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Staff, JCHS

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies 
Volume 35 Article 1 
2023 
Table of Contents 
JCHS Staff 
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/jhcs 
Recommended Citation 
Staff, JCHS (2022) "Table of Contents," Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies: Vol. 35, Article 1. 
Available at: https://doi.org/10.7825/2164-6279.1817 
The Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies is a publication of the Society for Hindu-Christian Studies. The digital 
version is made available by Digital Commons @ Butler University. For questions about the Journal or the Society, 
please contact cbauman@butler.edu. For more information about Digital Commons @ Butler University, please 
contact digitalscholarship@butler.edu. 
JOURNAL OF 
HINDU-CHRISTIAN 
STUDIES 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
VOLUME 35, 2022 
 
 
 
GOPAL GUPTA, Editor’s Introduction .................................................................................1 
 
Articles:  
 
SARJU PATEL and SARANG PATEL, Anvaya and Vyatireka:  
The Byzantine Iconophile’s Christological Dilemma .............................................................3 
 
CHRISTOPHER JOSEPH XAVIER, The Teachings of Niṣkāma-karma  
for the Consecrated Life  ......................................................................................................19 
 
HERMAN TULL, “Crossing the Lines”: Biblical Reception, the Bible,  
and the Bhagavad-Gītā .........................................................................................................27 
 
BENNETT DIDENTE COMERFORD, Questioning Coloniality in Hindu-Christian 
Studies: An Enquiry in Extremity..........................................................................................41 
 
R. C. JONGTE, Rethinking the Idea of Indigeneity: An Indigenous Liberationist  
Response to Hindutva Cooptation and Assimilationist Agenda in Northeast India .............49 
 
 
Viewpoint: 
 
STEVEN J. ROSEN (SATYARAJA DASA), Reflections on the ‘Anti-Material 
Particle’ in the Writings of Teilhard de Chardin and Swami Prabhupada .......................59 
 
2022 Annual Meeting Sessions ......................................................................................................64 
 
 
Book Reviews: 
 
Religion, Secularism, and Ethnicity in Contemporary Nepal. 
Edited by David Gellner, Sondra Hausner, and Chiara Letizia. 
Review by Joseph Evans ....................................................................................................68 
 
Hinduism Before Reform. 
By Brian A. Hatcher. 
Review by Edward T. Ulrich .............................................................................................70 
 
Inhaling Spirit: Harmonialism, Orientalism, and the Western Roots of Modern Yoga. 
By Anya P. Foxen. 
Review by Hermann Tull ...................................................................................................71 
 
Contemplative Studies and Hinduism: Meditation, Devotion, and Prayer. 
Edited by Rita D. Sherma and Purushottama Bilimori 
Review by Erik Ranstrom ..................................................................................................73 
 
Culture, Religion, and Home-Making in and Beyond South Asia. 
Edited by James Ponniah. 
Review by Lance E. Nelson ...............................................................................................75 
 
Western Jesuit Scholars in India: Tracing Their Paths, Reassessing Their Goals. 
By Francis X. Clooney, S.J. 
Review by James Elisha Taneti .........................................................................................77 
 
Advaita, Christianity and the Third Space: Abhishiktananda and Bede Griffiths in India. 
By Jonathan Gordon Smith. 
Review by Patrick Beldio ..................................................................................................79 
 
The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Vedānta.  
Edited by Ayon Maharaj. 
Review by Reid B. Locklin ................................................................................................81 
 
The Routledge Handbook of Hindu-Christian Relations. 
Edited by Chad M. Bauman and Michelle Voss Roberts. 
Review by Bradley Malkovsky ..........................................................................................82 
 
Hindu-Christian Dual Belonging.  
Edited by Daniel Soars and Nadya Pohran. 
Review by Michelle Voss Roberts .....................................................................................84 
 
EDITOR:  
Gopal K. Gupta 
Aurora University 
email: journalhcs@gmail.com 
Phone: 630-844-6884 
 
 
INTERNET EDITION EDITOR: 
Chad Bauman 
Butler University 
4600 Sunset Avenue 
Indianapolis, IN  46208 
email: cbauman@bulter.edu 
 
 
 
Assistant Editor: Andrea Bischoff 
Book Review Editor: Daniel Soars, Eton College 
Production Assistant: Cheryl A. Reed, University of Notre Dame 
 
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD 
John Carman 
Harvard Divinity School 
Francis X. Clooney, S.J. 
Harvard Divinity School 
Harold Coward 
University of Victoria 
J. T. K. Daniel 
Serampore College 
Corinne Dempsey 
Nazareth College 
Gavin Flood 
Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies 
Eliza Kent 
Skidmore College 
 
 
Klaus Klostermaier 
University of Manitoba 
Julius J. Lipner 
University of Cambridge 
Rachel McDermott 
Barnard College 
Anantanand Rambachan 
St. Olaf College 
Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad 
Lancaster University 
Richard Fox Young 
Princeton Theological Seminary 
 
 
EDITORIAL POLICY 
The Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies is an annual scholarly journal published jointly at the University of Notre Dame 
and at the Institute of Philosophy and Culture, Madras, India.  It is the official publication of the Society for Hindu-
Christian Studies. 
The aim of the Journal is to create a worldwide forum for the presentation of Hindu-Christian scholarly studies, 
book reviews, and news of past and upcoming events. Materials selected for publication will be balanced between 
historical research and contemporary practice and, where possible, will employ analytical and theoretical analysis set 
within the context of our shared contemporary experience. Contributions are invited and may be addressed to the Editor. 
Articles of roughly 4000 words are preferred, though occasionally longer pieces will be published. Send manuscript in 
paper form as well as on diskette. A style sheet is available on request. The Journal adopts a policy of non-gender-
specific language where applicable. All articles are subject to review before acceptance and may be edited in the course 
of publication. 
 
SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION 
An annual subscription is included with membership in the Society for Hindu-Christian Studies. To subscribe to the 
journal, or to become a member of the society, go to https://butler.formstack.com/forms/society_membership_journal_ 
subscription. 
Single copies of back issues are $15. No other currencies can be accepted. The Journal is indexed in the ATLA Religion 
Database, published by the American Theological Library Association. 
 
JOURNAL OF HINDU-CHRISTIAN STUDIES 
2022 Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies                  ISSN 0844-4587 
 


English

Jongte, R. C.

Rethinking the Idea of Indigeneity: An Indigenous Liberationist Response to Hindutva Cooptation and Assimilationist Agenda in Northeast India

Malkovsky, Bradley

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies 
Volume 35 Article 18 
2023 
Book Review: The Routledge Handbook of Hindu-Christian 
Relations. Edited by Chad M. Bauman and Michelle Voss Roberts. 
Bradley Malkovsky 
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/jhcs 
Recommended Citation 
Malkovsky, Bradley (2022) "Book Review: The Routledge Handbook of Hindu-Christian Relations. Edited 
by Chad M. Bauman and Michelle Voss Roberts.," Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies: Vol. 35, Article 18. 
Available at: https://doi.org/10.7825/2164-6279.1834 
The Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies is a publication of the Society for Hindu-Christian Studies. The digital 
version is made available by Digital Commons @ Butler University. For questions about the Journal or the Society, 
please contact cbauman@butler.edu. For more information about Digital Commons @ Butler University, please 
contact digitalscholarship@butler.edu. 
82 Book Reviews 
  
sections tend to provide only brief accounts of 
such centrally important figures as Rāmānuja 
and Madhva, in the case of chapters by Marcus 
Schmücker (ch. 2) and Michael Williams (ch. 3), 
or Swami Vivekananda, in the case of a chapter 
by Medhananda (ch. 7), before moving to close, 
dense expositions of less well-known figures in 
their respective traditions. This weakness is 
mitigated by accessible thematic overviews later 
in the volume, especially the discussions of 
theism and theodicy by Andrew J. Nicholson 
(ch. 8), religious diversity by Ankur Barua (ch. 
9) and embodied liberation by Klara Hedling 
(ch. 10) in Part III, as well as Francis Clooney’s 
engagement of the question of “genre” in the 
history of Vedānta (ch. 12) in Part IV and Ethan 
Mills’ introduction to and re-reading of the 
twelfth-century Advaitin Śrīharṣa in terms of the 
tradition of “external-world skepticism” in 
Western philosophy (ch. 15), in Part V. Most 
importantly, Swami Medhananda’s introductory 
chapter provides an excellent overview of 
Vedānta history and philosophy, along with a 
passionate defense of its contemporary relevance 
and vitality against the distortions introduced by 
Orientalist scholarship. 
Indeed, one purpose of the volume seems to 
involve shattering many received, reified 
understandings of who “counts” as a significant 
philosopher of Vedānta. Medhananda notes the 
“serendipitous” recurrence of Sri Ramakrishna 
as a significant interlocutor in no fewer than 
seven of the sixteen volume chapters (22), and 
there are two full treatments of the philosophy of 
Sri Aurobindo (chs. 6, 11). These emphases may 
be unsurprising, given Medhananda’s own 
scholarly and personal commitments. But they 
are not the only examples of alternative, and 
sometimes revisionist approaches to Vedānta. As 
someone who has studied the late medieval dig-
vijaya hagiographies dedicated to the figure of 
Śaṅkara, I was delighted to encounter Daniel 
Raveh’s persuasive account of this literature as a 
distinctive and noteworthy contribution to the 
philosophical tradition (ch. 13). It is significant, 
too, that this account of Vedānta includes in its 
breadth such legendary 20th-century academic 
philosophers as Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (ch. 
9), Daya Krishna (ch. 13) and, in Arindam 
Chakrabarti’s final chapter on the concept of 
māyā, K.C. Bhattacharyya (ch. 16). Finally, 
although many of the chapters take up one or 
another theme of Advaita, in only one or two of 
the chapters is Śaṅkara treated as the sole or 
even the preeminent exponent of the tradition. 
This is excellent. 
It is tempting to think of The Bloomsbury 
Research Handbook of Vedānta as a disruptive 
companion to more traditional, chronological 
and tradition-focused surveys, such as the multi-
volume projects of Surendranath Dasgupta and 
Karl Potter. It is a bit disorienting, by design. 
This is a bit of a problem for a work that, by 
genre, should serve to orient its readers to an 
area of study. Taken on its own terms, however, 
it is a welcome and timely intervention. 
 
Reid B. Locklin 
St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto 
 
The Routledge Handbook of Hindu-Christian Relations. Edited by 
Chad M. Bauman and Michelle Voss Roberts. London and New 
York: Routledge, 2021, xiv + 501 pp. 
 
INTEREST is growing among Hindus and 
Christians seeking to learn more about each 
other and their shared and sometimes troubled 
history. At the same time there are forces now 
working against such mutual understanding, 
seeking to discredit and dismiss the other rather 
than to engage sympathetically. This volume 
fills a great need today in Hindu-Christian 
literature, as it impartially examines both 
felicitous as well as problematic moments of 
past and present engagement, offering a host of 
perspectives that is far more comprehensive than 
found in any other book presently available on 
the encounter of these two religions. It addresses 
Book Reviews 83 
 
current and historical debates, controversies, and 
questions in a much wider range and in greater 
depth than can be found anywhere else in a 
single volume. This is the book’s greatest 
strength. Its cutting-edge awareness of 
theological, spiritual, and socio-political 
developments, its selection of vital 
contemporary topics, and its excellent choice of 
authors are included among its many strong 
points.  
The volume’s editors, Chad Bauman and 
Michelle Voss Roberts, are internationally 
acclaimed scholars specializing in very different 
areas of Hindu-Christian engagement and 
together are well qualified to gather together 
such a wide array of topics and authors. The 
goal of the book is to present introductory 
overviews of a multitude of perspectives on 
Hindu-Christian relations aimed at multiple 
audiences, i.e., to experts and specialists in 
religion on down to undergraduate students 
seeking a first orientation to these themes. The 
chapters are intentionally brief and only rarely 
argumentative. The methodologies employed are 
historical, sociological, anthropological, and 
philosophical-theological. The seven topical 
areas Bauman and Voss Roberts have assembled 
in thirty-nine chapters are presented in the 
following sequence: theoretical and 
methodological considerations; historical 
interactions; contemporary exchanges: 
conversion, caste, and the diaspora; sites of 
bodily and material interactions; significant 
figures; comparative theologies; and responses. 
The responses to the many chapters of this book 
are two, one by Vasudha Narayanan, the other 
by Francis X. Clooney, SJ, both of whom for 
many years have had an enormous positive 
impact on Hindu-Christian scholarly relations, 
both through their numerous publications as well 
as through their leadership positions in the 
Society for Hindu-Christian Studies and through 
their longstanding cordial practical engagement 
with the other. 
Clooney’s response (“The Handbook in light 
of the past and future of Hindu-Christian 
relations,” pp. 476-484) is a tour de force on 
developments in Hindu-Christian engagement 
since the 1960s and could be read as a book 
review in itself. In fact, a good way to approach 
the massive material contained in this volume is 
to begin with Clooney’s response before 
proceeding to the long (pp. 1-14) masterful 
introduction to various themes of the book 
offered by Bauman and Voss Roberts. Clooney 
lauds the many achievements of the Handbook, 
starting with its wide range of topics, so unlike 
earlier scholarly tendencies to oversimplify the 
Hindu-Christian encounter.  Hinduism, for 
example, is now a global religion with new 
concerns and challenges, and the Western study 
of Hinduism has itself matured greatly since the 
1960s, moving beyond merely missiological 
interests, so that the focus of Hindu-Christian 
relations can no longer be primarily given to the 
discussion of doctrine or the caste system. There 
is now also greater attention given to popular 
religion and to religious rituals and practices as 
well as to the rise of Dalit and Hindutva 
movements. Clooney summarizes, “There is no 
single event or set of events or shared history or 
single lineage of great ideas that define the 
Hindu-Christian relationship, so the ways of 
understanding the Hindu-Christian relation vary 
widely.” (478)  
Clooney also cautiously suggests what 
might have enriched the Handbook still further: 
a chapter given entirely to various perspectives 
on conversion perhaps, as well as greater 
attention to the teaching of rebirth, which “is one 
of the issues that has loomed largest in Hindu-
Christian debates from the sixteenth century on.” 
(480) I find this last remark of particular 
importance, since in our increased attention to 
the details and particularities and complexities 
of Hinduism today, we run the danger of 
overlooking one of its most fundamental beliefs, 
namely reincarnation, which is inextricably 
bound to Hindu anthropology and to general 
Hindu conceptions of human hope and 
completion, often articulated in striking contrast 
to Christian teaching. Clooney notes, too, the 
lack of female representatives in the section of 
the book called “Significant figures.” Here he 
names Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, Mother 
Teresa, Sister Vandana Mataji, and Sister Sara 
Grant as worthy of discussion. I would add 
Pandita Ramabai to that list, although she does 
appear in chapters written by Eliza Kent and 
Arun Jones. In addition, I was personally 
surprised that Ramana Maharshi did not receive 
a chapter of his own. 
84 Book Reviews 
  
Some of the more traditional questions of 
comparative systematic theology receive little or 
no attention in the Handbook: reincarnation has 
already been mentioned. There is also only 
passing attention given to Trinity and Trimurti 
and to karma and atonement, although other 
important topics receive entire chapters of 
impressive depth, such as Voss Roberts’ 
reflections on the mystery of the divine, Ankur 
Barua’s comparisons of Hindu and Christian 
views of the divine-human relation, Anantanand 
Rambachan’s rethinking of Advaita ontology; 
and Jon Paul Sydnor’s summary and assessment 
of divine embodiment in Hindu and Christian 
perspective. I mention such topics only as 
someone personally interested in them. Other 
readers will, of course, be drawn to sections of 
this rich volume that offer alternative topics of 
interest. 
Voss Roberts and Bauman acknowledge that 
this volume as a whole presents Hindu-Christian 
relations from a standpoint that some might 
question. The many contributors to this volume, 
for example, have taken an approach that tends 
to privilege Western scholarship which has 
historically been strongly influenced by 
Christianity. “How might such a volume,” they 
ask, “have been conceptualized and presented 
differently if it had been produced in India? If 
more of its authors had been Hindu? If 
conservative Christian authors rejecting Hindu-
Christian dialogue and Hinduism altogether had 
been included? At the very least, such questions 
require us to be humble about the limitations of 
this project. While we consider it an excellent 
reflection of the state of Hindu-Christian Studies 
today, we are also aware of the parochially 
Western nature and limits of the field, its 
methodological conventions, and its thematic 
preoccupations. So were our authors, however, 
and we were pleased with how so many of them 
attempted to address the issue in one way or 
another.” (11) 
Such concessions notwithstanding, this is a 
remarkable book, breathtaking in its scope and 
depth, expressed in a wonderful collection of 
informative and well-crafted essays. The volume 
represents a groundbreaking achievement in 
Hindu-Christian Studies. It belongs in any 
library in the world that has holdings on the 
scholarly study of religion. As such, it will be an 
indispensable source for scholars investigating 
the two-thousand-year-old history of Hindu-
Christian interactions for many years to come. 
 
Bradley Malkovsky 
University of Notre Dame 
 
Hindu-Christian Dual Belonging. Edited by Daniel Soars and Nadya 
Pohran. London and New York: Routledge, 2022, 214 pp. 
 
THIS volume is a welcome addition to the 
growing literature on multiple religious 
identities, participation, and belonging. It is the 
first within this body of work to focus broadly 
on the variety of issues raised specifically by 
Hindu-Christian belonging. 
Much of the discussion is rooted in case 
studies, including the ancient community of 
Nasrani St. Thomas Christians in Kerala (an 
exceptionally well-researched chapter by Renish 
Geevarghese Abraham); Raimon Panikkar 
(Michael Barnes SJ); the Bengali Muslim 
literary figure Kazi Nazrul Islam (Rachel Fell 
McDermott, who also reflects on her own 
inherited dual belonging); comparative 
theologian Francis X. Clooney SJ (Martin 
Ganeri O.P.); missionary Advaita Vedanta (Reid 
B. Locklin); boundary negotiations at the Sat Tal 
Ashram (Nadya Pohran); Sara Grant and the 
Christa Prema Seva Ashram (Daniel Soars); and 
the Christian sannyasin, Abhishiktananda (Peter 
Tyler). Theoretical essays by Ankur Barua, 
Gavin D’Costa, and Jeffery D. Long also draw 
on examples and their personal experiences in 
relation to “belonging” in the two traditions. 
Scholars who study religious pluralism and 
lived religion will appreciate the volume’s 
nuanced discussions of multiple religious 
belonging. Faculty teaching in contexts in which 
religious identities are becoming increasingly 
complex will also find it helpful for (re)framing 
class engagement about religion, identity, and 
belonging.  


Book Review: The Routledge Handbook of Hindu-Christian Relations. Edited by Chad M. Bauman and Michelle Voss Roberts.

We compared the gender gap between the regions of North America, Europe, Latin American and the Caribbean, East Asia and the Pacific, Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East and North Africa and lastly South Asia.https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/spring_2023/1010/thumbnail.jp

Jessup, Carly

Sheldon, Leah

St. Germain, Christina

Weiss, Will

Women\u27s Wage Gap Around the World

Ross, Hallie

The Mall 
Article 
7-17-2023 
The Grading System: Inhibiting Curiosity in Students 
Hallie Ross 
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/the-mall 
Recommended Citation 
Ross, Hallie (2023) "The Grading System: Inhibiting Curiosity in Students," The Mall: Vol. 7 , Article 6. 
Retrieved from: https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/the-mall/vol7/iss1/6 
This Essay is brought to you for free and open access by the Undergraduate Scholarship at Digital Commons @ 
Butler University. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Mall by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ 
Butler University. For more information, please contact digitalscholarship@butler.edu. 
 16 
The Grading System:  
Inhibiting Curiosity in Students 
 
Hallie Ross 
 
 
In Ross Gay’s essay, “Dispatch of the Ruins: School: The Thirteenth 
Incitement,” he starts by explaining how school systems often see 
their students as units—something that doesn’t think freely and 
follows its leader. In a section of his essay on grading, he discusses 
how the current grading system further pushes students to act as 
units. Gay writes that “grading makes obedience, or following one’s 
leader, the first lesson” (152). Grading has nothing to do with 
learning and everything to do with approval and some version of the 
best or only answer. Grading is seen as a motivator or a cause for 
competition, but students are competing, not to learn the most, but 
to be the most obedient. And the “best students’ are those who are 
most willing and able to follow directions. It causes students to ask 
not what they want, but what the teacher wants. Does this prohibit 
a quality education—one of curiosity and passion? Grading is not a 
worthwhile motivator, nor is it a factor in future success, but we still 
don’t dispose of it. Does this inhibit our intrinsic motivation to learn 
and understand and create new, beautiful things that make a life full 
of meaning and happiness?  
Ross Gay, an American poet, essayist, and professor at 
Indiana University Bloomington, mentions briefly that grades are 
seen by most as a motivator though competition to get the best 
grades, submit the best work, and be top of the class; however, he 
dismisses this by examining that “given as the result of that best and 
only story is that we are witnessing from the inside the tumult of a 
system in the throes of collapse, it seems competition is no longer, 
if it ever was, a worthwhile aspiration” (Gay 157). Gay mentions 
many times throughout this essay that school systems are in ruins, 
even though they do not look like it. Learning should be a valued 
process that people care about. There should be lots of caring in a 
school system, but the current school system is filled with frustration 
and disregard. This is because grades and competition are no longer 
a useful learning tool. They create students that care more about a 
grade than the learning process. They give students no freedom to 
 17 
explore their curiosity and passion. Using grading as a motivator is 
robbing students of that joy and destroying the school system.  
Edward Deci, who’s work is summarized in Timothy 
Quinn’s book, On Grades and Grading: Supporting Student Learning 
Through a More Transparent and Purposeful Use of Grades, proves that 
grades are only hurting the school system and its students. Quinn 
says, “Deci’s experiments showed that punishments and rewards 
diminish intrinsic motivation” (17), and other studies have come to 
this same conclusion. Deci compares rewards—like grades—to 
caffeine. They provide a short-term boost of motivation, but the 
effect diminishes with time. They even reduce students’ natural 
enthusiasm that causes them to derive joy from learning. Grades 
aren’t a long-term motivator to lead students to success. If grades 
only decrease our motivation to learn over time, there is no longer a 
purpose for them.  
Gay writes about his experience with eliminating the normal 
grading method and disclosing at the beginning of the semester that 
every student would earn an A. He explains, “We all think better and 
are happier,” when grades are out of the picture (Gay 158). Gay 
noticed that his students, especially the ones who were previously 
always anxious and eager to follow directions became relaxed, 
excited, and weird. This is because they now see the classroom as a 
site of mutual curiosity, confusion, and a great deal of caring, instead 
of a site of evaluation. This is important to students, so they can 
maintain their intrinsic motivation for deep learning without the 
overpowering weight and anxiety that grades impose.  
Furthermore, Sam Roberson’s journal article, “Developing 
Student Success Through Persistence: Teaching More Than 
Content,” summarizes the findings of multiple American 
psychologists. Their studies find that grades are not a top predictor 
of success and are possibly inversely related. Just as Gay says that 
curiosity is a far more effective learning tool than mastery, Carol 
Dweck believes that a growth mindset is the sole factor in successful 
learning and a fulfilled life. Dweck states that a growth mindset 
allows individuals to believe “that it’s impossible to foresee what can 
be accomplished with years of passion, toil, and training” (90). Her 
view is that this mindset sets students up for a successful life. This is 
exactly what Gay’s grading-free classroom structure facilitates. It 
allows students to draw from their curiosity and passion, in order to 
experience the limitless opportunities for accomplishing through 
 18 
learning. In a normal grading system, the only possibilities are a good 
grade or bad grade, which causes students to focus more on the 
outcome than the process of learning.  
Similarly, Angela Lee Duckworth believes that grit—which, 
in psychology, is an individual’s perseverance mixed with passion—
is the key to a meaningful future. She explains it like this: 
“Enthusiasm is common. Endurance is rare” (92). Because of our 
natural curiosity and intrinsic motivation, enthusiasm is common; 
however, only enthusiasm that is consistent over the long-term is 
what contributes to success. A normal grading system lessens the 
effect of intrinsic motivation over time. Whereas Gay’s grading-free 
classroom builds enthusiasm and curiosity over time, leading to 
passion. In this case, grades can only be seen as inhibitors of a 
meaningful life that is full of passion and perseverance.  
If grades are not supporting students and helping them 
achieve a successful and happy life, they should be forgotten. The 
current grading system is turning students into units that do nothing 
but attempt to find what will get them the highest grade. They’re not 
learning or engaging with information, and, more importantly, 
they’re not happy, which is making the problem even worse. Ross 
Gay has found that a classroom full of encouragement and support 
and without grading feeds intrinsic motivation, which incites 
curiosity, which incites joy, which incites perseverance, which incites 
passion, which incites access to boundless learning, which incites a 
meaningful life. A gradeless school system is the only way to stop 
the collapse of the school system that Gay mentions and create 
motivated, successful students—students who are happy and will 
continue to be happy as long as they are free to wonder and learn 
limitlessly.  
 
 
 
 
Works Cited 
 
Gay, Ross. Inciting Joy: Essays. Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 
Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2022. 
 
 
 
 19 
Quinn, Timothy. “Chapter 2: The Pedagogical Purposes of 
Grades.” On Grades and Grading: Supporting Student Learning 
through a More Transparent and Purposeful Use of Grades.  
 
Rowman & Littlefield, 2013. WorldCat, Accessed 30 Jan. 2023. 
  
Roberson, Sam. “Developing Student Success through Persistence: 
Teaching More Than Content.” Education, vol. 141, no. 2, 
2020, pp. 83–100.  
 
  


The Grading System: Inhibiting Curiosity in Students

Burd, Jenna

The Mall 
Article 
7-17-2023 
Pros and Cons of Motherhood 
Jenna Burd 
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/the-mall 
Recommended Citation 
Burd, Jenna (2023) "Pros and Cons of Motherhood," The Mall: Vol. 7 , Article 8. 
Retrieved from: https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/the-mall/vol7/iss1/8 
This Essay is brought to you for free and open access by the Undergraduate Scholarship at Digital Commons @ 
Butler University. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Mall by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ 
Butler University. For more information, please contact digitalscholarship@butler.edu. 
 26 
Pros and Cons of Motherhood 
 
Jenna Burd 
 
 
“You’re so caring, you’d be the best mother.” 
“What a happy couple. Are you trying for kids?” 
“Mommy and daddy loved each other very much, so they 
had you.”  
 
Thoughtful compliments meant to endorse young women for 
fulfilling their sacred duty, says 54% of the next class of mothers 
(WalesOnline.) Regressive statements that unconsciously condition 
young women to fit a mold, says 46% of the next class of mothers 
(WalesOnline.) The majority of women welcome this feedback with 
open arms. However, the minority of the next generation of 
potential mothers trails close behind in size, and would feel repulsed 
by the nurture-focused diction society typically imposes on young 
women. Although women have gained some de jure autonomy over 
their reproductive rights through Roe v. Wade, de facto ideologies 
still remain oppressive. In other words, men and women feel societal 
pressure to grow up, settle down, and start a family. After all, being 
a mother is as much of a lifestyle as being a rapper, just with a whole 
lot less weed. Speaking of weed, let’s take Post Malone for example, 
one of the most famous rappers of our time. Post Malone sacrifices 
his personal needs, (which include constantly being higher than a kite 
and partying,) to his fans when he is on tour. He nurtures his talent 
when he makes music in the studio, the fruits of his labor. Similarly, 
mothers sacrifice high-paced careers, money, and traveling to raise 
kids. Mothers nurture their children, their fruit, and are tasked with 
raising them. But what if Post Malone never wanted to rap in the 
first place. Instead, he wanted to go to college, get his CPA and 
become an accountant. Society says, “Congratulations Mr. Malone, 
can you do my taxes?”  
But what if a mother never wanted to be a mother. What if 
instead she wanted to dream big and exchange having a family with 
the hefty time commitment of being a high-brow attorney. She is 
capable. This is possible. But it’s bold. It’s unconventional. 
Unconventionality scares the shit out of people. Out of us. When we 
raise an eyebrow at a bachelor who wants to live in a sparkly 
 27 
penthouse and filter ladies through the door, we are part of the 
problem. Settling down and starting a family isn’t the only pastime 
for people in their 30s. We, Generation Z are here to initiate a tidal 
wave of innovation ready to  
rip through conventionality.  
 
___________________________________________________ 
 
 
Should I be a mom? Pros and Cons List.  
 
Key:  (+) YES  (--) NO 
 
+ I am family-oriented. Since I grew up in California and all my 
family lives in Michigan, I rarely got to see them. So, when those 
special holidays rolled around, I treated them as sacred. You 
should’ve seen me running around with my head cut off at family 
functions asking everyone their ages, about school, work, friends, 
hobbies, girlfriends, about every little detail I could get to fill into 
those protruding gaps. In retrospect, I wish I was physically closer. 
I wish I could’ve been at my little cousin Aubrie’s first Homecoming 
pictures. I wish I could’ve spent more time with my grandma before 
she lost her memory. If I had a child, I could gain these experiences 
back, and create more of that sacred time for years to come.  
 
+ I am Jewish. If you haven’t noticed, there aren’t many of us left 
after the Holocaust. Often in minority religions and ethnic groups 
followers feel burdened with representing their group as a whole, 
since it’s likely I am one of few Jewish people you will ever meet, at 
least in Indiana, which is predominantly Christian. So I've made the 
personal choice to assume responsibility to advocate and represent 
my people. Would it be selfish of me to not have children and raise 
them to God's light? Will I sacrifice an opportunity to pass on 
traditions and keep Judaism alive? If it’s truly my duty to keep the 
light of God burning, I should have children and raise them as Jews.  
 
-- I fucking hate being told what to do. “She’s not stubborn, she's 
spirited,” my mom used to explain to my school teachers. If society 
tells me I should settle down and become a baby vessel, I simply 
won’t because they said so. Is this childish of me? Probably. But then 
 28 
again, the image of me in 10 years on an airplane viciously rocking 
my screeching baby blob and shoving a pacifier down its throat 
trying to shut it up sounds like serious birth control.  
 
-- I am an achiever. That is, according to my Clifton Strengths Finder 
Test results. I am hungry for a challenging, unpredictable, high-
paced career. I did not work my ass off in school to be a stay at home 
mom. I want to see the fruits of my labor come into fruition. I know 
I can achieve excellence with my insatiable drive, and I don’t want 
to sacrifice an extravagant gig for motherhood. Imagine this, you and 
your husband on a European summer holiday, sharing a chocolate 
croissant in Paris and hopping on a train to snag a Bavarian Pretzel 
in Germany. You don’t have to worry about the well-being of your 
child tormenting a nanny for an entire summer. Your biggest 
concern is white or red wine. I want a lifestyle where I can have the 
flexibility and finances to travel often with friends and family, and I 
truly believe that having a child would inhibit that.  
 
-- I want to be a cool aunt. I want to whisk my best friend’s kids 
away on fun little mall dates and spoil the shit out of them and drop 
them off when we’re done. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love 
kids! I think they are a hoot. But if there’s a way I can get the joy of 
parenthood without the dirty diapers and potty training, then sign 
me up!  
 
+ The guilt. The guilt settles in when I talk about putting my needs 
before the needs of my potential child. From an evolutionary 
standpoint, it is vital that humans reproduce to keep the human race 
thriving. With the improvement in healthcare, education for women, 
and rise in childcare expenses, fertility rates have dropped 50% 
worldwide since 1970 (World Economic Forum.) My decision, along 
with the 46% of Gen Z that don’t want to have children can create 
a ripple effect that inhibits population growth. Theoretically, if 
women who lack education and sufficient healthcare are carrying the 
weight of reproduction, future generations won’t be as naturally 
physically or mentally strong. This could stunt natural selection of 
best features in the human race such as strength or intelligence.  
 
-- I truly think I’d be a terrible mother. My personality is not suited 
to care for another human being. Let’s be honest, my empathy is 
 29 
forced. I’m aware that I have narcissistic tendencies and I challenge 
myself to put others first. I’m not confident that I can obtain a 
motherly instinct and unconditional love for my child. I’m not 100% 
committed to motherhood, the last thing I want to do is bring a child 
into this world and figure out that it’s not a good fit for me. You 
can’t just half-ass parenthood. That’s absurdly unfair to a child. 
____________________________________________________ 
 
Clearly, my brain is pumped with dissonance on this subject. Some 
aspects of having kids seem all sunshine and rainbows, but also I 
must consider the bitter truth. Kids are a lot of freaking work. To 
my advantage, I have several years before I have to decide if I want 
to bear children. Hell, I don’t even have a husband yet! However, 
this issue is urgent in many women’s lives as we speak, and they 
should know that there are other options. It's okay to not start a 
family and live a life dedicated to personal growth. It’s okay to not 
have children and still feel driven to work with children and teach 
them about  
life. It’s okay to never reach a final verdict. It is your life! 
 
“You’re so caring, you’d be the best mother.” 
“Thanks, but motherhood isn’t in the cards for me.” 
 
Be bold. 
 
“What a happy couple. Are you trying for kids?” 
“No, we’d like to focus on our high-paced careers and marriage.” 
 
Be radical. 
 
“Mommy and daddy loved each other very much, so they had 
you.” 
“Mommy and daddy chose the lifestyle of parenthood.” 
 
Rip through conventionality.  
 
 
 
 
 
 30 
Works Cited  
 
Hains, Rachel. “Almost Half of Gen-Z Don’t Want to Have Kids, 
Finds Research - Wales Online.” WalesOnline, WalesOnline, 
24 Mar. 2022.  
 
“How Much Has the Global Fertility Rate Decreased over the 
Years? | World Economic Forum.” World Economic Forum,  
27 Mar. 2023.  
 
 
  


Pros and Cons of Motherhood

Modelski, Meredith

The Mall 
Article 
7-17-2023 
The Damages of Excess Mining 
Meredith Modelski 
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/the-mall 
Recommended Citation 
Modelski, Meredith (2023) "The Damages of Excess Mining," The Mall: Vol. 7 , Article 16. 
Retrieved from: https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/the-mall/vol7/iss1/16 
This Essay is brought to you for free and open access by the Undergraduate Scholarship at Digital Commons @ 
Butler University. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Mall by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ 
Butler University. For more information, please contact digitalscholarship@butler.edu. 
 75 
The Damages of Excess Mining 
 
Meredith Modelski 
 
 
The setting of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s horror novel Mexican Gothic 
provides a strikingly accurate example of humans’ contribution to 
climate change. Readers can identify that the main setting of High 
Place seemingly drained all the life from the town that sits below it. 
The walls of the mansion move with life spawned from the 
properties of its native fungus and its structure breathes with past 
lives of the exclusive Doyle family and the ongoing pain of the 
town’s history. The power of the Doyle’s and their home would be 
nonexistent without the great effort put into the harming of their 
surrounding environment and its inhabitants. The once-lively mining 
town of El Triunfo is transformed into a terribly dreary sight from 
the misuse of the Doyle’s power over the area’s abundant resources. 
Eventually, the family is destroyed as the negative effects of their 
actions catch up to them. Unfortunately, we are just like the Doyle’s; 
we have inflicted damage upon ourselves and our world today by 
taking advantage of the earth’s resources through excess mining.  
Mining once supported the boom of a growing economy 
even as it began to show signs of a dying environment. The mining 
of various minerals such as coal, iron, silver, gold, and other 
materials became extremely popular in the 19th and 20th centuries 
in areas across the globe and most specifically in the Western United 
States. The 1848 California gold rush also jump started the influx of 
these mining towns. The promises of employment and wealth fueled 
miners to continue the race to find their own “bonanza” --a popular 
mining term for exceptionally large mineral deposits that produce 
great riches (Merriam-Webster). With these bonanzas came 
prosperous mining towns just as the one that gave the Doyle’s their 
well-known name in the story of Mexican Gothic. The town of El 
Triunfo thrived off its plentiful silver and its miners' hard work. 
According to an article titled “The Mining Boom,” “when the 
bonanza was at its zenith, the town prospered.” These mining camps 
hosted thousands of workers for a few months at a time until they 
eventually became “exhausted or proved fruitless,” and the people 
of the mining town would leave “behind nothing but a ghost town” 
(U.S. History). In Mexican Gothic, readers observe a slightly different 
 76 
reason for the town’s abandonment, discovering that El Triunfo’s 
miners fell ill to the effects of the abundant fungus seeping out of 
High Place. Nonetheless, mining remained extremely popular 
elsewhere and its negative effects were continually ignored.  
Today, it is reported that mining is responsible for 4-7 
percent of our world’s greenhouse- gas emissions (Delevingne). 
Even when mining first became popular, already large machines 
were needed to extract great amounts of material, quickly leading to 
the beginnings of increased environmental failure due to human 
manipulation. According to an Environmental Evidence research 
journal article, some effects of mining include “deforestation, 
erosion, contamination and alteration of soil profiles, contamination 
of local streams and wetlands, and an increase in noise level, dust 
and emissions” (Haddaway). Each of these examples connects to the 
statistics that prove the growing issue of climate change. While it can 
be argued that mining is an essential part of our economy as it is now 
used for more than just an individual’s wealth, alterations must be 
made to attend to our fragile environment.  
In Mexican Gothic, the spirit of Ruth, a former resident of 
High Place who attempted to destroy the mining exploits of the 
Doyle’s, repeatedly orders the main character of Noemi to “open her 
eyes.” This action often saves Noemi from the horrors of High Place 
as it helps her snap out of the gloom, a place of traumatic memories, 
and back into reality. If we too can “open our eyes,” we can make 
the active decision to put the needs of our dying earth in front of the 
shallower wants of society. We can recognize that mining creates a 
shell out of our land and at the same time, leads people to become 
shells of themselves with minds clouded by unrealistic fantasies of 
endless riches and early retirement. People who are typically 
considered “higher up”—often literally as well as socially and 
monetarily—become these exact sorts of shells. This idea can again 
be connected to Mexican Gothic in the sense that the Doyle family has 
great wealth and power and live on higher grounds than the rest of 
the town, yet they are often described as hardly being present within 
actual society.  
Like the symbol of the ouroboros in Mexican Gothic 
represents the infinite power of the Doyle family, the issue of 
overmining has created a dangerous cycle that humans have become 
trapped in. We act as the head of the snake constantly chasing after 
its tail that is endless money and power. Just as the Doyle family has 
 77 
a life centered around this symbol, it does not take much thinking to 
discover that we are no better than these antagonists of Mexican 
Gothic. The undivided attention that we as a collective group give to 
the possibility of wealth has distracted us from taking care of our 
planet’s needs first. When the Doyle’s failed to recognize that the 
fungus that grew within High Place was not only weakening 
outsiders but also likely damaging the strength of the house’s 
structure, the family faced great consequences. If we fail to create 
adjustments to mining laws, we will fail to provide for our planet’s 
needs, and watch our home crumble like the Doyle’s. A great 
example of irony can be identified in the final battle that Noemi 
fights before escaping High Place at the end of Mexican Gothic. The 
mushrooms at High Place were essentially the building block of the 
Doyle's power and goal of immortality. In the end, Noemi sets fire 
to these mushrooms, and the house burns with the same things it 
once began with. By overlooking the signs of our endangered 
environment, our society is on track to experience just the same.  
Exploring some ideas that can help combat the issue of 
overmining will provide a proactive way to contribute to those who 
are already doing so. An article by author Megan R. Nichols titled “5 
Ways to Make Mining More Sustainable” offers a quick read to begin 
this change. First, lower impact mining techniques such as in-situ 
leaching can “reduce surface disturbance at mining sites, lower soil 
erosion and move less material that would need backfilled.” As 
noted, mining produces copious amounts of waste so beginning with 
lower impact techniques will be a great start for improvement. In 
addition, individuals have become aware that the waste that is 
inevitably produced by mining can be recycled in numerous ways. 
Another major consequence lies in the fact that the nature disturbed 
will simply never be the same after it is disrupted. Mining strips “the 
topsoil layer [that is] necessary for plant growth and [raises] soil and 
water acidity, making the area inhospitable to new vegetation and 
leaving it prone to soil erosion” (Nichols). Luckily, biosolids can be 
used to help fight against erosion. If soil with biosolids is taken care 
of, it is possible to put a halt to the lasting erosion that mining would 
otherwise cause. Overall, there are resources available that will help 
educate individuals about the actions needed to make mining more 
sustainable, but it is greatly important that we ensure that these 
changes are being made and not just spoken about.  
 78 
If given more time and space to explore the topic of 
overmining as well as the actions we can take to help combat its 
effects, I would spend time recognizing the efforts and regulations 
that have already been put in place to address this issue. In addition, 
I would also offer my opinion on the pre-existing mining laws and 
potential ways they could be improved to better our earth. It is 
notable that fictional works like Mexican Gothic can inspire concrete, 
beneficial improvements to our world and it is our duty to act on 
this need for change.  
 
 
 
 
Works Cited 
 
“Bonanza Definition & Meaning.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam 
-Webster, 1996. 
 
Delevingne, Lindsay, et al. “Climate Risk and Decarbonization: 
What Every Mining CEO Needs to Know.” McKinsey & 
Company, McKinsey & Company, 12 Oct. 2021,  
 
Haddaway, Neal R., et al. “Evidence of the Impacts of Metal 
Mining and the Effectiveness of Mining Mitigation 
Measures on Social–Ecological Systems in Arctic and 
Boreal Regions: A Systematic Map Protocol –  
Environmental Evidence.” BioMed Central, BioMed 
Central, 21 Feb. 2019.  
 
Moreno-Garcia, Silvia. Mexican Gothic. First edition., Del Rey, 2020. 
 
Nichols, Megan R. “5 Ways to Make Mining More Sustainable.” 
Empowering Pumps and Equipment, 22 Dec. 2022.  
 
U.S. History. “The Mining Boom.” Ushistory.org, Independence Hall 
Association, 2008. 
 
 
 
  


The Damages of Excess Mining

Virgil, Natalie

The Mall 
Article 
7-17-2023 
The Music of Stranger Things: The Rebirth of a Hero through the 
Lens of Opera 
Natalie Virgil 
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/the-mall 
Recommended Citation 
Virgil, Natalie (2023) "The Music of Stranger Things: The Rebirth of a Hero through the Lens of Opera," The 
Mall: Vol. 7 , Article 20. 
Retrieved from: https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/the-mall/vol7/iss1/20 
This Essay is brought to you for free and open access by the Undergraduate Scholarship at Digital Commons @ 
Butler University. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Mall by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ 
Butler University. For more information, please contact digitalscholarship@butler.edu. 
 95 
The Music of Stranger Things: The Rebirth  
of a Hero Through the Lens of Opera  
 
Natalie Virgil  
 
 
The power of music is something the television industry has used to 
its advantage for years. By incorporating musical elements into the 
storyline of characters in their show, directors are able to emphasize 
the emotions and motivations of these individuals, and the Duffer 
Brothers are no exception to this technique. Known for including 
popular 80s pop, rock and punk songs within their series, Stranger 
Things, Matt and Ross Duffer introduce a musical twist in season 
four: opera. While this selection of music may seem odd to many 
viewers, it has intentionality at its core. Through the incorporation 
of several operatic arias into the prominent scenes of Eleven’s 
character arch, the Duffer Brothers accentuated her drive to put her 
past aside and become the hero she once was.  
At the very start of season four, the audience is introduced 
to an extremely scarred version of Eleven. Struggling to adjust to her 
new life in California, she faces social repercussions because of it and 
automatically becomes a target among her peers. El gets teased in 
and out of class for her naive personality, but the worst treatment 
comes from Angela, the school bully. Angela not only verbally 
abuses her but is also physically aggressive on multiple occasions; the 
worst being at the roller rink. In episode two, “Vecna’s Curse”, El 
excitedly takes Mike to her favorite place in town, Rink-O-Mania. 
Upon their arrival, they unfortunately run into Angela who leads in 
the group plan to enclose El and dump a milkshake on her. Feeling 
publicly humiliated, El seeks revenge by pounding her in the nose 
with a roller skate and faces negative social consequences in return.  
As the scene transitions away from the roller rink, the 
audience is placed into a conversation between Argyle, Jonathan, and 
Eleven as they drive home. In an attempt to clear the tension within 
the car, the boys try to make El feel better by telling her that "in the 
grand scheme of things, it's just a little blip"(Chapter 2: Vecna’s 
Curse, 6:24), but she still remains visibly upset. The camera focuses 
in on a teary eyed El as she stares out the window, but surprisingly, 
the music during this moment does not reflect her saddened 
deminor. Instead, flamboyant vocals from the song "V'ho 
 96 
ingannato...Colpevole fui," found in the opera Rigoletto, flood the 
background. Although the plot of this operatic aria doesn't directly 
align with El's personal story, the similarities between her emotions 
and those of the main character, Rigoletto, are extremely revealing.  
In "V'ho ingannato...Colpevole fui", Rigoletto describes the 
intense remorse he feels upon realizing he accidently stabbed his 
own daughter. He exclaims "Great God in heaven! She was struck 
by the bolt that I, in righteous vengeance, loosed" and begs for her 
life (Verdi, 3-4). These lines of the song paint a picture that parallels 
El's journey up until this point. Instead of opening the heavens and 
striking people with a lightning bolt, Eleven accidentally opens the 
Mothergate in Hawkins Laboratory. Like Rigoletto, Eleven's actions 
throughout the first three seasons unintentionally led to the downfall 
of those she loves. Despite her attempts to close the portal and 
protect the town of Hawkins, the power of the Upside down 
continues to negatively affect the lives of many and ultimately lead 
to the loss of the person who means most to her, Hopper. The guilt 
she experiences from seeing the way her failures have not only 
impacted her life, but the lives of everyone involved, boils inside her; 
ultimately influencing her actions at the roller rink. Although these 
internal feelings may be hard to acknowledge just by watching, the 
way the Duffer Brothers skillfully paired “V'ho 
ingannato...Colpevole fui” with this specific scene allows viewers to 
understand El’s struggles more deeply. Rigoletto lets guilt overcome 
all aspects of his life, resulting in his ultimate defeat, and the audience 
recognizes that if Eleven follows this same pattern she will lead 
herself down the path of self-destruction as well.  
Faced with the option to wallow in her past or move 
forward, Eleven is presented with an opportunity that may make her 
choice much easier. At the end of episode three Dr. Owens seeks 
out El and informs her that “Hawkins is in danger” (Chapter Three: 
The Monster and the Superhero, 53:26), and they believe she is the 
only solution. Along with Dr. Brenner, they trust that through the 
act of memory recall El will be able to regain the ability to use her 
powers. In episode four, they test this by putting her in a sensory 
deprivation tank. This allows her to easily transport herself into her 
past memories at the Hawkins Lab. While interacting with one of 
those memories, Dr. Brenner described to Eleven the plot of the 
opera Nina, “the story of a young woman whose lover was killed in 
a duel”. He explains that “Nina was so traumatized that she buried 
 97 
the memory. It was as if it never happened. Every day she would 
return to the train station to await her lover’s return.” (Chapter 5: 
The Nina Project, 43:40). Similar to the character Nina, Eleven’s 
trauma has caused her to block out the past. The strength of her guilt 
is unbearable and therefore, forgetting about those memories 
protects her from experiencing the emotions attached to them. 
However, Dr. Brenner knows that the only way to successfully get 
El’s powers back is by convincing her to “leave [her] train station” 
(Chapter 5: The Nina Project, 44:15).  
Dr. Owens and Dr. Brenner push her to dive further into 
her suppressed past, but with each step forward El’s guilt forces her 
back. She is too afraid to confront the truths of her past and has no 
intention of uncovering whether or not she is to blame because in 
her head she is already the monster. After returning from a memory 
where she walks into a room of dead children with blood on her 
hands, she has hit her emotional limit and tries to escape from Dr. 
Brenner’s possession. She hits him in the face and makes a run for 
the exit of the lab but is quickly blocked off by guards. In a moment 
of rage, she gains control of her powers, blasting the guards to the 
walls, however, when Brenner reaches her she is powerless. 
Frustrated and confused, Eleven confesses to him that she “doesn’t 
understand” to which he replies “I do” (Chapter 5: The Nina Project, 
1:10:33). Brener offers his hand to her, hoping she will let him in 
once more and Eleven hesitantly takes it. As their hands touch, the 
song “O sia la Pazza Per Amore: II Mio Ben Quando Verrá” from 
the opera Nina comes to life in the background.  
Directly translating to “when the beloved returns, near his 
languid friend, spring will then be reborn, the grass will always be a 
flower” (Dalayrac, 1-4), these lyrics highlight the commonalities 
between Eleven and Nina. Both characters want to take the easy 
route and avoid uncovering the pain of their past, expecting that life 
will go on as normal, but the line “the beloved does not return” 
(Dalayrac, 8) reveals that this is not a reality. By limiting the depth of 
their memories, both women are capping their full potential. For 
Eleven this is seen in the obstacles she faces regaining her powers 
and for Nina this is displayed through her defiance towards leaving 
the train station and moving on. The Duffer Brother’s choice to play 
this song as Eleven takes Brenner’s hand exhibits El’s acceptance of 
her fate. Unlike Nina, El’s open mindedness has allowed her to view 
this moment as a turning point. She now understands that her 
 98 
powers are not coming back without a fight and is committed to 
putting in the work if it means there is a chance she can make up for 
her past.  
Working to prove herself as a hero once more, Eleven’s new 
mentality drives her to let down her personal barriers and let the past 
in. She slowly starts to uncover more and more of the truth, 
eventually allowing her access into the memory she tried hardest to 
hide: the moment that she opened the Mothergate. Leading up to 
this, viewers are introduced to the character One; the very first 
participant in Martin Brenner’s mind control experiment. Sought out 
for his unique gifts, Dr. Brenner worked with One, teaching him 
how to strengthen and manage his powers. However, he never 
intended to use his powers for good like Dr. Brenner hoped. While 
talking with Eleven, he explains his philosophy that “humans are a 
unique type of pest, multiplying and poisoning our world all while 
enforcing a structure of their own” (Chapter Seven: The Massacre at 
Hawkins Lab, 1:23: 44). He believed that he could “restore balance 
to a broken world” by being “a predator, but for good” (Chapter 
Seven: The Massacre at Hawkins Lab, 1:25:19), and therefore found 
it acceptable to kill anyone he deemed as unfit.  
In his manipulative ways, One convinces El that they are 
one in the same. He describes that just like himself, El is a prisoner 
to Dr. Brenner and offers her freedom at the expense of choosing 
to join forces with him. As One attempts to persuade her, the 
thundering chords from the singers of the song “Akhenaten and 
Nefertiti '' come to the front. This love song found in the opera 
Akhenaten showcases the promise of absolute devotion between the 
two main characters. Although One is not asking Eleven for a 
romantic devotion, he does seek an alliance with her. 
He illustrates to her that if they worked as one, they could 
“reshape the world” and “remake it however [they] see fit” (Chapter 
Seven, The Massacre at Hawkin Lab, 1:30:03). Possessing a strong 
moral foundation, El is not persuaded by his words. As soon as she 
tells him no, the song cuts out and we are left with the sound of 
Eleven using her powers to banish One into the Upside Down 
through the portal she opens. In this scene, music holds a powerful 
role. While the inclusion of “Akhenaten and Nefertiti” stresses the 
potential El has to negatively acquire power by working with One, 
the lack of it showcases El’s ability to finally escape from the chains 
of her guilt and turn him down. By reliving this memory, she is able 
 99 
to rewrite the story in her head; finally realizing that despite the 
problems it created, opening the Mothergate was necessary in order 
to stop One from causing mass destruction. Most importantly, El 
has come to terms with the fact that she has defeated One once and 
can do it again. This newly fostered confidence directs Eleven’s 
development throughout the rest of the season, not only helping her 
regain her powers, but also allowing her to believe for herself that 
despite her past, she is truly a hero.  
Although the inclusion of opera in season four of Stranger 
Things may have seemed as unimportant, its overall effect is 
something to be talked about. By utilizing songs that are composed 
of characters who experience such rich emotion, the struggles, and 
triumphs that Eleven faces within the show take on a whole new 
meaning. Every scenario that El could have fallen into the traps of 
guilt and temptation like the characters in these operatic arias, she 
pushed ahead, leading with the goodness in her heart. The 
similarities and differences between El and the characters in these 
songs bring to light her drive to reinstate herself as a hero. 
 
 
 
 
Works Cited 
 
“Chapter Two: Vecna's Curse.” Duffer, Matt and Ross Duffer, 
directors. Stranger Things, season 4, episode 2.  
 
“Chapter Three: The Monster and the Superhero.” Duffer, Matt 
and Ross Duffer, directors. Stranger Things, season 4, 
episode 3.  
 
“V'ho Ingannato Colpevole Fui: Rigoletto: Giuseppe Verdi.” Opera, 
https://www.opera-arias.com/verdi/rigoletto/v'ho-
ingannato-colpevole-fui/.  
 
“Chapter Five: The Nina Project.” Duffer, Matt and Ross Duffer, 
directors. Stranger Things, season 4, episode 5.  
 
 
 
 100 
Ranger'csf5, and FutureThings. “The Meaning of the Song in the 
Video They Uploaded Yesterday.: Fandom.” Stranger Things 
Wiki.  
 
“Chapter Seven: The Massacre at Hawkins Lab.” Duffer, Matt and 
Ross Duffer, directors. Stranger Things, season 4, episode 7.  
 
“Akhnaten.” Metropolitan Opera | Akhnaten.  
 
“The Opera's Plot & Creation.” Metropolitan Opera | The Opera's Plot 
&Creation.  
 
 
 
  


The Music of Stranger Things: The Rebirth of a Hero through the Lens of Opera

Stahly, Katlyn

The Mall 
Article 
7-17-2023 
Tangerines 
Katlyn Stahly 
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/the-mall 
Recommended Citation 
Stahly, Katlyn (2023) "Tangerines," The Mall: Vol. 7 , Article 24. 
Retrieved from: https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/the-mall/vol7/iss1/24 
This Essay is brought to you for free and open access by the Undergraduate Scholarship at Digital Commons @ 
Butler University. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Mall by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ 
Butler University. For more information, please contact digitalscholarship@butler.edu. 
 114 
Tangerines  
 
Katlyn Stahly  
 
 
Standing in the green grass 
In the front yard of my childhood home 
My dad stood on top of the ladder 
Which leaded against the tangerine tree 
Centered in the middle of the yard 
He reached up through the lush leaves of the tree 
To pick the perfect tangerine 
He held it in his hand at first 
In order to carefully examine it 
Checking for any discoloration 
After deciding it was good 
He would take it in one hand 
And with a quick twist and hard pull 
The tangerine came right off the branch 
One by one 
He tossed the tangerines down to my brother and I 
We stood there with both feet planted in the ground 
Gazing up to him with baseball mitts on 
Ready to catch the falling fruits 
 
 
 
 
 
  


Tangerines

An unstoppable force: The anti-war movement.https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/so_racial_relations_zines/1001/thumbnail.jp

Gerard, Elaine

Maregatti, Kiki

Beckman, Jackie

Butler University 
Digital Commons @ Butler University 
Sociology 323 Racial and Ethnic Relations Sociology Course Projects 
Spring 2023 
Vietnam Violence 
Elaine Gerard 
Butler University 
Kiki Maregatti 
Butler University 
Jackie Beckman 
Butler University 
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Gerard, Elaine; Maregatti, Kiki; and Beckman, Jackie, "Vietnam Violence" (2023). Sociology 323 Racial and 
Ethnic Relations. 6. 
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VIETNA
VIOL CE 
By: Elaine Gerard, Kiki 
Maregatti, & Jackie Beckman 
I 
AN UNSTOPPABLE FORCE: 
THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT 
THE VIETNAM WAR IS NOW AN INFAMOUS STAPLE IN
ANTI-WAR PROTESTS WERE MADE UP 
OF ALL MAJOR SOCIAL GROUPS WHO WERE BROUGHT 
TOGETHER TO MAKE A CHANGE. THE SEVERITY OF THE 
AMERICAN MILITIA AS WELL AS RACISM TOWARDS 
VIETNAMESE PEOPLE WERE CHALLENGED THROUGHOUT THE 
WAR. PEOPLE CAME TOGETHER FROM ALL BACKGROUNDS TO 
PROTEST THE WAR. COLLEGE STUDENTS BEING TARGETED 
FOR WAR WERE OUTRAGED. PENTAGON PAPERS WERE 
RELEASED PROVING THE GOVERNMENT WAS HIDING 
INFORMATION ABOUT THE WAR FROM THE GENERAL 
PUBLIC. THIS REFORMATIVE MOVEMENT DEMANDED A 
CHANGE TO END THE WAR. 
• , "I Walked out of theCommerce Building that dayand soon the I awful eye-burning, nose-burning gas hit me. I ran and soonthe 
hill as fast as lcou!d, crying. Why Was I I gassed?I didn't• do 
anything but attentclass. After that day I I became
politically active. I was never the same per son a after that
October day"-Dale Altshuler,'71 
NKERVS DES MOINES 
\ 
Tinker v 
case tha 
defied authority. She wore a black band with a 
peace symbol in support ot the Vietnam protest. 
lier school told her and her friends to take it 
ott. lier friends followed the rule, but Tinker 
didn ' t. They wouldn't let her into school until 
she did. She then sued the school and won. This • 
case changed how students can protest in schools 
(Hafen 1996). Students can use the first 
amendment in schools. Tinker vs Des Moines helped 
t 
students get into politics and protests them when . . 
they w ant to. This changed the game tor the 
. . •· Viet nam protests its self. Younger students 
. started to get • involved when they saw what the 
• ·" 
• war was doing to their families and friends. They 
. 
used their right and protested. 
• 
VIOLEN 
NATIONAL GUARD SHOT INTO A 
CROWD OF PROTESTERS AT KENT 
WERE PROTESTING THE VIETNAM WAR 
AND THE INVASION OF CAMBODIA, 
SET BY PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON. 
POLICE OPENFIRED AT ANOTHER 
VIETNAM WAR PROTEST AT 
JACKSON STATE COLLEGE. 
TWELVE STUDENTS WERE INJURED 
AND TWO WERE KILLED. 
GUARD 'BANKED' THE PROTEST 
AND TOLD STUDENTS TO 
DISPERSE, WHICH CAUSED THE 
STUDENTS TO BECOME ANGERED. 
THEY BEGAN TO THROW ROCKS 
COMMONSTRAPPING MANY 
STUDENTS FROM LEAVING. 28 
GUARDSMEN SHOT INTO THE 
LARGE PARTS OF THE ANTI-WAR 
PROTESTS WERE RAN BY COLLEGE 
STUDENTS AS WELL AS COLLEGES 
AND UNIVERSITIES "THOUGH
THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE 
AMERICAN POPULATION STILL J INISTRATION ICY N IETNAM, A SMALL 
T POKEN LIBERAL 
M AKING ITS 
VOICE HEARD BY THE END OF 
STUDENTS FOR I DEM
SOCIETY (SDS). MANYOF THESE 
TONE OF THE MOST PROMINENT
ANTI-WAR PROTESTS TOOK PLACE 
ON OCTOBER 21 , l967. OVER 
l00,000 PROTESTERS WERE 
GATHERED AT THE LINCOLN
MEMORIAL. LATER THAT EVENIIG 
CONTINUED THE MARCH. AT THE 
PENTAGON WITH AROUND 30, 000 
REMAINING BRUTAL ATTACKS 
WERE TAKEN OUT ON PROTESTERS 
TO I PROTECT THE BUILDINGS I • 
HUNDR S ARRESTED. 
AYS BEEN AN
PEACEFUL 
STUDENTS WERE REJECTING THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT 
AUTHORITY AND ACCEPTING DRUG STRONGG PACT 
CULTURE. S HOW MA 0 
THERE WAS BACKLASH. REVOLVIBG GATIVELY AFFECT D 
THE VIETNAM WAR DUE TO 
GRAPHIC IMAGES TAKEN BY 
THOSE VIETNAM. THE 
GOVERNMENT WAS WITHHOLDING
AND MANIPULATING INFORMATIOI 
FROM THE PUBLIC TO PAINT THE 
WAR. PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON 
ANNOUNCED THE END TO THE WAR 
AND SIGNED THE PARIS PEACE 
AGREEMENT ON JANUARY 27, 
1973, STATING TO RESTORE 
PEACE TO VIETNAM. 
' 
\ 

• 
• 
America knows Martin Luther King Jr, 
for his "I have a dream" speech that 
helped change minds and helped the 
civil rights movement. Many 
Americans of all races admired King 
for his perseverance. King helped 
the anti-Vietnam war movement as 
well, Since King was known for his 
peaceful views, Americans were 
waiting for him to speak about it 
but he waited a while to do so 
(Fairclough 1984). On April 4th, 
1967, King made a speech in favor of
the movement. "As a minister of the 
gospel," he said, •r consider war an 
evil, I must cry out when I see war 
escalate at any point ( "Beyond 
Vietnam• ). King was assassinated 
during the movement and protests 
commemorated him during the 
protests. King changed the minds of
m ny Americans to join the protest, 
so all the protesters wanted to do 
were deeply saddened by his sudden 
passing. 
''I Feel Like 
to 
I'm 
Die'' 
Fixin' 
protest Song by1h17 Country Joe The FiFish
Well come on all of you big strong men, 
Uncle Sam needs your help again, 
He got himself in a terrible jam, 
Way down yonder in Vietnam, 
Put down your books and pick up a gun, 
We're gonna have a whole lotta fun 
And its 1, 2,3 what are we fighting for? 
Don't ask me I don't give a damn, 
The next stop is Vietnam, ?And its 5, 6,7 open up the pearly gates, Well there ain't no time to wonder why, 
WHOOPEE we're all gonna die 
Well come on wall street don't be slow, 
Why man this is war go go go, 
There's plenty good money to be made, 
By supplying the army with the tools of the 
trade, 
Just hope and pray that if they drop the bomb 
They drop it on the Vietcong. 
And its 1, 2,3 what are we fighting for? 
Don't ask me I don't give a damn, 
The next stop is Vietnam, 
And its 5, 6,7 open up the pearly gates, 
Well there ain't no time to wonder why, 
WHOOPEE we're all gonna die 
Well come on generals let's move fast, 
Your big chance is come at last, 
Gotta go out and get those reds, 
The only good commie is one that's dead, 
And you know that peace can only be won, 
When you blow them all to kingdom come 
And its 1, 2,3 what are we fighting for? 
Don't ask me I don't give a damn, 
The next stop is Vietnam, 
And its 5, 6,7 open up the pearly gates, 
Well there ain't no time to wonder why, 
WHOOPEE we're all gonna die 
Well come on mothers across the land, 
Pack your boys off to Vietnam, 
Come on fathers don't hesitate, 
Send your sons off before its too late, 
• 
Be the one on your block, . 
· To have your boy come home in a box 
And its 1, 2,3 what are we fighting for? 
MOVEMENT 
DECLINE 
FROM GOVERNMENTAL CONSTRAINTS, POLICE 
BRUTALITY, THE ABOLITION OF THE DRAFT, TO THE 
EVENTUAL WITHDRAWAL OF TROOPS FROM VIETNAM 
AND THE SUBSEQUENT PARIS PEACE ACCORDS, 
SEVERAL FACTORS ACCOUNTED FOR THE VIETNAM 
ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT'S DECLINE. BOTH 
GOVERNMENTAL EFFORTS AS WELL AS LACK OF 
PUBLIC EXCITEMENT CONTRIBUTED TO THE VIETNAM 
PROTEST'S PRIOR BLAZE TO EVENTUALLY BE 
SNUFFED OUT. 
AUTHOR ASSOCIATED WITH UNIVERSITY OF AKRON 
WALTER HIXSON STATED THAT WHAT "COHESION DID 
EXIST IN THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT DECLINED IN 
THE COMING YEARS AS MANY ACTIVISTS "EMBRACED 
FAR LEFT IDEOLOGIES, COUNTERCULTURAL 
LIFESTYLES, OR ABANDONED THEIR COMMITMENT TO 
NONVIOLENT TACTICS." (HIXSON, 2000) WHILE THE 
VIETNAM ANTI-WAR PROTESTS DID BURN BRIGHTLY 
FOR ROUGHLY A DECADE, ALL THINGS DO COME TO 
AN END. 
NONE OF THIS IS TO SAY THAT THE VIETNAM ANTI-
WAR PROTESTS WERE UNIMPRESSIVE. THE NOW 
ICONIC MOVEMENT ENTAILED OVER A DECADE OF 
ORGANIZING, MASS PROTESTS, VIGILS, SIT-INS, 
DRAFT RESISTANCE, DESTRUCTION OF ARMS 
SHIPMENTS AND PERSONNEL, AND MORE. IT HAS 
LASTING IMPACTS IN TODAY'S SOCIETY IN SEVERAL 
REALMS; AND RADICALLY CHANGED THE WAY THE 
UNITED STATES' GENERAL PUBLIC VIEWS THE 
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND ITS INTERESTS, AS WELL 
AS THEIR OWN POWER IN RETALIATION TO THOSE 
INTERESTS. 
; Stage l people must
have the opportunity
to get together
Students for a
Democratic Society 
got students together 
Stage 3- have
· generalized beliefso all 
l come together to fight
I They wanted to pull the 
t roops out of Vietnam 
Stge 5 - collective
action
1 As they started 
protesting more and more 
Americans started 
protesting with them 
I 
Stage 2 - people realize
expectations aren't met
bysociety
The students realized 
what was happening in 
I 
Vietnam wasn't what they
I 
I 
were being told 
Stage 4 - events to start
protest action
They started protests at
their college, University 
of Michigan 
Stage 6 - authorities'
reaction
The police didn't react : 
at first but as more 
protest happened the 
olice turned to violence 1 
I 
'"value-added theory includes structural strain as a 
explanatory factor as well as psychological, 
ideological, and procedural components termed 
• • "generalized beliefs", "leadership and 
communication", and precipitating incidents"." 
• . . . . 
. . 
' . 
• • . • • . · 
.. • THE VIETNAM war BROUGHT 
• 
. • t 
•• 
MILLIONS OF DIFFERENT SOCIAL 
GROUPS TOGETHER TO FIGHT TO 
END THE WAR. A DIRECT 
RESPONSE TO THOSE TAKING 
ADVANTAGE OF OUR COUNTRIES
• YOUNG ADULTS. TliE 
UNSTOPPABLE FORCE PRESSURED 
AMERICAN LEADERS TO 
RECONSIDER THEIR WAYS AND 
END THE WAR. 
ACTION
Referenc.e List 
Anon. 2018. "The US Anti-Vietnam War Movement (1964-1973)." ICNC. 
Retrieved September 8, 2022 (https : //www,nonviolent-conflict,org/us-
anti-vietnam-war-movement-1964-1973/), 
Anon. n.d. "Tinker v. Des Moines - Landmark Supreme Court Ruling on 
Behalf of Student Expression.• American Civil Liberties Union. 
Retrieved September 8, 2022a (https://www.aclu.org/other/tinker-v-
des-moines-landmark-supreme-court-ruling-behalf-student-expression). 
Anon, n.d. "Vietnam-Era Antiwar Protests.• Mapping American Social 
Movements. Retrieved September 8, 2022b 
(https://depts,washington,edu/moves/antiwar_map_protests.shtml). 
Anon, Notes on the antiwar movement - web.ics,purdue.edu, Available 
at: Anon, The antiwar movement. ushistory,org. Available at: 
https://www.ushistory.org/us/55d,aspLinks to an external site. 
Anon, The May 4 shootings at Kent State University: The search for. 
Kent State University. Available at: https ://www.kent.edu/may-4-
historical-accuracyLinks to an external site 
Experience, American. 2017a. "Protests and Backlash. " American 
Experience, May 18. 
Experience, American. 2017b. "Timeline: Vietnam Wa r and Protests. · • 
American Experience, May 17. 
Garner's (1997) "Fifty Years of Social Movement Theo ry: An 
Interpretation· (Pp. 7-12, 17-48) 
liall. 2004, "The Vietnam Era Antiwar Movement. • OAH Magazine of 
History 18(5):13-17. doi : 10.1093/maghis/18.5.13. 
J effreys-Jones, Rhodri. Peace now! : American society and the ending 
of the Vietnam War. Yale University Pre s s, 2001. 
Short, James F, and Marvin E Wolfgang. n.d. Collective Violehce . New 
York : Routledge 
• 
• 
Elaine, Kiki, and Jackie 
4600 Sunset Ave Co
Indianapolis, IN, 46208 
• 
• 
• 
.. 
nfide
. : . nt ial.. • 
• 
• • • · RichardNixon 
• • • • The. White House 
. • 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW 
• • · Washington
• • • • I . . . . " ;;.. . • . . . . .. 
DC., 20500 
• . 
• 
• 
33 
I 
Vi 
'f: 
Peace Symbol


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