Quotes from Bonesana and Rimbaud: Embracing Unity in Diversity: The Strength of Our Collective Individuality

Explore the beautiful intersection of individuality and collective unity as we dive into an unconventional New York City commute experience. Find solace in the words of Cesare Bonesana and Arthur Rimbaud, reminding us of our shared humanity and continuous evolution.

"Happy is the nation without a history."

- Cesare Bonesana, Marchese di Beccaria

Reflecting upon Cesare Bonesana, Marchese di Beccaria's words, "Happy is the nation without a history," I found a profound truth in the heart of an enigmatic dream. A regular New York City train became the stage of an unconventional tableau. Suddenly, as we pulled into the Atlantic Avenue station, the train erupted into a harmonious chorus of "OK!" But this wasn't a robotic reply, common to our daily commute.

In this spontaneous symphony, every passenger became an active participant, their voices coalescing into a vibrant affirmation of the moment. Each voice retained its individuality, yet melded into a harmonic collective, creating a soundscape antithetical to the cacophony we associate with the city's hustle and bustle.

I think about this moment when I read about how divided we are as a nation: red and blue, gay and straight, white, brown, black, and I know we have a lot of work to do to come together. But when people have to come together, when you have to buy your books from the bookstore and not shop online, in the comfort of your apartment, or when you have to pick up your laundry from the local laundry-o-mat, you come into contact with faces, with someone, an identity. Another who has a story.

Individuality is the idea that I am a unique being on this planet. No one is more unique than me. But as someone once told me, "You're unique. Just like everyone else." It is not that individuality is wrong or bad. I love embracing individuality — but individuality is different than solipsism. I exist because of the other, as Arthur Rimbaud, the French Symbolist poet, wrote, "Je est un autre." I am the other. It is a line from Rimbaud's poem "A Season in Hell," published in 1873. The poem is a semi-autobiographical account of Rimbaud's spiritual and psychological crisis. In the line "Je est un autre," Rimbaud expresses that the self is not a fixed or stable entity. Instead, the self is constantly changing and evolving. We are all "others" to ourselves because we are continually becoming new people.

The line "Je est un autre" has been interpreted differently. Some scholars believe that it rejects the traditional notion of the self. Others believe it is a celebration of the fluidity and mutability of the self. Still, others believe it is a call for us to embrace our inner "others" and see them as a source of creativity and growth.

Whatever the interpretation, the line "Je est un autre" is a powerful and provocative statement about the nature of the self. It reminds us that we are not static beings but constantly becoming.

I was probably feeling like Rimbaud. On the train. With others. But totally myself. And that recognition, that shared "ah ha" moment when we had all reached Atlantic Avenue on the D train. Together. This dream encapsulates the beauty of individuality with each other — a nation that reverberates in unison, even amidst such identity. Such a country may not have a shared history, but it suggests happiness from the serendipity of the present.

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Street Photography: 74th Street in Jackson Heights, Queens (Plus Some Creative Writing)

     What was supposed to be a walk to increase my daily steps turned into a journey. People pop out. Restaurants offer outside seating. The night is crisp. Saturn and Jupiter are still visible in the sky — on the way to convergence. I wanted to get more faces in my photographs. But the moments passed by too quickly. I saw a masked guy in a cab. He was balefully looking out a window. The Q49 bus runs along 74th Street. Wear your mask. 

     Today in class an adolescent pupil couldn’t answer a question — so she said to me, “This question makes me feel unsafe.” I was taken aback by her statement. It’s the Covid. I imagined her shrieking out of class. By an unsafe question. I’m teaching a course on mythology. And one characteristic of myth is the unknown. So I get it, girl. Stuff gets real. From chaos to calm. From the womb to the tomb. ⁣

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Lesson Plan: Using the Apple 1984 Superbowl Commercial in the Classroom

The commercial is a fun clip to use in the classroom.

Time allowance: 45 minutes
Objectives:
Teach students how to articulate abstract ideas.
Demonstrate brainstorming techniques
Analyzing multimedia using literary terms
Incorporating quotations into student writing

Note: this is a useful lesson as an introduction or a wrap-up to classes devoted to dystopian literature, like 1984, Brave New World, or The Giver or for teaching Thoreau's Walden, or any film or text focused on the tension between individual will versus societal hegemony.

Warm-up
Start the class off with a quick free write. Have the students write about the following prompt:

What is the difference between being in a group versus being alone?

After the students have had a few minutes to write, ask the class to brainstorm what is the difference between an individual and a group. Whip around the room and share ideas on interactive whiteboard or on class chart board. You can use the example I use to start a class discussion. If I walk into a classroom with a classroom of students dressed in uniform, how do I tell each student apart? What gives us away as individuals when we are in a crowd.

Beware. The discussion will begin to take a life of its own and you as the teacher will have to allow every student to talk. Community expression and individuality is an important topic among teenagers so be ready for some interesting comments from your students.

An Astronaut Frequents an Apple Store

Activity
After you have allowed the students to express their thoughts out loud, use the board to generate a chart of the advantages and disadvantages of community living and do the same for individuality. You might want to include a definition of both terms, which you can add to the board. Or, you can have the class come up with a working definition of both concepts.

After you have compiled the list, explain to the class, that many novels and films deal with the tension between community and individual and as a class explain to them that they will begin to analyze some important scenes from literature and film.

At this point, if you want, you can have the students quickly popcorn a list of films and books that possibly illustrate the theme a tension between the two.

Ask the students if they know what apocalyptic literature is or if they know what dystopian literature is. Read a definition from a literary dictionary or other reliable source and explain to the class that there is a genre of literature that deals with the fall of society, the community, and how this affects individuals.

1984 Apple Commercial
Use 1984 as an example. If you want, you can briefly explain the plot, which can be found here. Make sure the students know it is a novel by George Orwell and it is famous for introducing the phrase, "Big Brother is watching." Ask the students if they have ever seen the television show and ask them why they think the show is called by this name.

Background
Explain the background of the 1984 commercial which can be found here. Have the students watch the clip several times, telling them to jot in their notebooks in list form everything they notice about the film: color, sound, tone, mood, dialogue, etc.

Apple Computer, INC produced an ad spot for the 1984 Superbowl to sell its new product, the Macintosh desktop computer. The computer would eventually inspire a long line of desktop computers boasting an easy-to-use GUI (graphic user interface) and the first computer to introduce friendly smiling icons and folders.

The commercial is a visual allusion to George Orwell's classic dystopic novel 1984. The short clip features a Big Brother figure imploring dull, grayed-out workers (played by skinheads) to stick to the status quo. It is hard to follow what he says, but he says something about a "garden of pure ideology" and something about being safe from the pests. It is obvious the drones are like IBM computers. The running gag line is PCs are conformists and Macs are individualists. Midway through the commercial, the Mac pest shows up, though, amidst the sound of an alarm, and a team of SWAT men chases her down really cool sci-fi corridors. She wields a hammer which she swings into the screen. The screen explodes and the commercial ends with the words: "On January 24th Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you'll see why 1984 won't be like 1984."
More on Wikipedia

Writing
Pass out a handout of at least twenty quotes

You can use the following quotes if you wish, or you can research your own quotes about community.

Students in a group of three or four discuss each quote and relate its meaning to the concept of individual and community.
For each quote, students discuss, "Who wrote the quote? How does the thought express individuality or community? What quote(s) resonates with your generation?

Extension Activity: 
Have students write a creative piece on an advertisement that can be used to demonstrate the similarities and differences between abstract ideas. Or, they can write an essay on the 1984 commercial incorporating the quotations.

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