Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2014 December 4

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December 4

Mockingbird

Which chapters in To Kill a Mockingbird feature just courtroom scenes? Thank you. 49.226.57.8 (talk) 08:34, 4 December 2014 (UTC)

• The website http://www.sparknotes.com/ gives chapter summaries of major novels and will have that information. μηδείς (talk) 17:38, 4 December 2014 (UTC)

what is the site for calculating drink/drug intake?

Hi, awhile ago I came across a site set up with questions and charts to help an inquirer to assess whether they were below average, average, or excessive drinkers (and I think there was one about drugs). I can't find it now, but it was short, to the point, informative and non-judgemental (as in not about the risks etc) just about the intake and what that indicated for the person asking. Having no luck re-finding it and want to recommend it. Thanks in advance Manytexts (talk) 08:55, 4 December 2014 (UTC)

AlcoholScreening.org is something like that. If you wonder if you drink too much British alcohol, see the NHS one. If you trust The Daily Mail to test you, you might already be too drunk. InedibleHulk (talk) 01:05, 5 December 2014 (UTC)

Is the use of the word "autological" in the following sentence correct?

The sentence is: "When the singing of a song could be inserted in the plot, Grand Opéra librettists rarely missed an opportunity to provide composers with an excuse for an autological use of music". This sentence takes the word "autological" to be a synonym of "self-referential", that is singing that is meant to represent actual singing as opposed to singing representing things that do not involve singing in real life (plot dialogs, monologs, etc.). But is that correct? If not, what other word would you suggest? Contact Basemetal here 09:21, 4 December 2014 (UTC)

In films, it's called "diegetic" music or "source music" (no idea about opera)... AnonMoos (talk) 09:57, 4 December 2014 (UTC)

Hmm. While in a (non musical) movie or play you can neatly divide the use of music into "diegetic" and "non diegetic", in opera or a musical it would be odd to say that characters who are singing cannot "hear" that they're singing. So you'd have "non diegetic" music that is actually "heard" by the characters. That's why, even though the concepts are the same, I would not use "diegetic" in the context of opera or a musical movie. Other suggestions? Contact Basemetal here 10:50, 4 December 2014 (UTC)

There are many examples: the tenor singing an Italian aria "Di rigori armato" in the otherwise German opera Der Rosenkavalier; various "music lesson" scenes; various dancing scenes; etc. I've never heard any of the above words used in reference to these, but that means nothing as I am not an operalogist, just a dilettantish operamane. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 19:52, 4 December 2014 (UTC)

"Autological" is a nonce-word, specifically coined for Grelling's paradox, so I don't think it can be recommended in the sentence. (1) A piece of music isn't a word, and therefore can't be autological in the literal sense. (2) If we allow a metaphorical usage, the piece of music has to _describe_ (not evoke or represent) something, which isn't one of music's normal functions. (3) Even if we accept that music can describe things (including other pieces of music), I can't see how a piece of music can describe _itself_. Tevildo (talk) 23:17, 4 December 2014 (UTC)

"This Is My Song"? -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 22:00, 9 December 2014 (UTC)

First occurrence of a play within a play/a story within a story?

Do you happen to know what the first occurrence is (in any literature) of "a play within a play" (as in Hamlet)? Of "a story within a story" (as in the Arabian Nights)? Same question for European literatures? Same question for English literature? Contact Basemetal here 09:28, 4 December 2014 (UTC)

As far as English literature is concerned you can take it right back to the Anglo-Saxons. Beowulf has several, including the Finnsburg episode, in which a scop sings about events surrounding the battle of Finnsburg. --Antiquary (talk) 11:04, 4 December 2014 (UTC)

Thanks Antiquary. A good part of the Odyssey is taken by Ulysses recounting his adventures to the Phaeacians I believe, so technically a story within a story. (Not to mention the two short stories performed by Demodocus, the "singer" (aoidos) of the Phaeacians just before he starts.) That would bring us back to about 800 BC. In Latin isn't there something similar in the Aeneid with Aeneas telling Dido about his adventures? How about literature older than the Greek? And how about "modern" European literatures (i.e. nor Latin nor Greek)? More examples welcome. And please do not forget the "play within a play" part of the question. Contact Basemetal here 13:21, 4 December 2014 (UTC)

For an early play within a play, our article story within a story suggests The Spanish Tragedy (ca. 1587, perhaps two decades before Hamlet). Two far older works listed there, with stories within stories, are the Mahabharata and Panchatantra. For an older (and Greek) play: Thesmophoriazusae? (not mentioned in that article) ---Sluzzelin talk 13:43, 4 December 2014 (UTC)

Ddduuuhhh!!! I even didn't know WP had a "story within a story" article. That's the first thing I shoulda tried. Thanks Sluzzelin. Lots of stuff there. Thanks. Contact Basemetal here 14:06, 4 December 2014 (UTC)

Then it's time to point out, once again, that WHAAOE. ---Sluzzelin talk 18:06, 4 December 2014 (UTC)

Yes, very true. See Everything. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 19:38, 4 December 2014 (UTC)

Even farther back than Homer, the Egyptian Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor (from around 2060 to 1800 BC) and Westcar Papyrus (about 1800 to 1530 BC) consist of stories within stories. A. Parrot (talk) 21:56, 4 December 2014 (UTC)

Gilgamesh, too? The play within Hamlet isn't even Shakespeare's first use of the trope. As far as I know, that would be Pyramus and Thisbe, about a decade earlier. Evan ^{(talk|contribs)} 01:04, 7 December 2014 (UTC)

Chairing multi party meetings

If you're chairing a meeting with people representing multiple organisations, what's the best way to start? Is it a quick going around the table introducing themselves and what they want to get out of the meeting? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.66.246.13 (talk) 10:18, 4 December 2014 (UTC)

Going round for introductions is very common and doesn't take up much time. However, if at the same time people are asked what they want out of the meeting, that slows things down a lot, and I wouldn't do it unless participants might have any doubt about why they had been called together. If you have an agenda, you could instead briefly go through what's on the agenda and ask if everyone agrees. They might want to change the order or add items, and that would then fulfil the function of letting them shape how the meeting goes. Itsmejudith (talk) 12:33, 4 December 2014 (UTC)

This article may help give you some ideas for running your meeting. --Jayron32 01:10, 5 December 2014 (UTC)

All I get there is a "Thought of the Day" (today it is "Those who condemn wealth are those who have none and see no chance of getting it." William Penn Patrick) and "Continue to Site". No article. Contact Basemetal here 13:40, 6 December 2014 (UTC)

Sorry, I fixed the link. Try it now. --Jayron32 15:00, 6 December 2014 (UTC)

It works: "Seven Steps etc." Thanks. Contact Basemetal here 15:09, 6 December 2014 (UTC)

If you want more control over the meeting, and don't want one person going on for too long, you might want to do one of the following:

A) Introduce everyone yourself. Of course, this requires that you have the necessary info ahead of time.

B) Ask everyone to introduce themselves, but don't leave them with open-ended questions like "What do you hope to get out of this meeting". Simply asking their name and title might be better. StuRat (talk) 02:55, 7 December 2014 (UTC)

The chairperson might usefully start out by saying why we're all here today, and unless anyone interjects, that can be taken as general agreement. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 19:00, 9 December 2014 (UTC)

Story in which the focal character is a protagonist but the narrator is an antagonist

Does anyone know of such a story? Thanks.--Leon (talk) 14:21, 4 December 2014 (UTC)

• The movie Amadeus is a perfect example. μηδείς (talk) 17:36, 4 December 2014 (UTC)

• TV Tropes has an entire category on the topic. See Here. --Jayron32 01:08, 5 December 2014 (UTC)

I don't see how the second link is what I'm after. I'll check the first one out.--Leon (talk) 14:57, 5 December 2014 (UTC)

Germany and its former colonies

We don't answer requests for opinions, predictions or debate
The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.
What are the chances that Germany will retake their colonies back after losing them following their WW1 defeat? --Allin Bagsnott (talk) 20:20, 4 December 2014 (UTC) Retake them now, by military conquest ? Approximately zero. Now there's always neocolonialism, if that's what you mean, but I don't think Germany had colonies long enough to establish large German-speaking populations in it's colonies, which would be the usual basis for having stronger relations with former colonies. StuRat (talk) 06:51, 5 December 2014 (UTC)

Approximately zero, I'd have thought too. The minority ethnic German populations outside Germany (Volksdeutsche), who provided a useful pretext for Hitlerite aggression, were expelled from their countries at the end of the Second World War - Stalin seems to have got his retaliation in early against the Germans in the USSR - if you read Dostoyevsky, you come across a broad middle class of Germans living in Russia who seem to have disappeared a hundred years later.

My own impression of the Germans is that nowadays they are cringingly politically correct - public criticism of Israeli policy, for example, is non-existent. I am afraid that they are rather wet and weedy by comparison with their grandparents.

I suppose that you could make the Nicholas Ridley point that the entire EC project is an attempt to impose a Continental German hegemony by stealth; it doesn't seem to be going too well at the moment, though it is a bit more subtle than invading Poland. 91.228.232.122 (talk) 12:24, 9 December 2014 (UTC)