Symposium

symposium



Y

D



–noun, plural -siums, -sia   

1. a meeting or conference for the discussion of some subject, esp. a meeting at which several speakers talk on or discuss a topic before an audience.  

2. a collection of opinions expressed or articles contributed by several persons on a given subject or topic. 

3. an account of a discussion meeting or of the conversation at it.  



4. (in ancient Greece and Rome) a convivial (酒宴的) meeting, usually following a dinner, for drinking and intellectual conversation.  



5. (initial capital letter, italics) a philosophical dialogue (4th century b.c.) by Plato, dealing with ideal love and the vision of absolute beauty.  





C



symposium (n.) 

 

The Latin plural, symposia, was the higher frequency form until recently, but the regular English plural, symposiums, appears to have overtaken it even in Edited English. Both are Standard.  





　

But just when it looks like his luck is changing for the [better], his so-called inheritance is suddenly ephemeral. Saddled [with] debts, he wanders around the shadier side of the city throughout the summer, 



trying to survive but instead sinking deeper and deeper into the morass of poverty. His friends help [out], and at the end it looks like his luck will be changing once again.

 

morass

–noun 

1. a tract of low, soft, wet ground. 

2. a marsh or bog.

3. marshy ground.

4. any confusing 

or 

troublesome situation, esp. one from which it is difficult to free oneself; entanglement.

 



　

First attack? Oh, yes, and considering the one that follows, it seems the far milder of the two -- although to pass that kind of judgment is to 



get into the sexual-political morass "Descent" 

wants us to wade through.



A symposium in the "men are pigs" school of gender relations, 



"Descent" is about one young grad student's violation, metamorphosis and well-planned, gruesome revenge on her assailant -- in a scene which, if said assailant were a woman, 



would relegate the "Descent" DVD to the little back room at the videostore.





erudite

dunce

symposium

A symposium in the "men are pigs" school of gender relations

polemic 

controversial argument

elevates "Descent" beyond case study and into the realm of [bomb]-throwing polemic.



disquisition (dissertation)

delve 

delve [into] the background of a case

glean

The Talented Mr. Ripley became a [broad] critical [success] and [gleaned] several award nominations in the States

If there's one thing that can be [gleaned] from The Brown Bunny, it's that Vincent Gallo is a damn considerate turn-signaler.

Threnody