Blog Post #2
1. My full name is Connor Anthony LaRocca. Although all of my names carry a different meaning, I find the most significance and personal connection to my last name, LaRocca. The word itself has a literal meaning of "the rock" in Italian. It carries quite the importance in my lineage as it emphasizes my Italian heritage and connects me to my historical ancestors (John Sebastian LaRocca - Pittsburgh Mob Boss). I think that the name carries more than heritage meaning to me as well though. It's fairly unique and it allows for a sense of individuality and pride along with it. The literal meaning of LaRocca, in my opinion, symbolizes strength and fortitude. This virtuous subtext really allowed me to associate myself completely with the name LaRocca. I feel so strongly about this that I want any kin to carry the name (hyphen or completely) as well. On the question of whether or not this name defines me, I don't believe it does. It is too broad for my life to be encapsulated by and it's more of a virtue to live by than "clan" to belong to per se. In a broader scale of things, it isn't a very common last name even in Italy. I find a lot of connection to it, but it doesn't define who I am. A name can only an implication of a complex concept.
The Duality of Man
2. The duality of man is something philosophers and the human race has pondered since the dawn of existence. Who is the individual in comparison to society and vice versa? Can one be made without the other? There is far too much to be considered in just one post (EE 2.0?) but I'd like to focus on a nationality lense in considering the existence of a dual persona. Every person has their own story. We all have our own upbringing, education, dreams, fears, successes, failure, etc. However, I feel that a vast majority of people never consider that everyone else has their own whole life lived too. We are stuck in our own viewpoint. I don't consider myself exempt from this either in any way. I'm sure I've passed hundreds of people in my lifetime that I've never given a second thought. However, almost everyone I've met has been a citizen in the United States. As a group, every citizen of the United States is part of American society. To narrow it in, I am two people: a single mind in a 326+ million piece puzzle and an individual with aspirations and desires. The dilemma that we, as Americans, are posed with when we're "two" is the amount of influence that each of us may have in the world and on ourselves, especially when we consider the sheer quantity of people. It's quite difficult to aim to make big changes or solve abstract issues when we must consider the individual and the community.
Hey Connor
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I had absolutely no idea that you had Italian in you. Go you. I really liked how you found the literal definition of your last name, but also explained its symbolism to you. It's interesting to see how the two definitions compare. I share the feeling of feeling somewhat of a connection with your name, but not necessarily feeling as though it defines you. I agree that the duality of man is something far too broad to discuss without a supervisor and two years of work time, but I think you did a good job of explaining the basic idea through a lens. If I could say anything, I would advise you to read through your post before submitting it- you have an error in the sentence in bold, and you probably could have easily caught it had you just read through (this sounds a lot sassier than I'm intending it to). Overall, great post.
P.S. Nice Taco Bell ad. Innovative- I like it
Until the day you told me you where Italian, I thought that you had some Spanish heritage. Your last name also translates to "the rock" in spanish. I don't know how you feel about it, but having a mob boss as part of your heritage is kinda cool. Anyway, I agree that a name is not enough to define a person but it can carry family heritage in it. Being hispanic, I completely agree that everyone has a story. Everywhere that I have gone, even though people everyone is part of some nationality, everyone has their own individual thoughts and opinions; which agrees with the "two people" ideology. This is well written and interesting to read but there is a mistake in the bolded sentence. Fix that and this would be good to go!
ReplyDeleteGood post, congratulations on being related to a famous Pittsburgh mob boss! You really earned it, my friend. In all seriousness, most took the route of highlighting the ancient meaning of their names, and your historical context was far more interesting. However, I feel that the first paragraph jumps around a lot -- it's really disjointed, and I think you could fix that by putting this line in a different spot:
ReplyDelete"A name can only [be] an implication of a complex concept."
With regards to the second paragraph, your rhetorical questions were good for provoking thought, however I feel you should use them more sparingly. Stop asking me so many questions, you're giving me an existential crisis.
I loved the heritage behind your name: I remember you telling our history class last year that you had a family member in the mob! I think your second paragraph is really well-written, but you could have tied in, or transitioned, from the previous paragraph more subtly. Maybe get rid of the subtitle. Other than that I enjoyed you post, and you're a great writer!
ReplyDeleteThe perspective you put on being part of the US and also an individual with aspirations and dreams yourself is a sense I have never considered. They way you made it seem to me is that every one single person as an individual is insignificant but as a whole it is those thoughts that define who we are. However, I don't agree that we are stuck in our own viewpoint, as mine has changed significantly throughout this year. Good post though you inspire me.
ReplyDeleteConnor, that is really cool you're Italian, what a cool last name! I really loved reading your analysis on a dual personality. Your second paragraph looked like it could be a TOK paper. I enjoyed how you chose to go into depth about how every single person has their own story. I wouldn't say that we are stuck in the same viewpoint but I liked how you came to your opinion by asking questions. I really liked reading your thoughts on the philosophical meaning of a name and the personalities we posses. Great work!
ReplyDelete