Audubon and Dillard

Audubon and Dillard

A small child views a painting, giggling to his mother how it looks like an elephant soaring throughout the galaxy. An hour later a middle age man views the exact painting only to acknowledge the abstract painting as a collage of miscellaneous shapes and colors. This view is much like the comparison between John James Auburn and Annie Dillard passages, revealing opposite and similar aspects on the subject of birds.

Auburn’s passage inhabits a sense of seriousness and monotone. Incorporating direct details such as his departure from his house on the “banks of the Ohio” and observing pigeons fly “north-east to southwest” reveals his scientific train of thinking. By him pinpointing each step of his experience of watching birds, it displays how his mind functions and distinguishes situations. Show casing his down to earth tone, Auburn delivers a step-to-step encounter with the birds flying high above him. Auburn describes the flock of birds “like a torrent” that made a sound “like a noise of thunder” that came by with such a “compact mass”. Auburn’s passage consists mainly of scientific observations but the word incorporations towards the end of the passage are significant components which assist in portraying a poetic and metaphoric language. By Auburn incorporating this poetic feel, it displays his exhilaration and pure amazement of theses specimen.

Annie Dillard portrays her thoughts differently in her passage, incorporating a poetic sense that is carried through out the entire passage. Dillard describes the birds she is viewing as “transparent” and that they seem to be “whirling like smoke”. Already one could identify that Dillard’s passage has more of poetic feel over a scientific feel. This poetic feeling carries through the entire passage, displaying Dillard’s total awe of these birds. She also incorporates word choices such as “unravel” and that he birds seem to be “lengthening in curves” like a “loosened skein”. Dillard’s word choice implies that he is incorporating a theme of sewing. As she describes these birds she seems to be in awe and by using a comparison of sewing she is reaching deeper inside herself to create her emotions at the time.

In the light of the day certain objects seem different, we don’t take notice of the simple things and rush to accomplish are every day tasks.