpreted in an almost infinite amount of ways, we are consequently limiting the text by acting as if it can not be interpreted in any another positive light.

Obviously an educated reader has to be on the look-out for bias in all things, but i just think it is limiting in our understanding to start making artist’s responsible for our subjective applications of their art, when it is normally created to be interpreted in hundreds and hundreds of different ways.

[Author]

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