PB's online classroom, where we get down with World Lit.
1.25.2010
Coming-of-death musing.
According to The Death Clock, I am going to die at the age of 74 on Sunday, September 19, 2055. I was able to stave it off 15 years simply by changing my "Mode" from "Pessimistic" to "Normal."
If I make myself sadistic, I end up living an awful much longer than if I was anything else. Or I have the option of dying in May by blood loss -- thanks to a vampire. Get ready for some serious sadism soon.
One: Most things in literature are intentional. Even when this may not seem to be the case, it very well may be. That said, not all things mean more than what they initially seem. But again, it might. Sometimes water is just water. Other times, though, water is not just water, it's the Ocean of Notions, or the Dull Lake.Take Away: As readers, we must assume that writers are smart, know what they’re doing, and have done so with intention.
Addendum A: Rain usually means something. (But not always the same thing.)
Addendum B: Names do, too. Like Haroun, Kahani, Mali, Bezeban, and Khattum-Shud.
Two: By indirection, find direction. Revision. Revision. Revision. A piece of writing is never completed, only abandoned. Take Away: Writing is a process. In other words, it's more a means than it is an end.
Three: Literature is full of contradictions, paradoxes, oxymorons, and ironies. So, too, is life. This doesn't make one thing right and the other thing wrong. Both can exist and be in simultaneous harmony and tension. Take away: Embrace multiple perspectives.
Four: Every interpretation is not correct. Without substantial textual support and a clearly articulated, rational analysis, an interpretation is only as good as a guess. Back up your opinion. Validate it. Take Away: Take us there--to the text, that is.
8 comments:
I did it and got the ides of march....
I going to die on my bday :(
Beware the Ides of March--literally!
I bet Mr. Roberts will live forever.
Apparently,I'm gonna be 96 years old when I die. Cool.
If I make myself sadistic, I end up living an awful much longer than if I was anything else.
Or I have the option of dying in May by blood loss -- thanks to a vampire.
Get ready for some serious sadism soon.
I totally think Mr. Roberts will live forever.
i bet mr. roberts will live forever too
hasn't he already?
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