8 June 2010

The Fourth Turning:

Times can be thought of as chaotic, circular, or linear. The ancients thought of time as chaotic, no rhyme nor reason; time came to be thought of as circular when the ancients linked natural cycles. Seasons repeat, the sun comes up goes down and then comes up again. Linear came to be during the middle ages when Christianity pulled hard away from Paganism. Americans view time as linear. I have always thought of time as circular. I love how God has made seasons for us. Even down to a day. I am so grateful some days that the sun went down and I get to start over the next day.
Circular time is usually divided into two or four sections. The Etruscans first came up the with idea the the Romans called the saeculum, meaning a long life, or approximately 100 years. The saeculum is divided into four seasons of life, birth, maturation, middle age, and death. These coincide with Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. They are each approximately 20-25 years in length and separate generations. The ideas of each generation change, but cycle back through after four generations.

How to read a book

The rules for reading fiction are different but coincide with the rules for reading non fiction. They will help us learn from the book by helping us have the experience the author wants us to. The part I didn't understand very well, was the criticism part. We can't agree or disagree, we either like or dislike a work of fiction, but we have to go beyond like or dislike and why. We have to "objectify your reaction by pointing to those things in the book that are good and bad and why."

The BOM

I read about Enos. I admire his so much. He is an example of saying so much in a short amount of space. His love for the Nephites and the Lamanites is admirable. I do find myself praying for those I love, but rarely pray for those I don't know and/or are my enemies.

The Lost Memoirs....

Jane, her sister Cassandra, and her mother are left destitute after her father dies. They move from brother's house to brother's house until her brother Frank asks them to live with him and his new wife and share expenses. Frank has announced that he and his wife are moving and it was not said, but seemed clear that the family needed some privacy.

Back in the Saddle

I am going to start using this blog more. I am going to use it as a sort of commonplace blog. I will keep a record of what I study during the day. I just finished several books and am still working on a few. Here is a list:

A Farewell to Arms by Hemingway (20 pages left)


How to Read a Book (much more complicated than I thought)


The Fourth Turning


The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen (love her)



And as always:

The Scriptures

Charlotte Mason Series

Leadership Education: The Phases of Learning

Today:

A Farewell to Arms:

I do not like this book. I think that the protagonist and his lover are two of the most selfish and cowardly people I have read about. I may just have them wrong, but I don't see much that can be called redeeming. I only have 20 pages left and can't wait for them to be over. Catharine is getting ready to have her baby and they move closer to a hospital. They spent some sickeningly loving months in the mountains and now that spring is here they are getting to where it is cleaner and safer for her to have her baby.

How to Read a Book:

The focus today was on how to use a dictionary and encyclopedia. Both are to be used sparingly and only after you have done the necessary work to understand what the author is trying to say. Adler suggests that we should read both of these reference books for pleasure. I do like to look at the dictionary every now and then, but I do not usually do that with an encyclopedia. This was a short day because I was just finishing up a chapter that I started yesterday.

Book of Mormon:

I read most of Jacob 5 today. This is the parable of the olive tree. This is not one of the most interesting parts of the BOM. I was also distracted by Abby, she wanted me to take lots of breaks to read her stories. She loved the books so much that she saved them in her "tubby" for later.

That was all that I got to today because we spent most of the day wild flower hunting at Big Hollow. We found lots and lots of them.