Universal Language

This is a version of one of my favorite scenes in Friel's Translations. It is so odd, the two say the same words back and forth in different languages. They don't understand each other and yet they know they love each other. I do honestly feel this scene expresses the quote "love is the universal language" perfectly.

Their love is childish sounding; the two have never really spoken and they know nothing about the person they claim to love. How is this possible? How can someone give their love away like that? It is so strange, yet entrancing. It is impossible to keep from getting caught up in the moment when watching this scene so maybe it was impossible for them to keep from getting caught in the moment with each other.

So while debating this scene in my mind, I have circled around one general question: is a universal language possible? I keep relating this to the question of a universal religion or faith; it seems like too many people are caught in their old ways and will never conform to something that isn't their own. But could love be considered a universal language? I guess it could be, but is love a language? I have been utterly unable to come to a conclusion.

Any thoughts?!

Writing [my meaning]

It is still difficult for me to say what my strengths and weaknesses are when it comes to writing. At the beginning of the semester, I thought my only *major* weaknesses were needing to keep my essay within the page limit and my inability to edit my work. I found out there were far more problems I would be confronted with this year....

These include but are not limited to style (too colloquial, too much passive voice, phrases are repeated all too often, etc) and form/format (paragraphs out of order, not cohesive, too many thoughts for so little space). Finding out these weaknesses actually forced me to fix one my original one about editing. By the end of the semester, I have formed a new method of editing. I write the paper and let it sit. Then re-read it and take out all colloquial language and passive voice. Once again, I let it sit. I repeat this a few more times making sure all spelling errors and such are gone as well. After all of that, I re-read it for cohesiveness - is there anything I can remove or that doesn't fit? - making sure the paper flows well. With all of this editing, I manage to fix the page length as well (majority of the time....) After all of this work is complete, I submit the paper (with shaking hands... no matter how much work I put in to the paper, there are always many other things that are wrong...)

So now, looking back over this long semester, I have found a few new strengths I hadn't been able to see. I have been able to mold my writing process, form, and style to fit with what is expected. Instead of being stuck in my ways, I am willing to change and have worked extremely hard over the semester to try and be exactly what I am expected to be. My form has even begun transforming into a strength! I have improved my transitions and stopped including every random thing that pops in my mind. This semester has helped me immensely. I know my style and all are still things I can improve. I will be working in the future to improve these weaknesses and maybe someday they will become strengths.

Over this semester I have gone from pleased with my writing to absolutely hating everything I did to once again pleased with my work. I know I have improved and know that I will continue improving. I will take this experience and grow from it.

Rereading my metaphor on my very first blog post made me laugh. I glanced back at it while writing this post to make sure I mentioned the right weaknesses and such. I had forgotten all about my metaphor. It seems so true. Writing as a battle. Still seems to be like that. I have to fight myself and convince myself to reread my paper just one more time in order to make it just that much better. It gets so very frustrating! I am happy I am improving and I hope someday I can find more joy in the writing process. I guess we'll find out soon enough....

Names

Names are given to us at birth and follow us until our dying day when a man with shaking hands carves it into a hard, gray stone that will sit above us for the rest of time. Some are chosen with familial references, others historical, and others were picked on a whim. The reasons for our name follows for just as long as the name itself.

Lucy, for example, from Jamaica Kincaid's novel Lucy, struggles with her name. She is named after Lucifer, the devil himself. Her mother chose this name for her, well, because I guess she thought of her as the spawn of the devil. Not a very motherly attitude if you ask me. Her middle name, Josephine, comes from her Uncle Joseph who was supposed to be rich. Her parents thought naming a kid after him would make him feel honored and he would, in the end, leave all of his money to the child. They then realized he was completely broke and living in a tomb. But Lucy's mother proceeded to name her beautiful baby girl after him anyways. Lucy's last name, Potter, has an even worse background. It's the name of the slaveholder who owned her relatives. Good memory to keep, huh?

My name comes from my great grandparents. I love all of the stories I hear and I find comfort in knowing I was named after two wonderful people. I was even born on their anniversary. Unlike Lucy, my name makes me feel connected to my family in a way I love and would hate to be without. This familial tie brings with it familial history that I will carry with me forever.

Names do carry with them history; it isn't a matter of whether they should or not, they just do. It's impossible to avoid. Of course, their are names that have no official history and I guess then they don't carry any with them... But for those that do, the history will always be there. I also believe that as we go through life and meet people, we begin to tie characteristics to names. I met a girl once named Julia who was really nice and sweet, so now I consider Julia's to be nice and sweet. Eh, maybe I'm just weird...

Here are a few other blogs with very similar posts to ponder =D

Caroline and Andrea