Outside Reading-wekk 2 Part A

VOCAB-

Polio: an acute viral disease marked by inflammation of nerve cells of the brain stem and spinal cord.(75)

Yizkor: The Jewish memorial prayer for the dead.

APPEALS-

1) When Morrie is talking with the host of the television show, "nightline" and he begins to tell about the death of his mother. He becomes very emotional when he speaks of her death. Koppel, the host of the show says: " Morrie. That was seventy years ago your mother died. The pain still goes on?"
" You bet," Morrie whispered (72).
To me this says something about Morrie. I like that he is honest about how painful it still is, because it seems that a lot of folks that have lost someone act like they have moved on or try and hide their feelings about it, but Morrie admits that he is still saddened by it, and isn't afraid to show emotion like many people are. Morrie is very in touch with his feelings and isn't ashamed of it. I think that is admirable.

2) Morrie makes a reference to the practices of Buddhists, He says: " Do what the Buddhists do. Every day, have a little bird on your shoulder that asks, ' Is today the day? Am I ready? Am I doing all I need to do? Am I being the person I want to be?' " (81). This is an interesting way to ask yourself if you are ready for death in a broader sense, but more if you are doing what you want to do before you die and if you are being who you want to be known as when you pass. It's a simple way to figure out if you're where you want to be in life.

3) The author explains how Morrie's glasses were falling off his nose and how Mitch pushed them back up for him, and how it brought Morrie "Immediate joy"(83). Just a simple touch or human contact just made Morrie's day. It shoes how doing something so simple to us can be so significant to another. It makes me want to do more little favors that are no trouble at all for us, but may be the biggest help to someone else.

QUOTE- " Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live"(82). It is a simple quote, but it says a lot, and that in order to know how to live, we need to know how to die first. It is true what they say, "Live every day as though it is your last." Basically that's what Morrie is telling us in this quote. It takes some thought to understand what he is saying here. The author explains how Morrie said it twice so he could understand, without him having to ask him to repeat it twice, and that's what made him a goood teacher. I think he's saying that to enjoy life we need to except death and enjoy death to know how to live and to love it.


THEME-
Another emerging theme is knowing what priorities should be in life, and in the end all the work we do won't be important.