The 1800’s brought a number of new books that bore no trace of the preaching or teaching that had been in most children’s books. One of these came from Germany. It was the folktales collected by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, two university scholars. The Grimm brothers recorded the tales just as they had heard them from storytellers in the countryside. Here were stories of talking beasts and dancing princesses, of elves and dwarfs, and even of a princess who slept for a hundred years. The tales were recorded in the rhythmic language of the storyteller. They also had the same buildup of suspense that had held listeners spellbound for centuries. They were first published in 1812 in Germany. In 1823 these tales were brought out in England. There they became known as Grimm’s Fairy Tales.

Another of the new books came from Denmark, where Hans Christian Andersen, following the lead of the Grimms, also turned to folktales.But unlike the Grimms, Andersen retold the old stories in his own way. He also added new stories that he created on the old folktale pattern. Andersen’s Fairy Tales and Stories was translated into English in 1846.

That same year humor was introduced into children’s books in England. This came with the publication of Edward Lear’s Book of Nonsense. It is a collection of limericks (humorous five-line poems with a special rhyme and rhythm) illustrated with hilarious cartoons drawn by Lear.

It is probably the first children’s book to be created for real-life children, whom Lear consulted on every limerick and drawing. Lear’s humor produced ridiculous people and situations and equally funny drawings. Unlike The New England Primer, which begins “In Adam’s fall/ We sinned all,” Lear’s book was all nonsense and laughter.

Cover of Fairy Tales

In much the same spirit, Charles Dodgson, a distinguished mathematician and university scholar, began telling stories to three little girls.One of them was named Alice. These stories were published in 1865 as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland under the pen name Lewis Carroll. Alice goes down a rabbit hole, where she shrinks to the height of a flower, meets the Cheshire cat, nearly drowns in her own tears, and takes part in a mad tea party. Nonsense is spoken with great seriousness, and foolish doings multiply. Alice’s adventures were continued in Through the Looking-Glass, published in 1872. Both books were illustrated by Sir John Tenniel, a cartoonist for Punch, London’s magazine of humor.

Growing up hurts and everyone who has reached adultness knows that. When we go from being children to being adults we go through a lot of different processes with which we start knowing the world and many of its cruel realities. Maybe it is what Holden Caulfield, a 16-year old guy, protagonist in the Novel the Catcher in the Rye, found out, and that´s the reason for his fears to the adult world.

Adolescence is a critical stage of our life because it is a stage of transition in which our vision of the world starts changing and in which more disappointment and deception we encounter. When we are children we don’t have to face the problems that as adults and adolescents we have to face. Economical, sexual, and other affairs are just not ours, at that age nothing has importance, just living in a bubble of innocence where nothing has an explanation, and we don’t demand it. However, as we grow up we realize that the world is not so simple and learning can be really frustrating.

To start, as you get older you start having a clear difference between what is good and what is bad, usually because we are the target of evilness. It is definitely one of the first blows. We realize that not everybody is good, that people can really hurt and many times they do it on purpose, they mean hurt one, and one receives damages from whom you expect it the least. One realizes that not everybody is truthful, loyal, and worthy of confidence.

Something one realizes that abound is hypocrisy, personal and social hypocrisy, a situation that Caulfield usually criticizes. In several occasions we find how in society double moral reigns. Related to personal hypocrisy, it could happen that those who we think are our best friends are in fact our worst enemies, and to encounter oneself with this truth is bitter enough. In the social, we see ourselves compelled to act in ways we don’t want just for taking into account social rules with which most of time we don’t agree: another bitter reality that we have to face.

On the other hand, when we are adults there are aspects of life that we hadn’t to face when we where children, and now they become part of our lives such as the sexual and economical factors. These become essential part of our lives.

Related to the economical aspect, as we grow we realize how important is money and the created need we have of it. It is the moment we need it to study, to be on fashion in order to fit into society; we need to spend on clothes, since now we should take care of our physical appearance as we never did. We need money too for going out with our partners, and so on.

Upon talking about the sexual aspect we have to talk about his two main components, the physical and the psychological. During adolescence we get across with that new aspect of our lives, which we have to learn to deal with. Sexuality is a topic about which Caulfield was really interested. When we deal with sexuality we have to deal with the social rules that control it besides the religious beliefs that society implants within us: what is allowed to do, what no, what is sinful, and so on. Many young people can face serious problems in specific matters such as homosexuality, gender roles, etc.

Other problems one can also face are those related to falling in love. Here you have to deal with issues such as being corresponded or not, competence to gain the favor of the person we are in love, and after we get the relationship how to deal with it. In addition to face issues like unfaithfulness, to be in love with the wrong person, all of these are painful and necessary affairs to deal with.

Another big problem for many is the fact of fitting in a society where we don’t feel we belong under rules we don’t accept. We see in the novel that it is the main conflict Caulfield presents and which causes most of his sufferings. He dislikes everything around him what provokes him feelings of frustration and loneliness. One of the most painful results of this is the rejection of others and discrimination toward those who are and think different.

  Added to all those situations, all of our problems gain new meaning and new dimensions when we grow up. Death is one of them. At the age of 16 Caulfield has already faced two situations related to death that one can realize affected him deeply. The first one is the death of his brother Allie, and the second the death of his schoolmate James Castle who committed suicide when was being bothered by other schoolmates. In this second situation Caulfield not only sees how painful death is, yet how big can be other’s cruelty. When facing his conflicts he looks for his ex teacher Antolini to help him, for he remembered the compassionate way he acted when James killed himself.

Because of the way he sees the world and his attitude toward others, Caulfield experiments strong feelings of loneliness and despair. In fact, he looks for fitting in the society and looks incessantly for company; however, he is unable to deal with people, according to him because their superficial, or because they are bore and annoying.

As we see, the pain of growing up is the pain that really affects Holden; he has to try to make himself a way in a world where he feels he doesn’t belong. He fears the world’s evilness that’s why he would like to continue being a child and take hold of children’s innocence. He worships this innocence and he would like to protect it, hence the name of the novel, The Cather in the Rye, for he wants to save children from the cliff there is in the rye, being these symbols of innocence and the risk to lose it. Nevertheless we can see in his behavior a complete immaturity, an immaturity that will cause him a lot of problems, since he doesn’t want to face life the way it is. Caulfield was afraid of growing up, he wanted things never changed. And it is true, it could be normal to be afraid of growing up because in fact growing up hurts; nevertheless, it is normal, unavoidable and necessary.

Related to Strickland, definitely, if he is not the most, he is one of the most ironic characters in this story. Strickland is a man who cares for no one and nothing, just for living what he wants to live, and is interested in. The ironic of his personality goes beyond the boundaries of what one might think real. His life, his way of seeing life and human being in general, besides his decision of leaving everything are completely out of mind.

At the age of forty, Strickland decides to abandon his family, his job and a very comfortable life because he wanted to paint, and he changes his comfort to live as a beggar and in inhuman conditions. It could look rather crazy the fact of wanting to paint at the age of 40, when we all know most of the greatest painters started painting when they were very young, and many who started very young were not successful; therefore, it wasn’t to expect that it would be worthwhile all the things he was sacrificing. The ironic part of all this is that he was right, and he got to be a great painter.

Strickland didn’t care what others could think about him. He used to treat disdainfully those who tried to help him, which means he hated people who felt pity of him; however, when the narrator avoid him, since he doesn’t want to keep any touch with him because of his ominous behavior, he insists on going with him and even offers to show him his paintings which he had refused to show when he wanted to see them, what demonstrates Strickland’s ironic character.

The reaction of Amy Strickland and the way she manages the situation after her husband leaves her is not just ironic but disconcerting. She would be able to forgive Strickland if he had left her for another woman, since she considered this would be a fleeting passion; nevertheless, when she realizes that he left her for an idea and his wish of being a painter she reacts hysterically, and swears not forgiving him; in addition, she curses him and prefers people to believe that he had fled with another woman instead of the real reason.

Among all the characters related to irony the best worked personality is that of Dirk Stroeve. Either his personality as his appearance are caricaturists. We find in Stroeve someone with a big heart, someone whose life is to serve others even sacrificing himself, and someone who finds himself well upon seeing other’s wellness. Besides that, we find in Stroeve someone with an excellent talent to judge other’s art and lives, and it is here the ironic part of him, for he lacks completely this talent to apply it to his own life. Stroeve can recognize a very good artist, which aspects of someone’s work are not good; he is the one who believes in Strickland’s genius, yet he doesn’t realize that he is not a good painter and the poor quality of his works.

The author expresses directly that contradictory part of Stroeve’s personality. “He could exercise tact when dealing with the affairs of others, but none when dealing with his own” and he really demonstrates it when dealing with the fact of being left by her wife for Charles. He usually told his story in order to excite sympathy, yet he only showed himself as someone pathetical and ridiculous. 

It’s also quite ironic the attitude of the narrator toward Strickland. He should have hated him, to have feelings of contempt and disdain toward him, but he hadn’t really any. In fact, one could deduce that deep inside he thought it was worthwhile everything Strickland did to pursuit his dreams, that the ideas he had about life were not but truth, and even he knew he was an odious man, he thought he was a great one, as he himself expresses it.

Besides his ideas, the author uses a lot of phrases to show us the dual characteristic of life and how contradictory is human nature. “I had not yet learnt how contradictory is human nature; I did not know how much pose there is in the sincere, how much baseness in the noble, nor how much goodness in the reprobate”, “Now I am well aware that pettiness and grandeur, malice and charity, hatred and love, can find place side by side in the human heart”, “He was a sensual man, and yet he was indifferent to sensual things” are just some samples that shows us his ironical vision of life.

In general, life is completely contradictory, it is what the author shows us through the ways he uses irony. When we love, when we hate, when we suffer, when we are gay; if we pursuit our dreams or we let them die because of our fears, in every stage of life where human feelings are present, we will see ourselves before situations which can seem rather curious, incredible and even ridiculous, but in fact, they are completely normal. As the Italian author Oriana Fallaci states in her “Letter to a Child Never Born: “Our logic is full of contradictions. As soon as you state something, you see its opposite, and you even could realize that the contrary is as valid as that that you declared before”. And I add, Life’s like that, like that is life.

Let’s peruse…

The Municipality of Minglanilla made its successful town fiesta and yearly made a tremendous celebration for beauty pageant among high school students from different schools (both private and public), namely, Minglanilla National Science High School, Tubod National High School, Lipata National High School, Tungkop National High School, Tulay National High School, Camp 7 National High School, Guindaruhan National High School, University of the Visayas (Minglanilla Campus), Southern Bethany Christian School and Immaculate Heart of Mary Academy.

The beauty pageant occurred last August 20 at the New Minglanilla Sports Complex. People from all walks of life were all filled with awe by the astonishing performances done by the twenty lovely candidates who were all proudly representing their respective schools, according to the organizer.

For each school within the Municipality of Minglanilla, two ladies were given such an opportunity to represent their school. Only the aforementioned ten schools joined in the search for Ms. High School Minglanilla this school year.

The said contest was truly a tough job for each candidate due to the consecutive practices they had while busy catching up with the lessons in school. Besides, workshops, seminars, campus tours and other sort of interactions were conducted in order to boost the confidence and self-esteem of every candidate. But, despite the pressures and stress, all of them were very happy with experiences they had gained and earned for even so short a time.

“When this game is over, I’m sure I’m going to miss this type of group bonding that we are all experiencing now,” this was the usual line that would pop out from each mouth of the candidates.

“And the Miss High School Minglanilla  is…” this was the statement from the host that gave the audience the thrill and excitement for the reason that the two candidates of Minglanilla National Science High School were the only ones left on stage and who successfully made it up for that big and final announcement.

That was surely the pride of each MNSHS student who attended the event that evening. It was Krizia Marie Gabrielle Dosdos, 15 years old, 4th year – Platinum got the 1st runner up position. And the lady who brought home the crown was none other than Claudine Nicole Librando, 16 years old, 4th year – Uranium. In addition to that, Claudine also won special and major awards that made her a grand slam winner: Ms. Pepsi Cola, Ms. Prime Asia, Ms. DermStreet, 2nd Best in Talent and Best in School Uniform.

Any human being in this world must recoil from putting a gap; otherwise, open communication will vanish into thin air and a covert communication channel will be thwarted at once without question

 “Please bear in mind that sharing information with others and apprising the latest updates of the world today give emphasis to the importance of global communication, i.e. free communication and freedom of expression. It relinquishes our rights from “self-seclusion and self-inhibition” to help people unfurl their inundating mind streams and open out into something that results in a rich harvest of ideas from them.”

The isolated beauty and tranquility of the place connote open communication and progress. With the ambiance of the surroundings, you can feel figuratively the essence of reaching out to other people and do communicate with them regardless of races around the world through “vital and candid information.”

Communication serves as a bridge between the family and the community — working together for a unified stand on the issue and for a solid foundation to come by the common goals and for the amelioration of one’s life.

Metaphorically, it is likened to an open beach because it is very important to all of us in this planet who ought to shun from putting a gap; otherwise, open communication will vanish into thin air and a covert communication channel will be thwarted at once without question.

The main reason for this is that people have the right to be informed and they have to share with one another regarding the issues and other things that can be beneficial for everybody in order to reach ultimately for “the common good.”

Communication is something that can bridge you between the unknown world and the known world with sufficient information to dish out. Likewise, it’s about expressing and conveying your thoughts, emotions, notions and concepts with another human beings.

The ideal outcome of the event will animadvert upon itself and it will boomerang to the concerned persons if things are not properly addressed. It reciprocates best communication skills that can aid in keeping one’s head and confidently taking charge of unfamiliar situations.

People are more likely to listen to you, whatever you have to utter, if you can express yourself well, and this is particularly useful in influencing and negotiating significant personal, social and business matters.

To elaborate further about communication as an advantage over the other sub-categorized implications and cognitive-voluntary schema with communicative approaches. The opposite sides are taken into account.

Say for instance, a communication as regards the utilization of idiomatic expression like “between the devil and the deep blue sea” which figuratively emphasizes its true color and veritable sense of implicit meaning.  In this expression, if you are between the devil and the deep blue sea, you are in a scenario where there are two equally unpleasant options or alternatives.

For example, “When the new product didn’t take off, the management was caught between the devil and the deep blue sea: develop a new marketing campaign or drop the product.” In this open communication, as well as distinct scenario of the two comparable objects, each object will liken metaphorically to a different perspective. It comes in handy in working out the involution or rising actions and dealing with difficult people.

Open communication is said to be fathomed, unparalleled, and incomprehensible closed-doors gaps that sometimes implicate many dimensions, from something that is facile or so simple and something that is more complicated.

Besides, it is “something” that is potentially complex to comprehend the pros and cons of a subtle and particular human being’s intervention.

To enlighten anew about the open communication and open alternative views, communication itself mainly connects to the human mind. It carries a heavy burden with consciousness and sub-consciousness.

The open mind is also susceptible to “a lack of conviction.” Too many conflicting viewpoints can enter an open mind and cause indecision and unfair treatment.  With regard also to any standpoint, it is indispensable now and then to conceal the mind from reality and connect it to the real world where individuals do utterly communicate, disallow any more input, make a decision and act.

Perchance, more significant than having an open mind is having a mind that is capable of being open or closed. The hinges of our mind are our capability to act upon. We can decide to accept or reject information depending upon the fair judgment, trials and animadversions from the people around. It might be local or international.

Finally, information should be dished out with correct acceptance and unmistakable honor to divulge and pin down with laurels.

Mingscians as campus journalists go into raptures over MDGs in the Philippines!

“Campus Journalism as a Catalyst for Change: Achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015” is a challenge of every campus writer in the Philippines to have cognizance about the MDGs. According to study, the all eight MDGs are indeed measurable, quantifiable and realistic. To support its claim, each of the eight goals has a set of targets. These targets are quantified through indicators that will be set as the benchmark for measuring each country’s progress.

DepEd memorandum expresses its journalistic stand and goes into raptures over the eight MDGs. The campus journalists demonstrate understanding of the MDGs’ importance to the masses by expressing them through varied journalistic forms and approaches, demonstrate commitment to support MDGs by advocating and integrating them in related school community initiatives and enhance journalistic competence through healthy and friendly competitions such as individual, group, as well as radio broadcasting and scriptwriting contests.

MDGs and campus journalism go hand in hand for the development and gradual progress to gauge the veracity of societal needs, as far as global population is concerned. The student-writers have responsibility and awareness about the dissemination campaign to cater to the needs of the majority through sustention of the eight MDGs to become fully operational without delays.

For the information of everybody, Millennium Development Goals consist of the eight goals, and the acronym itself MDG is a familiar buzzword. However, there is little or no awareness of this global agenda agreed upon by 191 nations in 2000. In fact, a number of journalists who attended a recent media forum said they had not heard of the MDGs despite the fact that the Philippines has been an active participant in the drafting of many protocols involving human rights.

In a press release published recently in a national daily newspaper, it emphasized the importance of each MDG. It described as a roadmap in fighting poverty, and as a partnership between developed and developing countries in the attainment of these eight goals. To reprint these goals, they are as follows:

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education

Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women

Goal 4: Reduce child mortality

Goal 5: Improve maternal health

Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability

Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development 

On the other hand, despite some clamors circulating around the country, some young journalists keep on rallying behind the proponents of MDGs. In fact, some questions have raised: Do they resolve global problems? Do the teachers impart savvy of journalism with regard to MDGs on the campus?

By all accounts, fundamentally, the better way to teach journalism is to train them to write for life. Perhaps, that’s a motherhood phrase. What the writer has really wanted to utter is to go beyond the competition mode. The holding of competitions to put something through its paces with the  students’ skills on campus journalism might have drudged to a certain echelon.

But making the students practice campus journalism more might do miracles and nose around more youth to the craft of factual “fourth estate.” This is not an animadversion on DepEd’s practice of holding schools press conferences in the country. This is only an overall standpoint of the Editorial Board and Staff of The Access school paper.

·       Whether we like it or not, the truth is that … campus journalism really works in dishing out information entirely about MDGs! It gradually resolves the problems that have already been addressed, particularly to the concerned countries with the eight MDGs to tag along.

Journalism gives emphasis to the importance of valuable information with the help of various media. Each student-writer must use extreme campus journalism as a means of making the people become fully aware of what is really happening around us today. If the people increase total awareness and heighten participation, the plans of development seem to realize and the MDGs will be successfully carried out.

As a result, significant decrease in poverty and amplified a much-needed boost in national economy will come to follow. The people will go hand in hand for the betterment of economy, and work with the heart to upgrade the conditions of the general public. It is inevitable that all of us are living in this labyrinth-filled nature and cycle of ups and downs by which the globe of our fate revolves in stages.

Our conditions at present are not still sustainable, not enough to cope with the demands and needs of society; ergo, we have to come to “grips” with the MDGs and apply draconian measures in order to accentuate the adequacy of our living conditions.

Through journalism, campus writers go into raptures over MDGs, especially in the Philippines!

Top-level officials visit MNSHS and observe French classes

DESPITE the circumstances of the great language diversities, the observation of French classes at Minglanilla National Science High School (MNSHS) took place last September 28, 2010 with some attendance, coming from DepEd officials (Central, Regional & Division Offices), French Embassy Linguistic Attaché, Alliance Française de Manille and Alliance Française de Cebu directors of studies, and other foreign language coordinators involved in the special program.

Regional SPFL-F Coordinator Ms. Marcelita S. Dignos through the memorandum issued by Director Recaredo G. Borgonia said  the visit and observation of French classes are geared towards reviewing progress of implementation of the SPFL-F, focusing on the agreed outputs and outcomes within the SPFL-F results framework including the terms in the MOA between the Embassy of France and DepEd which was signed last September 28, 2009, and reviewing actions taken on the recommendations formulated during the conference on start-up activities for the implementation of the teaching of French as a second foreign language SY 2010-2011 in selected Science High Schools in Region VII held last May 28, 2010.

Linguistic Attaché Emilie Flambeaux of the French Embassy to the Philippines emphasized the fact that French was the second international language and a key to prepare Filipino students “for their role as global citizens”. During the special visit at MNSHS, the visitors congratulated the French teachers, faculty members and the head of school Eutiquia S. Alday in their efforts to promote cultural and linguistic diversity. 

On the other hand, DepEd Undersecretary for Programs and Projects Dr. Vilma Labrador during the language assessment and planning workshop held last February 16-19, 2010 at the Tagaytay International Convention Center, reminded the audience that the choice of science high schools was made since science is a key field for both French and Philippine governments. She said French has been already introduced in 13 science high schools from NCR and Region VII. 21 teachers are currently undergoing training in the two French cultural centers, Alliance Française in Manila and Alliance Française in Cebu.

The agreement signifies the important role of DepEd-learning institution as a privileged partner of the Embassy, in terms of the promotion of French culture, language and education in Cebu and the rest of the Visayas and Mindanao, according to Emilie Flambeaux. She also added that Alliance Française has four objectives: to promote the French language, France, Europe and the 70 countries which are members of the French-speaking community; to encourage intellectual exchange and debate; to support Filipino artists and intellectuals, and to advise Filipino students who wish to study French culture and/or study in France. 

DepEd Coordinator for Special Program on Foreign Language (French) Ana Maria Hernandez expressed her profound gratitude to the principal Eutiquia S. Alday in her active role and support to the foreign language, together with faculty members for their hospitality, French teachers Dr. Ermetes F. Adolfo, Jr. and Jacqueline F. Bucao, and the 3rd year and 4th year students for their active participation during demo-lessons and their concerted efforts and interests to learn French language.

Nick Polk

English 1102

Professor Rogers

23 April 2011

Do the Affects of Revenge Ever End?

            Revenge always leads to tragedy, no matter if the revenge is morally right or wrong. Revenge is an evil that can slowly build up and possess someone to do things him /her normally wouldn’t. Hamlet serves as a great testament to these things. In Hamlet’s culture he was morally right in seeking revenge on Claudius for killing his father, but did this revenge end up going the way Hamlet originally planned and how did the buildup of this evil affect Hamlet throughout the play?

            Hamlet’s culture is responsible for the way Hamlet seeks revenge in the play: “Hamlet is the product of a culture that knew a truth beyond all the confusions and diversities of life. It is certainly logical to look at him in terms of that truth. If it be insisted that we today are too far away from it, then we must be too far away from Hamlet as well, who would survive as a relic of the past and of nothing else” (Davis 3). In other words, Davis believes that Hamlet showed truth in his madness and our generation today would not go to the extent of which Hamlet did to avenge his family, as so this makes our generation today “untruthful” in a sense. If revenge is looked at today it can be seen that it is a waste of time and always ends up wrong, but in Hamlet’s time it was a duty to avenge family. The ghost or Hamlet’s father in the play wants to be avenged and how can a son deny his father something so honorable: “So art thou to revenge, when thou shall hear” (line 8). Once the Ghost tells Hamlet that his father was murdered by Claudius, the fire is lit and Hamlet is set on revenge.

            Hamlet’s determination possesses him and makes him perform duties of which he doesn’t want to perform: “My purpose in bringing all this in is to demonstrate the attitude of Hamlet toward a duty which he does not want to perform, but which honor, circumstances, and chance all require that he perform whether he like it or not” (Davis 43). Hamlet’s emotions come out and you start to see the revenge taking control: “By asking why Hamlet is aroused to react in turn with fear, desire, contempt, and disgust—not only towards Gertrude, but also towards Ophelia and the Ghost—I hope to show that Hamlet’s “problems” lie in his epistemological dilemma spurred by the material manifestations of “the inexpressibly horrible” (Kumamato 48). In the play Hamlet’s mentality has been changed in order for him to carry out these acts. He has turned ruthless and full of anger and expresses it as such by telling Ophelia: “get thee to a nunnery” (3.1 118). In other word’s Hamlet is calling Ophelia a whore and directly shows his determination in seeking revenge.

            Hamlet seems to grow with evil throughout the play and most critics wonder if it has anything to do with the Ghost’s command over him: “Elizabethan ghosts, we are told, could be good or evil / The moral ambivalence of the Ghost’s command is made quite explicit it admits that murder, which is what it seeks, is even in, the best, most foul, Furthermore, the motives for the revenge it seeks are largely private there are many lines of heartfelt anguish at the adulterous relationship between Gertrude and Claudius” (Hughes 395). The Ghost seems to make Hamlet believe that murder will solve everything and that he must kill Claudius to avenge his father, but what if the Ghost is actually the Devil trying to manipulate Hamlet? This would explain a lot of things because someone’s father would not push revenge so hard even back in Hamlet’s era.

            Hamlet was so overwhelmed with revenge that his safe plan of killing Claudius spins out of control. At first Hamlet was like okay, I’m not going to let this get out of control, I’m going to make the killing clean and prove Claudius’s guilt first, but it didn’t turn out the way he planned. Hamlet proves Claudius’s guilt and spots him kneeling and praying while on the way to his mother’s chambers, Hamlet contemplates how easy it would be to just plunge a sword into his back and let things be over with, but Hamlet feels that this would be a benefit instead of revenge as Claudius would go to heaven: “Now might I do it pat, now is a-praying / And now I’ll do’t – and so goes to heaven” (3.3 72-73). Instead of killing Claudius and being through with the murder, Hamlet decides to wait. Hamlet must give Claudius more of a death than the crime Claudius committed: “The revenge killing requires craft because it must equal the outrage of the original crime and satisfy the revenger’s intense feelings” (Brucher 257). Hamlet’s madness wants him to be satisfied in killing Claudius and leave him with a sense that payback has been served. Once Hamlet arrives in his mother’s chambers he hears Polonius cry out from the drapes and mistakes him for Claudius and kills him. This just goes to show that revenge never ends because if Hamlet would have just killed Claudius in the alley then more people would not have to die.

            Claudius is now trying to get rid of Hamlet and plans to kill him in a “friendly” sword fight, but Claudius has a few tricks up his sleeve. Claudius has poisoned the tip of Laertes’ blade and poisoned a drink that he will offer to Hamlet. Hamlet refused the drink and Gertrude unknowingly drinks it, which results in killing her. Hamlet then kills Claudius and Laertes. Hamlet is now left alone and drinks the poison and also dies. This goes to show that revenge always leads in tragedy. Hamlet got corrupted with vengeance which led to the ultimate never ending ride of tragedy: “It is a play about vengeance and how avengers lose their souls, sin, and corrupt in turn” (Lidz 33).

            In conclusion, revenge always ends up spiraling out of control and into tragedy. It will start off with a nice plan of action, but will always end up going wrong. Hamlet started off with a plan of action, but his vengeance led him into getting more innocent people killed, including his mother. Revenge never has a designated area to stop and when it does stop the damage has already been done. Revenge always leads into corruption and greed: “Any satisfaction a man may derive from punishing his enemy is more than outweighed by the utter misery he brings on himself” (Prosser 11). Hamlet’s madness ultimately leads him to destroy himself and others; twice the damage was dealt than originally because Hamlet acted with such vengeance and anger. Hamlet finally admits his madness in the end with an apology to Laertes: “Give me your pardon, sir / I have done you wrong, but pardon’t as you are a gentleman / This presence knows and you must needs have heard / How I am punished with a sore distraction / What I have done / That might your nature, honor and exception, roughly awake, I here proclaim was madness” (5.2 90-96). Hamlet is too late in realizing his madness in the end, however for tragedy has already struck. This all goes to show that revenge never truly ends and when it does tragedy has already struck, so revenge is truly a dish best served cold and should only be pursued with no outside factors or influences.

Works Cited

-Davis, Arthur G. Hamlet and the Eternal Problem of Man. NY: St. John’s UP, 1964.

-Lidz, Theodore. Hamlet’s Enemy: Madness and Myth in Hamlet. NY: Basic Books, 1975

-Prosser, Eleanor. Hamlet and Revenge. Stanford: Stanford UP, 1967.

-Hughes, Geoffrey. “Conscience in Literature” English Studies; Oct76, Vol. 57 Issue5, p395, 15p. Academic Search Complete.

Web. 23 Apr. 2011

-Brucher, Richard T. “Revenger’s Tragedy” Studies in English Literature (Rice); Spring 81, Vol. 21 Issue 2, p257, 14p. Academic Search Complete.

Web. 23 Apr. 2011

-Fly, Richard. “Accommodating Death in Hamlet” Studies in English Literature (Rice); Spring 84, Vol. 24 Issue2, p257 18p. Academic Search Complete

Web. 23 Apr. 2011

-Kumamoto, Chikako. “Hamlet’s Revenge and the Abject” Journal of the Wooden O. Symposium; 2006 Vol.6 p48-64, 17p. Academic Search Complete

Web. 24 Apr. 2011

Nick Polk

English 1102

Professor Rogers

23 April 2011

Presentation Outline

I. Hamlet’s revenge ultimately leads to his demise.

A.        Hamlet is defended in going for revenge by his culture moral ideas. Arthur Davis says in one of his books that “Hamlet is the product of a culture that knew a truth beyond all the confusions and diversities of life. It is certainly logical to look at him in terms of that truth. If it be insisted that we today are too far away from it, then we must be too far away from Hamlet as well, who would survive as a relic of the past and of nothing else” (Davis 3) In other words, Davis believes that Hamlet showed truth in his madness and our generation today would not go to the extent of which Hamlet did to avenge his family.

B.        It is great that Hamlet is standing up for the morals of his era, but to what extent does revenge stop and when it does isn’t the damage already dealt?

Hamlet grows with evil throughout the play and some critics have an explanation of why. Geoffrey Hughes believes that the Ghost is just a tool of the Devil and manipulated Hamlet to act the way he does. “Elizabethan ghosts, we are told, could be good or evil / The moral ambivalence of the Ghost’s command is made quite explicit it admits that murder, which is what it seeks, is even in, the best, most foul,” (Hughes 257).

So as this influence of revenge fires up Hamlet, his plan of making the killing of Claudius sort of clean cut, changes. Instead of killing Claudius while he is praying when it would be so easy to do he decides to wait and kill Claudius when he is sinning that way, he would not go to heaven. Hamlet’s mistake of not killing Claudius here results in the killing of two more innocent people including himself, Polonius and Gertrude. Richard Brucher says “The revenge killing requires craft because it must equal the outrage of the original crime and satisfy the revenger’s intense feelings” (Brucher 257). He stabs Polonius behind the drapes and Gertrude mistakenly drinks the poison and Hamlet decides to drink the poison as well to get rid of the misery. So is revenge really worth chasing after? You never know when it’s going to end and when it does tragedy has already struck.

Frederic Henry – Nobody’s Hero

“If all your friends told you to jump off a cliff, would you?” This common phrase is a staple in any mother’s arsenal of parental guidance in preventing their children from going with the flock. While many children don’t actually want to go plunging to their death, they sometimes need a little reminder that what’s popular isn’t always right. Frederic Henry, the protagonist in A Farewell To Arms by Ernest Hemingway, is a character that frequently challenges conventional thinking in order to find a sense of identity in a hostile environment. In a world where right and wrong are often blurred, Henry is a different type of hero, one whose brave and noble nature develops over the course of the story. Riddled with his own experiences, Hemingway uses the setting, character foils, and the brutality of the war to characterize Henry and reveal the effects of war on human nature.

            In this novel, one of the largest and most influential characters is the setting itself. Set within the Italian mountains, the story takes place during World War I.  The landscape is beautiful, full of green pastures and snow covered hills, but the effects of the war contrast the serene grace of the land. Henry recounts “the forest had been green in the summer but now there were the stumps and the broken trunks and the ground torn up,” illustrating the changes the war had made to the environment. (12) The early chapters set the tone for the rest of the novel, Howard Berridge writes in his novel that “though each setting is placid and lovely, each glimpse of nature is interrupted by the war.” (25) Understanding the setting is key to realizing its effects on Henry. A volunteer ambulance driver in a foreign country, Henry doesn’t see right away the violence and extreme destruction the war causes. He seems only mildly irritated from the “battery in the next garden” that wakes him in the morning and the cholera that “only seven thousand [die] of.” (20) It is this air of depravity that shapes his opinions and attitudes in the novel. Critic Melvin C. Miles writes that the Hemingway hero usually has to accept the reality of nada or nothingness, and attempt to discover his own human values through experience.  In A Farewell To Arms, the sense of nada is found in the setting, where the reminder of war is constant and overwhelming. To cope with this, Henry often disconnects from the war itself, which gives him the illusion of invincibility. His naiveté about the war is evident when Fredrick talks to Catherine the war: “Not in this war. It did not have anything to do with me.” (37) Despite having the war all around him, he is oblivious to his involvement in the conflict. It isn’t until he is injured by a bombshell that he is aware of his involvement in the war and how it affects him. His injury is a turning point in the novel- he goes from being an observer to a participant, and it is then he realizes the true nature of war, and begins to slowly turn into the hero that Hemingway has cut out for him to be.

            Henry’s heroic qualities come not just from his interactions with the setting, but also his interactions with other characters. Unlike Henry himself, the other characters in the novel have very distinct personalities. One of the more influential characters is surprisingly a priest, whom he meets early on in the book at a tavern.  An ironic inclusion by Hemingway, the priest represents faith and hope in a war stricken environment, and teaches Henry a lot. Despite being a minor character, the priest illustrates the selflessness and kindness that Henry has inside him, as well as reassure him in the importance of love. The priest is the butt of many jokes by the generals and majors in the army, joking about his lack of relation with women. Despite the fact that Henry is not a religious man, he is kind to the priest, and establishes early in the novel that Henry is fundamentally a decent person. As their relationship goes on, Henry and the priest continue to have deep conversations that reveal more about our hero. Whilst in the hospital, Henry says that he “never loved a woman,” but the priest reassures him that he one day will, and that love will make him very happy. (72) It’s odd that Henry is so reliant on others for guidance, but this is one of Hemingway’s focuses throughout the book. According to John Beversluis , a scholar at Butler University, “Frederic discovers who he is by discovering how he behaves, what he does.” This “learning by doing” is something that we can see in Henry throughout the novel. Unsure about how he feels about love, he meets Catherine Barkley, a young nurse’s aide, with whom he begins to flirt with. The two soon start to see eachother, but it is apparent that Henry doesn’t have strong emotional feelings for her. “I knew I did not love Catherine Barkley nor had any idea of loving her,” he tells the reader, right as he begins to kiss her. (34) This shows that he primarily objectifies women, as is typical of the male in that era. All of his fellow soldiers frequently visit whorehouses and treat women in a very animalistic way, and Henry is merely acting based on what he’s used to. However, as the novel goes on, his interactions with Catherine and the priest lead him to new experiences that he isn’t used to. He realizes that he is weary of the war, and deserts the army in pursuit of an idyllic life with Catherine, having fallen hopelessly in love with her. (Beversluis) While it ultimately resulted in Catherine’s death, his intentions were noble, and the later sections of the book portray Henry showing genuine affection and love for her, putting him in a more heroic light than the stark nature of the opening chapters. Through his interactions with others, we can see Henry’s romantic nature develop throughout the story, giving us a better understanding of him as a character and a hero.

            While his interactions with his characters can bring out his more positive attributes, Henry also has to struggle to understand the other driving force in the novel. War. A common element in Hemingway’s literature, war forces a character to deal with the concepts of death and destruction. (Miles) In the beginning of the novel, it’s clear that Henry really doesn’t understand the full devastation of war. When a British nurse asks him why he joined the Italians, he responds haphazardly, “I was in Italy […] and I spoke Italian” (22) However, as the war goes on, this sense of detachment is replaced by a respect for the dangers that wartime presents. According to Matthew J. Bolton, Hemingway “tends to present combat as a rite of passage and an initiation for a young man who will eventually find love.” For our hero, being an ambulance driver and not an actual soldier, Henry is able to directly observe the destruction of war. He soon realizes that abstract concepts like honor and courage have no place alongside the stark reality of war. During a conversation with a young Patriot named Geno, he tells him that he has “seen nothing sacred,” and that the dead bodies and decimated villages he has seen represent the true nature of war. (168) This signifies a transformation for Henry, going from someone who is indifferent to the conditions of the war to one who has truly experienced the worst. “I don’t believe in victory anymore,” he states to the priest later in the novel, again showing his changed viewpoint on the war itself. (165) This is contrary to that of the typical war hero, the guy that goes in guns blazing and saves the day. Henry is different; he realizes that there is no romantic side to war, and his profound sense of loss and impotence sets him apart from his male companions. Henry is a different type of hero, one that develops through his confrontation with war, and forms “a separate peace” with himself, realizing that only by escaping the travesty of the war can he really become human. (Cox)

            In A Farewell To Arms, Hemingway does more than just write about the war. In this story, the entire human condition is described through the character of Frederic Henry, and his experience with love and the war. His internal struggle to understand the destruction and chaos around him is shown through his interactions with the settings, other characters, and the war itself. Hemingway uses Henry as a way of showing the effects of World War 1 on the human condition, and his transformation from indifference to experience summarizes the way millions of people were forced to cope with its harsh and unrelenting nature. Henry’s experiences show war as it truly is: a destructive and evil force that will continue to plague humanity. However, if we as a society can question the necessity of this conflict, like Henry, we may be able to come to peace with not only eachother, but with ourselves.

Works Cited

Berridge, H. R. “The Story – Chapter 1.” Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms. Woodbury, NY: Barron’s, 1984. 25-28. Print.

Beversluis, John. “Dispelling the Romantic Myth: A Study of A Farewell to Arms.” Literary Reference Center. EBSCO, Fall 1989. Web. 17 Dec. 2011.

Bolton, Matthew J. “Love and War in All Quiet on the Western Front and Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms.” Literary Reference Center. EbscoHost, Oct. 2010. Web. 15 Dec. 2011.

Cox, Ted, and Harold Bloom. “Thematic and Structural Analysis.” Literary Reference Center. EBSCO, 1996. Web. 17 Dec. 2011.

Miles, Melvin C. “Hemingway – An Introductory Overview.” El Camino College. 05 May 1994. Web. 19 Dec. 2011. <http://www.elcamino.edu/faculty/sdonnell/hemingway.htm>. 

Tourism studies – because they think they would be able to travel to Hawaii or the Maldives for work

Design – because they are lazy and want to make things even lazier for themselves

Engineering – because they think they would be able build a Lightsaber

Management -because they want to get a job and earn money while sitting on their butts while telling people what to do

Accounting -because they want to do math but are still struggling with adding and subtracting

Finance – because they want money, lots of money

Computer science and information systems -because they watched the movie hackers, or because they think were good with computers thanks to daily uses of Facebook or MSN

Medicine – because they want to save the world and be rich and respected

Dentistry – because they want to be rich and respected

Physical therapy -because they could not get into medicine

Optometry – because they think the job is easy and makes them rich and respected

Nursing – because they are wanting to go to medicine or wants a job straight after graduating

Veterinary Science – because they want to be rich and respected but hate dealing with patients that can complain

Pharmacy – because they love drugs and they can get more drugs and make more drugs and consume more drugs. Oh and the money is pretty good too.

Public health – because they think they can save the world and thinks doing it one person at a time is too slow

Medical and health sciences – because they think they can get into medicine if they get a high enough GPA from this program

Kinesiology – because they are bullies and want to beat you at all sports

Architecture – because they want to build a building by sitting on their butts

Languages (any) – because they want to meet that cute girl or guy that speaks (insert language here)

Biology – because they think they can get into medicine if they get a high GPA in this program

Divinity and theology – because they have a calling (for little boys)

Religious Studies – because when they were little they saw something and is determined to find out what it was.

Linguistics – because they want to learn to speak

Film and television – because they watch too much film and television

Journalism – because they have lots to say about others

Literature – because they have too much to say about so someone told them to write a book

Library science -because they like collecting books but don’t really like to read

Music – because they think they could be the next famous musician

Music education – because they couldn’t be famous musicians

Drama – because they want to be the next Brad Pitt or Natalie Portman

Mortuary Science – because they are creeps

Philosophy – because they want to just sit, think, BS, be witty and sound smart while doing it

Psychology – because they think they can mess with people’s minds

Education – because they want to make other kids go through what they went through

Science with education – because they want to make other kids go through what they went through with hydrochloric acid

Forestry and agriculture – because mom and dad were farmers or lumberjacks

Political sciences – because they think they can become they next Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama

Economics – because they think they can learn about business with this major

Sociology – because they want to “people watch” for a job

Social work – because they want to help that hobo relative of theirs

Law -because they want to be a professional argue-person

Mathematics – because gambling becomes a lot more profitable

Urban and regional planning – because the government job deal sounds great and the thought of playing Sim City in real life is pretty awesome

Physics – because they think dungeons and dragons got boring

Chemistry – because they think making things go boom is fun

General – because they don’t know what to take

The  nature  of  turn-taking  in  talk-in-interaction  is  at  the  heart  of  CA (Hutchby  and  Wooffitt, 2008).  Adjacency  pairs,  repair  and  preference  are other  basic  notions  in  relation  to instructional  organisation.  Space  precludes  a  full  account  of  CA  methodology  here,  as  our main focus will be contributions of CA to Applied linguistics. For a detailed account of CA methodology,  its  treatment  of  data,  and  the  theoretical  underpinnings,  see  Psathas,  1995; Liddicoat,  2007;  ten  Have,  2007;  Hutchby  and  Wooffitt,  2008;  and  Sidnell,  2010.  Although focusing  on  application  is  the  essence  of  Applied  Linguistics,  CA  has  only  (relatively) recently developed an applied framework. As Seedhouse (2011) claims, ‘the development of an  applied  dimension  in  CA  and  its  fundamental  concern  with  language  as  a  form  of  social action  suggest  a  natural  link  with  applied  linguistics’  (p.346).  Applied linguists,  then,  can benefit from bringing the resources of CA to bear on different domains (e.g. the organisation of interaction in classrooms and the assessment of learning), which engage their interest and professional concerns (Schegloff et al., 2002).

This short introduction to the special issue aims at introducing briefly  recent research that has been  informed  by  the  resources  of  CA  within  the  field  of  Applied  Linguistics,  with  a relatively  stronger  focus  on  learning  and  teaching  contexts,  and  with  particular  reference  to the articles in this issue, where relevant. We will first start with a consideration of instructed learning contexts, as most of the studies published in this volume draw on research carried out in classroom settings.  The  next  section  will  review  a  newly  emerging  field,  which  seeks  to document the practices of language learning by using a micro-analytic approach; namely CA-SLA. This will be followed by the potential offered by a CA research paradigm in relation to; language proficiency assessment, materials  design  and  development,  and  language  teacher education respectively.

CLASSROOM INTERACTION

The  first  and  one  of  the  most  influential  CA  investigations  into  formal  speech-exchange systems  in  educational  settings  is  McHoul’s  (1978)  study  on  the  organisation  of  turns  in classrooms.  By  examining  a  number  of  violational  and  non-violation  turn  transitions  for their orderliness, he reveals that ‘the social identity contrast “Teacher/Student” is expressed in terms  of  differential  participation  rights  and  obligations’  (p.  211). His research called for a systematic investigation of classroom talk-in-interaction, which led to book-length manuscripts within the fields of language learning and teaching (e.g.  Markee,  2000; Seedhouse, 2004). Seedhouse’s work documents the interactional  organisation  of  second language  (L2)  classrooms  and  uncovers  the  reflexive  relationship  between  pedagogy  and interaction. He stresses the dynamic nature of context by ‘exemplifying how the institution of the  L2  classroom  is  talked  in  and  out  of  being  by  participants  and  how  teachers  create  L2 classroom contexts and shift from one context to another’ (2011, p.12). The micro-contexts of classroom  interaction  he  identifies  are  procedural  context,  task  oriented  context,  form  and accuracy context and meaning and fluency context. As the pedagogical focus varies, so the organisation of turn and sequence varies (Seedhouse, 2005); and a good understanding of this reflexive relationship enables researchers to see that, as Walsh (2002) states, ‘where language use and pedagogic purpose coincide, learning opportunities are facilitated’ (p.5). 

Classroom  interaction  has  been  researched  using  different  methods  of  inquiry  including Discourse Analysis, Critical Discourse Analysis, Systemic Functional Linguistics and various qualitative  and  quantitative  paradigms  within  Applied  Linguistics.  CA  investigation  is relatively  new  to  this  field  and  the  outcomes,  nonetheless,  have  been  very  promising.  One should  be  aware  of  the  fact  that  different  research  methodologies,  even  when  applied  to  the same discoursal data, can reach diametrically opposing conclusions (Seedhouse, 2010). With this in mind, we take the position that CA is well equipped to investigate various dynamics of classroom-talk-in-interaction  and  shed  light  upon  language  teaching  and  learning  practices. The  CA  investigation  of  learning  (i.e.  language  learning),  however,  has  not  been  free  of criticism, since mental constructs like understanding and cognition have long been associated with  a  more  cognitive  and  psycholinguistic  approach,  which  have  been  the  backbone  of  the mainstream  Second  Language  Acquisition  (SLA)  research.  Firth  and  Wagner’s  (1997) arguments challenged the assumptions of cognitivist research and called for (1) sensitivity to contextual  and  interactional  aspects  of  language  use,  (2)  a  broadening  of  the  SLA  database and  more  importantly,  (3)  an  adoption  of  a  more  emic  and  participant-relevant  perspective towards  SLA  research.  This  has  led  way  to  the  newly  emerging  field  of  CA-SLA  and  a reconceptualisation  of  learning  as  learning-in-action  (Firth  and  Wagner,  2007)  and competence-in-action (Pekarek Doehler, 2006).

CA and Language Learning

As  mentioned  in  the  previous  section,  CA-for-SLA  bases  its  understanding  of  learning  and competence  on  and  in  action.  According  to  Pekarek  Doehler  (2010),  ‘learning  a  language involves a continuous process of adaptation of patterns of language-use-for-action in response to  locally  emergent  communicative  needs,  and  the  routinisation  of  these  patterns  through repeated  participation  in  social  activities…and  the  resulting  competencies  are  adaptive, flexible  and  sensitive  to  the  contingencies  of  use’  (p.107).  The  construct  ‘competence’, however, is not easy to conceptualise. Young (2008) defines Interactional Competence as a relationship  between  the  participants’  employment  of  linguistic  and  interactional  resources and the contexts in which they are employed. It is not an individual phenomenon, but is co-constructed  by  all  participants  in  a  particular  discursive  practice’  (p.101).    Development  of Interactional  Competence,  therefore,  should  be  differentiated  from  earlier  definitions  of  competence  (i.e.  linguistic,  communicative).  Markee  (2008)  proposes  three  components  of  Interactional  Competence:  1)  language  as  a  formal  system  (includes  pronunciation, vocabulary,  grammar),  2)  semiotic  systems,  including  turn-taking,  repair,  sequence organization, and 3) gaze and paralinguistic features. 

CA provides a means of exploring the variable ways in which competence is co-constructed in  particular  contexts  by  the  participants  involved  (Seedhouse,  2011).  Two  of  the  most systematic  analyses  of  interactional  development  from  a  longitudinal  perspective  are Hellermann  (2008)  and  Cekaite  (2007),  which  combine  CA  with  a  framework  of  language socialisation.    Other  longitudinal  studies  include  Young  and  Miller  (2004),  Brouwer  and Wagner (2004), and Hellermann (2006, 2007). In addition to these, Markee (2008) develops a methodology to track L2 development longitudinally. There are also cross-sectional accounts of learning in which a single or a collection of instances, or a case is analysed. An example of such  research  is  Brouwer  (2003),  who  examines  word  search  sequences  between  native  and nonnative  speakers  and  develops  a  distinction  between  word  search  sequences  that  act  as language  learning  opportunities  and  those  which  do  not (also  see  Lazaraton,  2004  and Mondada and Pekarek Doehler, 2004 for other examples of cross-sectional studies).

CA and Language proficiency assessment

Language  Proficiency  Interviews  (LPIs)  have  received  growing  attention  among  scholars whose  research  intersects  between  microanalysis  of  talk  and  proficiency  assessment  (e.g. Kasper  and  Ross,  2007,  2003,  2001;  Brown,  2003;  Lazaraton,  2002,  1997;  Young  and  He, 1998; Egbert, 1998).  The topics focused by these studies include similarities (Egbert, 1998) and differences (Young and He, 1998) between natural conversations and LPIs, repetition as a source of miscommunication (Kasper and Ross, 2003), and monitoring reliability and validity of  LPIs  (Galacki,  2008;  Ross,  2007;  Lazaraton,  2002;  Brown,  2003).  The  CA  investigations into language testing also reflect the transition from more traditional (i.e. a tester and a testee) proficiency  assessment  to  tests  in  different  formats,  like  paired  tests  and  oral  language assessment  in  groups  (Gan,  2010)  and  group  discussions  (Gan  et  al.,  2008).  In  addition  to these studies, by focusing on the behaviour of two CA-trained raters, Walters (2007) offers a model for iterative, CA-informed Second Language Pragmatics Testing (SLPT) development. He also investigates L2 oral pragmatic comprehension (Walters, 2009) and provides evidence that the CA-informed test of aural-comprehension measure possesses some utility in SLPT.

Materials design and development: what CA can offer

Issues relating to the authenticity of dialogues in language teaching materials are complex and have been hotly debated (Seedhouse 2004, 2005). For Moreno Jaen and Peres Basanta (2009), textbook  conversations  use  artificial  scripted  dialogues  based  on  someone’s  intuitions  about what  people  are  likely  to  say  or  in  most  cases  drawn  from  written  language  (p.287).  Saraç explored  the  beliefs  of  100  Turkish  pre-service  teachers  of  English  on  the  perceived socio-pragmatic problems of the dialogues in textbooks. She found that the teacher candidates do not trust the current course books used in Turkey. According to Seedhouse (2004), “CA is well  positioned  to  portray  the  similarities  and  differences  between  invented  dialogue  and naturally  occurring  interaction,  both  in  terms  of  ordinary  conversation  and  institutional interaction”  (p.228).  In  order  to  develop  an  understanding  of  the  problems  in  teaching materials  and  to  bring  in  insights  from  CA,  many  researchers  have  investigated  naturally occurring  conversations,  for  example  telephone  calls  and  work  place  conversations,  in  an attempt to build links to language classrooms (e.g. Bernsten, 2002; Bowles, 2006; Brown and Lewis, 2003; Wong, 2002).

CA-informed Language Teacher Education

One  of  the  most  influential  research  studies  at the  intersection  of  applied  CA  and  reflective practice  is  by  Walsh  (2006),  who  developed  a  Self  Evaluation  of  Teacher  Talk  (SETT) framework that ‘identifies different varieties or modes of discourse and the pedagogical aims and  interactional  characteristics  of  each’  (Seedhouse,  2011).    Walsh  (2006,  2011)  develops the  idea  of  Classroom  Interactional  Competence,  which  encompasses  the  features  of classroom  interaction  that  make  the  teaching/learning  process  more  or  less  effective,  These features  are:  (a)  maximizing  interactional  space;  (b)  shaping  learner  contributions  (seeking clarification, scaffolding, modelling, or repairing learner input); (c) effective use of eliciting; (d)  instructional  idiolect  (i.e.  a  teacher’s  speech  habits);  and    (e)  interactional  awareness. Walsh identifies four classroom micro contexts, referred to as modes.

Considering  that  effective  mentoring  sine  qua  non  is  an  integral  part  of  teacher  education,  a large  number  of  studies  have  investigated  the  effects  of  mentoring  in  relation  to  teachers’ practice  using  a  CA  framework  (Carroll,  2005;  Hall,  2001;  Lazaraton  and  Ishihara,  2005; Strong  and  Baron,  2004).  Hall  (2001),  for  example,  studies  the  conversations  of  academics and  teachers,  suggesting  that  teaching,  and  therefore  student  learning,  are  improved  through teacher  learning  and  development.  Additionally,  Carroll  (2005)  develops  a  theoretical framework  for  examining  interactive  talk  and  its  relationship  to  professional  learning  in teacher  study  groups.  By  comparing  the  interactional  practices  of  a  trainee  teacher  and  an experienced  teacher,  Seedhouse  (2008)  shows  how  and  why  the  instructions  which  trainee teachers give manage to confuse students and what experienced teachers typically do right so that the students are able to carry out the required procedures. Lastly, Sert (2010) proposes a workable  CA-informed  framework  to  be  implemented  into  language  teacher  education curriculum  in  Turkey  by  combining  insights  from  critical  reflective  practice,  Teacher Language Awareness (Walsh, 2003; Wright, 2002) and effective mentoring.

Conclusion

In  this  chapter,  we  have  argued  that  CA  has  been  employed  in  many  different  ways  in Applied  Linguistics.  CA  has  been  employed  to  investigate  classroom  interaction  and  to develop areas such as teacher training, testing and materials design. It has helped to develop our  understanding  of  how  constructs  such  as  learning  and  competence  are  realised  in interaction.  Perhaps  its  main  contributions  have  been  to  provide  us  with  a  realistic  idea  of what actually happens in language learning talk and to enable a process account of language learning through interaction.

In the Praise of Folly, Erasmus describes the complete definition of a fool, using everyday follies in life, such as with women, death, nature, and even using references to ancient literature. The beginning is about his birthplace and father, but after the introductions, Erasmus seems to transform into the fool, and tells his story in this perspective. She, or folly, claims, “…you should attribute the origin of life to folly,” and continues, “…folly is being governed by emotion.” If you let yourself succumb to emotion, you are a fool.

            Here the fool is asking if a woman would go through the pain of child birth or raising children again if she knew how hard it was going to be. Would men and women even get married if there were no fools? Folly has the ability to control lives, and even death, because it is induced in minds that do not think. Most fools do not have wisdom to pull themselves out of sticky situations. Folly brings upon the destruction of man, thus folly could very well be defined as destruction in a sense.

            Folly is discussed as ignorance and points out that you are a fool for not living by nature. Instead, folly asks why language and aspects of grammar and such exist. Men were meant to live in harmony of nature. Fools are happy living in just nature. They don’t have to deal with everyday hardships. The ones that are knowledgeable are even called fools because the fools don’t understand them. It is similar to people teasing or discrediting somebody’s views or theories just because they cannot compute it, so they feel stupid.

            Folly also states that fools are smart, in that they are not scared of death, supernatural elements, or evil. The mind is not troubled, and they provide others with joy. She even takes it one step further and claims that fools do not sin, but I completely disagree. If you are a fool you are more likely to sin. You have no structure to your life if you are a fool, no values or morals for living.

            Fools can be deceived and gullible as well. They take things as being literal and can develop bad habits such as gambling. Fools are easily manipulated by the Devil and are not automatically accepted into Heaven just by reading a book in the Bible. Even fools have God’s love, but when you have Self-love, does this mean you are without God all together? I do not believe so.

            Erasmus uses references from ancient literature and characters from mythology. Folly says her father is Plutus, not figures such as Homer or Saturn. Plutus governs all communication and decisiveness of man. Another example is referencing Nestor, the sage in Homer’s epic. Folly is describing vanity of old men trying to attract females. The point: do not rob the cradle. She compares Homer to Gryllus who was changed into a pig by Plutarch. Folly basically calls Odysseus a fool and worse than a pig because Homer sought wisdom and according to folly, “men who seek wisdom are furthest from happiness.”

            I agree with Erasmus as far as what a fool is and I understand every point made, except that fools do sin. I also believe that folly is in everyone and everyone sins. I found it odd that on page 1,928 folly uses not eating pancakes or working out in a gym, comparing horses and bulls to humans to what is each species’ nature. What you don’t know or don’t have you won’t miss. This has to be the translator’s understanding and own insert so that modern day readers can understand. The Praise of Folly is well written and even contains a hint of comedy within its lines. It is informal and makes you think about how much of a fool you and I really are or could be. 

The Lady with the Dog

            The Lady with the Dog was written by Anton Chekhov during the period of Realism. The story follows a married man who has trouble defining his role in life as well as what women are to him. He begins an affair with a married woman, Anna Sergeyevna, and fights through his own afflictions to finally fall in love for the first time in his life. The role of this affair plays with human desires and curiosity, while delving into concepts of nature and how the world views morals attached to faithfulness.

            Dmitri Gurov had grown into a life of deceit, forgetting consequences of his actions when he begins to woe other women. It seems to me that Gurov wants to challenge himself to see if he could win over another pretty face, as in the case with Anna. He did not do it for mere pleasure; after all he claims that women are of “the lower race,” but to try to satisfy a void in his soul that somehow he did not feel at home with his wife and children. (Page 1491) His actions may have been parallel to the power and control he felt when he conquered the lesser being. This is evident when he claims “And yet there is something pathetic about her,” and makes me believe Chekhov is foreshadowing Gurov’s true feelings about women, and never being satisfied with who he finds. (Page 1493) One can be satisfied if one lets go of obscene passions and desires and realize what God has given that person; everything to survive and live the way He wants us to live is a true power we all should possess.  However, there is no innocent creature of the night. Anna Sergeyevna herself thought little of her husband and gave in to Gurov’s advances. All the while she is worried that she will lose his respect for her, but until he realized his love for her, never held that respect. Again this represents Gurov’s disbelief in equality and how little feminism up until this time had not been embraced by all men.

            The never ending journey for a meaning in life, an absolution that one is meant to be living how one is living presents characteristics of nature. “The sea had roared like this long before there was any Yalta or Oreanda, it was roaring now, and it would go on roaring, just as indifferently and hollowly, when we had passed away. And it may be that in this continuity, this utter indifference of life and death, lies the secret of our ultimate salvation, of the stream of life on our planet, and of its never-ceasing movement towards perfection.” (Page 1495) Here, Chekhov understands that life is a continuous search for happiness, that there are subtle changes in life, as well as life-altering experiences people go through, and this will always be so. The countless string of women Gurov had charmed is his search for his own happiness and purpose. However, like the roaring sea, there are things that are constant, such as love. True love never dies and Gurov found true love in Anna which is why the affair did not cease. Both were loved; both were safe to be sailing toward the same horizon.

            This fictional work does not lack literary elements, such as symbolism and imagery. I believe Anna’s Pomeranian is a symbol of an unyielding warning that what its owner is about to partake in is horribly wrong. Chekhov presents this by having the dog growl at Gurov, meaning that the dog felt threatened and did not trust the man. The Pomeranian was being protective of its owner, and the entire scene makes readers question Gurov’s intent with the woman as well as his role in the story.

            The sea also plays a role in the philosophy of the story. Oftentimes, seas bring forth a calming effect and makes one get lost in thoughts of nature and creation. Not only that, the sea triggers an escape of a person’s soul, a wanting to leave behind worries and cares, a need to start over. Anna and Gurov often walked by the sea, taking in its beauty, while enjoying each other’s company. This gave them a portal where their spouses did not exist and lets readers believe their actions could be justified.

            Throughout the work, many events use imagery to defend its themes. One specific instance is when Gurov is left standing in the theatre because Anna went back to her husband for the show. The reader pictures a man with a dreary look on his face and slouched posture in torment. The woman he loved had just walked away from him, making the reader feel commiseration for Gurov, possibly turning opinions upside down and condoning his desires.

            The Lady with the Dog ties into Realism in large part because of the affair of Anna and Gurov. They are real characters acting on real emotions and curiosities. Having an affair and living with a secret is dangerous, but people do this; people let themselves play in an alternate world where it is just a man and a woman from different worlds trying to escape lives they do not want to go back to, which also defines Symbolism. Chekhov uses details that earlier writers did not use, such as describing the characters’ family and looks. Gurov “was not yet forty but had a twelve-year-old daughter and two sons in high school.” (Page 1491) Anna was a “young woman in a toque; she was fair and not very tall.” (Page 1491) These descriptions make us know the characters and relate to them on different levels, and we recognize these personalities. This was Chekhov’s goal in this work.

            In today’s world this story could be made into a soap opera, or a Lifetime movie because of the deceit and the sneaking around throughout. There is a demand to see real life in our entertainment that leaves us wanting more. It is enough to see it on the big screen, but what about the moral aspect of an affair? It is wrong for two married people to begin an affair, no matter if they fall in love. They not only break vowels said on their wedding day, but are committing a sin in the eyes of God. Cheating is something many people are frightened of and they pray it never happens to them. Sometimes a chance like that is not worth taking, and I believe that time caught up to Anna and Gurov, and both realized their tragedies late in life, and thus went back to the one God chose for them.