Middlesex+journal+entry+10

pp 318 - 397

1. dispensation (332): permission to be exempt from rules, laws, usual requirements/regularities (i.e. smoking for the Object) nictitating (332): I did not know this term was attached to membranes (i thought it was just an adjective I was unfamiliar with) so originally when I looked it up, I was confused by the google answers. However, I then discovered that a nicitating membrane is a white/translucent membrane in the inner eyelid of some mammals. This adds to the descriptiveness of our narrator - whoa. (And adds to a reference to science - something considered more masculine) desultory (324): In this context, desultory indicates something without purpose or enthusiasm. (adding to the description of the Object as bored during this scene with a "desultory impression"). malingering (325): I actually did not know this word and I am glad I know it now, because I used to kind of do it in P.E. class throughout the beginning of my first grade year here. To malinger is to fake an illness in order to get out of doing something (ie work). elocution (327): a clear manner of speech, distinct pronunciation and articulation

4 / 2. "Where else would a girl like me, hiding from the world a knowledge she didn't quite understand herself - where else would she feel more comfortable than in this subterranean realm where people wrote down what they couldn't say, where they gave voice to their most shameful longings and knowledge?" (329). I liked this line not only because it expressed how Calliope was feeling at the time, but I feel like it also describes feelings of a lot of high schoolers/adolescents. A lot of people do not have people in their lives whom they trust enough to tell them their personal secrets/to talk out things they don't understand about themselves. Although it is expressive to write things (and better to write them then to just let them eat you up inside), I feel like eventually this is what may lead to danger/self-harm of teenagers..Additionally, I indicated number 2 for this quotation because it kind of depicts Calliope's self troubles and solitude in this time in of the novel. Looking back on the excerpt, Calliope feels really alone, not only because she is different, but because she is kind of neglected by a lot of people in her life.

4. "Talent is a kind of intelligence" (338). "That's what reality is. It's a dream everyone has together." (343)

7. Throughout Book 3, I feel like a lot of characters have been losing their connection to their roots/heritage. "I wasn't keen on visiting the homeland anymore. I didn't want to waste my summer painting a church. Greece, Asia Minor, Mount Olympus, what did they have to do with me?" - Calliope (341). "To hell with the Greeks" (363). Milton says this and realizes that he must "do whatever's in our nation's interest," indicating he is now more connected with America (363). This makes him lose a lot of friends/Greek connections.

5. Their names are "Aristotle, Socrates, Cleopatra, and Plato"? Is it offensive to chuckle a little? Haha..