Tacitus

There's a guy in my class who wants to study Tacitus. I used to think that he was an offensive and horrible person, until I noticed the pattern: he just happens to be an extremely shy person who finds his one comfort zone in tirades. That is, you can't get him to talk, literally, unless it's a topic he feels very passionate about - and by passionate, I mean ANGRY.

Anyways, yesterday my prose comp professor started talking about imitating the classical prose styles of Greek and Latin writers, advising that we shouldn't try to imitate anyone's personal style. "It is possible to write Latin like Tacitus, but many people make mistakes when they try. To write like Tacitus, you have to have a particular way of thinking. And Tacitus' way of thinking is to write about good things, while turning it so that it seems like it is a bad thing."

Aha! So Tacitus is pessimism. Suddenly it all came together.