Raising Hell

The topic of discussion was for the course that was titled: 

Myth and Truth. 

ENG. 444 

Fall 2020, 2021, 2022, etc.

I was there as a journalism major, so I'm in a way reporting on my own class, sort of autobiográphical, isn't it? I thought maybe you'd like some realia from the class? You know, so you can pay better attention pr pay attention better. Following is an excerpt from the syllabus (professor's name redacted) that was distributed.

SYLLABUS

November 19 Real Exam or Warm-up?

You will form 4 groups of equal number from the class members. Then, you will each discuss the concepts of raising the dead and resurrection (with or without a capital R) for 30 minutes. 

It will help to base your discussion on the reading assignments. (Hint…) Further suggestions are the 3 options below:

ex: Matthew 10:8 NKJ 8 "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.” 

Or: https://youtu.be/7qTinxGGpA0?si=9H8ZLtZmW4gelKLn (Caravan of Thieves)] 

Or: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raise_the_Dead. Or Resurrect vs. to raise from the dead. Or https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/magic-shows/raising-dead  

Note from Narrator, me, the person at the beginning): To readers of this story: please make sure you click on the links. This is both and English and a multimedia course - many of us are coss-listed these days - in academe. These linkjs are a multimodal assignment. (See Syllabus) This information is necessary to understand the group conversations, at least initially. 

Groups 1 and 2 will join into a single group, and groups 3 and 4 will do the same.

The two new groups will each create a template for the correct procedures to be used for raising the dead far back in history and - in contrast - for raising them in the current social and political state of the world.

I'm here to report that all my classmates and I as well, were dumfounded. We had almost no goals or objectives, other than create a set of 'correct procedures' for something none of knew how to do, and most didn't want to learn. They were just looking for a few good stories from the Greeks and Romans. (Note from Narrator-Reporter. Almost forgot to identify my source: Me)

Some of the mandated group conversations went in the manner of the following excerpts, which I tried to get down as accurately as possible. Meaning I did my best to grab things from here and there as fast as I could. None of the questions or statements is attributed to any speaker in particular, just to be safe. These were the first set of 4 groups and the second set of 2, if anybody's wondering. That's the journalist in me.)

Raising the dead? Who'd want to do that? Let sleeping d....

Raising which dead? I mean is this in general terms like people no longer living or are we using shorthand to refer to The Grateful Dead? Kafka, even.

How many dead do I get to raise, if I am allowed to do so? (no idea)

 Does their sciatica hurt too much or do they just need a little stretch? (maybe?)

Why raise them at all? What do they really need that a coffin and some dirt won't resolve? Are we just projecting?

How are we supposed to do the raising?  

Trial and error? Is that the correct procedure? (I was afraid of that)

Should we follow the rules or make our own?

Light candles? Can we do that? 

Oh, Sage and Pine Incense are the best when seeking strong guidance. 

Would we need a play-off between Spirits and Ghosts to determine who rules over the graveyard? Hahahahahahaahahahahahaaaahhaaaa

It sounded like some of the group were getting in over their heads, so I moved up ahead to the next group. I heard things like:

What dead would I like to raise? I wonder if we'd need to get an interpreter in some cases?

What do I want to say to them? If they've been gone for a long time, we wouldn't have anything in common.

What do they think we'll do? Put on a reality TV show? Express anger? Ask forgiveness? Say we love them but also hate them? Apologize? Ask for a dangerous explanation or iffy information?

Why do I personally need to know these things? They weren.t on any app that I've seen and I've seen the majority. 

What will this topic and its discussion add to my life?

How long will this take me to finish? I need it to be broken down, step by step.

Is it going to be on the test?

(excerpt from Syllabus)

..... and this is why you will each choose 5 specific dead. Why five? It’s one of my three favorite numbers. Of course if you add or subtract them in different ways, you get different amounts. So…

No, I get it. Five should be enough. I’ll suggest five, or five-and-a-half to you because I can’t separate the baby from his father.

Karl or Carl Mörz, maybe Wilhelm, his son 

Tasha Tudor, for several reasons, but not as a perfect ten out of ten; nine.

Emily Dickinson. I would ask her if she was happy and when she was happiest 

Rosalía de Castro. I would ask her about her children who died; also, how one can face constant physical pain… No, why try to make her into something docile; I want to know why she ordered things destroyed; to know the things she said herself that women couldn’t yet say ‘what they know and think’.

Mary Oliver. More stark or direct than other nature or ecopoets, Oliver could just offer me her smile and talk about the nature in front of us. That would be way more than enough. Then, I’d just like to shadow her for an hour, outside, no conversation.

I talk about these three all the time, so why not now?

But making lists is so limiting. Just do the assignment, please.

(Note from Jounalist-Narrator-Student) And nobody has ever discussed with me what methods should be used to elevate, I mean, raise them.

That's a good point you made? (Who asked that question?)

How high is the elevation? You're aware some participants might suffer from vertigo or claustrophobia? And do these raised dead persons stand up or remain horizontal?

Oh dear. I think I’m confusing ghost with cadaver. No self-respecting ghost or student in English 444 would admit to making that error, let alone one who's actually majoring in a writing degree, Journalism. Like moi.

Thus I should expect to encounter ghosts standing up, their feet planted firmly (if such a thing is possible for a ghost) on the ground. They don’t look like the Casper of many childhood movies, I realize that. They might look like a fuzzy black and white Polaroid shot or they may be little more than a puff of smoke, seen from the side.

The imagination knows no limits. (About as pedantic as it gets, or if no, then pseudo-artistocratic.)

My companion says:

I’d rather wait. I need to start being a little more certain of my choices before I make them. (announce them sounds better)

You’re some Braveheart! You’re going leave me exposed. Maybe I should go back to my good friend Godot, for whom I’ve been waiting for forever. 

(Note what jusssstttt happened to my syntax… 

and now there goes my spspellings two!) 

Maybe I’m not convinced we need to wait for him anymore, because we all know he’s not coming back. Convinced. It’s a nice verb, but I think they use it differently in Spanish and Galician, por cortesía. So they'll be understood and not looked down on as country bumpkins.

Maybe I should wait for something that isn’t going to happen or for someone I am certain will not come. That way I am not distracted by hope, which I send out of my body and thus feed on myself to seek in vain. That way I can better observe the process of simply waiting, waiting without wearing oneself down by useless hope. 

Perhaps wanting to raise the dead is a useless desire. What do they have to say that we would believe, or even listen to? If we just wait a few more years, we’ll be able to join the ones we want to arouse now. And sometimes I fear that by just thinking about them, in memories, we are keeping them alive. They have earned a rest, have they not?

Epilogue (because there needs to be one)

If you were expecting me to clarify the origin and meaning of these ramblings, you are not going to be disappointed. I'll just throw out a few words and let you take it from there to see if this story has a meaning or not, if it has any structure, even the smallest unit.

We have a few issues that as readers or critics - one can't be both - we need to resolve, however. 

1. When a person talks, do we know how much of the thought they're talking is theirs and how mych is imported? 

2. Is it ever possible to forget death exists, until it isn't?

3. How objective can journalism be?

I think these were notes taken by Dana, who tends to blur the edges of truth and fiiction, and maybe the class note got shuffled into the reporting class assignments. I tried to keep them in the prroper order, meaning, the way I found them.

These ramblings, as they're being called, are difficult to follow, like trying to navigate the sand detween tufts of husky heather. The characters (there are few) flight in and out of sight. The ghost is beyond the grasp.

As it should be.