Tuesdays With Morrie (pgs. 23-47), Week 2, Post B

Okay. So, I know that last week for my Post “B”, I did the significance of a quote that I liked. In this section, there is another quote that I absolutely adore too. So I just had to explain its significance because I liked it so much.
Here is the quote: “The whole time I know him, I have two overwhelming desires: to hug him and to give him a napkin” (pg 31). When I read this quote, I just started laughing out loud. It was so funny that Mitch felt so differently about this teacher that he loved. Earlier in the chapter, Mitch talks about how Morrie was a total slob, even worse than he was. Mitch loved this teacher so much that he just wanted to hug him. Also that he just enjoyed his teacher’s company so much. They would even eat lunch together and go out and once in a while spend time on the weekends together. Mitch loved his teacher so much, that all he could think to do to show Morrie that was to go up to him and give him a hug. It wasn’t the only thing Mitch wanted to give him though. And Mitch knows what he’s talking about when he says Morrie is an awful slob. He eats with Morrie often, so he knows how Mitch acts at the table. He talks when he should be chewing, and many other things like that. In this situation, all Mitch can think to do is simply give him a napkin. This was an incredibly funny quote to me. You can love someone very much, but also have fun and joke around with them. If they are really that special, then they won’t mind. They will still love you right back.

Tuesdays With Morrie (pages 1-23), Week 1, Post B

“After the funeral, my life changed. I felt as if time were suddenly precious, water going down an open drain, and I could not move quickly enough” (pg 15, ch. 3). This quote appears in the part of the book when Mitch talks about his life, and what he did since he said good-bye to his old college professor. Mitch’s favorite uncle had just passed away, and Mitch realizes that he needs to do something with his life, to maybe make up for not having accomplished anything yet. This quote is one very significant to me, because, like Mitch, after my grandma’s funeral, my whole view of the world changed. I also realized that I had to do accomplish something, or else I would really regret it later in my life. I wanted to become a famous musician (Mitch surprisingly wanted this, too). But, I became realistic and decided that I could also just enjoy playing viola for the rest of my life. Because of seeing so many different examples of healthcare while my grandma was sick, I found out that I was really very interested in the field of medicine. This is what I wanted to make at living at. I found something to do with my life that would impact and help many people. Like what happened to Mitch, a funeral impacted my life in a way that I would have never expected if I hadn’t experienced loss. This is the reason the quote is significant to me.

Tuesdays With Morrie(pages 1-23), Week 1: Post A

VOCAB: 1. (page 7) ALS-Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a disease that slowly breaks down the nervous system so that one's muscles stop working properly. This is the disease that Morrie is diagnosed with.
2. (page 21) narcissist-someone with inordinate fascination of one's appearance, excessive self-love.

LOGICAL/EMOTIONAL APPEALS:
1. Logical appeal-(page 11). The author talks about how Morrie's health slowly started declining, how he had to start using a cane to get around. This is a logical appeal because it is a fact of life, how as people grow older, their health gets worse. They are more dependent on other people, they depend on them for normal daily life things that you and I would not need any help to do.
2. Emotional appeal-(pages 3-4). In the book Tuesdays With Morrie, there are several parts in which the author stops to describe a memory-presented as a flashback. In the one on pages 3-4, Mitch Albom talks about his college graduation day. This is an emotional appeal because many people can relate to graduating and saying their goodbyes to teachers and friends. Since many can relate to this, it's probably emotional for those people. So, if people can relate and connect to the story in some way, they will be more inclined to read it and be affected by this memoir.
3. Emotional appeal-(page 8). For anyone who has dealt with someone close having a fatal disease, they understand what it's like to feel helpless. And like I said when I found out about my grandmother being sick, "The world and everything around us just should stop so that we can deal with this and grieve about it." I believe that all people have this feeling when having to deal with something like that. People can relate to it, making it an emotional appeal.

QUOTE:
"Do I wither up and disappear, or do I make the best of my time left?... He could not wither. He could not be ashamed of dying." This is the philosophy of the book at this point. The only thing that Morrie wants is to make the best of his last months. It has great significance because this book would probably not even have been written if Morrie had had a different opinion of his looming death. This is not just significant to the meaning of the book, but also to me. The last thing that I would want in my lifetime would be withering up and slowly deteriorating. I have personally seen this happen, so I definitely do not want this. Like Morrie, I'd like to really make the most of my last days. Spend time with old friends, talk about my feeling on death, and let people know that I was not ashamed of dying.

THEME:
I think the theme of this book so far is that you should make the most of your life. One really needs to approach life in the "Life is short" sort of way.

This has been an AMAZING book so far! I can't wait to finish reading it!

Hey! My name is Emma. This is my blog for English class, where I will be reading a book called "Tuesdays With Morrie", and then posting my comments on the book on this page. I will be posting twice a week on what I have just finished reading. Enjoy!