Today’s Plan:
- Paper 4 Topics
- Analogies
- Homework
Paper 4 Topic Exercise
As we move forward to paper #4, I wanted to spend some time thinking about what’s in the news/in the now for our major topics this week.
- Education
- Politics/Technology
- Football
- Movies
- Feminism (in conversation with)
- MLS Soccer/ Team USA Soccer
Analogies
I want to spend some time in class today talking about analogies. Analogies come in two flavors, metaphors and similes.
Let’s think about this analogy:
How about:
“Regular” marriage and “gay” marriage are like bikini tops and bras.
What makes a good analogy? Analogies have two parts–a tenor and a vehicle. The vehicle often helps not only amplify or illustrate an idea, but also to make a mood.
Let’s break into groups of three to examine the following poem, Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 73.”
That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.
In me thou see’st the twilight of such day
As after sunset fadeth in the west;
Which by and by black night doth take away,
Death’s second self, that seals up all in rest.
In me thou see’st the glowing of such fire,
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
As the deathbed whereon it must expire,
Consumed with that which it was nourished by.
This thou perceiv’st, which makes thy love more strong,
To love that well which thou must leave ere long.
Here’s an analogy President Ronald Reagan used in his 1985 inaugural address:
We are creating a nation once again vibrant, robust, and alive. But there are many mountains yet to climb. We will not rest until every American enjoys the fullness of freedom, dignity, and opportunity as our birthright. It is our birthright as citizens of this great Republic, and we’ll meet this challenge.
These will be years when Americans have restored their confidence and tradition of progress; when our values of faith, family, work, and neighborhood were restated for a modern age; when our economy was finally freed from government’s grip; when we made sincere efforts at meaningful arms reduction, rebuilding our defenses, our economy, and developing new technologies, and helped preserve peace in a troubled world; when Americans courageously supported the struggle for liberty, self-government, and free enterprise throughout the world, and turned the tide of history away from totalitarian darkness and into the warm sunlight of human freedom.
Here’s a second example from President Clinton’s inaugural address in 1993:
My fellow citizens, today we celebrate the mystery of American renewal. This ceremony is held in the depth of winter, but by the words we speak and the faces we show the world, we force the spring, a spring reborn in the world’s oldest democracy that brings forth the vision and courage to reinvent America. When our Founders boldly declared America’s independence to the world and our purposes to the Almighty, they knew that America, to endure, would have to change; not change for change’s sake but change to preserve America’s ideals: life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness. Though we marched to the music of our time, our mission is timeless. Each generation of Americans must define what it means to be an American. […]
The American people have summoned the change we celebrate today. You have raised your voices in an unmistakable chorus. You have cast your votes in historic numbers. And you have changed the face of Congress, the Presidency, and the political process itself. Yes, you, my fellow Americans, have forced the spring. Now we must do the work the season demands. To that work I now turn with all the authority of my office. I ask the Congress to join with me. But no President, no Congress, no Government can undertake this mission alone.
Homework
I’m looking for 3 sentences below, each of which links to an article that you will read for the paper #4 draft due Sunday. Here’s an example:
- At Fangraphs, Paul Swydan writes about how starting pitchers are being used in relief more than in any other season.
- In an article for the Atlantic, Alex Putterman argues that managers are acknowledging sabermetric research that shows starting pitchers begin to struggle the 3rd time through a lineup. He also argues that the rise in relief pitching is tied to the fact that relievers have flat out gotten a lot better in the past few years.
- In his piece from 2016, John Walters speculates that the traditional starting pitcher could disappear from baseball–and that the game would be better if they did.
Note that it took me 25 minutes to find these three articles and write those 3 sentences.
