Pineapple Upside-Down Greek

Maybe I was a little over the line. Just a little.

Here's the thing -- third year Greek begins with a deep study of the five-case system. To keep your reading pleasure at its maximum, I will refrain from painting a picture of what this study looks like. It's detailed; let's leave it at that.

As dearly as I love language theory, many of the processes I'm applying are frustrating to me because I fail to see the practical value. Try as I might, I cannot discern the actual benefit (whether interpretive, exegetical, or even linguistic) of categorizing in such exhausting detail. This is not helpful. I can grasp it, but I cannot appreciate it.

So on Tuesday, I asked my professor (respectfully) about this. We discussed (respectfully) in the classroom the possible pros and cons of this particular exercise. An excerpt from our conversation:

Prof: This will help you to understand passages that might not otherwise be transparent. If you select examples that are transparent to you personally, it will help you grasp the idea.

Missy: I understand that and I agree. What I'm not seeing is the overarching value of this exercise itself. Yes it's helpful that we choose our own examples when categorizing, but why categorize at all?

Prof: Doing this will help you get from Point A to Point B. How else will you get there?

Missy: If I'm struggling to get from Point A to Point B, this process doesn't make it any simpler. We're categorizing what's already translated, aren't we?

Prof: Yes, but this helps you understand why you translate it as such.

Missy: While not helping to actually translate it?

Prof: No, but you have to understand how to get from one place to another.

Does anyone else sense a total lack of closure to the debate? I came to conclude quickly that I'm trying to cross a river, if you will, and being handed a pineapple. I don't want a pineapple. Pineapples don't help people cross rivers. Please don't make me eat a pineapple.

A few minutes later in class, we came across a peculiar form of verb in a sentence in which we were examining another verb. I asked about the peculiar one and why it was in its form. The prof assured us, "just because it is, in this case."

To which I smartly replied, "Why don't we make up a category for that one, too?"

Oof. I hate it when I do that.

Thankfully, my prof laughed and promised that there certainly is a category for that, and we'd get to it later. I love Greek. This weekend is going to be an amazing all-school retreat in the middle of the Eastern Oregon Desert, at a beautiful Young Life facility. I think my little brain (and heart) could use the rest.