Class Summary

HEY! It's Paige, and it's my turn to post for the class.
On friday we discussed Frenou. We mentioned his use of spears in his poetry to represent bravery under some circumstances, yet primitiveness under others. Although he is a classic he also was a preromanitc and it shows through his use of nature in his work. We discussed how in his writing he spoke of the innate hardworking nature of Native American Spirits. This was dissimilar to the common thinking that the Native Americans were all barbarious and didn't have souls. Many people associated them with simplistic animals or beasts. Fernou obviously had a begrudging respect for the culture of the Native Americans.


We also had a very delightful discussion of Yankee Doodle. We spoke of whether or not the phrase was offensive, and Mr. Lazarow discussed that although it seemed weak to our ears, it was in a fact an insult to the colonies. We discussed the taboo of certain words and symbols such as the n-word and swastikas, that are maintained due to their intensely negative connotations.
We spoke of "Ring Around the Rosie" and it's true meaning about those who die from plague. Then we transitioned into "Yankee Doodle" once more discussing whether it was an innocent children's song or if we should avoid letting youngsters sing this tune because of it's original nature.

We discussed the phenomenon of language and how words can be turned around and embraced positively.

Lastly we spoke briefly of music and it's affects during wartime. Cristy and I spoke of recent uses of music for soldiers during the war on Iraq, and Deirdre mentioned how her Grandfather still listens to old wartime propaganda music. Music used to help to unite the fighting force such as during the civil war, yet now it seems to serve the purpose of detachment from the evils of wartime.
Well that about sums about what we did on friday, I hope we can continue such interesting discussions in the following weeks!