Word: discern
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While crossing the Yard one night during freshmen orientation week, I heard rhythmic chanting emanating from a group of freshmen across the Yard. Because of the breeze and the distance between us, I could not discern the words and yet something about that melody of monotones and its degenerate animalistic qualities struck a responsive chord deep within me. Where had I heard this droning before? The beastly grunts and yells had a tribal sound like that of a rain dance or perhaps a war dance. The blood in my veins got hot. Did evolution inscribe this primitive melody and rhythym...
...great deal of confusing noise. A guide dog isn't much help here; it is trained not to cross the street but rather to stop at the curb and wait for its master's next command. In a situation where it is hard for a blind person to discern when to cross a street, it may be equally troublesome to find a person to help him. Here an offer of assistance is most welcome...
...diary-type narrative of the 1948 Deir Yassin Massacre or to a daily account of life in a Palestinian refugee camp without first putting such an article in the proper historical-political context. A lead-in article giving general background information on the issue would enable the reader to discern the emotional biases and distortions implicit in the article...
...central character, Freed, is enigmatic to a fault. McIntyre expresses nearly every emotion except pure elation by contorting his face as he exhales his cigarette smoke. To exhibit elation he does not exhale the smoke at all. Only by careful attention to this detail can one discern any emotion in the man's character...
...previous incarnation, David Weltha says, he may have been an 11th century monk. In another, he may have been an Indian boy who died in 1825 at age nine. Weltha also claims that he can occasionally discern auras around people, and he wholeheartedly believes in astrology, E.S.P. and other psychic manifestations. Such beliefs might seem suitable for a guru holding forth in the Himalayas. But should they be taught in a class by a tenured faculty member at a major state university? That is the question that is stirring the campus of Iowa