Blog Post On Week 3 Readings
Example Of A Good Sentence:
"While strength is the natural quality of an individual seen in isolation, power springs up between men when they act together and vanishes the moment they disperse." - (Arendt, page 200)
What is really important to me is clarity. I like this sentence because it clearly defines that strength is an individual attribute. In contrast it denotes power as something that springs up, more so a quality of the time. I like how these terms are quite different, seemingly on a different spectrum. Strength is referred to as one's individual's capacity overall, this is mostly stable. In contrast power is something that comes about, so it incredibly unstable and fleeting. Further power is different in that it can be such when multiple men act, no single individual according to her passage can enact it, instead multiple persons are necessary. Beyond her meaning, I like the sentence because it sounds passionate particularly so when speaking of power. I can almost feel the tone of amazement and intrigue as she describes powering springing up, and then such power vanishing once the people disperse. It moves one to recognize the capacity of the collective, and yet how fragile such power can be.
Example Of A Bad Sentence:
"Under the conditions of human life, the only alternative to power is not strength-which is helpless against power-but force, which indeed one man alone can exert against his fellow men and of which one or a few can possess a monopoly by acquiring the means of violence." - (Arendt, page 202)
The thing that bothers me about this sentence is the amount of newly defined terminology employed. As we discussed in lecture it's hard to keep in my Arendt's versions of these words clear and consistent in speech. So, for one looking over this sentence, you must comb through it thoroughly and keep in tact what definitions she laid out earlier in the reading. Essentially you must over-ride your instinctual understanding and actively apply the new found definitions. I feel like this sentence could also be broken up into two sentences to make it easier to contemplate. One could also condense it by eliminating "not strength-which is helpless against power-but", doing so would make it flow better logically. This piece of information can be then stated in another sentence in the text.
Example Of A Good Sentence:
"While strength is the natural quality of an individual seen in isolation, power springs up between men when they act together and vanishes the moment they disperse." - (Arendt, page 200)
What is really important to me is clarity. I like this sentence because it clearly defines that strength is an individual attribute. In contrast it denotes power as something that springs up, more so a quality of the time. I like how these terms are quite different, seemingly on a different spectrum. Strength is referred to as one's individual's capacity overall, this is mostly stable. In contrast power is something that comes about, so it incredibly unstable and fleeting. Further power is different in that it can be such when multiple men act, no single individual according to her passage can enact it, instead multiple persons are necessary. Beyond her meaning, I like the sentence because it sounds passionate particularly so when speaking of power. I can almost feel the tone of amazement and intrigue as she describes powering springing up, and then such power vanishing once the people disperse. It moves one to recognize the capacity of the collective, and yet how fragile such power can be.
Example Of A Bad Sentence:
"Under the conditions of human life, the only alternative to power is not strength-which is helpless against power-but force, which indeed one man alone can exert against his fellow men and of which one or a few can possess a monopoly by acquiring the means of violence." - (Arendt, page 202)
The thing that bothers me about this sentence is the amount of newly defined terminology employed. As we discussed in lecture it's hard to keep in my Arendt's versions of these words clear and consistent in speech. So, for one looking over this sentence, you must comb through it thoroughly and keep in tact what definitions she laid out earlier in the reading. Essentially you must over-ride your instinctual understanding and actively apply the new found definitions. I feel like this sentence could also be broken up into two sentences to make it easier to contemplate. One could also condense it by eliminating "not strength-which is helpless against power-but", doing so would make it flow better logically. This piece of information can be then stated in another sentence in the text.
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