test 2

200 - 237 Translate
254 - 296 MC
305 - 356 Translate

Arts can be tasty, too

The Walt Whitman ad seeks to inform a parental audience about the lack of art education in children’s lives today. The ad uses wit and humor to convey its claim that children must “up their daily does of art.” In addition, its witty visuals and catchy captions make appeals to pathos. Without exposing children to art, they do not become smarter in subjects like math and science.

The ad appeals to parents and seeks to inform them of the need for a greater amount of the arts in children’s lives. The ad first makes appeals to logos by detaching Walt Whitman’s name from the candy company that features “Whitman’s Sampler.” It details the poetry that he created, displaying him as an intellectual person. Why shouldn’t we be intelligent too? The ad later claims “Whitman can influence your child, too” to show that increasing the arts in a child’s life will increase a child’s intelligence. The ad also makes appeals to pathos through its wise wit and catchy captions.

The language used in the ad pervades the senses visually and verbally. The first feature in the ad is the half-bitten candy with a caption reading, “Too much of Whitman’s art won’t give you a stomachache.” Everyone has experienced a stomachache from eating too much chocolate, yet this feature conveys the fact that too much of the arts can’t give you a stomachache. Rather, you’ll be coming back for more. The second feature is the picture of the brain, with large sections as “readin’, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic” and a miniature section as “art.” The brain is supposed to depict a circle graph, showing regions with the highest percentage or rate. Here, art is the least of the three and the caption reads, “Give your kids a chance to succeed. Up their daily dose of art.” The aforementioned phases also include convincing wit such as “Up their daily dose of art,” which would usually be used for food products (or in this case, chocolate). Who doesn’t smile when they hear or read “readin’, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic?” The use of these humorous phrases guides the reader to a conclusion that children should be more exposed to the arts.

The ad informs parents effectively about the lack of the arts in children’s lives. The ad makes strong appeals to logos by disassociating Walt Whitman (an intelligent poet) with Whitman’s Sample (a popular candy). Through its use of witty phrases, catchy captions, and effectual pictures/graphs, the ad makes great appeals to pathos. All in all, the ad warrants its claim and effectively persuades and informs a parental audience that children need to be more exposed to the arts in order to increase their intelligence and become more well-rounded adults.

Analysis of the Satirical "Burning Sensation"

The Daily Show's "Burning Sensation"

Claim: The government and current administration lacks to have developed a response to the issue of Global Warming, often times saying that it may not even be an issue.

Evidence: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - "The expectation would be that if we keep emitting Greenhouse Gases at current rates we will see bigger changes in this current century than we did in the last century."

Warrants: The evidence the video provides is a credible video source.
__________________________________________________________________

Humor: Using the groundhog from "Groundhog" day to show us how animals - creatures that are very aware of their surroundings (not to mention that the groundhog does foretell the fate of winter) - are responding.

Personification: Creating the groundhog to have a person's voice and name.

Juxtaposition: First, Jon Stewart shows that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (an international scientific group) trying to address and fix problems about global warming. Then, he shows American scientists in a food kitchen, hinting at the problem that Americans are more concerned about what they eat (and if it tastes good!) than the future of our planet.

Graph Source

Claim:

Based on evidence from the past 1000 years, carbon emissions, CO2 concetrations, and temperature change are interrelated. Now, these levels are exorbidantly high.

Media/Video Source

The Big Melt: The Arctic Ice Cap

First Print Source Analysis

This picture was taken on March 25th, 2008 (YESTERDAY!). A ice shelf (The Wilkins Shelf) the size of seven Manhattans broke off from the main Antarctic land ice because of global warming.

BBC article "Global Warming - An Overview"

Claim:

Global warming, which can no longer be disputed as nonexistent, has clear scientific causes and an abuse of these causes has effected humans because of the pecific, detrimental changes in the earth's atmosphere

Evidence:

1. "Globally 1998 was the warmest year ever recorded and eight of the ten warmest years fell in the last decade. Global ice sheets have decreased, so has global snow cover."
2. "...this is the most rapid rise in temperature since the end of the last ice age. So evidence is mounting that we, mankind are affecting the global climate, and the current warming has exceeded the natural fluctuations."
3. "Since the industrial revolution amounts have increased by 30%."

Why the claims are warranted:

All three claims cite scientific, hard evidence in order to achieve being warranted. The first provides quantitative evidence to show us, almost visually, that we have had such a great effect on climate change. The second one shows us that we are heading into a horrible period in human history if we are not careful, using qualitative evidence. The third one provides quantitative evidence about the ways in which we have increased our "spending" and the correlation that can be made with the global warming increases.

Second Print Source Analysis

New York Times article "Arctic Melt Unnerves the Experts"

Claim:

Scientists can hardly fathom the amount of deterioration in the Arctic Circle this year. The ice has melted so much more than other annual averages, that scientists are beginning to wonder how much longer until more drastic changes occur. Can this phenomenon be ascribed to anything besides overactive, overindulging humans? Unfortunately, scientists would give the disappointing "no" to that answer. A bigger concern, though, is next year's summer and its melting period, because this year the ice deficit is so low.

Evidence:

1. "The Arctic ice cap shrank so much this summer that waves briefly lapped along two long-imagined Arctic shipping routes, the Northwest Passage over Canada and the Northern Sea Route over Russia."
2. "Astonished by the summer’s changes, scientists are studying the forces that exposed one million square miles of open water — six Californias — beyond the average since satellites started measurements in 1979."
3. "...this winter’s freeze is starting from such a huge ice deficit."

Why the claims are warranted:

The first two claims cite scientific evidence that is warranted by the facts that are provided (i.e. "six californias," "beyond the average since satellites started measurements in 1979"). The third fact also contains scientific evidence, but shows to us that it would make sense why this becomes a snowball (pardon the pun) effect. Besides that, we believe these three because they are scientific facts and because this print source (NYTimes) is credible.

Why the claims are warranted:

Third Print Source Analysis

New York Times article "Global Warming"

Claim:

The New York Times article agrees with that global warming trend is unambiguous and that humans do have a major effect on the global warming occurring. Undoubtedly, changes have been occurring and have been documented, leading us to the conclusion that the fact that global warming exists is no longer, but the ways in which we can combat global warming is.

Evidence:

1. The article cites that the United Nations declared that global warming has changed exponentially in recent decades, and cites human activity as a result.
2. The article cites the Supreme Court voting that the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) does have an authoritative role in the battle against global warming.
3. "The greenhouse effect has been apart of earth's workings since its earliest days."
4. "Since 1970, temperatures have gone up at nearly three times the average for the 20th century."

Why the claims are warranted:

It is explicit that both the United Nations and Supreme Court are credible sources and can be relied upon for evidence on the issue of global warming. The other two sources are warranted by scientific facts, but are not necessarily cited. However, the fact that NYTimes is a credible source in itself warrants the scientific facts.

And I thought I was finished...

What effect does your chosen rhetorical term have on the argument?

In "The Lives of A Cell," Lewis Thomas uses hyperbole when he writes, “[Man] sits on the topmost tiers of polymer, glass, and steel, dangling his pulsing legs, surveying at a distance the writhing life of the planet” (p. 358). This quote appears early on in his essay (actually, in the beginning of the first paragraph), and intentionally so - he wants his audience to understand their place in the World in relation to nature and less powerful creatures/organisms today before he begins talking about the changes that the earth has undergone recently. And, he wants to do all of this without insulting his reader explicitly. (Who's gonna read it if he does that?) By writing the above quote, he shows the reader (in an exaggerated way) the status that humans hold in the world today (or, in 1971). By using hyperbole, he convinces his reader of the damage that his lofty social position in the World can incur as well as makes an appeal to pathos. Because he chose his words carefully, Thomas doesn't write "Humans have caused everything to go haywire in this World!" Instead, he writes in a more satirical (albeit, not necessarily humorous, but exaggerated nonetheless), yet effective, way. He makes Man look both very deadly and too powerful, which is a position that most of us humans would be unwilling and/or embarrassed to accept. When he makes his appeal to pathos, he wants the reader to feel affected by the status he holds in the world today - a status of ultimate power, yet the greatest wisdom. He doesn't, however, want to insult the reader with scathing words or a shaking of the finger. By citing out wisdom, Thomas sheds some hope on this unfortunate situation, knowing that humans can find a solution for the growing problems.

"The Marginal World" Précis

Ian Dunne
Mr. Ehret
AP English Language
April 16, 2008

“The Marginal World” Analysis
by Rachel Carson (p. 214 – 219)

The author describes the natural, indefinite rhythms that the tides of the oceans follow. She calmly explains their course and rhythm, hinting at the elusive boundary that develops. The shore and the sea have dual natures, sometimes being exposed to the land world, other times being exposed to the water world. She describes the difficulty it takes for plants and animals to live in such a harsh environment, yet the tide lines are teeming with life. Life dwells in some of the most unlikely places, burrowing itself in the sand and spreading over rock surfaces. All creatures are linked intricately with another, just as the shore and sea are linked with each other and have been since there has been earth and ocean. The author describes her favorite place that she remembers for its exquisite beauty, and details her trip to this place. She describes the moss-covered ledges, the hidden pool in a cave, and the clarity of the water within this place. Once the pool had emptied, the author marvels at all the ephemeral sea life that dwells within this place. Plants, too, cover the caves and low water pools. The author describes a trip she took to the Georgia shore line, and all the life that exists there. The shore at night is a much different world, though; with ghost crabs lurking under the light of a torch, the author imagines a primeval world. The mangroves and other plants that connect places give a greater sense of creation to humans. The flow of the tides creates a sense of the indefinite, continuing flow of time. Evolution accounts for the sequence and meaning of the drift of time. Thus, life is varied because of the evolutions that have occurred. The spectacle that we see is evolution at work.

Vocabulary
Spars – a thick, strong pole such as is used for a mast or yard on a ship
Limpid – (of a liquid) free of anything that darkens; completely clear

Tone
Informal, amazed

Rhetorical Terms

Personification - "...waves have broken heavily against the land, where the tides have passed forward over the continents, receded, and then returned" (p. 215)

Simile – “…spheres of protozoa, small as pinpricks” (p. 215)

Simile – “…water that was clear as glass” (p. 216)

Simile – “…Tubularia, pale pink, fringed and delicate as the wind flower” (p. 216)

Personification – “…the mangroves…reaching down, grasping and holding the mud, building the land out a little more” (p. 218)

"Insert Flap 'A' and Throw Away" Précis

Ian Dunne
Mr. Ehret
AP English Language
April 16, 2008

“Insert Flad ‘A’ and Throw Away” Analysis
by S. J. Perelman (p. 186 – 189)

The author sets the scene for the reader and describes the situation/conflict. When doing this, he adds humorous aspects and writes with witty satire. With great detail, he describes a ridiculous project of a moth net that he was trying to assemble to no avail, though. After a lengthy description of that project, he says that it was superseded by a newer one which he had to complete on Christmas morning. He details how and why he doesn't want to complete the task, but commences because of his children's whining. He writes about how easy the project will be, but as he writes, he realizes how much harder it is becoming. The author mentions that the project itself is causing the problems, such as when the box separates itself after he has already affixed the folds together. He attempts to teach his children how to read such easy directions and how to assemble something from a diagram. Instead, he ends up becoming more and more frustrated, and eventually becomes so frustrated that he cuts himself with a nice on accident. In all the mayhem, he suddenly blacks out, and wakes up to find his wife speaking to a doctor about how many pills he should take a day.

Vocabulary
Dolorous – feeling or expressing great sorrow or distress
Trice – in a moment; very quickly

Tone
Satirical, Humorous

Rhetorical Terms

Hyperbole – “…the subject is placed in a sharply sloping attic heated to 340º F” (p. 186)

Personification – “…the soft, ghostly chuckling of the moths” (p. 186)

Humor – “…I was spread-eagled on my bed, indulging in my favorite of mouth-breathing” (p. 187)

Personification – “The moment I made one set fast and tackled another, tab and slot would part company, thumbing their noses at me” (p. 187)

Allusion – “…my consort, a tall, regal creature indistinguishable from Cornelia, the Mother of the Gracchi” (p. 187)

"The Lives of a Cell" Précis

Ian Dunne
Mr. Ehret
AP Language and Composition
April 16, 2008

“The Lives of a Cell” Analysis
By Lewis Thomas (p. 358 – 360)

Modern man has been separating himself from nature with artificial advancements. Man is a great force in the delicate ecosystems that already exist, and he knows this. Yet, Earth can withstand far more than a single human can; we are more vulnerable. Man creates himself the head of the nature that exists, and always has, embedding himself in nature and becoming a great part of it. We are becoming more aware of our relationship with nature and our unwarranted power we hold to it. Our existence is made of smaller entities, smaller pieces that control and enable our humanlike functions. Because these smaller pieces (e.g. mitochondrion, different parts of cells, etc.) enable us and make our lives possible, do they actually enjoy more of our life than we do? Plants are also made of smaller, symbiotic organisms that give them their traits. A single cell accounts for our uniformity in this world. Because of this, viruses are evolving and beginning to affect all types of organisms – insects, plants, mammals. To what can life be compared? An organism? A single cell?

Vocabulary
Transient - lasting only for a short time; impermanent

Tone
Informal, intrigued, excited

Rhetorical Terms

Simile – “My cells are no longer the pure line entities I was raised with; they are ecosystems more complex than Jamaica Bay” (p. 359)

Personification – “…we live in a dancing matrix of viruses” (p. 360)

Simile – “…the earth is pictured as something delicate, like rising bubbles at the surface of a country pond, or flights of fragile birds” (p. 358)

Metaphor – “Evolution is still an infinitely long and tedious biological game, with only the winners staying at the table, but the rules are beginning to look more flexible” (p. 360)

Hyperbole – “[Man] sits on the topmost tiers of polymer, glass, and steel, dangling his pulsing legs, surveying at a distance the writhing life of the planet” (p. 358)

Science vs. Humanities

Do you agree with Henry's faith in science? In terms of the problems presented in Saturday, what can science solve, and what can it not? Can the humanities step in where science is limited? You must give at least two examples from your reading.

Henry’s belief in science is justified – he explains things that occur during his “day” and in other people’s lives with his knowledge of science. The conclusions he makes about other people – the girl outside his window in the early morning, Baxter, his mother – come from his scientific observations and hypotheses. He can predict what will happen to these people very precisely, based on his scientific observations. The humanities, though, can predict how other people will act, but not with total evidence; science – as presented by the narrator on account of Perowne – is more concrete and hardly conjecture at all. However, science cannot solve all the problems that occur in Perowne’s society and requires the humanities to step in.

Events in the book provide evidence as to why the humanities do have a role in people’s actions and the consequences that result from societal problems. When the airplane crashes, Perowne makes multiple assumptions about what it could be – a hijacking, a warning from a Middle Eastern nation; yet, none of these turn out to be true. Based on the current events, it would make sense for him to interpolate that the crash could be a result of the beginning of the war. However, he is not using scientific reasoning when he considers these possibilities. Later, he finds out the plane crash was actually caused by technical malfunctions. The plane crash can finally be explained through scientific reasoning – the way Perowne likes it. However, the consequence of the crash is the fact that more and more people are frightened by the onset of a war. Yet, so many – almost two million – are anti-war protesting in the streets. The problems that result from the crash are the point where the humanities must step in.

Another example that requires the humanities to step in occurs when Perowne visits his mother, an Alzheimer’s patient. He knows the course of the degenerative neurological disease – the decreased amount of memory, the loss of emotions, the confusion. Perowne, a neurosurgeon fully aware of the disease’s course, finds it hard to cope with his new emotions. He knows that in the coming months his mother will drift farther away, until she drifts out of this life. How does he cope with these new emotions of fear, uncertainty, and sadness? The humanities must step in because science does not solve these problems; it can explain the disease, but it cannot explain how one is supposed to react.

Extra Credit Blog

Focus on McEwan's description of the media coverage following 9/11, paying particular attention to the way in which he describes and imagines the effect mass images had on individual psyches. Can you relate anything McEwan says to Perowne's experiences in Saturday? To receive extra creidt, post your response by 11:59PM Sunday, 17 February.

September 11th affected people all around the globe emotionally and mentally. Certainly, those related to victims of 9/11 suffered immense pain with which I cannot identify. We all, though, instinctively felt compassion and fear for those who were involved in the attacks. Could it have been me? What would I have done in that instance?

McEwan describes the images associated with 9/11 as chilling and bleak. When talking about people jumping from the building holding hands, he says that it had to have been out of "utter desperation..Jumping to certain death rather than dying in pain in a fire. It spoke to me of sheer panic" (Frontline Interview). McEwan describes his feelings and reactions to the events, which I think are almost identical to any of those watching the event.

Phone Call from the Twin Towers.

I think that Perowne's experiences in Saturday are very similar to the events that occurred in 9/11. Certainly, there was a plane accident and Perowne expected that passengers were injured and or dead, just as in the attacks on 9/11. However, Perowne did not actually see the victims of the plane crash nor was he able to feel any deep remorse for those people when he first saw the airplane going down. Later in the novel, after Perowne discovers that the plane only carried the two pilots and cargo, he felt less affected. At this point, this situation seems hardly comparable to that of 9/11. However, in the initial stages, when Perowne didn't have any better idea of what to think, McEwan does provide some insight about how he felt from the 9/11 attacks and externalized those feelings through Perowne.

I had a cat named Schroeder

Why is "thought experiment" of Schrödinger's cat (btm. 17- 18) so fitting an end to the first section of the novel? Why does Henry reject it as a thought experiment? How does the image of the cat in the box address the idea of disasters that occur outside the range of our own consciousness? In other words, why after hearing on the radio that the plane has crashed, does Henry think "Schrödinger's dead cat is alive after all" (36).

At the beginning of Saturday, McEwan introduces us to Henry Perowne, the main character of the novel. McEwan details Perowne's daily life in the first chapter by providing anecdotes from the hospital and Perowne's own opinions of how he works. At work, Perowne works with precision and confidence, knowing that everything will go smoothly and as planned. He has few mishaps or failures, and knows how to guide junior registrars with a parent-like authority. Yet, in the middle of the first chapter, Perowne is reminded of Scrodinger's cat experiment, but it not convinced that it was actually a thought experiment.

Perowne rejects Schrodinger's cat experiment as a "thought experiment" because "it seems beyond the requirements of proof: a result, a consequence...whatever the score, it's already chalked up" (18). Perowne does not think that this makes any "human sense." He says, though, after the radio reports that the plane has crashed that "Schrodinger's dead cat is alive after all" because it turns out that this event ended with a cat alive and not dead, yet he could only know that after someone opened the box. McEwan uses this image in order to simplify an event and relate it into layman terms so that the audience can understand why Perowne feels a certain way. Yet, it seems odd that Perowne would consider the people on the plane dead when he himself performs countless, perilous procedures every day and does not even question the possibility of failure at all.

Perowne, as a neurosurgeon, performs invasive, risky procedures every day, but does not question the outcome of these events. When relaying the many surgeries he does in a day, he does not once question the possibility that these surgeries could result in death. Don't all his surgeries mimic the cat in the box in a certain way? Two possible outcomes can result from his surgeries: life or death. They are both equally possible, yet Perowne does not even question the latter possibilty. Why is he so quick to assume that the passengers (when it was actually a cargo plane) on the flight have died, when they actually end up surviving without minor injuries? McEwan creates this end to the first part of the novel because it characterizes Perowne as a round character in the early stages of the novel.

Fitty Fitty Bang Bang

22 May 1905 (65)

"Dawn. A salmon fog floats through the city, carried on the breath of the river."

This is a world of changed plans because time stops and starts in fits. At the end of the chapter, the narrator asks a series of questions, which you should try to answer:

Who would fare better in this world of fitful time?

Those who have seen the future and live only one life?

Or those who have not seen the future and wait to live life?

Or those who deny the future and live two lives?

The world of fitful time – marked not only by spontaneity but also by slow, waiting period – is a very dangerous place for all of those who live in it. Some people have seen their future and thus only live one life, but they suffer from monotony, boredom, and lack of suspense. Others wait to live their lives because they have not seen their futures, creating uncertainty, fear, and too much suspense in their lives. Still, others deny their future and end up living two lives, creating great periods of excitement and later periods of harsh acceptance. All of these people have unfortunate lives, yet one of these types of people does fare better in this world of fitful time.

While this chapter seems to be secluded only to three worlds of fitful time, it implicitly focuses on whether or not people have any prescience for their future. The people who know their future can choose one of two paths – living their life, or choosing to deny it. And the people who do not know their future can only pick one – waiting. But, the greater question may be, how and why do certain people know their futures while others do not? Is it through fate and random chance? Are certain people not ready to receive their future? Are certain people more responsible with their fates? We do not know what the average age or how young one can receive their future, which shows us that there is no definitive, physical age at which someone must receive their fate. In addition, it is clear that both people that know their fates end up choosing one of two tragic paths to follow. Either way, knowing seems to be depressing and not worth knowing. Yet, is not knowing better? Not knowing prevents any type of immediate decisions, and thus decreases the amount of fitful decisions. So, the people who fare best in this world are the ones who suffer the least from fitful decisions.

This I Believe...

Because I believe in other people and their consciences, I believe in mistakes and our ability to rectify our errors. I believe that people grow and develop into adolescents and then adults not only by the passage of time, but also through the mistakes made during that passage. I believe that we each make the right mistakes, which lead us to where we are today.

When sitting in my room and trying to think about what I believe, I was totally clueless. I sat for a long while, carefully searching through the files in my mind about different things in which I believe. Thankfully, my family called me to come eat dinner before I myself turned into a vegetable. I walked up to the kitchen where everyone else was and there it sat – a lonely yellow and watery, swollen thing on the kitchen table. "It's a quiche," my mother enthusiastically announced. "Oh, wow," I said, both with thanks and with sheer confusion and astonishment. Unfortunately, there is no way for me to deny that I do like eggs and that I do like cheese and that I do like any combination of the two. However, I do not like watery, egg-y, cheesy mess mixed together with a couple of soggy vegetables. I sat there, though, politely eating the meal that my mother had decided to make herself after weeks of her only making processed foods from boxes; this was her first attempt in a long while to make something “out-of-the-box." However, I could hardly close my mouth after I put the puffy concoction in it. In that instant, I knew that I no longer had to think about what I believed – mistakes happen. Fortunately, mistakes are a good thing – they allow us to see what we have done incorrectly. In this instance, my mother would hopefully realize that, while she tried her hardest to make a complete meal for us, she still needs a little practice, eventually aiding her in creating a elegant four-course meal. In addition, as humans, we have full knowledge of how we should correct these actions that are displeasing to others or morally unjust.

While this issue encompasses more than a soggy quiche, any mistake is not too large or too small. From the very beginning of our lives, we “mistakenly” fall down when we try to walk, “mistakenly” wet our pants during our toddler stage, “mistakenly” forget that we aren’t supposed to be rude to adults as children, “mistakenly” forget to call our parents when we go out to a party, “mistakenly” forget to make thoughtful decisions in college, and “mistakenly” forget that there is real life even after college. However, each of these mistakes – and all of the other ones that occur every day – connect us all because each of us inevitably err. What makes each of us different, though, is how we respond to our mistakes. I believe that while people do make mistakes, these mistakes transform us into individuals.

Why can't my life end in, oh say, two minutes?

In the world above, the people "with unnatural smiles" are those who spend their time trying to rectify their errors. Why wouldn't they be the most content instead?

As humans with full consciences, we find it quite hard to go about our days with the knowledge that we have done something wrong; we find it almost impossible to forget the fact that we said this horrible thing about a friend, or that we decided to rub our fortunes in others’ faces. (But, we hardly ever give up the chance to do either of those two). Like it or not, our past actions haunt us throughout the day, like pesky mosquitoes biting on every spare inch of our bodies on a hot summer afternoon. No matter how many mosquitoes at which you swat and kill, though, they continue to come back, more ravenous than before.

The people with the “unnatural smiles” attempt to rectify their moral status before they die. These people want to apologize to the ones that they have hurt and derided so that they can feel content before they die.

No matter whether you believe in a higher power or not, I do not think that it is possible to live life without regard to others’ feelings and to humanity itself. No sane person can go through their life flippantly disregarding people around them. We all have a conscience imbedded in us, and there is not side-stepping around that; we know what is right, we know what is wrong. The problem, though, is having the courage to deal with those problems. And, while Lightman says that these smiles are “unnatural,” for some reason, I don’t think that they are. I don’t think that these people only (if at all) apologize for eternal retribution or for the hopes that they can exist peacefully in the afterlife; these people apologize because it is the right thing to do, and they themselves know that deep down in their souls.

It's about time...

14 April 1905 (8): "Suppose time is a circle..."

In this chapter, most people aren't aware that "they will live their lives over" and that everything they do "will be repeated again and again, exactly as before." But those who are aware of the nature of time are the ones who lead miserable lives. Why?

Knowing, in this circumstance especially, can be such a daunting part of life. Knowledge can be so unappealing because it requires so much from the bearer, especially the need to act upon that knowledge. The people who are aware of the nature of time in Einstein’s Dreams lead miserable lives because they possess crucial knowledge to the cities in which they live, yet neither can they share this knowledge with anyone else nor can they act upon the knowledge that is out of their hands.

Lightman’s characters are not so much depressed about their present situation as they are struggling to accept the idea that things have happened before, and will happen again a million times over. Lightman writes, “they sense that their misjudgments and wrong deeds and bad luck have all taken place in the previous loop of time. In the dead of night these cursed citizens wrestle with their bedsheets, unable to rest, stricken with the knowledge that they cannot change a single action, a single gesture” (8-9). This example clearly provides proof that his characters do suffer from anxiety, but that is the least of their problems; these characters are more concerned about the aspect of their lives that they cannot change – “the misjudgments and wrong deeds.” A great concern for these characters is the fact that they have never had the control to take charge of their actions. Of course, they are able to make choices, but aren’t all these choices rooted in the past? These characters, knowledgeable that all of the events occurring now have already occurred in the past an infinite amount of times (and will occur in the future indefinitely), grapple with the inability to control their own actions. In lacking that control of their own actions, they lack the ability to take hold of their own life, discouraging them to want to live.