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.
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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. |
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
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