In my Journalism class today we were talking about laying out for the "Senior Destinations" issue, this issue is an issue that essentially lists all of the seniors and which colleges they will attend in the fall. This concept caught my attention because the "Senior Destinations" issue is just a way for kids and parents to show off about where they got into and where they are going.Wrapping up my third year at New Trier, I have come to realize that there are so many different titles that New Trier uses that seem unnecessary. By this I am referring to why gym class is called "Kinetic Wellness" class. Or why New Trier calls the language department the "Modern and Classical Language Department" or why the multipurpose room's formal name is the "Audio Visual EPI Center". All of these names and practices that New Trier carries out are a representation of the self-important feeling and need to show of that clouds New Trier.
However on a larger scale, I think America in general feels the same way. Wedding invitations are worded as an annoucement from the parents to show of the marriage of thier child and this overall are often made up to sounds "showier" than they actually are. In "White Noise" by Don DeLillo, DeLillo satirizes this aspect of American culture by naming the locations in his book things like "The Airport Marriot, the Downtown Travelodge, the Sheraton Inn, and Conference Center" (15). All of these locations are plain and named because they accurately describe the location, they are not showy or made up to be more than what it is. The names at New Trier and the names that we see in and around or community are a construction made to increase the face value of a location, thing, or entity. Since so much is based off of names, as my colleague Elise wrote in her blog, we try and increase general interest in our names by making them showier and more important than they actually might be.
What effect do you think showier names have on people?
This is a really interesting post Jasmine. While I do agree that people more often than not just use the Destinations Issue as a kind of gossip-starter, that's not always what it is used for. There are a lot of people choosing to take a different path next year like a Gap Year or the military. So it's also about just seeing and respecting where your fellow peers are going next year.
ReplyDeleteBut to address your question, I think New Trier is really known for creating its own names for things like "advisery" or "kinetic wellness". There is a sense of place and uniqueness that comes with these names, and maybe people like that at New Trier. I think that it can foster an elitist mindset, however, and that when we use different names for things, we try set ourselves apart too much, and as a result end up coming across as a bit arrogant, or like you say "self-important".