Word: rote
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Dates: during 1930-1939
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Since 1885, U. S. Catholic children have learned by rote a "Penny Catechism" prepared by order of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore. A new catechism, compiled by 150 U. S. theologians, was last week being scrutinized by U. S. bishops...
...recognize in it something which he has met and dealt with already. The all important difference between the mind which can clear itself by thought and the mind which remains bewildered and can proceed only by burying the difficulty in a formula-retained, at best, by mere rote memory-is in this power to recognize the new problem as, in part, an old conquest." Intelligence in its highest form, he adds, is ability to ferret out the changed meaning of old words in new settings. E.g.: The water is boiling in the kettle. The kettle is boiling. ("Kettle" changes...
...officer & gentleman of the U. S. Army may proceed by rote from West Point to the grave. His future is assured by the God and Manual of Arms. For him: field duty, a tour in Washington, assignment to the Philippines, Hawaii, China, or some domestic doghouse, and always the crawl up the promotion lists from lieutenant to captain to major, perhaps to a colonelcy or even to the final glory of a general's stars. For his wife: the same, plus a lifetime with other army wives. How some of them live was told last week in a whitewashed...
...Freshman should regard knowledge as a working tool, something to keep always at hand, something that cannot be earned by rote. For the sake of intellectual honesty, if nothing else, he should avoid tutoring schools and concentrate alone. Nor ought fear of bad marks drive him to these portals, because he can better cram by himself. Unfortunately, grades are gold when considered in terms of a degree; otherwise, as a measure of ability and real knowledge, they have only petty significance...
...fields invariably look posed; caught caressing Elsa and Rudolf, they resemble the dog fanciers in the rotogravure sections. Acting is a large part of their life, and their life is a most important part of their acting. Working on a new play, they learn the lines by rote, rehearse interminably around the house. They work out scenes, time lines, until the author's conception, blended with some dash of Lunt-Fontanne sauce, is brought to a satisfactory simmer. For the audience the result looks like naturalness done to a turn. That this naturalness is frequently naughty is half...