The literate arts benefit those who wish to remain in their thoughts and those who hope to transcend the realm of learned thought. In The Dark Night of the Soul, Richard Miller approaches the intricacies of today’s writing practices through the analysis of complex works, taking special care to allow room for fluid interpretation. This fluid interpretation is the exact freedom which allows one to answer “What might the literate arts be good for?” (446); the question answered at the exposition. An answer which falls short in encompassing the social, moral, and cultural aspects of comprehension and higher understanding resultant of a work and its ability to influence and cajole understanding. A wandering individual, when faced with incomplete …show more content…
Miller, using Mary Karr’s The Liar’s Club, displays how memoirs can be “both for evoking and for making sense of the past” while “generat[ing] a sense of possibility” (437). The hope for the future inspired by the past is an aspect of the literate arts which cannot be understated. The ability for faith to be reinforced or cynicism to be reversed is a powerful thing. Miller’s statement of a memoir’s ability to “construct a sense of hope and optimism atop the ruins of the world” (441) shows that the literate arts can benefit those who remain in their thoughts. In White Wine in the Sun, Tim Minchin displays a hopeful optimism at the conclusion of his album which previously encouraged the disregard for the mundaneness of the world. This hopeful optimism provides for the audience the “sense of self and a sense of connection between self and society” (442) Miller cites the institutions surrounding us normally foster. Tim cuts through the family, the school, the church and connects with the audience on a level deeper than the facades that some see as being these institutions. He uses the literate arts to surpass these institutions and make clear connection which is …show more content…
Beyond translating ideas from thought to paper, the literate arts educate and inspire. The statement made has already been confirmed. “If there is to be lasting hope for the future of higher education, that hope can only be generated by confronting our desolate world and its threatening, urgent realities. The only way through is out” (442). The literate arts, the body of written works of a language, period of culture culminate to form and foster new ideas as well as maintain old. The sharing of ideas through social, moral, and cultural interaction online and in person spread optimism and encourage change in the status
When reading about the institution of slavery in the United States, it is easy to focus on life for the slaves on the plantations—the places where the millions of people purchased to serve as slaves in the United States lived, made families, and eventually died. Most of the information we seek is about what daily life was like for these people, and what went “wrong” in our country’s collective psyche that allowed us to normalize the practice of keeping human beings as property, no more or less valuable than the machines in the factories which bolstered industrialized economies at the time. Many of us want to find information that assuages our own personal feelings of discomfort or even guilt over the practice which kept Southern life moving
Despite the adversity that plagued the children of South Boston throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Southie native Michael Patrick MacDonald often remarked that he grew up in “the best place in the world,” suggesting that while adversity can be crippling, it does not guarantee a bad life. Throughout his childhood, MacDonald and his family suffered from extreme poverty, experienced the effects of drugs on the family structure, and felt the poor educational effects in a struggling neighborhood. Through his memoir, All Souls, readers gain an in-depth perspective of Michael Patrick MacDonald’s life, especially his childhood. Because readers are able to see MacDonald as both a child and an adult, it is possible to see how the circumstances of his childhood
“The Dark Night of the Soul” is a chapter in the book, Writing at the End of the World by Richard Miller. In this chapter, Miller gives many examples of how reading and writing help the world, and he asks questions to find out if literature, and his teachings cause a change in the present day. Miller states, “Why bother with reading and writing when the world is so obviously going to hell?”(Dark Night of the Soul 433). I believe that this is the best statement to summarize what Miller is trying to get across. Why read? Why write? Is it going to matter in the end? Does it truly help anyone? These are all questions that arise from the author while reading this chapter.
Although the greater picture is that reading is fundamental, the two authors have a few different messages that they seek to communicate to their audiences. “The Joy of Reading and Writing” depicts how reading serves as a mechanism to escape the preconceived notions that constrain several groups of people from establishing themselves and achieving success in their lifetimes. “Reading to Write,” on the other hand, offers a valuable advice to aspiring writers. The author suggests that one has to read, read, and read before he or she can become a writer. Moreover, he holds an interesting opinion concerning mediocre writing. He says, “Every book you pick has its own lesson or lessons, and quite often the bad books have more to teach than the good ones” (p.221). Although these two essays differ in their contents and messages, the authors use the same rhetorical mode to write their essays. Both are process analyses, meaning that they develop their main argument and provide justification for it step by step. By employing this technique, the two authors create essays that are thoughtful, well supported, and easy to understand. In addition, Alexie and King both add a little personal touch to their writings as they include personal anecdotes. This has the effect of providing support for their arguments. Although the two essays have fairly different messages, the authors make use of anecdotes and structure their writing in a somewhat similar
Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. 5th ed. of the book. Boston: Heinle, 2004.
In Night of the Living Dead, the zombies were eventually eliminated. Or were they? Theorists argue that the monster’s elusiveness is due to its physical, psychological and social characteristics that cross the lines of classification. Human’s innate fear of the unknown is due to their inability to make a distinction or draw a clear conclusion. This is explained further in Jeffrey Cohen’s second thesis in “Monster Theory” that claims that; “the monster never escapes” (Cohen, 14). The zombie as a monster can never be destroyed completely and if it is, it leaves a remnant the make people feel uncertain of its destruction. Base on Cohen’s theory, the zombie’s different interpretation allows it to emerge in other forms (a faster, smarter zombie?)
Gitlin, Todd. “TheLiberal Arts in an Age of Info-Glut.” The Language of Composition: Reading, Writing, and Rhetoric. Ed. Shea, Renee H., Lawrence Scanlonn, and Robin Dissin Aufses. Boston: Bedford, 2008. 155-157. Print.
The two essays, Splintered Literacies and Writing in Sacred Spaces, both revolve around the inherent “why” of storytelling. Each addresses a different facet, with the former delving into how the types and varieties of writing we experience affect our identities. Meanwhile, the latter explores the idea of thought concretization. Humanity developed writing as a tool to capture the otherwise intangible. Whether belief or abstract concept, the act of putting something in writing creates a concreteness, trapping the thought in a jar like a firefly. The thoughts and ideas we manifest onto the page or into the air give life to our knowledge, perpetuating its’ existence.
Head, Bessie. “Life.” Literature and the Writing Process. Ed. Elizabeth McMahn, et al. 6th ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2002. 349-355.
Carver, Raymond. Cathedral. Exploring Literature: Writing and Arguing About Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and the Essay. Ed. Frank Madden. 4th ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2009. 1151-61. Print
Tan, Amy. “Two Kinds.” Exploring Literature: Writing and Arguing About Fiction, Poetry, Drama and The Essay.4th e. Ed. Frank Madden. New York: Pearson Longman, 2009. 253-261. Print.
When you see something traumatizing, do you cry? Well for some people out there in this world do not show any emotion for something that can scar others for life. In the book Night, by Elie Wiesel, many people see violence no other person has ever seen on a daily basis. Most people became emotionally dead while trying to indorse the strength to move on. Recent years, we had similar event occur like kids in South Sudan being force to be kid soldiers and kids in the Middle East seeing daily warface around them. The theme of “emotional death” is very evidential in the book Night, and it is still relevant today.
In Richard E. Miller’s essay, The Dark Night of the Soul, he first focuses on two teenage boys, boys who murderously rampaged through Columbine High School in Santee, California. Then he further discusses who was to blame, but most importantly would this event not had transpired if education had a more adamant impact if these young men had read more. Simply, would Eric Harris or Dylan Klebold killed if there was a more proactive approach to the educational system or government to “reduce or eliminate altogether the threat of the unpredictable or unforeseen [the amalgamation of elements that would result in a mass shooting] (Miller 421).”Additionally, if McCandless, a young man who eulogized the idealisms of authors that he used to make sense
Meyer, Michael, ed. Thinking and Writing About Literature. Second Edition. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2001.
The issue that if literacy in the form of writing is not maintained and drops its dominance in this new media era, semiotic work may become eluded in the classroom (Skaar (2009). The understanding of the influence of digital media inside the classroom explains why the didactic literacies pedagogy, which integrates learning by writing, may be effective during literacy teaching. However, if didactic liter...