DAY 1: Why we are doing what we are doing

TWO QUESTIONS AND A POINT.

Purpose of the class: To understand why we do what we do in English class, and consider how this work matters in life more than it does on a transcript. Knowing why you act makes the act more memorable, meaningful, purposeful, enjoyable, and endurable when the going gets tough.

The questions we addressed:

1. What is language?

• An agreed upon set of rules governing visual and spoken communication, from the way letters appear to the combination of sounds meant to signify a particular idea to the manner in which words are combined and formatted on a page.
• Language is a LEARNED phenomena, but our tendency toward using language appears ingrained
• The combination of visual and sound symbols are arbitrary (e.g. chien, canis, gao, dog, perro all mean the same thing, but look and sound nothing alike).
• Language can be extremely powerful; we considered "powerful" words (e.g., "no," "hate," "God," "Love," etc.) that evoke strong responses in us.
• Since all words (some more than others) can produce strong reactions, language must be considered along with the context it is used in. For example, consider the n-word. A horrible, vile word, but it there is a difference between a student reading the word aloud when covering Huckleberry Finn in class, and another person casually using the word to describe someone he or she sees in the hallway. The differing contexts bring us to very different understandings about the speakers and their motivations, though the word itself has not changed.
• Language helps to shape reality by limiting the thoughts we are capable of articulating. That sounds weird, but to get an idea of what this means, try describing the specific details of a complex painting using terms related to sports. You'll start seeing the painting [and sports] differently after a while.
• Language, though it helps to shape our realities, just as math and science do, can be made malleable (changeable), in a way that math and science cannot. Words change meaning over time (e.g., "cool" in 19th century meant cold in regard to temperature or distant in emotional response; now, while it still carries those meanings, it most often means "nifty." And "nifty" didn't even exist in the 19th century.)

In short, language-- a learned set of rules governing communication-- is a powerful tool, and our use of it defines the way in which we interact with the world around us.

2. Why do we tell stories?

• To teach values, morals, traditions, beliefs and culture
• To entertain
• To maintain a connection to the past
• To learn about human experience (love, loss, justice, love, death, family, adversity, etc.)
• To bring our own beliefs into sharper focus
• To visualize and plan who we might be in the future
• To understand (or misrepresent) others not like us
• To define our connections to others and order our social world (we'll tell a funny story for a friend or a mean story about an enemy to elicit certain behaviors/feelings in others; politicians, advertisers, etc. do the same thing on a different scale)

What stories do we tell?

• Hero conquers the monster
• Stranger comes to town
• Boy meets girl
• The Quest
• Rags to riches
• Voyage to & return from alien world
• Comedy/Satire
• Tragedy
• Rebellion
• Mystery
• Coming of age (bildungsroman)

It is hard (perhaps impossible) to imagine any story we'd want to hear or see performed not falling under one of these plot types. In fact, we're predictable in the kinds of stories we seek. Consider the following plot possibilities and what kind of stories they'd make:

• Good things happening to a good person (boring, and annoying)
• Bad things happening to a good person (we can learn about how to deal with adversity from that, because we identify with the situation on some level)
• Good things happening to a bad person (unbearably unjust)
• Bad things happening to a bad person (there's something Roman Coliseum-y about this; while it helps us cement our views of good and evil, it doesn't satisfy in quite the same way)

We actually seek the plots that will confirm or enhance our understanding of things. When we are more confident in ourselves and our values (and more competent as scholars), we sometimes seek out stories that challenge our views.

In short, stories help us understand and define our place in that world.

THE POINT

There is no society from the dawn of humankind that has not used language and has not told stories. What has changed are the way in which we tell the stories (e.g. Greeks could recite epic poetry like The Odyssey from memory and we watch movies on our iPod nanos), and the experiences we bring to them. And with the new experience and methods, we ask age old questions for new answers: how does the world behave? How am I to behave in the world? What should my purpose be here?

English class--comprised of you, me, and the stories-- is a close investigation of the rules of language and of what stories teach. How do we shape language, and how does language shape us? If we treat our investigations seriously and with respect, the story has the power to elevate both of us, making us better people and our group experience more worthwhile. If we come to the story looking only for entertainment, or hardly looking, the story becomes a stumbling block in our relationship with one another and as a group.

Check out this article for a scientific explanation of our love of a good story.