VIP Class Notes (Nick)

Watch “A Few Good Men” and see how Tom Cruise tries to provoke Jack Nicholson at the end.

If you want to do some writing, then write about the debate! Maybe find an article responding to it in English, and respond to that article.

Vocabulary

Self-deprecating humor – based on making fun of yourself, making jokes about yourself

Invoke – to do something in the name of, for, or under the authority of a higher power
e.g. When he invoked the name of the King, they let him enter.
e.g. When he blessed the child, he invoked the name of God.
Evoke – to cause some emotion
e.g. Seeing the place where he had been robbed evoked feelings of fear very similar to those he had felt during the robbery.
Provoke – stimulate; to cause strong emotions in another person; to try to get a reaction from someone
e.g. If you hit the beehive you may provoke them into stinging you.

Awkward – uncomfortable and weird

Lame – not as strong as expected
e.g. Actually, that response was pretty lame.

Status, Influence – a good position in society and connections to find good jobs

Party-State – power in China is not controlled just by the government, but by the Party as well
Title – the name of a position that comes with some power
e.g. Xi Jinping has three titles: General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, President of China, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission

JD – (juris doctor) the law degree in the US, which is always a graduate degree

Sovereignty – usually the independence of one country from all others

Grammar

Their using of words – their word usage

At the first beginning – “beginning” already means “first”