Through reading multiple works about the creation of Earth from the perspectives of Ovid, Lucretius, Genesis, Metamorphosis, and Paradise Lost; I’ve seen themes and connections that are acquainted with A.O. Scott and Stephen Greenblatt’s views. In the works of Scott and Greenblatt, they state their arguments on how to form self, whether it’s from their surroundings or from their hobbies. While these new readings were not specifically sculpted around the learning of self, they all contain similar traits to define your self. For example, the laws sculpted by our authority and the balance of society, which Greenblatt explained the laws are created in the image of authority which involuntarily makes who we are. I was appalled by finding this connection in Lucretius when he stated the universe being created on laws. I never wondered how the sun, earth, and moon never collide, but it’s the law that the underside confides by. This theme continued to Genesis when man and the heavens had to confide and rely on God. There was a continuous theme throughout that stated the laws created by an authority that is followed by humans, Earth, and the gods. If this law is broken then the alien is introduced as the alien or evil. This is a reference from Greenblatt’s alien being a distorted image of authority known as chaos, satan, or imbalance. Not only was this shown in Paradise Lost but it also became a large factor of showing the themes of patriarchy and social hierarchy. In Paradise Lost and Genesis there is a negative connotation put on women. As stated in both texts, women were originally created from men, but women are seen to bring on sin and chaos. Also, the authority is alway man and never presented as a woman. Women weren’t even acknowledged to be able to have females until book III. There was also a continuous cycle of stating who was the highest power. In both of these writings, it’s God, in Ovid it’s gods. In all of these stories, humans are at the bottom of the power chain. This made me curious if literature was the reasoning of us believing there’s always a higher power. Is it also the reason for our belief in good and evil? The biggest “oh” moment that I had during the reading over the break, was Book 3 of Paradise Lost because it helped me understand Greenblatt’s method of alien vs. authority in the real world. Following the serpent, which was satan, created punishment from God to Adam and Eve. These are a lot of my interlacing thoughts, but hopefully, when we go over the readings together in class I’ll have a better understanding.
0 Comments
Through the beginning of this year, I have established a new understanding of interpreting texts and the reality of self from two perspectives: A.O. Scott’s and Stephen Greenblatt. This has also given me a chance to make psychological connections and see juxtapositions between their work. Although, in the beginning there were a few misunderstandings that I had with the texts from seeing their overall message and interpreting the meaning of certain situations they introduced to us. Currently, I believe that I’ve created a better understanding of self-fashioning that was introduced by Greenblatt, and the act of being influenced by your surroundings was introduced by A.O. Scott. In Better Living Through Criticism, we experienced the importance of why we are criticizers and how we are made to become criticizers. We were never born with morals of what is right and wrong, but we grew into our beliefs by the influences of what’s around us. Scott brought his belief in asking questions to better your understanding as a form of criticism to light when he mentioned Abromavich’s art show and Rilke’s poem. We all questioned the reason they created their art, and why Scott even mentioned them. He wanted us to experience our own form of criticism and understanding through the eyes of a critical thinker and not a standard reader. In my commonplace book, I documented the time that I mapped the argument together. Scott did not believe in criticism only being possible through art, he just used that as a platform. Criticism is “a human expression that invited an aesthetic experience and evokes an emotional response,“ and it enables us to create an independent statement or view of our surroundings. The more opinions, questions, and curiosity we have from the things around us then the further our knowledge grows. In Greenblatt’s Fashioning Renaissance Self-Fashioning, he explained his idea of self-fashioning of how we are not influenced by culture and our surroundings of music, religion, and art. We are influenced by language and the social classes of hierarchy that are presented in our life. Greenblatt made me realize that the middle class has the largest ability to fashion themselves, because they do not have the restrictions of status as well as a restriction of creating connections. They have the ability to accurately present themselves without having a large influence from their society. We are influenced by the authority that we believe in, meaning that our authority creates our moralistic view based on who they are. The demonic parody of the authority is the alien of the man’s life. As shown in the picture the man’s self is based on their want to continue with the ways of the authority or rebel to the alien. The alien and authority of man are seen within themselves as well as figures around them, and this creates a person of self-appointment that creates a fashioned self.
I have learned two different perspectives on how a man’s conscious or self can be crafted by either their culture or authority that they can believe in. They have both taught a new outlook on how someone can be fashioned than simply relying on their culture. While it was challenging to see how they both had contradicting views of what makes man’s personality, I have started to grasp their concepts. Personally, my class has done a great job of bringing perspective to crack the code and uncover the thoughts of Scott and Greenblatt. It has been difficult to get to this point, but it takes time for my understanding to blossom. I look forward to learning more cryptic writings as well as different writing styles to further my knowledge in literature. “There is no such thing as a human nature independent of culture,” said Clifford Greetz, and this true. Through all of the environments and people we meet, we seek an adaptation that will transform our placement in society whether we are accepted is not the goal of today but it was in the 16th century. In Stephen Greenblatt’s book named Renaissance Self-Fashioning he versus our ability to create ourselves into a self-fashion that makes us who we are within the society we are bred in. People express who they are through literature, their verbiage, and their tone that they choose to share with the world.
Some of the greats like Shaksphere and Tydale were not well liked in the 16th century because they were not fully accepted due to their styles or writing. Literature can be transformed into beauty but there are one of the three ties that literature will always explain: the lifestyle or behavior of the author, the behavior that is formed by the laws of that time period, and a reaction that is created due to the effect of the laws. Literature is a voice you can use to either be accepted or not to be. We choose what we believe and invest our time in passion in. In my case, I express my interest in the Literature of the Bible and while some may see this as unethical to give your faith in one God, it is the literature that is a reflection of the code that I live by. This code was not only created by me, but believed to be created by men of God, and it continues to cary it’s revelations through generations. In Greenblatt's eyes he sees this as another way of human manipulation in the human identity. In society, the human’s ability to limit the style and creation of literature is what hinders the possibility of power. Through the self-fashioning of the 16th century, Greenblatt has morally told me to write my words without influence of outside factors. While for some it is an inspiration to write based on the flawed reminisce of the unbreakable laws that are maintained in our society, it also liable to create writings with your character to enhance your personality and self preference of behavior. In reality “[...] there are always selves- a sense of personal order a characteristic mode of address to the world, a structure of bounded desire,” because we all have self proclaimed moral that we dare not to cross but there is still a thin line between accepted and valid truth in modern day. From all of the summer reading I have learned many core values that will be beneficial for this class as well as in the future. While most was to help guide me through my wonderment and guide me towards passion, there were many moments where individuality was encouraged to help us be confident in the questions in our mind. When thinking of these questions, it was suggested to take the answer with appreciation whether it is positive or negative because it is another perspective on the subject. Through these readings I have developed more of an understanding of literature and an increased curiosity of what is to come. In the Kindergarten we walked in ready for our day to be filled with knowledge and excitement to learn. I arrived everyday to class with multiple questions for my teacher Ms. Hall. It was my happy place because I felt that most of my questions could be answered, but as a highschooler I’ve never realized the difference in my curiosity. I come into class ready to learn but I just take notes and enter with random comments and answers. Teachers always ask “do you have any questions?,” but we don’t see this as an opportunity to dive into more knowledge. We see this as a time for us to continue to the next topic, but in reality it’s supposed to be to better our understanding of the topic. So why don’t we ask questions?
When we enter into a classroom in highschool we are there to learn, and we’re supposed to be there to grasp every concept, but why do we not all raise our hands when we are confused. Here’s the proven theory of schooling that Warren Berger brought to my attention that Matt Greenings quoted saying,”It seems the main rule that traditional schools teach is how to sit in rows quietly, which is perfect training for grown-up work in a dull office or factory, not so good for education”. As we get older we stop asking for curiosity and only ask if it doesn’t cause a ruckus. This leads to the question of “are we scared of the critics?” or “are we scared if it’s the right answer?”. I know that during my freshman and sophomore years, I lacked the confidence of asking my teachers questions, because I was nervous about the answer. Would it be irrelevant in my teachers eyes? Would my peers question my intelligence? It gave me a fear of criticism, because as many know there’s constructive criticism and then there criticism that tears you down. Then I read Better Living Through Criticism by A.O. Scott that explained the reality of criticism but in the form of artists and critics in our everyday lives. Critics are everywhere and everyone because we judge each other and everything we encounter, so why should I be afraid of being critiqued when the answer could be meaningful? In the sanity of a beautiful or meaningful question can be seen in different ways of acceptance. Berger says in A Beautiful Question “A beautiful question is an ambitious yet actionable question that can begin to shift the way we perceive or think about something,” so what if that one question can unexpectedly shift that teacher or person’s perspective. I’ve never thought of asking a question in this light, because I always guessed that my question could be unaccepted by my peers as well as my teacher, but we’re all there to learn. As I’ve gotten to this point in my reading, I have read both Better Living Through Criticism and A Beautiful Question and they have taught me a few lessons for the school year. I should be willing and completely accepting to criticism, because criticism helps see everything from a different perspective. While, I’ve also viewed the necessity for asking questions because they hold your understanding within the answers you’ll receive. I think I’m ready for the constructive criticism as well as actually raising my hand and asking every question that’ll come to mind. Primarily, I decided to start my advanced placement literature homework on a different path. Since we would end up creating our summer remix in the style of Maria Popoa, I wanted to become fairly acquainted or comfortable with her work through the brain pickings. So that’s where I started, and I heard the words of Einstein, Descartes, Kierkegaard, Lightman, and Leslie. They all had import themes, but the one that impacted me was the importance of wonderment, curiosity, and passion.
To be able to properly find the significance of something you have to have wonderment: a state of awed admiration for something or someone. This harnesses the interest in investing your time into something new, and it opens a door into learning more about that topic. Wonderment was introduced to me, from The Passion Of The Soul by Renè Descartes, as wonderment being our first encounter with something that has taken us by surprise. The first steps a child took, the first time someone was asked on a date, the first test someone got an A on without studying, all these things led them to wonderment. Wonderment arrives when you least expect it, and it gives you a new perspective of whether you would have interest or not. It’s the start to you curiosity. I took the concept of wonderment into consideration, because it compares the reality of internal interests and the reaction of surprise in juxtaposition. When we find something we instantly want to investigate, because it is our human instinct to answer the question of what and why. This wonder that we contain is turns into curiosity, but the question I asked myself is, “what if we are mistakenly curious?” We always hear that curiosity killed the cat, and even Popoa admitted that we see curiosity in the dim light due to the world’s stigma of approving new ideas or the willingness to find the imagined reality. The eldest stories like Adam and Eve give us caution of curiosity, and it’s seen as a rule breaker and limitless. As Ian Leslie, writer of Curious said, “curiosity is a muscle- use it or lose it,” because curiosity branches to a passion of finding knowledge. While our curiosity can lead us to our passion, it can also lead us to blind curiosity that stops us from looking at the details but only the things that bring us wonder. Descartes said that “blind curiosity can become a lifelong disease: the curiosity, that is, of people who seek out what is rare only marvel at it, not to understand it”. During this class, I know I will be faced with multiple pieces of literature that I’ve possibly never heard of or thought about, but I hope that my scope of curiosity will be genuine. A feeling of wonder is liberating, but actually finding joy in your curiosity brings passion. As Einstein has stressed to me that “there exists a passion for comprehension, just as there exists a passion for music. That passion is rather common in children, but gets lost in most people later on.” I don’t want to be one of those people who lose passion, but as I grow up, I quickly find myself not fight to find an interest in what I learn. The lack of wonder leads to a lack of curiosity. That lack of curiosity leads to a lack of passion, and a lack of passion leads to a lack of knowledge. In this class I want to push myself to be curious and grow a passion for what I’m learning, so I can prosper in knowledge and overall growth. |
AuthorI am a prospering rose that awaits the journey that life holds. I embrace the knowledge the world gives me because every second counts. Archives
November 2019
Categories |