Show . . . don't tell (5)

As we discussed in class this week, C.S. Lewis believed that a good author must use an economy of words (nothing extra), must be diligent about accuracy of vocabulary (use the word that conveys your exact meaning), and must show beauty / sublimity / ferocity / etc. rather than simply stating it; "The sky was beautiful" or "The heavens were sublime" or "The dragon was fierce."

Boring. Blah. Ungood.

Lewis shows us countless things in Out of the Silent Planet - the personalities of the main characters, the overwhelming heavens, the sublime landscape.

Find a moment when Lewis 'shows' readers something about either a character or a setting. Do not repeat a specific example already discussed in class, though you may certainly use another reference to either Ransom, Weston, or Devine.

Include the specific line from the text (referenced with page number) and then tell us (...yes, it's okay to tell us...) what exactly that reference shows us. Comments are due by next Wednesday at midnight.

Writing Life (4)

In her book Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Life and Writing Anne Lamott writes: 

"Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he'd had three months to write, which was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother's shoulder, and said, "Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird." 

You're writing an essay, not a report; and you have only 3 weeks, not 3 months. Still, the advice is good. Take it one step at a time. (Which implies that you must, in fact, take a step - [read: write] - at some point.) 

To help you get started, for this week's blog please post a comment about your upcoming paper topic. I realize we haven't conferenced yet and that your ideas are still quite possibly nascent. Be that as it may, I'll happily take it upon myself to nudge you along. Please give

• a brief description of your overarching topic
• why/how it caught your interest and attention while reading
• your proposed thesis - the position or idea for which you'll be presenting textual evidence. 

It's quite possible that some of you will have a similar topic, but you should each have a unique thesis. 

Posts are due by midnight on Thursday, September 22.

Closure (3)

On Wednesday, we discussed endings and closure. Some  narratives draw to an end but do not provide closure (soap operas are a perfect example of this, as are the first episodes in a television series or movie trilogy). When a narrative does provide closure, it doesn't always 'look' the way we expect it will.

As readers, we want answers for our questions and fulfillment for our expectations. Many of us are engaged by narratives that keep us waiting for answers and fulfillment and then provide them in surprising and unexpected ways. True, we all love a predictable story now and then, a story that provides both closure and a satisfying ending. But we also love a story that keeps us guessing - that takes us down a path with twists and turns we didn't expect - that doesn't finish things off with a neatly tied bow. We love the thrill of a narrative that takes us on an interesting and exhilarating journey. 

For those who have already read The Odyssey and know the ending, what is keeping you engaged in the narrative this time around? What new questions and expectations do you have? How is this re-reading different from your first reading? 

For those who are reading The Odyssey for the first time, what kind of ending and/or closure are you expecting or hoping for? What moments have surprised you up to this point? What questions and expectations do you have? 

And for both groups, how do these concepts of questions/expectations and ending/closure, as discussed in class, enhance, illuminate, explain, deepen, modify, or add to your experience and understanding of narrative and reading? 

That's a lot to fit into a blog comment, so focus your answer on a specific element of the prompt (rather than trying to answer all the questions). As always, be sure to provide book.line references (required for credit) that explain or support your comments.

The Gods Must Be Crazy (2)

We've spent a lot of time discussing the gods in the Odyssey, mostly in regards to the relationship between gods and human beings, but also the relationships between the gods themselves.The burning question seems to be whether or not humans (and possibly the gods) do or do not have free will. Do the gods determine destiny? Do the gods merely tinker with destiny? Do the gods really even care about destiny? Or are the humans merely pawns for the gods, toys they can maneuver, move, manipulate, and play with at their own leisure? 
     This question of free will versus destiny is one that many people continue to ask today - though perhaps with different terminology and a different purpose - and the ensuing discussion often ends up arriving nowhere, caught in a cycle that can be difficult to detangle. These discussions are probably worth having, but for the sake of this discussion space, I'd like you to reflect on these topics only as they pertain to The Odyssey. To what extent do the gods control the destiny of human beings? To what extent (if at all) do human beings control their own destiny? To what extent do gods control the destiny of other gods (begging the question of who, if anyone, is actually in charge of things)?
     Certainly Odysseus is an easy target in this discussion since his interaction with the gods is often painfully apparent throughout the text. But I'd like you to set Odysseus aside and instead focus on another character, commenting on that person's relationship and interaction with the gods, being careful to note specific references to personal agency, divine intervention, and the like. Make special note of references that might seem to contradict one another, offering a theory about how the two can co-exist peacefully in the text. In the end, what observations and conclusions (if any) can we as readers draw about the intersection of humanity and divinity in The Odyssey?
     Remember: your comments MUST include pertinent book and line references and must be posted by midnight, 09.05.