Answers to Questions on Meaning and Technique (234)
The repetition of certain lines announces that this is a song—especially the couplet “Ah, look at all the lonely people!/Ah, look at all the lonely people!”
The most obvious of them is this: “Many people in this world are lonely, alienated, and unhappy.”
Eleanor Rigby lives in a dream world of wishful thinking. She wishes she could find love and marriage, but the closest she gets to marriage is picking up the rice thrown at weddings. Have students discuss what a typical day’s activities for Eleanor might be.
The meaning is somewhat obscure, but we believe that Eleanor has a certain face she puts on for company as they walk through the door; thus the lyricist pretends that she keeps her face (a mask?) by the door.
Father McKenzie is a dreamer like Eleanor Rigby, but his dream is to be a priest who delivers dynamic sermons that will save the listeners. He writes these sermons, but he never has the opportunity to move any audience because evidently people stay away from him (“no one comes near”). He too feels isolated and abandoned like Eleanor.
Where do all the lonely people come from? They come from everywhere—from luxurious mansions, from broken-down huts, from under bridges, and from a multitude of other places around the world.
Of course, we cannot answer the question specifically, but we can certainly insist that all lonely people deserve a place to call home—a place where they can feel safe and happy.
Eleanor Rigby died without ever achieving love, and Father McKenzie probably conducted her funeral, but if he gave an elegy or a sermon, it was ineffective because “no one was saved.”
The poem seems to blame all of us for their sad plight. Over and over again, the poem commands us to “look at all the lonely people!” and to ask ourselves not only where they come from but where they belong.
Have students present the case of any person they know who fits into the category of these “lonely people.”
How Near Death is a Near Death Experience? Catherine Houck
Answers to Quiz
c, d, b, a, b
Answers to Questions on Meaning and Technique (245)
In a NDE the person, once well, recalls seeing certain heavenly visions. Have students share any NDE experience they, or someone close to them, has experienced. Have them indicate how the experience affected them.
No, the NDE is not universally accepted. Some scientists suggest that NDEers were more likely to have experienced sexual or physical abuse during childhood (see paragraph 25). Many scientists believe that NDEs are little-understood products of the deteriorating brain, probably nature’s way to help victims of trauma relax and conserve energy (see paragraph 29). Other scientists maintain that, like physiological shock, the NDE keeps potentially damaging emotion in check. They also suggest that descriptions of NDEs are almost identical to the hallucinations reported by people who have taken hashish, opium, and angel dust (see paragraph 30). One psychologist, Susan Blackmore, a vehement skeptic of NDE’s, theorizes that oxygen deficiency brings about compression of the optic nerve, which can lead to vision of a tunnel and bright light. She claims that as oxygen levels fall, the brain can go wild, producing images that seem real but are not (see paragraph 32). Have students discuss the pros and cons of the controversy.
Personal examples are all science can go by at this point. In medical research case histories form an important base for experiments and their results. In the particular case of NDEs, however, personal examples can be misleading because the cause of the experience has not yet been scientifically established.
Turn to paragraphs 15 and 21 for a summary of the experiences.
We believe that the desire to know what happens at the edge between life and death is a human curiosity that pervades society. It does not matter whether people are educated or not, they are still intensely interested in what happens when one dies.
It seems reasonable that when a person almost loses his or her life, that life becomes more precious than ever. One probably does not need to go as far as having a NDE to feel an intensified love of life. People who have been diagnosed with any serious disease often say that they didn’t realize how much they loved life and how much they prayed to have this life continue. Even a divorce can lead to a greater appreciation of love as one tends to love more what one has lost.
Probably the fact that NDEers nowadays have their own networking center and that many reputable scientists have joined the group of researchers interested in NDEs has given the field greater integrity and reliance in the last 25 years.
Science converges with religion, but neither science nor religion has a satisfactory explanation for the NDE. Perhaps definitive answers will appear as more research on the subject is accomplished.
Sounds of discord or commotion are absent. Everyone feels peaceful and basks in love and the shimmering light of celestial beings. The whole atmosphere seems either too good to be true or it is a genuine religious blessing. Have students share their personal reactions. Do they believe or are they skeptical?
Raymond Moody is the Georgia psychiatrist credited with bringing NDEs to the world’s attention and coining the term “near death experience.” In 1975, he published a collection of accounts titled Life After Life. His contribution was then followed by many other researchers who analyzed thousands of episodes that seemed to have similar traits.
What I’ve Learned from Men Barbara Ehrenreich
Answers to Quiz
b, c, a, d, c
Answers to Questions About Meaning and Technique (256)
The first example is taken from the author’s own experience, which adds validity to the example since in it the author exposes herself as weak and accommodating instead of strong and direct. Have female students bring up their own personal experiences in circumstances that required a firm attitude rather than ladylike behavior. Allow the male students to respond to these experiences.
Have students debate this question. It is quite possible that Ehrenreich indulges in some stereotyping, but stereotyping the male as strong and silent but the female as pleasing and protective of the male ego is a bias found throughout recorded history. Only as a result of the feminist movement in recent decades have women finally been featured as strong, purposeful, and self-sufficient. It is the stereotype of the puny woman that Ehrenreich is trying to shatter.
Stereotypes of women:
From Victorian novels: The pale invalid, sweetly lying on her couch, holding a lace handkerchief and smelling salts in her hand; the manipulator (like Becky Sharp in Vanity Fair and Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind) using her feminine wiles to get what she wants in life; the dumb blonde like Carol Channing who beguiles by being innocent; the tactful woman who never hurts anyone’s feelings, like the mother in Little Women.
Stereotypes of men:
The strong silent type like Clint Eastwood; the nimble athlete like Tom Cruise, the brilliant tycoon like Howard Hughes, the tough guy like John Wayne. Have students add to the list.
Ehrenreich uses humor throughout her essay—to poke fun both at men and women. Since she is good natured about her approach, the reader does not resent what she says. Here are some specific examples of humor in the essay:
Paragraph 1: The anecdote about the waiter.
Paragraph 2: “Let me try that again—we’re just too damn ladylike.”
Paragraph 3: Using the term AWOL for a male who reveals no emotions.
Paragraph 5: The descriptions of macho men.
Paragraph 7: The suggestions that women cut back on smiling so much.
Paragraph 11: Imitating men on what to do with anger.
Paragraph 12: The imaginative replaying of the author’s scene with the prestigious professor.
Humor is a wonderful technique to use when writing on a subject that could turn belligerent.
The kind of male who would approve of Ehrenreich’s attitude is one who is sure of his own masculinity and who would welcome women being more assertive in trying to achieve their proper rights. The kind of male who would be hostile to Ehrenreich’s essay is one who is already threatened by women’s growing competence and who feels that women’s place is in the home and subjugated to their men. Have students discuss where they stand on this issue.
The thesis of the essay can be stated in one sentence: “Women need to stand up for their rights the way men do.” The examples used all support the author’s thesis.
The two characteristics are power and control. But power and control alone can quickly lead to tyranny. We believe that power and control must always be softened by fairness and understanding. Have students discuss this point.
She uses the word “example” in paragraphs 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, and 12. In each case the word helps to make the passage more coherent by introducing the example to follow.
The first dictionary definition of the term ladylike is “the quality of being well-bred, refined, and delicateas associated with women of the aristocracy.” However, a secondary definition means “a woman who is unduly sensitive to matters of propriety or decorum.” A third definition means “lacking vitality and strength.” Have students come up with their own definitions, which the class can then discuss.
Answers will differ. Allow for open deliberations
Suing For Fun and Profit Andy Rooney
Answers to Quiz
d, b, c, a, d
Answers to Questions on Meaning and Technique (258)
The tone indicates a certain level of outrage. It is also occasionally ironic as when Rooney threatens to quit work in order sue big companies for a living. (Irony means saying something you don’t really mean.) His final paragraph is humorously ironic when he claims to be contemplating a suit against CBS because while in its employ he has acquired grey hair, a wrinkled face, a dead brain, and bent over body. This tone is totally in keeping with Andy Rooney’s curmudgeon image on the noted television program “60 Minutes.” Since Rooney is up in years, one tends to give him the right to complain vociferously while still liking him.
His thesis can be expressed in this sentence: "Suing has become a popular American pastime and I’d like to get in on some of the easy money" (paragraph 1). Rooney uses numerous examples of frivolous lawsuits to make his point.
Answers may differ, but perhaps the most frivolous lawsuit exemplified in the essay is the one where Stella Liebeck sued McDonald’s because their coffee was too hot and she was burned when she spilled some coffee on her lap while in a car. We think that drinking hot coffee in a car is not a smart thing to do, but if one insisted on doing it, then one should be infinitely careful not to spill the coffee.
Allow students to express their views on this question; however, it seems to us that for years the tobacco industry advertised smoking as chic, glamorous, and sophisticated. The movies were always filming gorgeous women and handsome men holding cigarettes and exhaling the smoke with enviable savoir faire. Thus, the tobacco industry can be said to carry some blame for the many deaths resulting from cancer and heart disease. But still, individuals who smoked bear the greatest part of the blame—for being so gullible.
He means that people tend to be irresponsible in the way they take risks. Then, when they reap painful consequences from the choices they made, they want to blame someone other than themselves. This tendency is often seen in students’ reactions to getting Fs or Ds on tests or papers. Instead of blaming themselves for partying instead of studying before the test, they prefer to belittle the teacher by accusing him of asking irrelevant questions or questions that were much too obscure and difficult. Have students cite other similar examples. Rooney is disgusted with the way no one takes responsibility for being stupid or rash.
The only way Rooney could have expanded his thought was to give examples, but medical examples require a medical vocabulary, which is often difficult to understand. Also, the perceptive reader will already know that doctors pay enormous insurance fees to cover liability suits—these fees sometimes making survival in a medical practice impossible. It seems to us that most doctors have received excellent training and do their best to heal their patients. Suing should be a last resort.
His tone is one of exasperation with the effrontery of people who sue for huge sums when they themselves are to blame for such faults as lack of discipline in eating and speeding out of control on the highway. He uses sarcasm to ridicule anyone who would sue the telephone company if someone slams into a telephone pole and is killed.
This is an opportunity for students to cite some examples of personal injuries they or a member of their family suffered. Have the class respond to the examples.
The reason why large companies get sued more often than small companies is that large companies have large amounts of money in reserve. However, in today’s market, this is no longer true of some large companies. For instance, the employee benefits to workers for General Motors is forcing General Motors to downsize before the company goes bankrupt. Many of the large airlines are in dire financial trouble, so suing them would be pointless. Have students debate the Kellogg and Black & Decker suits. Was the New Jersey couple neglectful, or should the toaster have had a mechanism that turned it off when the Pop Tart was done?
In the final paragraph of the essay, Rooney blasts trial lawyers as greedy people who make billions of dollars off their personal injury cases while their clients receive only a minuscule percentage of the court award. The derogatory term often used for personal injury lawyers is “ambulance chasers.”
The Word as Person: Eponyms Don Farrant
Answers to Quiz
b, a, d, d, a
Answers to Questions on Meaning and Technique (262) 1. Definition. The article provides a concrete definition of “eponym.”
2. The first two examples are of food eponyms.
3. This piece was excerpted from Sky magazine, the Delta Airlines in-flight publication. It was obviously written to entertain an audience of busy magazine readers, and it bears all the earmarks of a journalistic rather than a literary piece. These include the short crisp journalistic paragraphs, a simple diction, and a direct and decidedly uncomplicated syntax.
4. Students seldom appreciate that transitions between paragraphs are not necessary where the sense of the discussion already flows smoothly between them. In paragraph 6, the author is discussing eponyms under the announced heading of “the long history of wearing apparel,” and because the discussion of bloomers is merely a continuation under this theme, no transition is necessary. On the other hand, paragraph 11 introduces a whole new category of eponyms—inventors—and therefore needs the bridging sentence, “Inventors have done much to enrich our language with name inspired nouns.”
Answers to Questions on Meaning and Technique (268) 1. She is a pretty, superficial southern belle who loves to make small talk at parties and show off her vivacious “charm.”
2. Paragraph 5: She thinks that Walter Williams should be terribly grateful for being the guest of honor at a party with whites.
Paragraph 12: She says that when blacks are bad, they are simply terrible. In this way she is singling them out as being different from whites.
Paragraph 13: She wonders if she should shake hands with Walter Williams. An unprejudiced person would never question how to treat him; she would simply treat him as she would any other famous person.
Paragraph 18: She speaks to the black guest with exaggerated clarity, as if he lacked the intelligence to understand normal English.
Paragraph 23: She is disappointed that Katherine Burke is so dark, indicating that to her dark skin is not as beautiful as light. In fact, she almost slips and calls Katherine Burke a “nigger.”
3. She thinks that blacks are best suited to singing spirituals and that they all have music “right in them.” She believes that one must be cautious about being too nice to blacks because they may take advantage of one’s kindness. To her blacks are like little children—easygoing, singing, and laughing.
4. Burton’s attitude toward blacks is more honest and straightforward than his wife’s. He admits his prejudice where she does not. He takes a superior, patronizing attitude toward blacks, giving them castoff clothes and visiting them out in the kitchen.
5. He is polite but noncommittal. His role is to serve as a sounding board for the woman’s comments.
Incident Countee Cullen
Answers to Quiz
c, d, a
Answers to Questions on Meaning and Technique (270)
One painful incident in a strange or new environment can leave an unpleasant memory that can last for a long time.
Doubtless his environment had taught him to treat blacks as inferior. Children are not born prejudiced; they are conditioned.
The title is an understatement. The encounter was an “incident,” a minor event, yet it colored the speaker’s memory of Baltimore. .
The contrast between the black boy’s innocent smile and the white boy's vicious grimace. He was “heart filled” and “head filled” with glee. Also, he smiled at the white boy.
Allow for open discussion.
Answers will vary.
We Aren’t Born Prejudice Ian Stevenson
Answers to Quiz
b, c, a, b, d
Answers to Questions on Meaning and Technique (283)
The paragraph opens with the question, "What is prejudice?" which immediately focuses the essay on the task at hand—which is to write a definition. Opening a defining essay with a question is a good tactic because it gets you going on the definition immediately.
The use of the word "Negroes" dates the writer. Ask your students what word they would use in place of this. Most modern writers would say "Black," or "African-American."
In paragraph 3, the writer points out what prejudice is not—ignorance.
It makes sense because, as the author tells us, prejudice is a faulty way of thinking and those who would use it against one group of people would probably also use it against another.
The convention that every study quoted be properly cited is an academic, not a journalistic, one and would not be observed in a popular magazine such as Parents.
There are many examples throughout of paragraphs that use a different mode of development than definition. For example, paragraph 3 compares and contrasts ignorance with prejudice. Paragraph 4 is developed by process. Paragraph 5, by classification. Each paragraph adds an additional dimension to the definition of prejudice.
At the end of paragraph 4, the author uses an analogy of someone sorting through a box of strawberries and rejecting it because one or two berries are bad.
The author defines prelogical thinking in paragraph 10. It is thinking that recognizes the similarities of items in a group but fails to see their differences. The prejudiced person will therefore see all foreigners as alike but fail to see the difference between an Israeli and a Spaniard.
Will Someone Please Hiccup My Pat? William Spooner Donald
Answers to Quiz
a, c, b, d, a
Answers to Questions on Meaning and Technique (294)
It is a spoonerism. The title is a quotation from Spooner, made when a gust of wind blew off his hat.
Examples. He cites example after example of spoonerisms.
He uses the quotation marks to show that this is how Spooner was regarded among his Oxford circle, not necessarily how Spooner regarded himself. The epithet “character” means someone who is odd, eccentric, notable; it is usually used with affection.
In the final paragraph he finally tells us that a spoonerism is a “linguistic transposition.” Up to then, he has allowed examples of spoonerisms to speak for themselves. It was not necessary—in fact, it might even have been premature and anticlimactic for the author to have told us exactly what a spoonerism is before then.
Allow for open discussion. Personally, we think the business world would have been far more unforgiving of Spooner than was the tolerant world of Oxford.
The point is to show that Oxford was a somewhat isolated world of its own which tolerated not only ivory towered intellectuals, but was equally tolerant of Spooner. Had the point not have been made, we might have wondered why Spooner’s odd linguistic transpositions were regarded as funny and not annoying.
Undoubtedly, a great part. Oxford is an influential center of the intellectual world whose members exert considerable weight over all kinds of styles and fashions, including linguistic ones. That Spooner was a member of this important center was no doubt responsible for the rapidity with which the term “spoonerism” spread.
