3.

This week in class, we discussed three very different pieces with similar themes: The Partly Cloudy Patriot by Sarah Vowell, On the Duty of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau, and This is Water by David Foster Wallace.  The Partly Cloudy Patriot is about thinking for yourself instead of blindly following the voice of authorities.  Sarah Vowell concentrates on the idea of standing up –sometimes against society and the government- for your own beliefs no matter what.  The purpose of On the Duty of Civil Disobedience is to persuade people to make it known what kind of government would command his respect in order to one day achieve that government.  In order to reach this goal, people would have to think independently and go after their dreams even if no one is supporting them. The quote,” Let your life be a counter friction to stop the machine,” shows Thoreau wants people to live in a way that goes against the evils of the government.  The main idea of This is Water is people should be more conscious of their surroundings and think about events from other people’s perspectives occasionally.  Wallace’s goal with this speech was to promote awareness of our interdependent lives.  And with an anecdote depicting a basic, boring day, Wallace asserts that we are all in this together.

It is October, the busiest time of year for marching band, and as a captain of the color guard, I related all of these messages to my color guard life immediately.  Although the pieces are similar in that they all promote independent thinking which requires confidence, I applied each piece to my guard life a little differently.  We have a coach who is insanely scary and super strict but reading The Partly Cloudy Patriot reminded me that if I have constructive, useful information to share that would benefit the team, I should speak up.  My solo is the entire first song of the half time show.  I am also standing alone on a five foot tall ramp, so I am very visible.  My coach choreographed my solo for me but told me I could change up parts of it if I wanted to.  So far in the season, I have been performing exactly what my coach gave me.  Reading On the Duty of Civil Disobedience has inspired me to think for myself and recreate my solo to better fit my strengths.  There are 22 girls on guard this year.  I think this is common for any activity or sport but when you have a bunch of girls spending a lot of time together, drama is bound to occur and feelings get hurt.  This is Water definitely inspired me to think about situations from other people’s perspectives in order to avoid these negative effects.  This is Water has also reminded me that in the end, the entire guard has a common goal of making the show the best it can possibly be.  To do this, the team needs to work cohesively because the band is only as strong as its weakest link.  I hope that I can use my new perspectives to benefit the guard.