Jared Luce

In Block 2, we've been reading "The War Poets" -- particulary Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sasson, two British poets of World War I. We're now moving on to Doug Anderson, a poet and Vietnam veteran who is now teaching at UConn (as far as I can tell).



One of Owen's poems is called "Disabled" about a soldier who loses both legs (and at least one arm). One of my former students, Jared Luce, is an Iraq war veteran who lost both of his legs (from the knees down). Fortunately, his story seems to be turning out much better than the young man in Owen'd poem. Still, it's a high price to pay.

What Do You Mean "What Do I Mean 'What's a Meme?'?'?

In Block 2 (I think it was Block 2) the other day, I brought up the word "meme". It's a fairly recent concept, but one that makes a lot of sense. Let me give you a couple of links to it.

First, a general definition from Wikipedia.

The term "meme" (IPA: /miːm/, rhyming with "theme"; commonly pronounced in the US as /mɛm/, rhyming with "gem"), coined/popularized in 1976[1] by the biologist Richard Dawkins, refers to a "unit of cultural information" which can propagate from one mind to another in a manner analogous to genes (i.e., the units of genetic information).
Dawkins gave as examples of memes: tunes, catch-phrases, beliefs, clothes fashions, ways of making pots, or of building arches. A meme, he said, propagates itself as a unit of cultural
evolution and diffusion — analogous in many ways to the behavior of the gene.

Some examples, also from Wikipedia.

Proverbs and aphorisms: for example: "You can't keep a good man down".
Nursery rhymes: propagated from parent to child over many generations (thus keeping otherwise obsolete words such as "tuffet" "pail" and "chamber" in use), sometimes with associated actions and movements.
Children's culture: games, activities and chants (such as taunts) typical for different age-groups.
Conspiracy theories.
Fashions.
Medical and safety advice: "Don't swim for an hour after eating" or "Steer in the direction of a skid".
The material of video technology: very memetic given its mass replication — people tend to imitate scenes or repeat popular catch phrases such as "You can't handle the truth!" from A Few Good Men or "Alllllllrighty then!" from Ace Ventura, even if they have not seen a film or a television broadcast themselves.
Popular concepts: these include Freedom, Justice, Ownership, Open Source, Egoism, or Altruism.
Group-based biases: everything from anti-semitism and racism to cargo cults.

For more information (again, thanks Wikipedia).

Interclass Smackdown -- Round 2!

Q1: What overalls are named for Dungri, a suburb of Bombay (Mumbai)?

A: Dungarees. While we (Americans) thing of them as synonymous with blue jeans, in England they apparently refer to overalls. (George Bernard Shaw characterized the English and Americans as "two peoples separated by a common language".)
[Both classes got this one right.]

Q2. What actor was stung in The Sting?

A: Robert Shaw. Maybe you remember him as "Quint" in the Steven Spielberg classic Jaws.
[Neither class was able to get this one. Block II thought "Henry Fonda"; Block IV, "Robert Redford (who at least was in The Sting.) Actually, Kristin LeBel came up with the name Shaw, but nobody paid her any heed).]

Q3. What did Peter Minuit buy for the equivalent of $24?

A: Manhattan Island. I was surprised that Block II was stumped by this. (They ended up going with "Sri Lanka".) When I was in school, this was one of those bits of Americana that everyone learned by 5th grade. Back in the day, we were all pretty proud of Mr. Minuit for making such a shrewd deal. Nowadays, I guess it's not something that we brag about.
[Advantage: Block IV]

Q4. What’s the name of Dr. Seuss’s egg-hatching elephant?

A: Horton!
[Both classes knew this.]

Q5. What’s a row of crows called?

A: A murder. (If you think that's fun. . .)
[Both classes knew this.]

Q6. Who was world heavyweight boxing champion from 1937 to 1949?

A: Joe Louis. They called him "The Brown Bomber." (It was a simpler, more racist, time.) Nevertheless, Americans of all colors were proud when, on the eve of World War II, Louis defeated the German Max Schmeling, avenging an earlier loss. (Louis originally had taken the world title from James J. Braddock. )
[Advantage: Block IV.]

Q7. What Robert McCloskey favorite is honored by nine bronze ducks in Boston’s Public Gardens?

A: Make Way for Ducklings.
[Both classes knew this.]

Q8. What 1866 novel, written in only three days, was based on the author’s recurring nightmares of a double life?

A: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Both classes got this one, but I have to admit that I thought you both got it wrong. I was thinking of Fyodor Dostoevesky's The Double. But here's my excuse. The question is wrong! Robert Lewis Stevenson wrote Dr. J in 1886, not 1866. That was right in the middle of Dostoevsky's career. And Dostoevsky wrote The Gambler in less than a month (still much more than three days).


Q9. What jailed Sioux militant was the subject of Peter Matthiessen’s In the Spirit of Crazy Horse?

A: Leonard Pelletier. (I bet most classes in other schools wouldn't get that one. See what happens when you can offer your students lots and lots of classes?)
[Both classes knew this.]

Q10. What Aussie author copped the Booker Prize for his debut novel Vernon God Little, a dark comedy about a Texas high school massacre?

A: D. B. C. Pierre?? Neither class knew this, and neither did I. Come to think of it, I know hardly anything about Australia. A few actors, but not authors. Oh, and the Crocodile Hunter.
Oh, and Pierre? It turns out he's a "self-confessed serial 'conniving bastard' ".

Q11. What author of 80-plus romance novels opened an art gallery near her San Francisco mansion in 2003?

A: Danielle Steele
[Advantage: Block IV]

Q12. What Australian author penned The Touch, about a miner who swaps a trunk of gold for his 16 year-old Scottish cousin?

A: Colleen McCullough. (One of the two Australian authors -- Nevil Shute is the other -- that I do know.) Both classes were stumped by this one, and I don't blame them.


And, the winner of the second Interclass Smackdown: Block IV!