Grammar Gazette- Issue 1, 2023

FROM THE STUDENTS Apollo Club

Disagreeing Without Being Disagreeable: LESSONS LE A RNED IN ‘ A POLLO CLUB’ Lauren Zillmann (12H)

We’ve long been socialised to avoid disagreement in our conversations with others. It starts at the dinner table, where our elders warn us to avoid the heated topics of politics and money lest the conversation turn uncomfortable. The downside to our pacificism, aside from losing the chance to have our say, is that we miss the opportunity to learn from different perspectives, and sadly, forget how to listen. Sometimes it feels like we’re being pulled in two opposite directions: to be polite but superficial on the one hand, and to have an authentic discussion that risks disagreement on the other. Fortunately, once each fortnight at Girls Grammar, senior students get to be part of a reading group known as the Apollo Club, where leaning into the discomfort of disagreement comes part and parcel with discussing literary texts. With a diverse range of novels as our stimulus, the Apollo Club asks what it means to lead a good life. The answers are as many and varied as there are novels to read. Unsurprisingly, authors sometimes offer similar advice (e.g. ‘step outside of your comfort zone’; ‘be kind to others’; ‘don’t take more than you need’), but more often than not, they clash. In turn, we rotate our chairs to face each other, and armed with our knowledge of stylistic devices and understanding of our personal biases, we debate our way towards some kind of truth .

2

Take Jane Austen’s classic novel, Emma, which was a recent holiday read. For those who don’t know it, eponymous heroine Emma Woodhouse, the spoilt, self-assured meddler, learns over the course of the novel to run her own race—to stop putting her nose in others’ affairs and to concentrate on being her best possible self. Some nastiness during a game of charades at a picnic puts it all in perspective: Emma compromises on her kind and authentic self in an effort to impress an odious and unworthy suitor. Austen tells us that when you work on yourself, you can become your true self. Another favourite among Apollo members, Circe by Madeleine Miller, demonstrates a different way of understanding selfhood. The protagonist, Circe, is initially suppressed and uncertain of herself, but once she realises her self‑worth under pressure, she asserts her independence and strength in a world where men perceive her as property. Miller argues that your identity is something you grow into, rather than something birth-divined like Austen. And yet, both authors agree—some centuries apart—that others should not dictate the course of your life. These are the kinds of lessons we chase in Apollo. Apollo Club is a model for free and civil discourse. We don’t demand compliance or crave acceptance. We’re at peace with mutually ‘figuring it out,’ verbally struggling and sparring with ideas so that we can learn from different points of view. We keep coming back because the small freedom of speaking your mind with peers about a text you may love or loathe is the best gift to end an otherwise inconspicuous Wednesday. It’s important to have the outlet to speak your mind, and we are ever so grateful for the opportunity to learn.

CAPTIONS 1 LAUREN ZILLMANN (12H) 2 APOLLO CLUB MEMBERS DISCUSSING THEIR LATEST READ

1

22

GAZETTE • ISSUE 1, 2023 ISSUE 1, 2023

BRISBANE GIRLS GRAMMAR SCHOOL