"Mystery Masked Man Saves Nation, Latina culprit captured by exec."
page 179
This quote comes in the la llorona section. This section is about a woman working in a large investment firm of some sort. She is respected by all her colleagues but viewed differently by them depending on their race. However, she can fit in with all the clicks in her office and is able to establish a relationship with the VP. This leads to her demanding he empty certain federal accounts to accounts she beleives will save the earth and combat poverty and genocide. However, the VP seems to think he will catch her and save the nation from loosing money despite for good causes.
"Goddess: Where are you going Bobo? Bobo: What? What do you mean where am I going"
page 183
This quote comes in the section Interview at the Total Liberation Café. In this passage an appearingly more insightful goddess is talking to bob, which means stupid in spanish. Bobo cannot see past the short term and is caught up in the grind of life. The goddess tries to enlighten him to the meaning of his life. Bobo however is not receptive and continues to be short sightened and not philosophical. The author is stressing the importance of putting life into context and thinking about a meaninguf way to live.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Monday, May 21, 2007
Notebooks 152-174
"In a few short whiffs, Tom Exclamado Central Inc. became a global phenomenon."
page 167
This quote comes in a section entitled My Chickens Say, "Por favor, si señor, si señora". It is of a family run chicken farm which is changed after the son of its operator returns with a degree from Stanford. As the quote indicates, Antoinne turns the chicken farm into a corporate giant which is the opposite of a family run business. The author may be saying this to describe that the notion that an education turns any company you touch into a corporate giant is fantasy, or he is speaking in favor of family business.
"'A martial art technique that numbs your opponents sense of color awareness.' Contestant #1 Hispa-ratee."
page 157
This quote comes in the section which is in the format of a game show. The contesants are all asked ethinically based questions in which the answers are hispa-something. This question is saying how hispanic people blur people's color awareness. Possibly because it is difficult for people to distinguish a chicano, hispanic or latinamerican person. This is hinted at in the beginning of this section when the author says remember what each ethnicity is.
page 167
This quote comes in a section entitled My Chickens Say, "Por favor, si señor, si señora". It is of a family run chicken farm which is changed after the son of its operator returns with a degree from Stanford. As the quote indicates, Antoinne turns the chicken farm into a corporate giant which is the opposite of a family run business. The author may be saying this to describe that the notion that an education turns any company you touch into a corporate giant is fantasy, or he is speaking in favor of family business.
"'A martial art technique that numbs your opponents sense of color awareness.' Contestant #1 Hispa-ratee."
page 157
This quote comes in the section which is in the format of a game show. The contesants are all asked ethinically based questions in which the answers are hispa-something. This question is saying how hispanic people blur people's color awareness. Possibly because it is difficult for people to distinguish a chicano, hispanic or latinamerican person. This is hinted at in the beginning of this section when the author says remember what each ethnicity is.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Notebooks 131-151
"I read Ginsberg now/more so after his death. I can almost smell the tobaco despues de un buen taco (Orlovsky, Burroughs, Corso - the cats in sad wrinkled suits groping for a fix on eternity, a gay immortality"
page 140
This quote comes in a New York City Angelic section. In this the author says he has been reading Ginsberg more after his death. In this passage the author relates Ginsberg's writings about his wanderings in the fifties to his own in the seventies. He also ties in his spanish culture to Ginsberg and tries to get at why he writes. He says that Ginsberg has reached an immortality and will live beyond when he was in his body. The author may be bringing this up because it is what he hopes to acheive.
"I am that paper. I am those words now, the ink burns pyres in every cell."
page 144
This quote comes in a Oyeme Mama section. Previously in these sections, he has talked about how his mother discouraged his writing slightly. She said that he is caught up in himself when he writes. Now however, he appears to be saying that he is his writing. This could symbolize that he has become a published author.
page 140
This quote comes in a New York City Angelic section. In this the author says he has been reading Ginsberg more after his death. In this passage the author relates Ginsberg's writings about his wanderings in the fifties to his own in the seventies. He also ties in his spanish culture to Ginsberg and tries to get at why he writes. He says that Ginsberg has reached an immortality and will live beyond when he was in his body. The author may be bringing this up because it is what he hopes to acheive.
"I am that paper. I am those words now, the ink burns pyres in every cell."
page 144
This quote comes in a Oyeme Mama section. Previously in these sections, he has talked about how his mother discouraged his writing slightly. She said that he is caught up in himself when he writes. Now however, he appears to be saying that he is his writing. This could symbolize that he has become a published author.
2nd Half of Interview
1. Some people come in with recommendations for general health tonics, sure. How to keep them in
balance rather than bring them back to balance. Chinese medicine is an energetic system, that
means looking at aspects of the body that are out of balance rather than looking at Western
Biomedically defined diseases. Thus, often times I throw out the western condition people have been
diagnosed with and look at the ways different body systems can be brought into harmony with herbs,
diet, lifestyle, etc.
2. It would be between California Poppy, which grows locally, for anxiety and insomnia, and Reishi
mushroom which is used for a variety of cardiovascular issues, strengthening the immune system, and
calming the mind.
3. I treat newborns through seniors on their "way out". I treat bums on the street to
millionaires. The ethnic diversity that commonly comes through my door is somewhat subject to that
of where i live. Considering the relative anglo homogeneity of Santa Cruz I get to work with folks
of mixed ethnic backgrounds. This is often fun as many people have their own herbal traditions they
are coming from so I get to share information.
4. I don't know that any insurance companies cover herbal treatments. It is my opinion that I would
like to see this but don't know of anyone crusading for this. Unfortunately when insurance dollars
get involved they often tend to dictate what types of treatments people have access to. I really
don't want indurance companies influencing how I work with herbs.
5. The swing back to using herbal medicines has already happened. It is a 6 billion dollar a year
industry, a big political issue, and a form of health care that the World Health Organization
estimates that 70% of the worlds populations uses botanicals as a primary source of medicine.
People have begun to see that the liability of using western drugs (I know, they save lots of lives
too) as well as the costs may be more complicated than it is worth. Thus many are turning to simple
natural solutions that they can grow or harvest. An interesting question for you to explore is when
herbs are commodified and heavily promoted as things everyone needs everyday, you know, pumped into
oru consumer culture, is it traditional medicine?
balance rather than bring them back to balance. Chinese medicine is an energetic system, that
means looking at aspects of the body that are out of balance rather than looking at Western
Biomedically defined diseases. Thus, often times I throw out the western condition people have been
diagnosed with and look at the ways different body systems can be brought into harmony with herbs,
diet, lifestyle, etc.
2. It would be between California Poppy, which grows locally, for anxiety and insomnia, and Reishi
mushroom which is used for a variety of cardiovascular issues, strengthening the immune system, and
calming the mind.
3. I treat newborns through seniors on their "way out". I treat bums on the street to
millionaires. The ethnic diversity that commonly comes through my door is somewhat subject to that
of where i live. Considering the relative anglo homogeneity of Santa Cruz I get to work with folks
of mixed ethnic backgrounds. This is often fun as many people have their own herbal traditions they
are coming from so I get to share information.
4. I don't know that any insurance companies cover herbal treatments. It is my opinion that I would
like to see this but don't know of anyone crusading for this. Unfortunately when insurance dollars
get involved they often tend to dictate what types of treatments people have access to. I really
don't want indurance companies influencing how I work with herbs.
5. The swing back to using herbal medicines has already happened. It is a 6 billion dollar a year
industry, a big political issue, and a form of health care that the World Health Organization
estimates that 70% of the worlds populations uses botanicals as a primary source of medicine.
People have begun to see that the liability of using western drugs (I know, they save lots of lives
too) as well as the costs may be more complicated than it is worth. Thus many are turning to simple
natural solutions that they can grow or harvest. An interesting question for you to explore is when
herbs are commodified and heavily promoted as things everyone needs everyday, you know, pumped into
oru consumer culture, is it traditional medicine?
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Notebooks 106-130
"Sometimes, from a small envelope she pulls out his broken bones, or she finds his torn fingers at the bottom of a cup of coffee"
page 124
This quote comes in the passage about murder and the death of young people. The first part is about a women who lost her brother to a traffic accident. She occasionally finds his body parts in pieces of her life. This shows that long after a loved ones death, a person remembers them in everyday situations. This is another large issue which the author takes on writing about.
"But you stayed true to form when you denied a contract for your nextg book without writing a single page"
page 115
This quote comes in a letter to Victor. It appears Victor has won some National Book Award. The author seems to be pleased with Victor and is giving him a hard time about all the media attention. However, the author expresses his real admiration when he says that Victor stayed true in denying a contract for his next book. This shows that Victor cares more about writing as a tool of society than money.
page 124
This quote comes in the passage about murder and the death of young people. The first part is about a women who lost her brother to a traffic accident. She occasionally finds his body parts in pieces of her life. This shows that long after a loved ones death, a person remembers them in everyday situations. This is another large issue which the author takes on writing about.
"But you stayed true to form when you denied a contract for your nextg book without writing a single page"
page 115
This quote comes in a letter to Victor. It appears Victor has won some National Book Award. The author seems to be pleased with Victor and is giving him a hard time about all the media attention. However, the author expresses his real admiration when he says that Victor stayed true in denying a contract for his next book. This shows that Victor cares more about writing as a tool of society than money.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Notebooks 81-105
"la troka, that will haul them in bundles to a lawn, a backyard, a garage with a broken old Buick ro simply to a yard of freakish bushes and branches"
page 92
This quote comes in an Undelivered Letters to Victor section. The author is talking about the lives of Mexican workers. He describes them as an army who waits pickup from a truck to travel to a different job each day. Usually, the author talks to Victor about writing in this section, but this entry is about immigrant labor. He may be describing his heritage and what many people of his nationality choose to do in the U.S. and how lucky he is to be an author.
"Powers from the nation? Can we truly respect its borders?"
page 97
This quote comes in the longest most meaningful poem in the book so far. In this entry, he tackles issues such as the forming of organizations, racism, fear, conformity and nuclear war. All of these issues are the "big issues" that he said writers should be talking about. In this particular quote he is questioning what nations actually are. He says they are formed through genocide and oppression so do the leaders of these nations actually have power? This questioning is one of the aspects of most-modernism.
page 92
This quote comes in an Undelivered Letters to Victor section. The author is talking about the lives of Mexican workers. He describes them as an army who waits pickup from a truck to travel to a different job each day. Usually, the author talks to Victor about writing in this section, but this entry is about immigrant labor. He may be describing his heritage and what many people of his nationality choose to do in the U.S. and how lucky he is to be an author.
"Powers from the nation? Can we truly respect its borders?"
page 97
This quote comes in the longest most meaningful poem in the book so far. In this entry, he tackles issues such as the forming of organizations, racism, fear, conformity and nuclear war. All of these issues are the "big issues" that he said writers should be talking about. In this particular quote he is questioning what nations actually are. He says they are formed through genocide and oppression so do the leaders of these nations actually have power? This questioning is one of the aspects of most-modernism.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Notebooks 55-80
"She wanted to ask the usual worn phrase. Ginsberg, Artaud, Nervo, Lorca, Neruda, Popa, Hikmet, Rodnati, Walker. These are the shadows-I should have told her."
page 69
This quote comes when the author is giving a speech at San Jose State and is asked by a women what writers influence him. He responds by saying his mother influences him. He then picks up by her body language that this was not the answer she was looking for. She wanted traditional famous writers who the author refers to as shadows. He refers to them as shadows because if you follow in thier footsteps you may never break free of them to make a name for yourself.
"Man with briefcase - accent + big watch = Equal opportunity"
page 74
This quote comes in the collection of equations entitled Fuzzy Equations. In this specific equations he is talking about how employers are not really equal opportunity. He alludes that foreigners are not given an equal chance in the business world. Also, he is saying that the wealth of the person trying to get a job plays a role in the choosing. This relates to the author because he is a chicano writer who discusses chicano writing's struggle to emerge.
page 69
This quote comes when the author is giving a speech at San Jose State and is asked by a women what writers influence him. He responds by saying his mother influences him. He then picks up by her body language that this was not the answer she was looking for. She wanted traditional famous writers who the author refers to as shadows. He refers to them as shadows because if you follow in thier footsteps you may never break free of them to make a name for yourself.
"Man with briefcase - accent + big watch = Equal opportunity"
page 74
This quote comes in the collection of equations entitled Fuzzy Equations. In this specific equations he is talking about how employers are not really equal opportunity. He alludes that foreigners are not given an equal chance in the business world. Also, he is saying that the wealth of the person trying to get a job plays a role in the choosing. This relates to the author because he is a chicano writer who discusses chicano writing's struggle to emerge.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
1st comparison paragraph
Often times, American authors wrote stories with characters and events based on the point in history in which the author lived. Two such authors are Jack Kerouac with The Dharma Bums and Mark Twain with Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Jack Kerouac’s novel uses his own experiences in writing about a contemporary view on the state of America and his philosophy. Mark Twain employed a contrasting style in writing a traditional novel with fictional characters to get his equality message across. The main character in each story paired their beliefs against those of the society at that time. Each method was effective in relaying its method but The Dharma Bums offered a more modern style problem coupled with advice on what to do with it, and is therefore the piece of literature more relevant to history today. The Dharma Bums and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn use effective but different styles of writing to relay a similar message and because of the time period and its call to action, The Dharma Bums is more relevant to today.
Notebooks 30-55
"I love sculpture, the art of breaking space. Writing, the quarry."
page 43
This quote comes in one of his June Journals. In this June Journal he writes about how Chicano artists pull images out of themselves and show them to people in any type of medium. In this quote the auther is saying that he beleives that writing is the base of all art. He says writing is the quarry out of which the stone of which all art is made, is extracted."
"Shall we huddle ands moke and shake hands and grin and then publish some sweaty-assed two-bit newsletter on this?"
page 50
This quote comes in yet another June Journal. In this Journal he is talking about how authors need to use writing to tackle big questions. At the end of the entry in a separate small paragraph this quote comes. The author is making fun of writers who conform to one style of writing. This style is very corperate because he revers to "shaking hands' and "a newsletter" adding these words make the writing sound like a business. This is stupid to him because he beleives writing should be used as expression, and expression should not be conformed like a business.
page 43
This quote comes in one of his June Journals. In this June Journal he writes about how Chicano artists pull images out of themselves and show them to people in any type of medium. In this quote the auther is saying that he beleives that writing is the base of all art. He says writing is the quarry out of which the stone of which all art is made, is extracted."
"Shall we huddle ands moke and shake hands and grin and then publish some sweaty-assed two-bit newsletter on this?"
page 50
This quote comes in yet another June Journal. In this Journal he is talking about how authors need to use writing to tackle big questions. At the end of the entry in a separate small paragraph this quote comes. The author is making fun of writers who conform to one style of writing. This style is very corperate because he revers to "shaking hands' and "a newsletter" adding these words make the writing sound like a business. This is stupid to him because he beleives writing should be used as expression, and expression should not be conformed like a business.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Notebooks of a Chile Verde Smuggler. 1-29
"I worry about comedians who call me to back up their old Communisms"
page 26
This quote comes in the section in which he begins every sentence with I worry about. This is an example of the odd language in the book. It fits with the theme because he is saying he is worried about many things. I also picked this quote because Paul and I did a project on Communism earlier in the year.
"I see you looking at yourself put letters on paper' you said. All my illusions of being a poet shrank."
This quote comes as the author is discussing his relationship with an apparent musician living upstairs. This is section is only a two paragraph of the goings on in an appartment building. The musician upstairs tells the author his works are only letters on paper. The author feels lessened by this and no longer fancies himself as a poet.
page 26
This quote comes in the section in which he begins every sentence with I worry about. This is an example of the odd language in the book. It fits with the theme because he is saying he is worried about many things. I also picked this quote because Paul and I did a project on Communism earlier in the year.
"I see you looking at yourself put letters on paper' you said. All my illusions of being a poet shrank."
This quote comes as the author is discussing his relationship with an apparent musician living upstairs. This is section is only a two paragraph of the goings on in an appartment building. The musician upstairs tells the author his works are only letters on paper. The author feels lessened by this and no longer fancies himself as a poet.
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
interview so far
Ben Zappin
also first 5 questions into Adam Lerner
1. How did you first begin your practice involving herbal medicine? It all started out with a pan of nettle lasagna. That
is a girlfriend of mine made the pie without steaming them first. I suppose really my ‘practice’ involves much more than the
clinical aspect. It involves ecology, knowing where plant medicines come from, their habitat and or cultivation practices, how to
harvest and prepare them for optimal clinical use, and how to combine them with other plants. How I began my clinical practice was
by helping people around me, treating minor maladies with plant medicines. The great things about this is you can start today
with very simple things, you just have to know your limits. It is counter culture in that you can be an herbalist without
subscribing to a medical hierarchy. That is not to say that developing advanced skills as a western medical practitioner is a bad
thing, it is just a different skill set with a different cultural context. You can also be a physician that has a high level of
knowledge about the Western medical body and apply herbal medicine in a sophisticated way. I began my legal practice as a primary
health care practitioner when I passed California’s licensing exam for the practice of Acupuncture, a profession which includes
herbalism as part of the training.
2. What drew you to this practice? I had watch half my immediate family die of either cancer or cardiovascular disease at a young
age in the hands of advanced and expensive medical care. These are both diseases that have substantial origins in lifestyle and
environmental causative factors. Thus I wanted to explore something to serve people intervene before they had an advanced illness
and something to complement where conventional therapies lack what it takes to effectively treat or cure an illness.
3. Do you find herbal medication in some instances more effective than
more traditional medication. The first question for you is which is traditional? Most herbal medicines I use have been used in
China for thousands of years or by native people of the Americas as well as Europeans, Africans, etc. Many are certainly more
effective than pharmaceutical remedies, less side effects too! Of course much of the work I do is getting people to change their
lifestyle to make more healthy choices so they don’t get sick in the first place. There are many places where Western
pharmaceuticals are essential for providing life that I acknowledge and value as well.
4. Have you ever considered practicing herbal medication in a hospital or
even practicing in a hospital using pharmaceuticals? I would be very pleased to use herbal medicine in a hospital setting. This
is an uphill climb due to the politics and beliefs of the people running hospitals. I believe it would save money and accelerate
the healing of many people taking up hospital space to incorporate herbal medicine into this model. I’ve trained a bit in Chinese
hospitals where this is actually the case and it is really remarkable. I would love to train to use pharmaceuticals in a hospital
and really get a chance to find out where the limits of either medicine are.
5. In terms of the actual visit, how is visiting someone trained in herbal
medicine and visiting a doctor different. It really depends on who the herbalist is. There are some herbalists who will provide
herbs based on western diagnostics. I use a combination of Western diagnostics and information about herbs based on research in
combination with a traditional energetic model of the body and how herbs relate to that. I recommend you read a little about how
Traditional Chinese Medicine to get a sense of how the Anatomy, Physiology, Pathophysiology etc. are different and not just the
treatment. It is pretty sophisticated. I suppose the most significant thing most herbalists offer patients is more time to
listen to what is going on. Many Western docs rely on lab test to make decisions, that is quantifiable information. We
herbalists override Descartes (see Descartes Error) and look at mind, body, spirit, and take time to integrate the three in
diagnosis and treatment. Again, that is a bit of a generalization.
1. So along with patients who come in with specific illnesses, do you get many people looking for recommendations for herbs to use daily.
2. What is the most common herb you recommend for daily use and why?
3. What age, economic standing and ethnicity of people do you most often treat?
4. What is your opinion on insurance companies covering herbal treatment? Do some companies do so?
5. Would you anticipate a swing back towards the ancient form of medication using herbs? If so what would trigger such a change?
also first 5 questions into Adam Lerner
1. How did you first begin your practice involving herbal medicine? It all started out with a pan of nettle lasagna. That
is a girlfriend of mine made the pie without steaming them first. I suppose really my ‘practice’ involves much more than the
clinical aspect. It involves ecology, knowing where plant medicines come from, their habitat and or cultivation practices, how to
harvest and prepare them for optimal clinical use, and how to combine them with other plants. How I began my clinical practice was
by helping people around me, treating minor maladies with plant medicines. The great things about this is you can start today
with very simple things, you just have to know your limits. It is counter culture in that you can be an herbalist without
subscribing to a medical hierarchy. That is not to say that developing advanced skills as a western medical practitioner is a bad
thing, it is just a different skill set with a different cultural context. You can also be a physician that has a high level of
knowledge about the Western medical body and apply herbal medicine in a sophisticated way. I began my legal practice as a primary
health care practitioner when I passed California’s licensing exam for the practice of Acupuncture, a profession which includes
herbalism as part of the training.
2. What drew you to this practice? I had watch half my immediate family die of either cancer or cardiovascular disease at a young
age in the hands of advanced and expensive medical care. These are both diseases that have substantial origins in lifestyle and
environmental causative factors. Thus I wanted to explore something to serve people intervene before they had an advanced illness
and something to complement where conventional therapies lack what it takes to effectively treat or cure an illness.
3. Do you find herbal medication in some instances more effective than
more traditional medication. The first question for you is which is traditional? Most herbal medicines I use have been used in
China for thousands of years or by native people of the Americas as well as Europeans, Africans, etc. Many are certainly more
effective than pharmaceutical remedies, less side effects too! Of course much of the work I do is getting people to change their
lifestyle to make more healthy choices so they don’t get sick in the first place. There are many places where Western
pharmaceuticals are essential for providing life that I acknowledge and value as well.
4. Have you ever considered practicing herbal medication in a hospital or
even practicing in a hospital using pharmaceuticals? I would be very pleased to use herbal medicine in a hospital setting. This
is an uphill climb due to the politics and beliefs of the people running hospitals. I believe it would save money and accelerate
the healing of many people taking up hospital space to incorporate herbal medicine into this model. I’ve trained a bit in Chinese
hospitals where this is actually the case and it is really remarkable. I would love to train to use pharmaceuticals in a hospital
and really get a chance to find out where the limits of either medicine are.
5. In terms of the actual visit, how is visiting someone trained in herbal
medicine and visiting a doctor different. It really depends on who the herbalist is. There are some herbalists who will provide
herbs based on western diagnostics. I use a combination of Western diagnostics and information about herbs based on research in
combination with a traditional energetic model of the body and how herbs relate to that. I recommend you read a little about how
Traditional Chinese Medicine to get a sense of how the Anatomy, Physiology, Pathophysiology etc. are different and not just the
treatment. It is pretty sophisticated. I suppose the most significant thing most herbalists offer patients is more time to
listen to what is going on. Many Western docs rely on lab test to make decisions, that is quantifiable information. We
herbalists override Descartes (see Descartes Error) and look at mind, body, spirit, and take time to integrate the three in
diagnosis and treatment. Again, that is a bit of a generalization.
1. So along with patients who come in with specific illnesses, do you get many people looking for recommendations for herbs to use daily.
2. What is the most common herb you recommend for daily use and why?
3. What age, economic standing and ethnicity of people do you most often treat?
4. What is your opinion on insurance companies covering herbal treatment? Do some companies do so?
5. Would you anticipate a swing back towards the ancient form of medication using herbs? If so what would trigger such a change?
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
paper topic #2
Books comparing: Huck Finn and the Dharma Bums
The character's rebelious nature and how the Dharma Bums is more useful to history.
The character's rebelious nature and how the Dharma Bums is more useful to history.
Monday, May 7, 2007
Sandra Cisneros
"A real house. One I could point to."
page 748
This quote comes in The House on Mango Street when the little girl is talking to a nun. The nun asks her where she lived and is suprised to learn the little girl lives in a dilapidated appartment. The girl feels ashamed by this and says that she desires to have a nice house that she should show people. These desires are influenced by her want for a better family life more like the lives she sees on television.
"Except he won't let her talk on the telephone. And he doesn't let her look out the window"
page 749
This quote comes from the story Linoleum Roses. In this story it says that Sally got married in eighth grade which is very bazar. It almost appeared that she was kidnapped because in the quote she descibes how she could not talk on the phone or look out the window. Also, she was isolated from her friends. However, this was a happier life than her life with her abusive father.
page 748
This quote comes in The House on Mango Street when the little girl is talking to a nun. The nun asks her where she lived and is suprised to learn the little girl lives in a dilapidated appartment. The girl feels ashamed by this and says that she desires to have a nice house that she should show people. These desires are influenced by her want for a better family life more like the lives she sees on television.
"Except he won't let her talk on the telephone. And he doesn't let her look out the window"
page 749
This quote comes from the story Linoleum Roses. In this story it says that Sally got married in eighth grade which is very bazar. It almost appeared that she was kidnapped because in the quote she descibes how she could not talk on the phone or look out the window. Also, she was isolated from her friends. However, this was a happier life than her life with her abusive father.
Sunday, May 6, 2007
Seeing by Annie Dillard #2
"seeing is of course very much a matter of verbalization. Unless I call my atention to what passes before my eyes, I simply won't see it."
page 704
In this quote, the author discusses the matter of seeing. She says that the natural act of looking at something, does not mean you can see it. Seeing something is really when someone uses everything they know and relates it to what they are looking at. In this way, someone can actually see nature instead of just looking at it. This quote represents a large theme in the story.
"One patient called lemonade 'square' because it pricked on his tongue as a square shape pricked on the touch of his hands"
page 700
In this quote, Dillard is discussing a book she read written by a doctor who works with patients who have been blinded by cataracts. Dillard is extremely affected by this book because she discusses it for a few pages. At the end of the section, she says that her own vision was affected by what the author of the book wrote for weeks. In this particular quote, the blind person is discribing lemonade as square because it is sour and pricks his taste buds like a corner would prick his hand. This could be because he has no vision and cannot relate a square in its context and beleives that tasting is just like touching.
page 704
In this quote, the author discusses the matter of seeing. She says that the natural act of looking at something, does not mean you can see it. Seeing something is really when someone uses everything they know and relates it to what they are looking at. In this way, someone can actually see nature instead of just looking at it. This quote represents a large theme in the story.
"One patient called lemonade 'square' because it pricked on his tongue as a square shape pricked on the touch of his hands"
page 700
In this quote, Dillard is discussing a book she read written by a doctor who works with patients who have been blinded by cataracts. Dillard is extremely affected by this book because she discusses it for a few pages. At the end of the section, she says that her own vision was affected by what the author of the book wrote for weeks. In this particular quote, the blind person is discribing lemonade as square because it is sour and pricks his taste buds like a corner would prick his hand. This could be because he has no vision and cannot relate a square in its context and beleives that tasting is just like touching.
Friday, May 4, 2007
Seeing by Annie Dillard
"After thousands of years we're still strangers to darkness, fearful aliens in an enemy camp with out arms crossed over our chests"
page 697
This quote comes as she is talking about when she went to Tinker Creek for a night. She was sitting on a log and thought how many people are scared and unaccustomed to the dark. Dillard uses the night to go into a kind of meditated state. It could be said she is comparing humans unaccustomness to darkness to their distance from nature.
"try to gag the commentator, to hush the noise ofuseless interior babble that keeps me from seeing just as surely as a newspaper dangled before my eyes"
page 705
This quote comes as he is talking about how she watches a baseball game in silence in an empty stadium. If she could, she would block out all the noise and all her thought. This way she could see things exactly how her natural eyes would, uninfluenced by anything. She attempts to clear her mind and see clearly by years of study and meditation. This quote hints at her lifestyle.
page 697
This quote comes as she is talking about when she went to Tinker Creek for a night. She was sitting on a log and thought how many people are scared and unaccustomed to the dark. Dillard uses the night to go into a kind of meditated state. It could be said she is comparing humans unaccustomness to darkness to their distance from nature.
"try to gag the commentator, to hush the noise ofuseless interior babble that keeps me from seeing just as surely as a newspaper dangled before my eyes"
page 705
This quote comes as he is talking about how she watches a baseball game in silence in an empty stadium. If she could, she would block out all the noise and all her thought. This way she could see things exactly how her natural eyes would, uninfluenced by anything. She attempts to clear her mind and see clearly by years of study and meditation. This quote hints at her lifestyle.
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