In Western philosophy there is an idea that everyone is born a "tabula rasa"—Latin for "blank slate"—meaning we are born without any innate experiences or beliefs. Without delving into the religious aspects of this proposition, there are many concrete examples of this philosophy. It should exhaust one to find any newborn who is proficient in calculus or woodworking, who has mastered both the art of music and the art of crying for his mommy. No, unfortunately we are not born with the ability to do much of anything, and thus the process of gradually developing skills trudges its way to the forefront. In a letter to an assumed fan of hers, Marian Evans Lewes explores this very topic. Being a relatively successful novelist, she outlines how a writer—particularly …show more content…
Lewes couldn't resist giving one. With a didactic, yet friendly tone, Lewes charts her hypothesis on the development of a writer. Primarily, a person pursues writing because she sees merit in the practice, merit which she glimpses through the eyes of a writer who has already harnessed it. Idolization, then, is the first stage of development. Once the writer has found a dream, she is filled with yearning to create, yet still lacking in any ability to do so. "I was too proud and ambitious to write", Lewes tells her correspondent; "I could not do anything fine, and I did not choose to do anything…mediocre" Lewes knows that abdicating a skill is, of course, no way to foster it; instead, a writer must write that which "has no great glory belonging to it", but which she can still be faithful towards. Eventually, through this method, she might find success, but more importantly she might find that success does not always elicit satisfaction. She may realize that achievement in itself does not fix life's problems, and that because the written word exists outside of herself, the release of it into the world can leave one nothing but "a poor husk". "Does this seem melancholy?" Lewes asks, and further answers her hypophora: "I think it is less melancholy than any sort of self flattery." Still, her letter is more than just a hard-nosed look at the development of a writer; …show more content…
Because of this connection, Lewes' more personal life as a woman in the mid-nineteenth century bleeds into her response. Obviously, life was not usually easy for the Victorian woman who wanted to enter into the intellectual sphere of writing. Lewes even used a pen name, George Eliot, to give her novels more credence. She addresses this shared womanhood with her correspondent by using the word "us" and grouping herself in with Peirce. Furthermore, by referring to an author's work as her "offspring" and expressing the sadness she may feel once it grows on its own merit, she places female writers in a maternal role. Lewes expresses understanding for Peirce's struggle as a woman who longs for more than "domestic duties". This pining, though, is thwarted by "womanly necessities for neatness and household perfection as well as by the lack of bodily strength". Womanhood is terribly relevant to their development as writers, and though it is not an insurmountable task, obtaining a sense of satisfaction becomes that much
From an early age, Frederick Douglass refused to accept the life of confinement into which he was born. The way he learned to write is a fine example of his exceptional resourcefulness and persistence to rise above. In The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Douglass's depiction of his self-education can be found on page 94...
...s, and why he writes them at all. Instead of judging him, she tries to understand and fix it her own way, and it affects how he sees his writing:
...e does not discuss what she is writing, while she is writing it. She is afraid that if she speaks of it, it will wear out her idea. She says, “If you want to be a writer, I have two pieces of advice. One is to be a reader. I think that's one of the most important parts of learning to write. The other piece of advice is: Just do it! Don't think about it, don't agonize, sit down and write”.
“Although both articles are exploring writing and the change that needs to or that does happen, Peter Elbow’s idea of growth in writing is a more naïve and simplistic approach to writing, where as Somers and Saltz’s article, while still very general, takes a more realistic point of view at the writing experience for students and new writers”.
As every well-read person knows, the background in which you grow up plays a huge role in how you write and your opinions. Fuller grew up with a very strict education, learning multiple classic languages before she was eight years old. Fern grew up with writers all throughout her family and had a traditional education and saw first hand the iniquities of what hard-working had to contend with. Through close analysis of their work, a reader can quickly find the connections between their tone, style, content, and purpose and their history of their lives and their educational upbringing.
...s educational system on traditionalism that focuses on fluency, appreciation, and comprehension. King states, “no one can be as intellectually slothful as a really smart person” (138). As a whole we are “creatures of habit”, thus resisting changes in the traditional sphere of academics. King uses his spin on popular culture to engage future readers and inspire the next generation of writers. “Some of this book—perhaps too much—has been about how I learned to do it. Much of it has been about how you can do it better. The rest of it—and perhaps the best of it—is a permission slip: you can, you should, and if you're brave enough to start, you will.” (King 269-270). “On Writing” is a poignant, educated, and inspiring book, a book that is sure to help hundreds of struggling writers and will motivate others who may pick up the book not for inspiration, but mere curiosity.
A bad book, so-called, has just as much to teach us as a good book. It is often a far better teacher than any work that is uniformly artful, where excellence disguises the nuts and bolts of craft. A bad book also teaches us something a better book cannot: humility. Not the humility of resignation — that of admitting that we will never be very good at what we do, no matter how earnestly we try. Such humility can easily morph into the indulgent self-flagellation that either demands the commiseration of friends or brings our vocation to a standstill, where thereafter we are those people who petulantly claim we “could have been
Although the greater picture is that reading is fundamental, the two authors have a few different messages that they seek to communicate to their audiences. “The Joy of Reading and Writing” depicts how reading serves as a mechanism to escape the preconceived notions that constrain several groups of people from establishing themselves and achieving success in their lifetimes. “Reading to Write,” on the other hand, offers a valuable advice to aspiring writers. The author suggests that one has to read, read, and read before he or she can become a writer. Moreover, he holds an interesting opinion concerning mediocre writing. He says, “Every book you pick has its own lesson or lessons, and quite often the bad books have more to teach than the good ones” (p.221). Although these two essays differ in their contents and messages, the authors use the same rhetorical mode to write their essays. Both are process analyses, meaning that they develop their main argument and provide justification for it step by step. By employing this technique, the two authors create essays that are thoughtful, well supported, and easy to understand. In addition, Alexie and King both add a little personal touch to their writings as they include personal anecdotes. This has the effect of providing support for their arguments. Although the two essays have fairly different messages, the authors make use of anecdotes and structure their writing in a somewhat similar
She admits continuing to write, but has to hide the fact or face “he... ... middle of paper ... ... the breakdown we see in the story. Works Cited Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "
“While my English skills were never judged as poor, compared to math, English could not be considered my strong suit.” (636-7). Her grades in English were considered low and not good enough to achieve what she wanted to be, while her science and math grades were the highest they can be. Going on to explain the way that “answers on English test were always a judgement call” (637), saying there are more than one answer for things on the tests, just depending on how it was worded or the wording needing to be placed in for the answer. She goes on and talks about analogies, find words that mean the same thing or have a relationship with one another, and how it was the same for that. “I’ve been asked, as a writer, why there are not more Asian Americans represented in American literature. Why are there few Asian Americans enrolled in creative writing programs? Why do so many Chinese students go into engineering?” (638). She believes that it is because many have a “broken” or “limited” English at home or their teachers are pushing them to go for some other career choice. Luckily she wanted to be different and choose her own path in life instead of having one chosen for her. When she first started writing she wanted to use sentences and words that showed people she understood the English language, from a the first draft of her book,
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…
Throughout literature’s history, female authors have been widely recognized for their groundbreaking and eye-opening accounts of what it means to be a woman in society. In most cases of early literature, women are portrayed as weak and unintelligent characters who rely solely on their male counterparts. Also during this time period, it would be shocking to have women characters in some stories, especially since their purpose is only secondary to that of the male protagonist. But, in the late 17th to early 18th century, a crop of courageous women began publishing their works, beginning the literary feminist movement. Together, Aphra Behn, Charlotte Smith, Fanny Burney, and Mary Wollstonecraft challenge the status quo of what it means to be a woman during the time of the Restoration Era and give authors and essayists of the modern day, such as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a platform to become powerful, influential writers of the future.
Hurston portrays women as independent and capable of infinite possibilities. Many aspects contribute to how an author, male or female, portrays his or her female characters. Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Steinbeck, Wharton, and Hurston all illustrate their own perception of women based upon personal experience and social acuity of their particular era. The portrayal of women in American Literature is based solely upon an author’s personal opinion and interpretation and does not necessarily symbolize the true spirit and quintessence of women as one. Bibliography:..
A person's ability to develop is due to two factors, maturation and learning. Although maturation, or the biological development of genes, is important, it is the learning - the process through which we develop through our experiences, which make us who we are (Shaffer, 8). In pre-modern times, a child was not treated like they are today. The child was dressed like and worked along side adults, in hope that they would become them, yet more modern times the child's need to play and be treated differently than adults has become recognized. Along with these notions of pre-modern children and their developmental skills came the ideas of original sin and innate purity. These philosophical ideas about children were the views that children were either born "good" or "bad" and that these were the basis for what would come of their life.
As Woolf grew older, she was educated by her mother, and eventually a tutor. Due to her father’s position, there were always famous writers over the house interacting with the young Virginia and the Woolf’s large house library. Within her writing, Woolf often appears angry or depressed, which both stems from childhood.... ... middle of paper ...