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Discussion Board 5
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Discussion Board 5
Number 1
In the article by Sandra K. Barnidges on "The Last Grand Tour of Albertine's Watch," she
uses the name Iphigenia (Barnidge, 2019). In Greek, the name Iphigenia is a representation of
sacrifice. Concerning Greek methodology, Iphigenia signifies fate and helplessness, which is a
reflection of the narrator's struggle as her town experiences an environmental disaster. The author
used Iphigenia for our narrator to highlight the tension between fate and human resilience.
Besides, the author's decision to use the name is because the name emphasizes how the
community is slowly decaying.
Number 2
The relations between the narrator's family and Hayden's family are soured when
Hayden's brother sets the family pontoon boat on fire.
Number 3
The irony of the location of Hayden’s family home is that it is located on dry land, which
contradicts the submerged water town. This irony highlights the complex interaction between
privilege and survival. In this case, we tend to observe how the family of Hayden lives on higher
grounds, whereas we see that the narrator's family is submerged in the rising waters.
Number 4
I will have different suggestions regarding how the following people and entities respond
to the crisis. Concerning the state, I think it has displayed indifferences besides abandoning the
town and providing relocation grants. My response to Iphigenia's father is that he tries to figure
out solutions and effective approaches that he can adopt to prevent this catastrophe. He stays in
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town for him to take this fatalistic approach. In the case of tourists, they treat the town as an
attraction site despite the town's devastating state.
Number 5
From my point of view, I think the author decided to portray the drowning since she
believes that the destruction of Albertine's watch is inevitable. In this case, the author believes
that humans' resistance will go in vain over the outweighs of natural calamity.
Number 6
The Guardian article suggests that there are common fears about the loss of cultural
identity due to climate change, weather through floods, or the construction of unsightly seawalls
(Dembicki, 2023). Both articles have tried to emphasize the tension between the destruction and
preservation of this environmental disaster.
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References
Barnidge, S. K. (2019, January 24). The Last Grand Tour of Albertine's Watch. Center for
Science and the Imagination. https://csi.asu.edu/story/albertine/
Dembicki, G. (2023, January 13). Coastal residents fear "hideous" seawalls will block waterfront
views. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/13/us-cities-uglyseawalls-climate-crisis-miami
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