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October 24th, 2011American Literature … Best Class in the Universe

+Apathetic (adj)Apathy (n)

Someone who is apathetic has no interest, opinion, enthusiasm , or concern … they don’t care.

Apathy is the state of being apathetic, the state of indifference.

SRSLY … IDC

CENSORED

+Futile (adj)If something is

futile, it’s pointless and incapable of producing the desired result.

The phrase “resistance is futile” is popular in science fiction, and it essentially means that resisting is pointless.

+Prosperous (adj)Prosperity (n)A prosperous

person is financially and materially successful.

Prosperity, the state of being prosperous, is the dream of many Americans, but is it a worthwhile dream?

Subservient (adjective) To be subservient is to be

beneath someone or to act as a slave to someone or something, to be submissive and docile.

Example:

Donna’s subservient role in the household left her feeling bitter and unappreciated.

Oh honey, you’re even better than a slave!

Indignant (adjective)When you feel indignant, you feel angry

and displeased about something unfair and/or offensive.

Example:Indignant, Laura replied, “Well, I like this shirt, and I don’t think it’s childish at all!”

Ameliorate (verb) To ameliorate a situation is to

make it better, to improve it. Example:Non-governmental organizations are needed in the short term to ameliorate the present suffering in the world.

Paradox (noun) A paradox is a true

statement or group of statements that leads to a contradiction.

In a broad sense, a paradox is a situation or set of circumstances that leads to logical absurdity.

Example: The Liar Paradox

The Grandfather Paradox This is a paradox

of time travel that poses the question, if you go back in time and kill your grandfather before your father is born, does that then mean that you were never born to go back in time to kill your grandfather?

Consensus (noun) A consensus is the

majority opinion of a group. For example: The

consensus of the group is that you’re a terrible group member.

A consensus can also be a general agreement. We’ve come to the

consensus that cookies are better than cake.

+Inequality (n)Inequality is the state of being unequal (and unfair).This word is often modified to talk about specific types of inequality: gender inequality, racial inequality, etc. What type of inequality is represented in the picture?

+Empathy (n)

Empathy is the ability to experience and share the feelings of others.

Empathy is NOT the same thing as sympathy. The two words are related, but empathy is characterized as the ability to put oneself in another’s shoes, while sympathy is simply a recognition and understanding of another’s plight or emotional state.

Empathy: Scout’s First Lesson “You never really understand a person

until you consider things from his point of view—” Atticus, pg 39

Atticus is speaking to the idea of empathy, the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes.

Why is this an important lesson to learn?