I Have Fallen

I Have Fallen
Attention: Student Body and Staff! Have you ever fallen, and felt like you could not get up? Of course you have. We all have fallen at one point throughout our life. Abraham Lincoln once said, “I am not concerned that you have fallen/I am concerned that you arise.”   According to the American Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary the traditional definition of the word fallen is to descend freely by the force of gravity. A contradictory image of the word fallen is rising; for example, a plane or a balloon. What crosses your mind when you hear the word fallen? For me it’s an athlete stumbling, a leaf falling, a city collapsing, and a soldier defeated.
According to dictionary reference.com, the background on the word fallen originated from before 900; Middle English fallen, Old English feallan; cognate with German fallen, Old Norse falla; akin to Lithuanian pùlti to fall. allen. The word fall is an intransitive verb, however when combined with the suffix en, it becomes an adjective. More information given by dictionary reference.com is the pronunciation IPA: /ˈfaln̩/, /ˈfalən/   Synonyms: slip, stumble, topple, trip, tumble.   Antonyms: get up, rise, stand (up), uprise.   Definitions given to us by wiktionary.org are:   (1) having dropped by the force of gravity (2) (literary) killed in battle to honor (3) having lost one's chastity (4) having collapsed. If you look at Webster.com the word fallen is found between the word falisci and fallacious.
Just like all of you, I share several connections with the word fallen. One of which was as a toddler with the challenge of learning to walk. It seems just like yesterday, that the words out of my mom’s mouth were, “Casey, you are going to fall!” As usual, Mom was right! Another connection was while learning to shoot a basketball sometimes the shot would fall short.   Also, I have been degraded by my peers during various falls or trips in my life.   However, as we all do, I got right back up and started over!...