Reading

                                                  

Reviews and Impressions

Trollope comments on Emerson harken back to Santayana’s idea of Emerson having mystic-like qualities. Trollope recounts that in England Emerson is “Regarded as a mystic in his philosophy” however, Trollope notes that mysticism is only a small aspect of his writing and that in fact “…[Emerson] in conversation is very clear, and by no means [places himself] above the small practical things of the world” (Trollope 611). This, I would say is an accurate portrayal of Emerson as he can be both deeply philosophical while also having clearly grounded viewpoints. For example, much of what Emerson discusses is abstract as he rebels against convention and covets nature as a transcendentalist. However, he also provides simple yet profound ways of discussing subject matter, telling the individual to be “self-reliant” and offering other sage advice.

Experiences      

In his essay on Experience Emerson remarks on the inanity of human convention as it relates to what experiences are valued by society. “We do not know today whether we are busy or idle. Here, Emerson remarks on the fact that many great ideas may spring from hours of sitting and thinking or an activity which would be considered relaxing and not working. This, he poses is in opposition to the conventional idea of idleness which relates only to the physical body and negate the exercise of the mind which may occur. This annoys Emerson as he recognizes the great good which can be done by deep, meditative thinking and concentration. He goes on to say, “So much of our time is preparation, so much is routine, and so much retrospect, that the pith of each man’s genius contracts itself to a very few hours” (Emerson 199). In this quote Emerson is commenting on the limited imagination which is afforded to the modern man, or not so much that he is not given an imagination but instead not allowed the time in which to use and focus it. This is because, as he sees it, society forces us to fulfill societal roles which benefit us very little and feed the significant gains of the business elite. Conversely he proposes that open and meaningful though serves to benefit all man and has no ulterior motive of capitol.

                                                        Parables                                

Although parables are an extremely old form of storytelling  there are still contemporary ones being written. Textbook explores a parable by Frank Kafka, a modern meta twist on the parable. The story begins in the manner of essay, describing what a parable is and then going on to say “Some people” think they are really of no use in daily life; “..Parables …set out to say merely that the incomprehensible is comprehensible, we know that already.” That is to say that parables touch on moral troubles which some feel are obvious and quite solvable to the observant and cognisant human. He ends the parable with a bit of a riddle, to paraphrase it begins with how a man once said “why not live your life as a parable and then you wouldn’t ever have to worry.” Then another man replies “if you do that you will have won”, while another retorts, “no, in reality you have won but in the parable you will have lost”. Reading this I gleaned that Kafka aimed to show people that the purpose of a parable is not to show you a specific example of a situation and tell you to live your life exactly as the character in a story would, you should take away a lesson from the story which helps you grow as a person and not just give you a manual by which to blindly obey in a similar situation, doing that would be missing the entire point. Instead you should see the tales as general guidelines which lead you towards a more pious and balanced life.

                                      

                                              Metaphors

In our reading Roger Brown discusses, through entomology, how even the most basic words of our language like “moon” are still derived and lengthened from other languages making them metaphors. He also shows how many colloquial phrases are metaphors which have lost their meaning because of their common usage, such as “foot of the mountain. Brown also goes further describing how metaphors can be used to subtly allude to things instead of blatantly stating them, using examples of poetry to show how metaphors can be ambiguous.

Freud also discusses metaphors, showing the ways which they “manifest” in everyday life. He does this through his psychoanalytical studies of the dream-state. He proposes that there are both “latent” and “manifest” forms of condensation, which are the two types of ways in which repressed feeling and ambitions materialize. A latent condensation would be metaphorical because it would be a dream which was symbolic of some feeling which has yet to manifest such as a dream about drowning before a large test which you have not studied for. In that case the drowning would be a metaphor which represented the feelings of helplessness, anxiousness, or general distress regarding the outcome of your test. A manifest dream of the same nature however, would include you taking the actual test in some form.

                                                          Trifles

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Trifles. I thought the characters were very well developed and the juxtaposition between the men and the women was convincing and really transported you into the time period. The fact that the men are supposed to be infallible and superior is humorously contrasted with the fact that the men come up with no evidence to convict the assumedly murderous wife. However, the women, being able to relate and empathize, quickly figure out the wife’s motives and even evidence enough to get a possible conviction. As the rising action occurs you are left wondering whether the women will betray their fellow woman or give her over to the men who constantly berate them. However, the women do not and they conceal the evidence that could put the wife away, choosing to help free her rather than let her be further imprisoned by the patriarchal society in which they live.

                                                     Pratt

In the reading Mary Louis Pratt discusses how in a study which she did with inner city children she found that their poor writing did not necessarily mean that they also had poor verbal skills and in most cases it was actually the opposite. In her study she asked her subjects to tell a story about a time they felt they were going to die or an instance where they had had to fight a person larger than them. In doing this she found that most of her subjects were actually excellent storytellers, displaying a full range of plot as well as other complex figurative elements which they were not able to accomplish when writing.