An example is "I'm in love". Love is actually an abstract state of mind, but here we talk about it as if it were a container in which I am located. We can apply the thought figure to many scenarios, including change ("I'm falling in love"), causation, etc.
They were given a set of sentences and asked to analyse what is moving and what is fixed. (In "I'm falling in love", I move and love is stationary.) However, in these sequences, they got caught by the idea of what it would be like if you put "...in bed" after each sentence, inspired by fortune cookies. Apart from being extremely hilarious, it shows how context dependent language is.
A set of perfectly innocent sentences that are given a completely new interpretation:
He went over the edge.
She entered a state of euphoria.
The clothes are somewhere between wet and dry.
I couldn't believe the students got to that idea on their own.
Sometimes students need us to push them harder.
I have a headache.
She received her bachelor's degree.
There are also some comments to us in I-RISE and reflections on what it would be like to listen to them.
This is a great way to remember: It is Friday!
ReplyDeleteSo funny. These women are cracking me up all the time during the mornings of E2 with their jokes and commentary during the class. I think this also shows that they are not too afraid or intimidated by physics or energy or whatever, since they are able to have such a good time with each other. Much different atmosphere than a lot of intro college classes when everyone is stressed out even in group work.
ReplyDeleteFrickin' hilarious. I am in tears. "Let's take your understanding to the next level..." Jesper, how did you possibly hold it together back there? You must be made of stone. I would have been helpless with laughter. (Fortunately for me, I had no idea what was going on over there.)
ReplyDeleteThis all started because Julie was (cleverly, I think) adding "me" at the end of some examples as a reference point: "[the event] is approaching ME." That helped her see that the speaker is the fixed point (the ground). I don't think "in bed" is helpful for that, but it was very helpful for their enjoyment of an exercise that I think otherwise they were finding to be a bit of a stumper.
Actually, I completely missed it when it happened. Steve and I were deeply engaged in the issue of idiomatic expressions (eg. "dead as a doornail", "dead as a dodo"). I messed up the morning analysis session when I got to see it, though.
ReplyDeleteI am in tears, also. Hil.ar.i.ous.
ReplyDelete