Outside Reading- Week 4 Post A

Vocabulary-



facade: the front of a building, especially an imposing or decorative one. n.



pachysandra: any plant of the genus Pachysandra, as the Allegheny spurge or Japanese spurge, the leaves of which grow in a rounded clump, widely used as a ground cover in the U.S. n.



Appeals :



1) We are reaching the end of Morrie's life and Mitch quotes, " Morrie had canceled all of his appointments and had been sleeping much of the time, which was unlike him. He never cared for sleeping, not when there were people he could talk with"(181). This is really the realization moment in which Mitch points out that Morrie's end is near. He describes what Morrie was doing and how unlike of him this was. It is really Morrie's true surrender to the disease and to his fate. He has given up what he loves and would much rather due, but the disease has almost total control over him now, and he is not trying to fight it. If he was trying to fight it he would've had one of his assists move him to his study to speak, but it almost quite impossible and not worth. This is the ultimate realization that Morrie has reached his expiration date.



2) Mitch Observes in his way to his last visit with Morrie, " The porch steps. The glass in the front door. I absorbed these things in a slow, observant manner, as if seeing them for the first time..."(181). What Mitch wrote about in this quote was really one of his last steps of the last lesson I think. What Morrie has been trying to teach him is to take time and enjoy his life, the scenery, and the people. Mitch has taken the time to really observe what Morrie's house looked like. It could be just because he knows that his time with Morrie is almost up, but it is just the beginning of him taking his time to enjoy and absorb such things, even if it is as simple as the front of someones house. It is a memory he will want to have forever. I don't think you would want to miss one minuscule detail of the last day you spent with one of your loved ones.



3) A very dramatic, and important event that took many years to happen was when Mitch FINALLY cried. He says, "I like to think it was a fleeting moment of satisfaction for my dear old professor: he finally made me cry"(186) This is a breakthrough moment for both Mitch and Morrie. One of Morrie's greatest goals was for Mitch to just let go,be vulnerable, and to finally just cry. It takes the soon-to-be death of a loved one to evoke his tears, but it is much better then being stone cold about it. Mitch finally just lets his emotions do their job, and cries. I think that he even cried more for Morrie, to show him that he has learned what he was supposed to learn. Although ,it was a subconscious decision, and he didn't do it just to satisfy Morrie he also did it for himself.



Quote-



This is Mitch's final good-byes with Morrie in person. He says, " Morrie, I said softly. 'Coach,' he corrected. Coach, I said. I felt a shiver. He spoke in short bursts, inhaling air, exhaling words. His voice was thin and raspy. He smelled of ointment. 'You...are a good soul.' A good soul. 'Touched me...' he whispered. He moved my hands to his heart. 'Here' "(184). I think this is a significant quote because Morrie expresses how much he means to Mitch, and in does it in only a few words because he is limited to the breaths and words he can speak. What Morrie says here is was triggers Mitch's feeling to cry, and it really just exemplifies Mitch's importance to Morrie. It is a bittersweet moment for everyone, even the reader.

Theme-

I think that the theme remains fairly constant throughout the memoir, but one that particularly stuck out in this section in that you have to make peace with the death of a loved ones and to make the final good-bye a good one. It is the time to really tell the person how much you really love them and to tell them anything you want them to know, and that you can't hold back. Even if you express few words, they should just be something that really expresses your love for them. You don't want them to leave knowing something was unsaid.