This semester, we will spend time noticing words that we want to learn to better understand what we read, hear, see, encounter, and write.
To get us started with this endeavor, add a comment here to define a word you didn’t understand, or didn’t understand in context, or knew but not as well as you want from any of our texts this semester. You might have identified a medical term in Perri Klass’s “HERS” or a word in our syllabus, or a word that a classmate used in introducing themselves. Let’s learn about those words and share our knowledge. Please indicate what text your word comes from.
Photo credit: “Words” by charcoal soul via Flickr under the license CC BY-ND 2.0 Deed
Epiphany:
1) the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles as represented by the Magi (Matthew 2:1–12).
2) A usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something.
3) An intuitive grasp of reality through something (such as an event) is usually simple and striking.
I didn’t get this word from a text, but it was a weird word that popped up in my head while watching a ghost-hunting video on YouTube. They had a medium, a person who was able to make contact with spirits and entities, and she was in the middle of trying to connect with whoever she was trying to talk to, and right before she said anything a word popped up in my head. Epiphany. It was ironic since this woman was pretty much having an epiphany. It spooked me out a bit because 1) Right when the word popped up in my head she started sensing something and 2) I had no idea what this word was.
Outside of its religious meaning, the word epiphany is usually used to mean something like having a light-bulb moment. Does that work with the way the word was used in your context?
Not necessarily, I didn’t have a light-bulb moment or any ideas. It was just a weird occurrence I thought I’d share since it allowed me to discover a word I’ve never heard of until that point and it’s a little spooky… though the Spooky Month is nowhere near-
In the syllabus under course description I didn’t recognize the word Expository. I figured maybe it’s similar to expose and we will be writing about stuff we learned. The actual definition for Expository from dictionary.com is:
adjective. of the mature of exposition; serving to expound, set forth, or explain: an expository essay; expository writing.
After looking it up I understand I was somewhat right but now I know its just writing that uses factual information from academic essay or textbooks.
That definition isn’t particularly helpful to understanding what expository means! Here’s a definition of expository writing from the Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab):
The expository essay is a genre of essay that requires the student to investigate an idea, evaluate evidence, expound on the idea, and set forth an argument concerning that idea in a clear and concise manner. This can be accomplished through comparison and contrast, definition, example, the analysis of cause and effect, etc.
How does this definition help you understand that section of the syllabus better?