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A List of OED Words that were Researched, Tested, and Abandoned
Christopher Paul
ENGL 407
OED workshopping
3/2/2006
There are many, many things I could do with this database in reference to content and demonstrating the definition of a word. I could create a video clip, an audio clip, a 3D object that could be rotated by grabbing it with a mouse, an illustration, a word game, and/or an animation sequence. There's a whole host of things that could be done.
Pssssst! (whispering) The word is "S-e-c-r-e-t." Secret.
The Oxford English Dictionary's very first definition is the following:
1. Kept from knowledge or observation; hidden, concealed. a. Predicatively (esp. in to keep secret): Kept from public knowledge, or from the knowledge of persons specified; not allowed to be known, or only by selected persons... zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
How do you define "borrrriiiinnngggg?"
I know, let's make this an activity/game. But first let me tell you a faerie tale.
A long, long time ago, during the Middle Ages, there was a carpenter or a Free Mason. He was illiterate and could not read like everyone else. But being a Free Mason he knew 33 useful facts that he learned as being an apprentice in the craft of carpentry from a Master Free Mason. The Master Free Mason made him swear never to repeat the 33 useful facts that he taught him: keep them a secret. So the Free Mason would build a town filled with shops for the tin smith, the cobbler, and the baker. The tin smith, the cobbler, and the baker were very happy. Why do you ask? Because people always needed pots repaired, shoes repaired, and bread baked. But the Free Mason was very sad and jealous of the tin smith, the cobbler, and the baker. Once he was done building the town, there was no more work left to do and he couldn't make money to eat, but the tin smith, the cobbler, and the baker always had work, so they could eat and were very happy. The Free Mason sat in front of the baker's shop with his head hanging low. A pixie faerie flew past him and saw that he was sad.
"Why are you so sad Mr. Free Mason," said the pixie faerie.
"You see I built these shops for the tin smith, the cobbler, and the baker. They were very kind and paid me for my work, but you see now that the town is built, there's no more work, and I have no more money to eat. I don't know what to do," said the Free Mason.
"Oh, Mr. Free Mason that's so sad. But you do know 33 secrets don't you?"
"Yes, yes I do, but that won't buy me bread, said the Free Mason."
"Oh yes it will," said the pixie faerie. "Come follow me we have to cross the land to a new place where I know there are other people who want a town."
So the pixie faerie and the Free Mason set out with his Mason's square underneath his arm and they arrived at a clearing where they met some people living in the clearing. A very hard and stern man came forward and said in a boisterous voice,
"Who are you stranger and why are you here?"
The Free Mason replied, "I am a Free Mason and this pixie led me here because the people want a town."
"Oh so you're a Free Mason aye?" said the stern man. "Why these three fellows with me are also Free Masons. But I know this because I have built several towns with them and they know the secrets of the Free Masons. But I don't know you, Stranger. If you are a Free Mason hand me your Mason's Square."
The stranger handed the hard and stern man his Mason's square and the three men walked across the clearing and disappeared to a secret location where no one could see or hear. Some time went by and the three men returned across the clearing. The hard and stern Free Mason walked up to the Stranger Free Mason and handed back his Mason's square. As the hard and stern man did so, he slapped the stranger on the back let go a belly laugh. "Hahahaha, so you are a Free Mason! Come, join us. We need another man to build this town and when we are done, we shall go off and find another place where people need a town, Free Mason." So by keeping a secret, this was how the Free Masons made sure they always had work.
Okay, so maybe for some this was a little bit more entertaining than the OED entry. Or it could be an insult to you intelligence and put you off. But does this faerie tale really tell us what a secret is. Maybe. If you were not annoyed by the faerie tale you may now be asking, "Ooo! Ooo! What's the secret! What's the secret! I've got to know the Mason's secret! I won't be able to sleep tonight unless I know the secret!" Do you like games? "Yes! Yes! I like games." Do you like to draw? "Yes, yes. I love to draw." Okay, let's play a word game. I'm going to tell you in words what to draw in the drawing program. If you make a mistake the game will tell you so each step of the way. If you get it right, the game will tell you you're right and let you go on to the next step. If you have trouble with the task you can click "Show Me" and the game will show you what to do. When you are done with the task, you will know step by step what the three Free Mason's did to see if the Stranger was telling the truth and you will also know the first secret of the Free Mason's.
By defining secret through an illustration or by example, there are still other ways I could define it continuing to use the Free Masons. I could probably explain it as a Geometrical Proof or have the user construct the secret by geometry, which is pretty much what I would do in the game, but with the game I can at least make the secret interactive. I can engage the viewer. I could probably make it a contest too in the classroom. Have people pair off, give out the instructions in words and the team that completes the instructions correctly first wins the contest.
If someone reads this post, I would guess the inquiring mind would be curious "Where in hell did you get this idea of using the Free Mason's for the purpose of illustrating the definition by example of the word "secret." I think this "process" is much more interesting and demonstrates how one or two words planted into a "fertile mind" like a "seed" can blossom into the development of a whole universe of possibilities. The faerie tale is mine, the drawing game is mine. The seed was the explanation of the connection of the Free Masons to Geometry, that's a "seeeeeecret," unless someone is interested in how A lead to B, which lead to C. This I will definitely use in my choices section of the project because I'm sure Shipka would be highly interested what began the creative process.
Christopher Paul
ENGL 407
OED Workshopping
3/7/2006
Many of the words I researched either do not have large enough definitions or I cannot see how to re-conceptualize them and in other cases I cannot see a position for an argument.
Words researched that related how I felt about the assignment:
Abandon
Consume
Endure
Frustrate
Obsess ("This" word came out of the workshop related to the word "addiction" leading to the
word "obsession." Both words have negative connotations in language today.)
Prevail
Words researched that seem to have no argument:
Air
Air is also peculiar in that it 44 pages of data but a great deal of it is hyphenated words. It is not clear if hyphenated words may be used which appears to be one of its weaknesses and there does not seem to be an argument I can generate from the word.
Abide
Advance
Agree
Apathy
Expand
Frame
Introvert
Menu
Peck
Perceive
Percolate
Persuade
Peg
The word "Frame" has many definitions and many ways it can be re-conceptualized, but I cannot see the argument with the word other than the ways that the OED may represent the definitions of the word.
The word "Peck" ha a few definitions related to birds and even though I like birds and have a parrot I think this word has too many definitions related to birds that are all similar. These definitions become difficult to re-conceptualize because of their similarity.
The word "Peg" surprisingly had many definitions but I am not clear as to how many of the definitions may be re-conceptualized.
The best of word for this purpose seems to be "consume." "Consume" comes into play because of how consuming this creative process has been so far. My mind would keep coming back to the project knowing I had to come up with some second word. I would test a word at random only to find it did not work either because I could not re-conceptualize it, because I could not construct an argument around the word, or because the word did not have enough data. The assignment was consuming all my time including sleep time. I had to resort to just starting at the beginning of the dictionary word by word because nothing was coming to mind and nothing was stimulating my thoughts on a new word.
Consume
The argument is how consuming mentally and emotionally this assignment has become. The words in the OED flat and lifeless and do not describe the actual act of consume or how a process can consume a person. Re-conceptualization would be in a story (maybe) describing a consumer society that consumes everything to the point that in order to continue begins to consume itself. The problem I see here is that I would not be playing to my strengths. I do very little creative writing and I have been warned, not warned but recommended not to go further in my education on the creative side because there are others who are much better at the art and I have seen this. I know I can do creative writing but as was noted and I have also noted, there are others that are much better at the trade.
The word consume appears to lend itself well to a web page with half consumed items. A strength of this word would be consumed 3D objects some of which would have to be photographed because some would become disgusting by "pass it forward" time therefore out of respect these would be best photographed to capture them in their moment in time and simply dispose of them.
The best word seems to still be "secret" because there is an entire story that led to the word choice and how with little thought the ideas simply flowed when it was necessary to create a Blackboard post. This word seems to generate the most information leading to insight of the creative process in re-contextualizing the OED data. The problem with "secret" is probably in using the OED definitions. A way I am thinking of getting around this is altering the fairy tale to a dialog or a comedy skit similar to Saturday Night Live. I would play the father telling the fairy tale and one of the women would dress up and act as a bratty little five year old who keeps interrupting the telling of the fairy tale asking what the word means every time the word is used in the story. This would allow me to plug in the OED definitions and then return to the story. I could then demonstrate my "frustration" with the entire assignment through the little girl's constant interruptions. My argument is that the OED have the ability to engage the reader through entertainment but does not because of its eliteness.
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