Friday, September 25, 2009
Whitman quotes exploration: Heaven and Hell for everyone
For my essay, I think I’d like to explore the idea of how everyone has the same amount heaven and hell in their life, going off of a few Whitman passages. There are a number of quotes from “Song of Myself” that I think work around this idea, and would use them throughout an exploratory essay to get my point across. (Sorry, I don’t have the poem on me to quote him directly right now.) The main thing I would discuss is how it may seem on the surface that some people have a life easier than others, but when it comes down to it, they just have different forms of struggle than others. I want people to see that the world is not full of uneven distributions of good and bad, but that everyone has the same amount of each, just more weight in different areas. This is something everyone needs to see, to both let them know that they aren’t alone in suffering or good fortune, and also to show them that drawing conclusions before knowing all the facts is an awful disease that seems to be taking over our society. I don’t think I’ll stick to Whitman’s ideas too closely, more so formulating my own as I go. Also, I don’t intend on telling a story, but if you have any ideas on how this could work well in a different form than my exploratory essay structure, please share, because I’m not exactly sure how well the format is going to work.
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Dude sweet. I totally agree. People experience suffering differently, everything affects everyone in different ways. This is the main reason self-pity is mildly ridiculous, when you know that someone else is suffering in the same way as you.
ReplyDeleteI think that an essay would work best for you honestly. You have SUCH a way with words that I'm not sure you need to reach way outside the box and do something ridiculous, you can navigate your ideas well with an essay!
I like that you say "that drawing conclusions before knowing all the facts is an awful disease that seems to be taking over our society." I think that is a powerful statement that can be very opinionated. It will be a good paper. I could frankly argue on either side of this statement though. How did you choose you would take it on from this side? Was it natural or did you have to contemplate. ? I like it. Ofcourse stating the quotes that you plan on using would have been helpful, but I like the idea.
ReplyDeleteso far i think this is a great idea. I think people should really learn to be more understanding of other people's problems, because like you said, you only see the surface of most people's lives. You shouldn't judge before you can understand what they are going through, or be in their shoes. what kind of form will you use? I'm interested to see where you take this. good ideas.
ReplyDeleteI really like this idea for your essay, and would never thought of it myself. All this psychoanalysis seems pretty cool and a great topic to work with. I really do think however that you could make a good story about it, especially since you are a naturally born story teller. Maybe something with Emerson being a counselor and dealing with many different people who find their life so much more complicated than others. But even a regular formal essay on the topic would be awesome. Good luck with it and have fun
ReplyDeleteI think that is a good and broad topic to write about!! I like the idea of how people have the same amount of heaven and hell in their lives. I totally agree with that. I find myself in a bad position or state of mind someime and I wonder if the same thing could ever happen to anyone else. I am excited to see where you go with this it sould be really great!!!
ReplyDeleteI really li8ke the idea you came up with for your essay. It is really interesting, i really like how you are gonna mix heaven and hell together. And how everyone has the equal heavan and hell. Maybe someo how you could fit Emerson or Whitman into your essay. But overall i really like what you are goning to write about.
ReplyDeleteDANA!!!!! I really like your idea, it is one that I definitely can relate to and I also see it everywhere I go. Often when someone is convicted of a crime or does something that one doesn't understand that person is automatically labeled as a bad person. Without any insight into what is actually going on, people judge. The truth is that this world is full of gray areas, with many different perspectives and ideas; no one can know what the actual “truth” of a situation is. I love that you’re trying to make a point that we are all good and bad, not necessarily just one or the other. I can’t really think of a creative format to do this topic in, to me it seems like a standard-ish essay like you were thinking would be a good idea.
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