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Intimations of immortality
Discuss the concept of literature
Intimations of immortality
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Humans aggrandize their existence to a point where everything else ceases to “exist”. The artificiality of the human “noble” purpose has lived throughout thousands of years in many different forms; all concealed within a broad frame known as language. Language is the fertile soil by which all of our feelings, life experiences and even ourselves grew out of. If language was not there, ideas would not exist, and no thinking would take place in the universe, so “imagine a world where human beings cease to be human.” (The Invasion) Ideas are immortal, independent beings that live for as long as the universe shall last, standing straight up with pride. As John F. Kennedy puts it, “A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on.” Two forms of language are of great significance, yet seem to fall into oblivion in peoples’ minds; narratives and poetry. Humans are uncertain of when they were born, and when they will die. They all live in the middle of nowhere, sharing stories about what they know nothing about; their life. Narratives encapsulate all of that through its content and form. The “beauty” of the universe, language and the essence of our existence is encapsulated within poetry; the rhythm in poetry exists everywhere around us and is an integral part of our daily lives.
Narratives – for any person on the street – is nothing but a mere story, with a defined beginning, middle and end. People fail to understand that everything has a narrative, but guess what? These narratives have no defined beginning, nor satisfying end, yet humans live in them and communicate through them. Life has a narrative of whatever you make out of it; science has a narrative of progress and history has a narrative of controversy and suspense...
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..., providing the reader with ultimate freedom in coloring the poem aligning to their emotions. This beautiful freedom is not found in narratives, for narratives are not always about “roses”, “flowers” or “romance”. Neither are poems, but they persuade a sense of romantic appeal that narratives could not provide.
Writing is an art, a way of communication and a way of life. Writing has to come from within, in order to be felt by others; “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” (Ernest Hemingway) Narratives and poetry are two different, yet interrelated forms of communications, persuading the brutality and beauty of life in ways that words could never accomplish. Both forms of writing help humans visualize reality in a way that assists them sense their existence, which is why human existence depends on these two magical releasers.
Stories are a means of passing on information, acting as a medium to transport cultural heritage and customs forward into the future. In his essay titled "You'll Never Believe What Happened," King says that, "The truth about stories is that that's all we are” (King Essay 2). Contained within this statement is a powerful truth: without stories, a society transcending the limitations of time could not exist. Cultures might appear, but they would inevitably die away without a means of preservation. Subsequent generations would be tasked with creating language, customs, and moral laws, all from scratch. In a way, stories form the core of society's existence.
Bal, Mieke. Narratology: Introduction to the Theory of Narrative. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1985.
The Storytelling Animal is an expository non-fiction book by Jonathan Gottschall analyzing the history of stories and human’s attraction to them. It was published in 2012 and thus contains many up-to-date references and comparisons. I believe Gottschall’s main objective in writing this book is to bring us all to the conclusion that he has reached in his research. Throughout the entirety of his book, Gottschall effectively pulls us back to main ideas he wants us to understand and accept, that we are innately storytelling animals, that are addicted to stories ourselves, have always been and will always be, by using topics that build upon one another, using relatable examples, and supporting arguments with research and studies.
Narratives are an important part of an essay as they create a sense of tone needed to describe a story or situation with ease. If the narrative is not correct, it can leave a false impact on the readers or viewers because it lacks the main tone of the story. Having a perfect narrative can not only enhance a story, but it can also prove evidence. In her essay, “An Army of One: Me”, Jean Twenge provides some of the best examples of how narratives enhance a story and she also emphasizes on how the tone of storytelling matters on the impact that the story would have on its readers or listeners. Apart from Twenge, Tim O’Brien also focuses on how the narrative of the story can help in understanding the truth and falsity of the story in his essay, “How to Tell a True War Story.” In addition to O’Brien, Ethan Watters also emphasizes on the narrative of cultural progress in his essay, “The Mega-Marketing of Depression in Japan”, when he talks about the anti-depressants to be sold in Japan. All three authors agree to the fact that narrative, the art of telling a story or explaining a situation, has a major impact on the story and on how it is taken by the audience.
1. Growing up we all heard stories. Different types of stories, some so realistic, we cling onto them farther into our lives. Stories let us see and even feel the world in different prespectives, and this is becuase of the writter or story teller. We learn, survive and entertain our selves using past experiences, which are in present shared as stories. This is why Roger Rosenblatt said, "We are a narrative species."
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.
A successful writer is he who is able to transmit ideas, emotions, and wisdom on to his readers. He is cable of stirring emotions and capturing the reader's attention with vivid descriptions and clever dialogues. The writer can even play with the meanings of words and fuse reality with fiction to achieve his goal of taking the reader on a wonderful journey. His tools are but words, yet the art of writing is found in the use of the language to create though-provoking pieces that defy the changing times. Between the lines, voices and images emerge. Not everyone can write effectively and invoke these voices. It is those few who can create certain psychological effects on the reader who can seize him (or her) with inspiring teachings, frightening thoughts, and playful games with the language. These people are true writers…
The act of storytelling goes hand-in-hand with human existence. The evolution of man from that of a single celled organism into the complex structure that we now know today in and of itself is a story. A story that is written in the genetic code of our Deoxyribonucleic Acid or DNA. That DNA is broken down into the amino acid building blocks A, C, T, and G. Four amino acids written like four notes in a bass cleft staff, "what could be simpler?" With that evolution of man, evolved the art of storytelling; from simple stories of the hunt told around the fire to the written works of authors that we now read in books today. The pinnacle of the integrated story is the novel by Richard Powers titled The Gold Bug Variations.
My writing is my medium, to impart my values, my beliefs, my ideas, my messages, everything to you. The ability to convey such things is beautiful. But for you to discover and interpret the beauty, to mould the beauty into a new being, is the true beauty of poetry.
On the other side, “Love Poem” is very different from the previous poem. This seven stanza poem is based on a man describing the imperfections of his lover. In this, the speaker uses stylistic devices, such as alliteration and personification to impact more on reader, for example as the speaker shows “your lipstick ginning on our coat,”(17) ...
Mueller expresses how stories allow children to achieve the impossible, such as flying when they are incapable and discovering the unknown. Stories give a life to the people who are unable to live, and that is one of the reasons why imagination is so essential to our world. The sharing of tales bring genuine joy to people without the need of materialistic items; it gives people the chance to relate to the author on a common ground. The sense of shared joy and mutual connection brings people closer together and expands on relationships. People begin to feel as if they are apart of an imagined community, which is a community in which people perceive themselves to be apart of, through common interests or relations from media or works of literature. Communities such as these allow people to connect with each other, despite never crossing paths. It allows the birth and the strengthening of relationships, for when people begin to converse with others, the first thing they do is find common experiences or interests that they share. In addition, a quote from Mueller, herself, adds to why we tell stories: “Because the story of our life becomes our life. Because each of us tell the same story but tell it differently, and none of us tells it the same way twice.” Tales are devised with the incorporation of the narrator’s imagination; it is a way to
A famous poet once said, " I would define, in brief, the poetry of words as the rhythmical creation of beauty." That famous poet was known as Edgar Allan Poe and he is seen as one of the most significant writers from the romanticism era. If you think about it, Poe was right. Poetry is a creation of beauty that one reads with the heart instead of their eyes. It allows you to express yourself and inspire others. poetry is everywhere, It’s the lyrics on the radio and the plot to your favorite movie. If you have never written a poem before, then you have not lived the life from a true literary perspective. Perhaps you just don 't understand the values of writing or maybe you aren 't able to express your thoughts into words, so I 'm going to show you how you can overcome these obstacles.
In the simplest form, there is a basic structural pattern to narratives, as expressed through Tzvetan Todorov’s explanation of narrative movement between two equilibriums. A narrative begins in a stable position until something causes disequilibrium, however, by the end of the story, the equilibrium is re-established, though it is different than the beginning (O’Shaughnessy 1999: 268). Joseph Cam...
Language has always been the key to how humankind has interacted with each other, so it is only fitting that one of the oldest forms of expression is making written language an art form. Poetry is known to conjure images within our minds and speak to our soul in a profound way. The best poets can use a few lines to make one think and feel something inside on anything such as a political statement, or of the beauty of nature. An excellent example of a poet who made art out of written word is Poṉmuṭiyār in his A Young Warrior. The poem uses its content and form to provide the overall meaning that one should live in peace because life is short.
...the imagination, whereby ordinary things are presented to the mind in an unusual way" (Wolfson and Manning, 2003, p. 356). Finally, in the course of contrasting his own childhood with the upbringing he imagines for his child, the speaker makes a typically Romantic connection between the natural and the supernatural worlds. This is perhaps the key concern of the poem as it is explored and related to the Romantic belief that nature is the best teacher. On this point Abrams's elemental understanding of Romantic poetry seems insufficient. However, this is perhaps significant in highlighting the difficulties involved in defining Romanticism as a coherent literary movement.