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Question Tuesday: TFIOS Movie, Existential Crises, and Symbolism

2014-03-11 · Q&A · John · 3:40 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Books & writing (also: Nerdfighteria, Science & nature, Projects, Pop culture, Sports) · mode: Q&A & conversation · tags: recurring series, self promotion, community lore

John answers viewer questions: he loves the TFIOS film, reading correlates with empathy, The Art Assignment recalls early Vlogbrothers, and writers use symbols to make abstract ideas observable and powerful.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Greeting; Question Tuesday

00:00:04 — Why Hamlet's father is named Hamlet; next week's Crash Course Literature

  • ★★ Answering why Hamlet's father is also named Hamlet ('old-fashioned Shakespearean doubling'), John says it will be discussed in detail in next week's (week of 17 March 2014) Crash Course Literature. — 00:00:06 · Crash Course

00:00:11 — Is the TFIOS movie actually good? John loves it

00:00:33 — Are readers more empathetic? Studies on literary fiction

  • ★★ John says studies show a correlation between empathy and reading, at least for literary fiction. — 00:00:36 · empathy

00:00:40 — Elbows; 'I don't watch your videos'; staring into the void; the ocean

  • ★ John calls 'I don't watch your videos, why should I?' a terrible Question Tuesday question, since such a viewer by definition won't hear his answer. (playful) — 00:00:47 · Question Tuesday

00:01:15 — More stars in the universe or grains of sand on Earth?

  • ★★ John thinks there are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on Earth, calling it a beautiful question that makes him grateful to apprehend the universe; more info in the description. (hedged) — 00:01:19 · doobly-doo

00:01:34 — Participating in The Art Assignment: like early Vlogbrothers

  • ★★★ John says participating in The Art Assignment is the most fun he has had in a long time, like early Vlogbrothers: a tight-knit community doing projects and responding to each other's work. — 00:01:36 · The Art Assignment, Vlogbrothers

00:01:47 — Excited for the Divergent movie

  • ★ John says he is 'already-bought-my-tickets-for-opening-day' excited for the Divergent film, two weeks away. (playful) — 00:01:50

00:01:53 — Predictions for the IndyCar season

  • ★★ Revealing he is a secret IndyCar fan, John predicts Tony Kanaan will win the Indy 500 for the second time and Will Power will take the series title. (hedged) — 00:01:58

00:02:06 — DFTBA in French

00:02:13 — Why writers use symbolism: metaphor, the green light, making the abstract observable

  • ★★ On why writers use symbolism, John says a metaphor like 'my brain is on fire' is used so a serious headache can be understood as one needing attention. — 00:02:14

  • ★★★ John says symbols apply the same imagistic principle to complex ideas, like yearning across the bay for the green light while class stands in the way, making the abstract observable and more powerful. — 00:02:31

    “when you talk about it symbolically, it becomes more powerful because instead of being abstract, it becomes kind of observable”

00:03:05 — Best butt (Wil Wheaton's); dreaming of being a pizza

00:03:29 — Most excited about: The Art Assignment; asks viewers; sign-off

  • ★★ John says he is most excited right now about The Art Assignment and asks viewers to say in comments what they are most excited about. — 00:03:34 · The Art Assignment

Humor (significant)

  • Asked where he stands on elbows, — 00:00:42

    “I don't; I only stand on my feet.”

  • Wondering how to reach people not inside the camera, John decides no one may be in there and he is staring into the void. — 00:01:06

    “Oh god, I feel an existential crisis coming on.”

  • Asked who has the best butt, him or Hank, John says neither. — 00:03:07

    “the best butt I've ever personally seen is actually Wil Wheaton's.”

  • Asked if he ever dreamed of being a pizza, John says it would be a nightmare: smelling and tasting like pizza, but — 00:03:19

    “if you eat yourself, you will die and ergo not be able to ever eat pizza again.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: close reading · The Art Assignment · The Fault in Our Stars (film)

Also: People: Ansel Elgort · Rik Smits · Tony Kanaan · Wil Wheaton · Will Power

Projects: Crash Course

Works: Divergent (film) · Hamlet (play) · The Fault in Our Stars · The Great Gatsby

Rituals: Question Tuesday

Terms: DFTBA · doobly-doo

Concepts: empathy · existential crisis · metaphor

Events: Indianapolis 500 · IndyCar Series

Characters: green light

Also centred on close reading: The Return of Question Tuesdays · OMFG CATCHER IN THE RYE!!! · The Catcher in the Rye, Part 2 · Life Is Like Pizza · Question Tuesday! Paula Deen Riding Me (and critical reading)

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