Joan Didion: "Why I Write" (10-14)

Pichu Little: "That's a lot of scientific and social words! Why are they in an article called 'Why I Write' then?"
Pichu Big: "I don't know. Maybe we'll find out by reading and analyzing the text! We can start with these words here."


10) bevatron

• Source 1: "I would try to read linguistic theory and would find myself wondering instead if the lights were on in the bevatron up the hill" (Didion).

• Definition: n. "an accelerator in which protons are raised to energies of several billion electron-volts by modulating the frequency of the accelerating voltage." (Dictionary.com).

• Source 2:"Working at a powerful new accelerator called the Bevatron at what is now Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Dr. Chamberlain and his colleagues smashed ordinary protons into copper, producing streams of other particles spewed from the collisions."
• Glanz, James. "Owen Chamberlain, 85, Dies; Discovered Antiproton." The New York Times. The New York Times, 02 Mar. 2006. Web. 09 Jan. 2013.

• Commentary: By mentioning a bevatron in her writing, Didion effectively conveys her opinion of studying language. Her attention strays to a bevatron, which is completely unrelated to linguistic theory. Rather than focusing on the English language, everyday events are more memorable to her. The bevatron, despite its scientific significance, was just a part of her regular day, hence her observation of the lights in it rather than its functions.

11) baroque

• Source 1: "For reasons which now sound baroque I needed a degree by the end of that summer, and the English department finally agreed, if I would come down from Sacramento every Friday and talk about the cosmology of Paradise Lost, to certify me proficient in Milton" (Didion).

• Definition: adj. "characterized by grotesqueness, extravagance, complexity, or flamboyance" (Merriam-Webster).

• Source 2:"Conventionally, the Baroque style is not emphasized in the global history of art, because the time period ... is correctly viewed as an enclosed time period in which various directions of style were expressed" (7).
• Carl, Klaus H., and Victoria Charles. Baroque Art. New York: Parkstone International, 2009. Google Books digital file.

• Commentary: Baroque art originated in Rome and oftentimes casts a sense of tension and complexity. Baroque often refers to the artistic style, but it also can describe characteristics that are exemplified in Baroque art. The reasons in which Didion referred to it were likely sophisticated and predated in the point of view of the audience.

12) Hegelian dialectic

• "I would try to contemplate the Hegelian dialectic and would find myself concentrating instead on a flowering pear tree outside my window and the particular way the petals fell on my floor." (Didion).

• Definition: n. "an interpretive method, originally used to relate specific entities or events to the absolute idea, in which some assertible proposition (thesis) is necessarily opposed by an equally assertible and apparently contradictory proposition (antithesis) the mutual contradiction being reconciled on a higher level of truth by a third proposition (synthesis)" (Dictionary.com).

• Source 2:"Hegal (1770-1831) was the founder of the Hegelian Principle (or Hegelian Dialectic)" (189).
• Fortsch, Charlene R., and Erica Dissler. Daniel: Understanding the Dreams and Vision. N.p.: Charlene Fortsch, 2006. Google Books digital file.

• Commentary: The Hegelian dialectic is a process that leads to a compromise, where two contrasting arguments are synthesized into a single idea. This process is reflected often in politics, where solutions to social and economic issues are proposed (theses), counterarguments are presented (antitheses), and compromises are made (synthesis).

13) rancidity

• Source 1: "I can no longer tell you whether Milton put the sun or the earth at the center of his universe in “Paradise Lost,” the central question of at least one century and a topic about which I wrote 10,000 words that summer, but I can still recall the exact rancidity of the butter in City of San Francisco’s dining car, and the way the tinted windows on the greyhound bus cast the oil refineries around Carquinez Straits into a grayed and obscurely sinister light" (Didion).

• Definition: n. "having a rank smell or taste" (Merriam-Webster).

• Source 2:"Despite being a physician, he happily ate foods tipping into rancidity."
• Lee, Marie Myung-ok. "What Muffins Say About Mitt Romney." The New York Times. The New York Times, 03 Sept. 2012. Web. 09 Jan. 2013.

• Commentary: I had originally believed that the word was used differently because Didion referred to an "exact rancidity"; I did not consider it to be a measurable characteristic. Although there is no alternate definition, the word still supports her claims by displaying her ability to remember the minute details of observable and physical activities, such as eating, but not of intangible concepts.

Pichu Little: "Can berried become rancid?"
Pichu Big: "These one are for sure not rancid! They are all fresh from the tree. Rancid foods become smelly because they are old or not properly preserved."


14) peripheral

• "In short I tried to think. I failed. My attention veered inexorably back to the specific, to the tangible, to what was generally considered, by everyone I knew then and for that matter have known since, the peripheral" (Didion).

• Definition: n. "of, relating to, involving, or forming a periphery or surface part" (Merriam-Webster).

• Source 2: "The Hallmarks have agreed to cooperate with the Justice Department and the animal welfare group in settling the litigation against the remaining seven defendants, who were said to be peripheral to the company's operation."
• Cone, Tracie. "$500 Million Animal Abuse Settlement Reached." $500 Million Animal Abuse Settlement Reached. U-T San Diego, 16 Nov. 2012. Web. 09 Jan. 2013.

• Commentary: Didion refers to the peripheral of language and objects. She could only focus on the concrete, rather than the abstract. This is supported by her later forthcoming descriptions, some of which are quoted in words 10-13 (above).

Works Cited

Source 1:
Didion, Joan. "Why I Write." The New York Times. 5 Dec. 1976. Web. 7 Jan. 2013.

Definitions:

"Definitions and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 06 Jan. 2013.
"Find the Meanings and Definitions of Words at Dictionary.com." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 09 Jan. 2013.