This week will mark an intellectual delving into the American Revolution. We have spent the last week analyzing specific events’ impact on this moment in American History, but this week will mark a point where we discuss the intellectual merit of this essential nanosecond in historical time. We will begin by concluding our Scholarly Sparknotes presentations on Monday, and then Tuesday will mark our discussion of midnight and inevitability. Wednesday presents a moment where we become the intellectual freight trains that cut like a razor blade as we “walk the line” with polar opposite statements and assess where we as individuals and community members stand. Our week will conclude with working on our writing extensions, writing tasks that will be worth 80 points and will be due on Wednesday, October 15. The exam on chapter 5 will be on Thursday, October 16.
The post modern philosopher Friedrich Nietszche has been credited with uttering the line, “Truth is a mobile army of metaphors.” I have always been fascinated with such a concept. The notion of describing historical truth through metaphorical analysis allows both students and me to frame history in a paradigm that allows for greater understanding, stronger analysis, and more critical thought. It helps to bring students closer to understanding that the currents of intellectual thought underwrites all historical advancement. I have always believed that ideas have roles and possess power, and that expressing these ideas through metaphors allow a greater chance to holding, if only for a moment, an elusive notion of truth. The first two metaphors I employ in our journey are the notion of midnight and the idea of inevitability.
Salman Rushdie’s book Midnight’s Children highlights the concept of the hour when both hands meet. It is an unique and powerful moment for while the clock strikes repeatedly, the two hands touch for only an instant. This represents a moment that can last for what seems to be an eternity. Rushdie plays with this metaphor throughout his book to describe the world of Indian freedom and independence in 1947. As the protagonist, Saleem Sinai is born into a world of mystery and autonomy at the same moment as the nation of India. This notion nestled into my mind as I became drawn into the parallel between individual psychology and national history. The pain and joy of love and politics seem to be united in one metaphor: Midnight. When applying this same image to America, I found much in terms of similarity. Midnight: The stroke of time when nations and people awake to freedom and life. Midnight: When our “trysts with destiny” are met with the redemption of a promise and a pledge. Midnight: While the world sleeps, a nation and a people awake to life of freedom and the sometimes challenging inevitability of both. Prime Minister Nehru’s words serve as the backdrop to Rushdie’s work, but can also be deftly applied to the study of the colonists’ struggle for freedom. When we study American freedom, my hope is that we will be mindful of time, noting when events brought us to the moment when the clock’s hands met, and when our hands met with history and intellectual analysis.
Midnight will become a central image, a metaphor through which we will examine the colonial struggle for freedom. Accompanying this will be the study of inevitability and its role in the American historical dialectic and within individuals. This metaphor comes from The Matrix. In the narrative, there is an ongoing battle between the forces of authentic reality, embodied by the protagonist Neo/ Thomas Anderson, and the forces of controlled reality, embodied by the antagonist Agent Smith. At the pitch of dramatic tension, conflict ensues between Neo and Agent Smith. When it appears that Neo is going to fail in his desire to defeat the forces of inauthenticity, Agent Smith pins Neo down on a set of railroad tracks and, hearing a train in the distance, he utters prophetic words for both the film and 7-1 students: “Do you hear that sound, Mr. Anderson? That is the sound of inevitability- that is the sound of your doom.” When he says these words, the insinuation is that Neo will be unable to escape from the clutches of inevitability, from the grasp of what will be. As we study the emergence of the Revolution, the question then becomes whether or not we hear the same sound, namely that of inevitability? Was the Revolution inevitable? Was it bound to happen? What role do human beings play within history? Is history, itself, something that is inevitable or something that can be altered?
It becomes interesting to sense the implications of such a paradigm. If the Revolution was indeed inevitable, then the textbook based mythology is right and America is indeed a shining beacon of freedom and liberty. We, as a nation, were meant to be the city on a hill. However, this means that humans are essentially powerless when faced with the inevitability of history. Human beings seemingly become like Neo, crushed underneath the weight of the historically inevitable train. However, there is a flipside to this coin. If human beings do have a role and can exercise freedom to escape from the train, then we must embrace the reality of failure as a logical extension of our freedom. If inevitability is not present, shortcoming and sad endings become apparent. In this light, we begin to understand that justice and fairness is not always guaranteed. Monsters may walk among us and things may go bump in the night and there might not be a satisfactory explanation for either. Examining the American Revolution in the context of inevitability and midnight helps to create a stronger sense of thought. Plato’s notions of the happy ending, noble lie, and wandering into the world outside of the cave become the constant companions of our 7-1 students as they attempt to determine where they stand in the face of such intellectual paradigms. Once again, we begin to see the dominant theme of ideas having power emerge into full focus.
Some housekeeping ideas conclude this week’s thoughts. Midterm progress reports will be sent home with students this Friday. Additionally, student led portfolio conferences rapidly approach. If you have conferences with me, all confirmations for conferences have been sent, and I have posted his conference schedule on the blog under the “Handouts” link. Students will have their writing extensions due on Wednesday, 10/15, and the exam on chapter 5 will be on Thursday, 10/16. After this, we will start the process of examining the idea of dominant learning styles, which will lead to our writing tasks on chapter 5, worth about 200 to 300 points. Grades are updated each weekend and as we approach the midterm point of the trimester, I encourage all stakeholders to check grades on a weekly basis to ensure a line of clear communication being present.
To paraphrase Agent Smith, I ask all of you, “Do you hear that sound? That is the sound of academic inevitability.” I await to see how all of you stand against that train.
The post modern philosopher Friedrich Nietszche has been credited with uttering the line, “Truth is a mobile army of metaphors.” I have always been fascinated with such a concept. The notion of describing historical truth through metaphorical analysis allows both students and me to frame history in a paradigm that allows for greater understanding, stronger analysis, and more critical thought. It helps to bring students closer to understanding that the currents of intellectual thought underwrites all historical advancement. I have always believed that ideas have roles and possess power, and that expressing these ideas through metaphors allow a greater chance to holding, if only for a moment, an elusive notion of truth. The first two metaphors I employ in our journey are the notion of midnight and the idea of inevitability.
Salman Rushdie’s book Midnight’s Children highlights the concept of the hour when both hands meet. It is an unique and powerful moment for while the clock strikes repeatedly, the two hands touch for only an instant. This represents a moment that can last for what seems to be an eternity. Rushdie plays with this metaphor throughout his book to describe the world of Indian freedom and independence in 1947. As the protagonist, Saleem Sinai is born into a world of mystery and autonomy at the same moment as the nation of India. This notion nestled into my mind as I became drawn into the parallel between individual psychology and national history. The pain and joy of love and politics seem to be united in one metaphor: Midnight. When applying this same image to America, I found much in terms of similarity. Midnight: The stroke of time when nations and people awake to freedom and life. Midnight: When our “trysts with destiny” are met with the redemption of a promise and a pledge. Midnight: While the world sleeps, a nation and a people awake to life of freedom and the sometimes challenging inevitability of both. Prime Minister Nehru’s words serve as the backdrop to Rushdie’s work, but can also be deftly applied to the study of the colonists’ struggle for freedom. When we study American freedom, my hope is that we will be mindful of time, noting when events brought us to the moment when the clock’s hands met, and when our hands met with history and intellectual analysis.
Midnight will become a central image, a metaphor through which we will examine the colonial struggle for freedom. Accompanying this will be the study of inevitability and its role in the American historical dialectic and within individuals. This metaphor comes from The Matrix. In the narrative, there is an ongoing battle between the forces of authentic reality, embodied by the protagonist Neo/ Thomas Anderson, and the forces of controlled reality, embodied by the antagonist Agent Smith. At the pitch of dramatic tension, conflict ensues between Neo and Agent Smith. When it appears that Neo is going to fail in his desire to defeat the forces of inauthenticity, Agent Smith pins Neo down on a set of railroad tracks and, hearing a train in the distance, he utters prophetic words for both the film and 7-1 students: “Do you hear that sound, Mr. Anderson? That is the sound of inevitability- that is the sound of your doom.” When he says these words, the insinuation is that Neo will be unable to escape from the clutches of inevitability, from the grasp of what will be. As we study the emergence of the Revolution, the question then becomes whether or not we hear the same sound, namely that of inevitability? Was the Revolution inevitable? Was it bound to happen? What role do human beings play within history? Is history, itself, something that is inevitable or something that can be altered?
It becomes interesting to sense the implications of such a paradigm. If the Revolution was indeed inevitable, then the textbook based mythology is right and America is indeed a shining beacon of freedom and liberty. We, as a nation, were meant to be the city on a hill. However, this means that humans are essentially powerless when faced with the inevitability of history. Human beings seemingly become like Neo, crushed underneath the weight of the historically inevitable train. However, there is a flipside to this coin. If human beings do have a role and can exercise freedom to escape from the train, then we must embrace the reality of failure as a logical extension of our freedom. If inevitability is not present, shortcoming and sad endings become apparent. In this light, we begin to understand that justice and fairness is not always guaranteed. Monsters may walk among us and things may go bump in the night and there might not be a satisfactory explanation for either. Examining the American Revolution in the context of inevitability and midnight helps to create a stronger sense of thought. Plato’s notions of the happy ending, noble lie, and wandering into the world outside of the cave become the constant companions of our 7-1 students as they attempt to determine where they stand in the face of such intellectual paradigms. Once again, we begin to see the dominant theme of ideas having power emerge into full focus.
Some housekeeping ideas conclude this week’s thoughts. Midterm progress reports will be sent home with students this Friday. Additionally, student led portfolio conferences rapidly approach. If you have conferences with me, all confirmations for conferences have been sent, and I have posted his conference schedule on the blog under the “Handouts” link. Students will have their writing extensions due on Wednesday, 10/15, and the exam on chapter 5 will be on Thursday, 10/16. After this, we will start the process of examining the idea of dominant learning styles, which will lead to our writing tasks on chapter 5, worth about 200 to 300 points. Grades are updated each weekend and as we approach the midterm point of the trimester, I encourage all stakeholders to check grades on a weekly basis to ensure a line of clear communication being present.
To paraphrase Agent Smith, I ask all of you, “Do you hear that sound? That is the sound of academic inevitability.” I await to see how all of you stand against that train.
All best and happy hunting.
Mr. Kannan
Mr. Kannan
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