Dear Mitchell,
I'm really enjoying your memoir thus far. I can really connect with you in the sense that you have dreams to do something, but you forget about them and begin to focus on something that you used to look at as unimportant and depressing. There is not a whole lot that I can say about your book right now, but what I can say is that I can tell it's going to give me a better perspective of life, and a whole new way to look at life. Possibly in a more positive light. As Morrie says in one of his quotes, " So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they're busy doing things they think are unimportant. This is because they're chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning"(43). To me this says a lot, as cliche as it is, these are really influential words and a great goal to get to and live by.
One thing I'll say that I don't understand is when you talk about your past in your college days. You speak as though he died when you were still in college, but then when you move forward to the future in the last days of Morrie's life and you note that it is sixteen years later. Also, you mention that he found out about his illness when you were still in college, but it says that Morrie only ahd a couple years to live, and he said that he knew it was even less. So when you are in the present are you referring to your meetings with Morrie on Tuesdays as part of your class? as though it were college? Well I hope to figure that out soon becuase I know you don't read these, let alone know about them so I don't expect you to get back to me.
sincerely,
Grace M.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Outside Reading-Week 1 Post A
VOCAB-
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (7): "Lou Gehrig's Disease" an incurable disease of unknown cause in which progressive degeneration of motor neurons in the brain which causes lose of muscle control that gets progressively worse and eventually results in death.
aphorisms (18): a tersely phrased statement of a truth or opinion.
APPEALS-
1) "Morrie knew something bad was coming long before that. He knew it the day he gave up dancing"(5). This is an interesting quote because it makes you curious to know (if you haven't read the book) what is wrong with Morrie. Also, it makes the reader sort of curious about Morrie's dancing because not many old people dance to any kind of music, even Hip Hop. It gives you a spirited view of Morrie because of his dancing and not caring what other people thought of it. It kind of makes the reader think that they can do whatever they want and shouldn't have to care what other people think about them.
2) "No grades were given, but there were oral exams each week. You were expected to respond to questions, and you were expected to pose questions of your own. You were also required to perform physical tasks now and then, such as lifting the professor's head to a comfortable spot on the pillow or placing his glasses on the bridge of his nose. Kissing him good-bye earned you extra credit. No books were required, yet many topics were covered, including love, work, community, family, aging, forgiveness, and, finally, death"(1). This gives an idea of what Morrie's class was like and what type of man he was. The reader can sort of conquer that he was a philosophical man, with the having to impose your own questions, also, he was all about life. He taught a class about life. You can kind of tell that he doesn't just give straight out facts about life, but he does teach about the great things in life all of us will go through. Not only that, but it also makes the reader wish that all their classes were that easy and as interesting, at least in my opinion...
3)" Then Morrie says something that haunts to this day. ' You know how I'm going to die?' he said. I raised my eyebrows. ' I'm going to suffocate. Yes. My lungs, because of my asthma, can't handle the disease. It's moving up my body, this ALS. It's already got my legs. Pretty soon it'll get my arms and hands. And then when it hits my lungs..."(36). Morrie is so matter-of-fact about his death that he explains it to Mitch, his student, and it doesn't seem to bother him to know that that is how he is going to die. It is interesting because not many people are willing to face the facts in a time of death, but Morrie has made somewhat of a peace with his death.
QUOTE-
"...Morrie wasnot like most of us. When some of his clase colleagues would visit, he would say to them, 'Listen, I have to pee. Would you mind helping? Are you okay with that?"(11).
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (7): "Lou Gehrig's Disease" an incurable disease of unknown cause in which progressive degeneration of motor neurons in the brain which causes lose of muscle control that gets progressively worse and eventually results in death.
aphorisms (18): a tersely phrased statement of a truth or opinion.
APPEALS-
1) "Morrie knew something bad was coming long before that. He knew it the day he gave up dancing"(5). This is an interesting quote because it makes you curious to know (if you haven't read the book) what is wrong with Morrie. Also, it makes the reader sort of curious about Morrie's dancing because not many old people dance to any kind of music, even Hip Hop. It gives you a spirited view of Morrie because of his dancing and not caring what other people thought of it. It kind of makes the reader think that they can do whatever they want and shouldn't have to care what other people think about them.
2) "No grades were given, but there were oral exams each week. You were expected to respond to questions, and you were expected to pose questions of your own. You were also required to perform physical tasks now and then, such as lifting the professor's head to a comfortable spot on the pillow or placing his glasses on the bridge of his nose. Kissing him good-bye earned you extra credit. No books were required, yet many topics were covered, including love, work, community, family, aging, forgiveness, and, finally, death"(1). This gives an idea of what Morrie's class was like and what type of man he was. The reader can sort of conquer that he was a philosophical man, with the having to impose your own questions, also, he was all about life. He taught a class about life. You can kind of tell that he doesn't just give straight out facts about life, but he does teach about the great things in life all of us will go through. Not only that, but it also makes the reader wish that all their classes were that easy and as interesting, at least in my opinion...
3)" Then Morrie says something that haunts to this day. ' You know how I'm going to die?' he said. I raised my eyebrows. ' I'm going to suffocate. Yes. My lungs, because of my asthma, can't handle the disease. It's moving up my body, this ALS. It's already got my legs. Pretty soon it'll get my arms and hands. And then when it hits my lungs..."(36). Morrie is so matter-of-fact about his death that he explains it to Mitch, his student, and it doesn't seem to bother him to know that that is how he is going to die. It is interesting because not many people are willing to face the facts in a time of death, but Morrie has made somewhat of a peace with his death.
QUOTE-
"...Morrie wasnot like most of us. When some of his clase colleagues would visit, he would say to them, 'Listen, I have to pee. Would you mind helping? Are you okay with that?"(11).
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