“When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you — a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”
~ Deuteronomy 6:10–12
“Others, like seed sown on good
soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop —thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times what was sown.”
~ Mark 4:20
In The Odyssey, Homer emphasizes the importance of family and home. After being absent from his home and family in Ithaca for almost 20 years, Odysseus sits daily on the shores of Calypso’s island, Ogygia, wearing out his soul with lamentation and tears because he longs to return to his home. The goddess Athena, who argues with Zeus to allow Odysseus to go home against the wishes of Poseidon tries her best to help him. “Even his griefs are a joy long after to one that remembers all that he wrought and endured.”1 (Homer, Odyssey)
I have lived for six weeks on the road — literally, six weeks. I have not laid in my bed or scratched my dog’s ears in six weeks, and I miss home terribly. I “wear out my soul with lamentation.”
That feeling was more than mitigated, however, last week when I had the privilege to stay with a home school family outside San Francisco. They are some of the finest people in the world. Hospitable, generous, and loving, they made their home my home. And I am grateful.
Home to Odysseus, as it is to me, is a place, true, but it is also people. Relationships. Family.
Most Americans today don’t really know where home is. We contextualize our lives in ways that have no connection to place. Where do we live? Where does one place begin and another end? It is now clear that a sense of place is a human hunger which our present society has not met.
Because Americans have lost a sense of belonging to a time and a place, as Odyesseus does, we have lost our sense of destiny. A sense of destiny is derived from a sense of belonging. The problem is, technically speaking, a Christian is never at home until he or she goes to heaven.
Still we do new things — like going to college. We are called to leave what is known and secure — Ur and Egypt — and to go to an unknown place wrought with danger and risk. “Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house” (Gen. 12:1) and “I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans” (Gen. 15:7). Time and time again God reminds us that we are sojourners with no promise that times will be easy.
“Sojourner” is a technical word usually described as resident alien. It means to be in a place, perhaps for an extended time, to live there and take some roots, but always to be an outsider, never belonging, always without rights, title, or voice in the decisions that seem to matter.
We find ourselves wandering in the wilderness. The buoyant faith of the fathers is much less evident. Now the stress is upon being without resources and necessities. The dreams end. For 40 years Moses’ generation wandered — always at the disposal of the elements, drought, hunger, or the Amalekites. The wanderer is not a sojourner because the wanderer is merely going to die in the desert; the sojourner is going into the Promised Land — even if it takes a long time. In some ways we are like the wandering Jews: faith is for those who remember the land but see no way to it.
The promise of God is kept. It was a new generation that entered the land. But the admonition of the Lord in Deuteronomy 6:10–11 held true. Remember this, saints: it is the emptiness of Israel, exposed and without resources, that promises are received with power, that risks are run, and hope is energizing.
Once in the land, or even near it, the traditions of the wilderness prevent us from romanticizing landlessness as a time of resourceful faith. The wilderness to Israel is a sentence of death (Num. 32:13) and a route to the Promised Land. When Israel stopped journeying, they were enslaved.
Tone and Mood
What is the tone and mood of this passage?
“Peter Blood, hold up your hand!”
Abruptly he was recalled to his position by the harsh voice of the clerk of arraigns. His obedience was mechanical, and the clerk droned out the wordy indictment which pronounced Peter Blood a false traitor against the Most Illustrious and Most Excellent Prince, James the Second, by the grace of God, of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland King, his supreme and natural lord. It informed him that, having no fear of God in his heart, but being moved and seduced by the instigation of the Devil, he had failed in the love and true and due natural obedience towards his said lord the King, and had moved to disturb the peace and tranquility of the kingdom and to stir up war and rebellion to depose his said lord the King from the title, honour, and the regal name of the imperial crown — and much more of the same kind, at the end of all of which he was invited to say whether he was guilty or not guilty. He answered more than was asked.
“It’s entirely innocent I am.” (Rafael Sabatini, Captain Blood)
- serious
- mock serious
- humorous
- satirical
- pensive
- I
- II
- none
- all
- I and II
- II, III, and IV
Test-Taking
Math Test Overview
The math test contains 60 questions to be completed in 60 minutes. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure that you will have one minute for each question. Wow, that’s ideal. Well, that is not how it really works. You will find that some questions will take only seconds to answer, while others will take more than a minute.
Just keep in mind that if you find you are really having trouble on a particular question, go on to the next one. Don’t waste time on questions you cannot figure out. If you return to a difficult question and you still cannot answer it, just guess. Remember that the answer is there. Try to eliminate at least two that seem obviously wrong. (TCA website. If you want more help, visit http://forsuchatimeasthis.com.)
Captain Blood2
Rafael Sabatini
The protagonist, Dr. Peter Blood, an Irish soldier who is now a medical doctor, is nonetheless (in the beginning of the novel) attending to his geranium while the town prepares to fight the British. He wants no part in the rebellion, but while attending to some of the wounded Irish rebels, Peter is arrested by the British. And the adventure begins! Eventually Peter Blood becomes Captain Blood and, suffice it to say that the British rue the day that they messed with Peter Blood!
Suggested Vocabulary Words
- There were dark stains of suffering or sleeplessness under the low-lidded eyes, heightening their brilliance and their gentle melancholy. The face was very pale, save for the vivid colour of the full lips and the hectic flush on the rather high but inconspicuous cheek-bones. It was something in those lips that marred the perfection of that countenance; a fault, elusive but undeniable, lurked there to belie the fine sensitiveness of those nostrils, the tenderness of those dark, liquid eyes and the noble calm of that pale brow.
- The physician in Mr. Blood regarded the man with peculiar interest knowing as he did the agonizing malady from which his lordship suffered, and the amazingly irregular, debauched life that he led in spite of it — perhaps because of it. “Peter Blood, hold up your hand!”
- Abruptly he was recalled to his position by the harsh voice of the clerk of arraigns. His obedience was mechanical, and the clerk droned out the wordy indictment.
Algebra Expressions
Arrange according to the descending powers of a:
\-80a3 b3 + 60a4 b2 + 108ab5 + 48a5 b + 3a6 – 27b6 – 90a2 b4
Use of Subordinate Conjunctions
In the following sentences,3substitute that, but, or but that for the words but what.
- “The doctor used to say ’twas her young heart, and I don’t know but what he was right.” — S.O. Jewett
- “At the first stroke of the pickax it is ten to one but what you are taken up for a trespass.” — Bulwer
- “There are few persons of distinction but what can hold conversation in both languages.” — Swift
- “Who knows but what there might be English among those sun-browned half-naked masses of panting wretches?” — Kingsley
- “No little wound of the kind ever came to him but what he disclosed it at once.” — Trollope
- “They are not so distant from the camp of Saladin but what they might be in a moment surprised.” — Scott
Data Analysis
An Inquiry into the Causes and Effects of the Variolae Vaccinae4
Edward Jenner
The following are case studies from a 1778 study conducted by English scientists. What can one conclude from these cases? The punctuation and spelling has been retained for authenticity. At this time “cow pox” was the same as “small pox.”
CASE I
JOSEPH MERRET, now an Under Gardener to the Earl of Berkeley, lived as a Servant with a Farmer near this place in the year 1770, and occasionally assisted in milking his master’s cows. Several horses belonging to the farm began to have sore heels, which Merret frequently attended. The cows soon became affected with the Cow Pox, and soon after several sores appeared on his hands. Swellings and stiffness in each axilla followed, and he was so much indisposed for several days as to be incapable of pursuing his ordinary employment. Previously to the appearance of the distemper among the cows there was no fresh cow brought into the farm, nor any servant employed who was affected with the Cow Pox.
In April, 1795, a general inoculation taking place here, Merret was inoculated with his family; so that a period of twenty-five years had elapsed from his having the Cow Pox to this time. However, though the variolous matter was repeatedly inserted into his arm, I found it impracticable to infect him with it; an efflorescence only, taking on an erysipelatous look about the centre, appearing on the skin near the punctured parts. During the whole time that his family had the Small Pox, one of whom had it very full, he remained in the house with them, but received no injury from exposure to the contagion.
It is necessary to observe, that the utmost care was taken to ascertain, with the most scrupulous precision, that no one whose case is here adduced had gone through the Small Pox previous to these attempts to produce that disease.
Had these experiments been conducted in a large city, or in a populous neighbourhood, some doubts might have been entertained; but here, where population is thin, and where such an event as a person’s having had the Small Pox is always faithfully recorded, no risk of inaccuracy in this particular can arise.
CASE II
SARAH PORTLOCK, of this place, was infected with the Cow Pox, when a Servant at a Farmer’s in the neighbourhood, twenty-seven years ago.
In the year 1792, conceiving herself, from this circumstance, secure from the infection of the Small Pox, she nursed one of her own children who had accidentally caught the disease, but no indisposition ensued. During the time she remained in the infected room, variolous matter was inserted into both her arms, but without any further effect than in the preceding case.
Smallpox: Oval yellow blisters depressed or umbilicated in the center.
CASE III
JOHN PHILLIPS, a Tradesman of this town, had the Cow Pox at so early a period as nine years of age. At the age of sixty-two I inoculated him, and was very careful in selecting matter in its most active state. It was taken from the arm of a boy just before the commencement of the eruptive fever, and instantly inserted. It very speedily produced a sting-like feel in the part. An efflorescence appeared, which on the fourth day was rather extensive, and some degree of pain and stiffness were felt about the shoulder; but on the fifth day these symptoms began to disappear, and in a day or two after went entirely off, without producing any effect on the system.
- Smallpox can naturally be controlled by the infected human host through proper hygiene.
- Smallpox can be controlled by inoculations of harmless quantities of the disease. The host develops an immune response.
- Smallpox is highly contagious.
- I
- II
- III
- All
- None
- I and III
- II and III
- I and II
Arrangement of Words in a Sentence
Of course in simple sentences the natural order of arrangement is subject — verb — object. In many cases, no other form is possible. Thus in the sentence “The cat has caught a mouse,” we cannot reverse it and say “The mouse has caught a cat” without destroying the meaning, and in any other form of arrangement, such as “A mouse, the cat has caught,” we feel that while it is intelligible, it is a poor way of expressing the fact.
In longer sentences, however, when there are more words than what are barely necessary for subject, verb, and object, we have greater freedom of arrangement and can so place the words as to give the best effect. The proper placing of words depends upon perspicuity and precision. These two combined give style to the structure.
Most people are familiar with Gray’s line in the immortal Elegy — “The ploughman homeward plods his weary way.” This line can be paraphrased to read 18 different ways. Here are a few variations:
Homeward the ploughman plods his weary way.
The ploughman plods his weary way homeward.
Plods homeward the ploughman his weary way.
Homeward his weary way plods the ploughman.
Plods the ploughman his weary way homeward.
His weary way homeward the ploughman plods.
The ploughman plods homeward his weary way.
. . . and so on. It is doubtful if any of the other forms are superior to the one used by the poet. Of course his arrangement was made to comply with the rhythm and rhyme of the verse. Most of the variations depend upon the emphasis we wish to place upon the different words.
In arranging the words in an ordinary sentence we should not lose sight of the fact that the beginning and end are the important places for catching the attention of the reader. Words in these places have greater emphasis than elsewhere. This is especially true for the ACT essay. The graders are usually tired and harassed, and will often pay more attention to the beginning and the end of sentences and paragraphs.
In Gray’s line, the general meaning conveyed is that a weary ploughman is plodding his way homeward, but according to the arrangement a very slight difference is effected in the idea. Some of the variations make us think more of the ploughman, others more of the plodding, and still others more of the weariness.
As the beginning and end of a sentence are the most important places, it naturally follows that small or insignificant words should be kept from these positions. Of the two places, the end one is the more important, therefore, it really calls for the most important word in the sentence. Never commence a sentence with and, but, since, because, and other similar weak words and never end it with prepositions, small, weak adverbs, or pronouns.
The parts of a sentence which are most closely connected with one another in meaning should be closely connected in order also. By ignoring this principle many sentences are made, if not nonsensical, really ridiculous and ludicrous. For instance: “Ten dollars reward is offered for information of any person injuring this property by order of the owner.” “This monument was erected to the memory of John Jones, who was shot by his affectionate brother.”
In the construction of all sentences the grammatical rules must be inviolably observed. The laws of concord, that is, the agreement of certain words, must be obeyed. The amusing effect of disregarding the reference of pronouns is well illustrated by Burton in the following story of Billy Williams, a comic actor who thus narrates his experience in riding a horse owned by Hamblin, the manager:
“So down I goes to the stable with Tom Flynn, and told the man to put the saddle on him.”
“On Tom Flynn?”
“No, on the horse. So after talking with Tom Flynn awhile I mounted him.”
“What! mounted Tom Flynn?”
“No, the horse; and then I shook hands with him and rode off.”
“Shook hands with the horse, Billy?”
“No, with Tom Flynn; and then I rode off up the Bowery, and who should I meet but Tom Hamblin; so I got off and told the boy to hold him by the head.”
“What! hold Hamblin by the head?”
“No, the horse; and then we went and had a drink together.”
“What! you and the horse?”
“No, me and Hamblin; and after that I mounted him again and went out of town.”
“What! mounted Hamblin again?”
“No, the horse; and when I got to Burnham, who should be there but Tom Flynn — he’d taken another horse and rode out ahead of me; so I told the hostler to tie him up.”
“Tie Tom Flynn up?”
“No, the horse; and we had a drink there.”
“What! you and the horse?”
“No, me and Tom Flynn.”
Finding his auditors by this time in a horse laugh, Billy wound up with: “Now, look here — every time I say horse, you say Hamblin, and every time I say Hamblin you say horse: I’ll be hanged if I tell you any more about it.”5 (Abbott, How to Write Clearly)
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