Patriotisiom

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Patriotisiom

by jagan.y » Fri Jul 12, 2013 5:55 am
What is patriotism? Is it love of one's birthplace, the place of childhood's recollections and hopes, dreams and aspirations? Is it the place where, in childlike naivety, we would watch the fleeting clouds, arid wonder why we, too, could not run so swiftly? The place where we would count the milliard glittering stars, terror-stricken lest each one 'an eye should be,' piercing the very depths of our little souls? Is it the place where we would listen to the music of the birds, and long to have wings to fly, even as they, to q distant lands? Or the place where we would sit at mother's knee, enraptured by wonderful tales of great deeds and conquests? In short, is it . love for the spot, every inch representing dear and precious recollections of a happy, joyous, and playful childhood?

If that were patriotism, few American men of today could be called upon to be patriotic, since the place of play has been turned into factory, mill, and mine, while deafening sounds of machinery have replaced the music of the birds. Nor can we longer hear the tales of great deeds, for the stories our mothers tell today are but those of sorrow, tears, and grief.

What, then, is patriotism? "Patriotism, sir, is the last resort of scoundrels, said Dr. Johnson. Leo Tolstoy, the greatest anti-patriot of our times, defines patriotism as the principle that will justify the training of wholesale murderers; a trade that requires better equipment for the . exercise of man-killing than the making of such necessities of life as shoes, clothing, and houses; a trade that guarantees better returns and greater glory than that of the average workingman.

Gustave Herve, another great anti-patriot, justly calls patriotism a superstition-one far more injurious, brutal, and inhumane than religion. The superstition of religion originated in man's inability to explain natural phenomena. That is, when primitive man heard thunder or saw the lightning, he could not account for . either, ' and therefore concluded that back of . them ' must be a force greater than himself. Similarly he saw a supernatural force in the rain, and in the various other changes in nature. Patriotism, on the other hand, is a superstition artificially created and maintained through the network of lies and falsehoods; a superstition that robs man of his self-respect and dignity, and increases his arrogance and conceit.

1. The primary purpose of the passage is to
(A) provide contrasting definitions of a term
(B) advocate in favour of a new definition for an old term
(C) criticise a group of people for the incorrect interpretation of a term
(D) evaluate two definitions of a term
(E) state that an earlier definition of a term may not apply anymore and search for an alternative definition

Why not A

Source: Aristotle RC Grail
OA: E

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by Abhishek009 » Fri Oct 25, 2013 9:49 am
Paragraph 1 : What is patriotism? Is it....

The author describes Patriostism

Paragraph 2 : If that were patriotism, few American men of today could be called upon to be patriotic, since .....

He challenges the idea.

Paragraph 3 : What, then, is patriotism? "Patriotism, sir, is ......

1st New definition proposed.

Paragraph 4 : Gustave Herve, another great anti-patriot, justly calls patriotism a .....

2nd New definition proposed.


The authors idea, definition of Patriotism differs with those of others but , the thing to note here is that the following lines -

Few American men of today could be called upon to be patriotic since...

This suggests the author is referring to partial acceptance / advocates the change...

Hence IMO E seems correct over A
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by mevicks » Sat Oct 26, 2013 8:52 am
jagan.y wrote:WHAT is patriotism? Is it love of one's birthplace, the place of childhood's recollections and hopes, dreams and aspirations ? Is it the place where, in childlike naivete, we would watch the fleeting clouds, and wonder why we, too, could not run so swiftly? The place where we would count the milliard glittering stars, terror-stricken lest each one "an eye should be," piercing the very depths of our little souls? Is it the place where we would listen to the music of the birds, and long to have wings to fly, even as they, to distant lands? Or the place where we would sit at mother's knee, enraptured by wonderful tales of great deeds and conquests ? In short, is it love for the spot, every inch representing dear and precious recollections of a happy, joyous, and playful childhood?

If that were patriotism, few American men of today could be called upon to be patriotic, since the place of play has been turned into factory, mill, and mine, while deafening sounds of machinery have replaced the music of the birds. Nor can we longer hear the tales of great deeds, for the stories our mothers tell today are but those of sorrow, tears, and grief.

What, then, is patriotism? "Patriotism, sir, is the last resort of scoundrels," said Dr. Johnson. Leo Tolstoy, the greatest anti-patriot of our times, defines patriotism as the principle that will justify the training of wholesale murderers; a trade that requires better equipment for the exercise of man-killing than the making of such necessities of life as shoes, clothing, and houses; a trade that guarantees better returns and greater glory than that of the average workingman.

Gustave Hervé, another great anti-patriot, justly calls patriotism a superstition - one far more injurious, brutal, and inhumane than religion. The superstition of religion originated in man's inability to explain natural phenomena. That is, when primitive man heard thunder or saw the lightning, he could not account for either, and therefore concluded that back of them must be a force greater than himself. Similarly he saw a supernatural force in the rain, and in the various other changes in nature. Patriotism, on the other hand, is a superstition artificially created and maintained through a network of lies and falsehoods; a superstition that robs man of his self-respect and dignity, and increases his arrogance and conceit.
Mapping of the passage:
P1: Author tries to correlate the meaning of patriotism with the love of the land.
P2: The earlier meaning of patriotism is no more valid as Industrialization has taken over.
P3: Introduces the definitions provided by anti-patriots (Dr. Johnson & Leo Tolstoy) -- patriotism is the last resort of scoundrels; trains wholesale murderers.
P4: Author justifies the definition provided by yet another anti-patriot (Gustave Herve) as being superstitious.

Main idea: The "love of the land" correlation to define patriotism works no more and we need to consider alternate definitions as mentioned in P3&P4.

(A) provide contrasting definitions of a term
We are not contrasting or differentiating between definitions; so this is invalid
(B) advocate in favour of a new definition for an old term
The author advocates only in the final paragraphs; thus not the central idea of the whole passage
(C) criticise a group of people for the incorrect interpretation of a term
No criticism is offered by the author
(D) evaluate two definitions of a term
The author is just presenting the views of others but not evaluating something
(E) state that an earlier definition of a term may not apply anymore and search for an alternative definition
This paraphrases the mapping done earlier

[spoiler]Answer : E[/spoiler]