Deeper Meaning (6)

Out of the Silent Planet offers many terse and pithy phrases whose meanings extend beyond their immediate contexts. Some examples include:

Small claims must give way to great. (Weston, 29)
The love of knowledge is a kind of madness. (Narrator, 56)
A pleasure is full grown only when it is remembered. (Hyoi, 74)

For this post, find one such phrase (being sure to identify the speaker and page number) and then comment on how the underlying meaning (whether true or false) reappears and/or is expanded upon in another section of the text. For example, you could argue that the first phrase above (though Lewis obviously didn't agree with it - at least not insofar as Weston meant it) reappears towards the end of the book where the reader is introduced to claims even larger than those of Weston, claims that demand some sort of response and that diminish the seeming importance of Weston's mission.

Though you each need not locate a unique phrase, you each must point to a unique moment in the text to which it can be applied. This post will require you to do some close reading and some sophisticated analysis. Do NOT fall prey to the abysmal, nonsensical, and pathetic discourse illustrated in the comic below. Find something significant to say, and then say it articulately, please. We will all be grateful for your own terse and pithy (and coherently significant) analysis of a terse and pithy phrase.

Some rules:

• you may use one of the phrases listed above
• phrases must be applied uniquely (see previous paragraph)
• phrases may be used only FIVE times each, so keep careful track of previous posts
• comments must be posted by Thursday (2.24) at noon

An xkcd webcomic. xkcd.com/451

Sci Fi (5)

Most of us have strong opinions about different narrative genres. Perhaps no genre evokes such strong "hate it/love it" responses as science fiction. Very few people shrug their shoulders and say "whatever" when asked how they feel about sci fi.

As we start reading C.S. Lewis's Out of the Silent Planet, what opinions and ideas about science fiction are you bringing with you? What is the source of those opinions and ideas? And how do you think they might affect your reading and enjoyment of the text? Finally, how does the text itself (so far) either line up with or diverge from your opinions and ideas? Be sure to provide textual examples and support for your statements.

Closure? (4)

Now that you've finished The Odyssey (quite an accomplishment, by the way; many hearty congratulations), do you have a sense of closure? That is, have your questions been answered and have your expectations been satisfied to a degree that provides you with something more than a simple and trite, "The End."

In order to answer this question, you must first discern exactly what questions and expectations you've had throughout the reading process. And then you must decide whether the text (and possibly classroom discussions) provided the necessary answers and satisfaction.

Your comments will necessarily be quite personal in nature, but please don't neglect to include pertinent book.line references to help explain your questions and expectations, and to then show where and how closure was either granted or denied you. You might also include some thoughts on how the ending either surprised or disappointed you, if in fact that's how you feel. By the way, it's quite possible to have experienced a sense of closure but to still have some lingering questions. What are those, and how might the answering of those change your view of the text?

Again, kudos on digesting an enormous (and enormously important) Great Narrative Work.