Hey, everyone, it's Erin again.
Yesterday we got onto the subject of why Thomas Paine choose to mention Joan of Arc. It seems that this class and AP Euro always touch on similar subjects, but now I find I can't escape from this class anywhere! I think that Paine mentions Joan of Arc, not just because she's an inspirational symbol who fought for her country, but also because she was an example of nationalism. In history as we were contrasting Neoclassic and Enlightenment thought with romantic thought, Dr. Bjornstad said that Neoclassic art or writing tried to inspire virtue, and what could be more virtuous, depending on your definition, than fighting and dying for your country. George Washington was an American example of virtue, and lifted to king-like status in Phillis Wheatley's "To His Excellency General Washington." Yesterday we talked about how George Washington, relatively unknown to the rest of the world, was surrounded in ... myth (is that the right word?), to elevate his, and the colonies', status. Then in behavioral science, we talked about how we think we know things that other people tell us that aren't true - like how George Washington chopped down the cherry tree. It didn't happen, but it made Washington look good because he "couldn't tell a lie." I suppose the reason for stories like those (for example, Abraham Lincoln walking two miles in the snow to return two cents) are used to inspire "virtue" in those that hear and elevate the status of the individual they're about. Again in history, we talked about how myths and folktales (the brothers Grimm) helped inspire nationalism, created an indentity for a certain group of people and maybe that's another point to those stories. So I guess the whole point of me spouting off all this stuff is to say 1) that this class is inescapable and 2) Paine uses Joan of Arc to inspire nationalism in a nation as of then un-created just as Phillis Wheatley tries to do the same (sorry for the *circuitous* writing).
By the way, Cristy, I love the colors. How do you do that?
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