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October 8^th, 2015

Cherly Strayed lost her mother when she was twenty two, and a part of her has also gone. They endured a violent father together at one time, and they went to the same university. Cherly was inquisitive about everything of her mother, and she knew all of the mother’s life before she died. For her, the mother was more than a mother. She lost the center of her life.

So, I understood that she was eager to compensate the lack, and drugs and sex were the means she needed at that time though she knew these things actually solve nothing. Taking the hike of the Pacific Crest Trail was her real step to heal herself and face the fact.

       As we read through Fraden’s investigation of Jones’ techniques in facilitating the Medea Project, it is hard for us to miss a salient characteristic of Jones of being mighty, tough and directive. There is even a whole section discussing her rants toward the women in their project. While some people may doubtfully question her toughness toward those women who are already in a disadvantaged position, I genuinely want to praise the courage and effectiveness of her style. Principles, disciplines and directions are essential in the formation of a dialogue. Principles can help equalizing people’s opportunities of voicing themselves. It is usually the truth that, breaking into a speech or conversation of someone else’s is one of the hardest thing to do.

Grilling Steak: An Analogy

            When Cheryl Strayed first started her journey on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) during the summer of 1995 she was emotionally and physically unprepared for the challenges ahead. She was broken. She was unable to move on from the past, which consumed her. She was raw.

I thought y'all might be interested in what prison education programs can achieve! http://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/oct/07/harvards-prestigious-debate-team-loses-to-new-york-prison-inmates

I.

We had some terrific approaches to Du Bois's Souls as well as connections between Souls and Rankine and Tocqueville. I appreciated the creativity and artistry that Shirah and Sula brought as well as the passion and care that Farida and Han exhibited. All four experimental essays were successes as far as I am concerned -- and I look forward to seeing how they take shape in their next iterations.

We could have spent a little more time connecting Tocqueville in DuBois, I think. From my notes for that class, I would remind you of the following (with some more elaboration):

From the moment we walked into the “Barnes and Noble” cafe, I had reservations about the Socrates Cafe. I had been considering the salons of Paris as a basic idea of what the cafe would be like, so upon seeing the entirely white, seemingly later in life, middle-upper class people gatherered around a conglomeration of tables, I was convinced that the cafe was an elaborate lie; I definitely questioned how productive our conversation would be.