Some concerns...

I always fret over the first test and today's was no different. I especially had trouble with Ong's 9 ideas and the allegorical figure wearing parts of speech... In any event, I can't really seem to think clearly about the place of orality and literature in today's society, so this is gonna be a short post... But that is not my primary concern. So here goes, prepare yourself for a Conspiracy Theory style tirade...

When we had to list out the mini-memory palace activity Kory led us in on that second day of class I blanked for a minute. Probably less than a minute. Seconds. And then the words came barreling into my head like a mantra. It spilled out on to the paper, no trouble at all. Which is all fine and good since it was a test question. But what if They (you know "They", best friends of "Them", brother-in-law to "The Man") are simply using this course as a training ground for indoctrinated college students. What if, the next time someone manages to string together the phrases "dog, grapefruit, bottle of wine,etc" we get the uncontrollable urge to recite Joyce at some one and then go buy a copy of The Art of Memory? This is all a set up! And this seems a lot more sinister than when the KGB tried to contact me through a burn I got from a hair dryer, which may have been my imagination. Possibly. But not this!

Revel in your ability to memorize 100 hundred titles in your memory palace now, becasue soon you'll be a walking, talking, Ong-toting memorization super soldier with a dog-grapefruit trigger!