In this section JD Daniels writes about how he was born in Kentucky. He outlines for us all the different meanings of Kentucky that were taught to him throughout the years. There were different theories from time to time that the word Kentucky derived from different Native American tribes.
What is interesting is that after all his years of being taught these things, he never really receives a definite answer of what Kentucky actually means. He even ends the passage with telling us this much. "It was clear that no one had any idea what he was talking about-and, in this manner, the most valuable part of our education was received." The most valuable lesson he learned from trying to understand the meaning of Kentucky was that no one from Kentucky had a clue what it actually meant.
This gave me a sense that Daniels was implying this sort of search for identity. That search for the meaning of Kentucky could be a reference to this uncertainty of who he really is. Just like all the people he encountered who tried so desperately to come up with different meanings for Kentucky in an effort to define where the name came from or what it means.
Welcome to the blog for Prof. John Talbird's English 220 class. The purpose of this site is two-fold: 1) to continue the conversations we start in class (or to start conversations before we get to class) and 2) to practice our writing/reading on a weekly basis in an informal forum.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.