In the early 1960s, the policies of South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem, a member of the Catholic minority, generated claims of religious bias against the vast Buddhist majority. In 1963, Duc, a Buddhist monk, protested by dousing himself with gasoline and burning himself to death at a Saigon intersection. Photos of his self-immolation quickly spread around the world, and the event is widely seen as the turning point that led to a regime change. Which of Duc’s organs has been preserved? Discuss
Month: June 2023
John Constable (1776)
One of the greatest 19th-century British landscape painters, Constable is known primarily for his renditions of the area surrounding his home, which has come to be known as “Constable country.” Constable’s free use of broken color and his direct observations of nature were extraordinary in his day. He received only modest recognition at home, being tardily admitted to the Royal Academy in 1829, but was more readily accepted in France. What French school of landscape painting did he influence? Discuss
go the way of the dinosaur(s)
To become extinct, obsolete, old-fashioned, or no longer in common use. Watch the video
Punjabi
Punjabi is an Indo-European language spoken in the Punjab regions of Pakistan and India, where there are 80 and 30 million speakers, respectively. Unlike other Indo-European languages, it is tonal, meaning Punjabi words have high or low tones permanently associated with them. Punjabi is the preferred language of the Sikhs, and it is the usual language of Bhangra music, popular in South Asia and abroad. What are the main dialects of Punjabi? Discuss
tyro
Mount Tarawera Erupts (1886)
Mount Tarawera, a 3,646-ft (1,111-m) high volcanic peak on New Zealand’s North Island, consists of several lava domes that were split apart by an explosive eruption in 1886, which destroyed surrounding villages and killed more than 100 people. It also destroyed the nearby Pink and White Terraces, considered by some to have been the eighth wonder of the natural world. What ghostly apparition witnessed by a boatful of tourists, including a clergyman, is said to have been a portent of the eruption? Discuss
James Francis Edward Stuart, Prince of Wales (1688)
Known as “The Old Pretender,” Stuart was the son of the exiled James II of England and claimant to the English and Scottish thrones. Raised in France, he was proclaimed King of England by French King Louis XIV upon his father’s death in 1701. However, the English Parliament passed an act excluding the male line of Stuarts from succession, and various plots and rebellions to restore him to the throne failed. What was the movement to restore the Stuart line to the throne called? Discuss
go stir-crazy
To become acutely anxious, restless, irritable, irrational, and/or depressed from remaining for too long in an unstimulating, confined, and/or isolated environment. “Stir” in this usage is a slang word for prison. Watch the video
Anna Karenina
Anna Karenina is a novel by Leo Tolstoy about the tragedy of a woman’s faith in romantic love, first published as a book in 1877. Tolstoy’s style, praised by Nabokov and Dostoevsky, is considered by many critics to represent a bridge between the realist and modernist novels. Its seventh section is, in particular, one of the earliest examples of stream-of-consciousness literature. Many critics believe that which character reflects Tolstoy’s own beliefs and struggles? Discuss
multifarious
Definition: (adjective) Having great variety; diverse.
Synonyms: multifaceted, many-sided.
Usage: This famous old French trading post continued to be a rallying point for a multifarious and motley population.
Discuss