Scribe Notes for 4.24.08
Today’s quote:
“Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel”
-Samuel Johnson
Mr. Eldridge points out that patriotism does not require one to kill or die for his country.
The extra-credit game of the week was written today on the board. Due tomorrow if you choose to do it.
Think of a 2-syllable word that means “coming up to the middle of the leg”. Reverse the syllables phonetically and you’ll get a word that means “rear end”.
Schuyler then asked Mr. Eldridge about synaesthesia and what it is. He answered that it is a condition where your brain is cross-wired, so you can actually see colors when you hear music. That’s pretty cool, but kind of scary.
Then, Mr. Eldridge announced that it has come to his attention that we lack a sufficient amount of white space on our papers when we write; meaning, we write in the margins and where we’re not supposed to. He suggests that we:
-leave about 4 lines at the bottom of your papers empty for commentary purposes and to have a balanced amount of white space
-don’t write to the end of the lines- your papers should have 1″ margins all around
-follow the margins! They are there for a reason, which is to guide your writing.
The point of this? To make your paper more balanced and more pleasant to look at 
He then picks up a dictionary and shows us an example of its format. Its lack of white space is discouraging and unpleasant to look at. So therefore, to make his point simple: leave white space, it’s good for you.
We then ended class with the discussion on “The Revolt of Mitylene”. We concluded reading selected passages from Cleon’s speech and started to dissect Diodotus’s argument.
Cleon:
-anger
-show no weakness (compassion)
-question of justice (right and wrong)
-deterrent to future rebellions
*overall appeal= pathos
everything in his speech is built on fear
Diodotus:
-analytical (argument of wisdom)
-sound sense
-high moral character
-Athens’ interests should come first
-Death is no deterrent
Diodotus does not attack Cleon until the very end of his argument. For much of his speech, he just simply analyzes what Cleon has said while never directly mentioning his name.
Filed under: Daily Scribe and
Patriotism doesn’t need to revolve around violence and death, yet when someone doesn’t support a war or military faction, they are considered unpatriotic… People in general are so blind of most things.
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Vijay, few people have eyes everywhere, and fewer use the two they have. So of course ‘people in general are so blind to most things’. Reminds me of a quote from Aristotle…but I don’t need to go there. Do I?
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