The Voice of the People*

Today while Braden attended swim practice, I laced up my Nike tennis shoes and took an hour and a half stroll on the elliptical.  I passed the time with my best friend, Netflix, and two more episodes of "House of Cards," a Netflix original series starring Kevin Spacey, one of my all-time favorite actors, as Congressman Underwood, a cut-throat politico who orchestrates his success in Washington like a manipulator maneuvers a marionette.

While I never need an excuse for a Netflix marathon, today's Spacey date was a welcomed diversion from the wall of flat screen televisions broadcasting only ESPN and both national and local FOX News networks. As a literature nerd, I find sports banter banal in its first-run; I do not care to know the projections for the next big gridiron battle, but even the Sports Center loop was preferred over the FOX News continuous attention to Obama Care and Phil Robertson.

My attention shifted from Spacey's fictitious political melodrama to FOX News's delusory reportings of current political horrors brought upon the United States by Obama Care and upon Phil Robertson by the self-serving liberal political machine running wild in the United States.  And I couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of it all.

Phil Robertson is a bigoted, back-woods Conservative Christian who said some horrendously hateful things, in my opinion, but it is farcical for FOX News to turn A&E's response to his ignorant statements into a political dialogue.

Phil Robertson's opinions about sexual orientation and race are driven by his religious and moral values, not political ideologies.  While religion can correspond with political leanings, they are not synonymous, and to presume them otherwise is erroneous. His sentiments speak for a radical minority these days as evidenced by the 18 states that now support same-sex marriage--Utah approved its legislation on Friday, but the Attorney General has requested an appeal.  As Robertson is neither a Senator nor a Congressman and cannot drive legislation at the state or national level regarding marriage or race or gender equality, we should allow the loon--as I see him--to speak his piece in peace.  Let him speak for his views, but do not let him speak for either political party's ideologies.

Phil Robertson does not speak for me.

A&E, who has suspended Robertson indefinitely for his remarks, does not speak for me.

FOX News most certainly does not speak for me.

(Congressman Underwood could speak for me were he real.)*

As a Nation, our energies should be harnessed to choosing for office those who truly speak for us; to choosing real people, not reality people, to reflect our desires for humanity; to choosing honest discourse over scripted confabulation to change the rhetoric of America.

It's All About Perception

Yesterday, Braden capped out his detailing of the events of his fifth day of 4th grade with the statement, "And tomorrow Ms. Allen expects us to read literature and I just don't think I'm going to like it."

Alarmed by his sudden dislike of reading, I inquired further.  "But you read literature all of the time.  Why don't you think you're going to like it?"

"Mom, I read fantasy and adventure and magazines about skateboarding and "National Geographic" and "Boys Life."  I have never read literature and I don't know why Ms. Allen wants to change that."

"Braden, all of the things you mentioned are literature.  Harry Potter.  Greek Mythology.  Magazines.  It's all literature.  All written word is literature, even the ones you don't enjoy reading."

Silence flooded the backseat of the car.  And after a pregnant pause, Braden grumbled "well I don't know why Ms. Allen has to be so fancy.  She nearly ruined reading for me forever."



Braden (who obviously gets his flare for the dramatic from his Aunt Tessa) reminded me of something we educators--or people in general for that matter--often forget:  A perception of a thing is often more powerful than the thing itself.

Braden is no stranger to literary discourse.  Currently on book six of the Harry Potter series, he constantly reviews chapters with me, applauding Rowling's ability to set life to his imagination.  He questions me about my current reads and knows that I read for both pleasure and academic enrichment.  Books are part of my core; books are part of his core.  Yet one word--and his perception and his teacher's presumption--caused him to momentarily amend that core.

How many times during my fourteen years in the classroom have I done the same thing?  Have I ever, unknowingly, shaped a student's perception of literature in a negative manner?  And if I have, did he have someone at home with whom he could he discuss his concerns--someone who would reassure him that his perception was okay?  Or did he have the courage to come to me, his teacher, and seek further clarification about my meaning and intent?

Thanks to Braden and Ms. Allen, I have a new perception of perceptions.  And so today, and tomorrow, and every day to come in the classroom, I will create an environment where perceptions elicit positivity.

Play on words

Old English, spoken 450-1100, was influenced by the Anglo-Saxon invasion.  The Saxons, Germanic in their roots, brought to England a rich vernacular.  Aside for alliterative poetry, however, there is little similarity between Old English and Middle English.

Middle English begins to take shape around 1100 and holds the "title" as official language of England until approximately 1500.  Though changes in language fall parallel to the Norman Invasion, the invasion did not lead to the change of language.  Instead, it simply reflects the natural progression of language.  There is a shift toward more Latin influence in Middle English vernacular.

Modern English--Britian's Modern English, which is not to be confused with today's Americanized English--evolves because of vowels.  Oh yes, those 5 (sometimes 6) letters are powerful little gals.  (Watch "The Letter People"; all the vowels are girls.)  Around 1485, culture enters something known as "The Great Vowel Shift".  This shift takes awhile, and most linguists and historians indicate that major vowel changes have settled themselves by 1800.  Seeing as how Shakespeare's writing falls in the very early years of this movement, it could be argued he writes in Middle English, not Modern.  By 1500, English is the language of high culture.  Latin and French are still learned in school, but English is spoken and written by the elite.

The Canterbury Tales were written in Middle English which is so very cool to read.  Yes, it's arduous and requires, at least for me, several readings to achieve fluidity, but the words are just crazy fun.  (Or maybe I'm just crazy.)  When reading, I easily see in some words the Germanic influence of the Anglo-Saxon invasion ('ich', meaning 'I') and Latin roots that should be familiar to all readers.  My favorite thing about Chaucer's writing:  the way he plays with language.  I'm going to provide you with some of my favorite words.  Some definitions/uses will be obvious; easy.  Others will not.  Don't take that as indication of your intellectual capacity, please.  I will warn you that some of them are associated with sex; they're the most fun!

• compaignye:  Company or group
• me thynketh:  I think.  (I just like the 'ynk' combination.)
• armee:  army or expedition.  This is the only usage of the word in the entirety of Middle English.  Usually scribes use 'arivee' meaning 'amphibious landing'.  But when talking about a Knight, 'armee' makes better sense.
• trouthe:  This word has four meanings:  fidelity to an oath;  truth (reality);  God;  personal integrity.  For gentilesse (the aristocracy), 'trouthe' is stationed as the most important thing of all.  And 'trouthe' is not to be confused with 'honour' which is your standing in the world based upon what others think of you.  Obviously, 'trouthe' and 'honour' can go hand-in-hand, but should a conflict between the two arise, as it does in the "Franklin's Tale," you should choose 'trouthe'.
• lewd:  In Chaucer's day, this word meant low-class or common; it did not mean sexually offensive as it does today.  However, since the lower classes were seen as offensive, the progression of the meaning is natural.
• estaat: Vocation, not your home.
• array:  Clothing
• lust:  Desire, but not sexual desire.  Lust during the Middle Ages was primarily a reference to greed, ambition, or wanting for things--not sex--that you didn't (and possibly couldn't) possess.
• axe: Oh yes.  To the woe of English teachers everywhere, this is the correct spelling for the Middle English verb 'ask'.
• quite:  This word means 'to pay back'.  Throughout the tales, Pilgrims 'quite' each other for their tales.  The Miller 'quites' the Knight, the Reeve 'quites' the Miller, and the Merchant 'quites' them all.  (To name a few.)
• queynte:  Is very unpleasant given that it refers to a vagina.  Sorry, but the reason that I find this interesting is because it also means 'clever'.  Another reason it's interesting:  it's similar in spelling and pronunciation to 'quite' (see above).
• likerous:  inviting or desirable.  When used in the noun form 'liker,' it replaces 'lust' in ME usage.
• grucche:  If you think it looks a little like 'grouch,' you're on the right track.  It means complain.  Griselda vows to Walter that she will never 'grucche' in their marriage, regardless of what happens.  He pretends to kill their children to test her devotion.  When she passes those tests, he kicks her out of the house.  Only then does she 'grucche'. 
• priketh, prikke, prikyng, etc:  These variations mean to incite or to move, as in the spirit priketh you; however, it's usually used in a subtext that implies a prikyng of a sexual nature. 
• labour:  To work...in the bedroom...  Remember, estaat refers to your 'work' or employment.  You also need to remember the idea that sex was a marriage debt, something the couple owed upon vow of marriage.  The concept of 'working off debt' takes on entirely new meaning when you consider all of this.
• swonken:  To work...in the bedroom...  (Chaucer has lots of words for this.)

And my favorite of them all-----swynk:  Which also means to work...in the bedroom, but when read in the phrase 'swynking in a pear tree,' it seems very innocent and fun.  Oh merchant, you tell the best tale!