Richard Miller's Essay 'The Dark Night Of The Soul'

Literature; it has compelled us, entertained us, educated us, and drove us to madness. It has served as life instruction, by using the characters as the lesson plan. It is sometimes blunt, sometimes ugly, and in Truman Capote’s case, is so gruesome that we do not dare forget it.

The debate of what literature is or how it should be defined is an ongoing battle even today. Many have expressed that literature should be well-written, worthy of study, and also stand the test of time, despite most of this criteria catering towards classical literature written by wealthy white men, while others believe this is all too subjective to work fairly. I personally believe that literature is at least three of the following: An embodiment of the human experience, a reflection of cultural perspective, and the relationship between author and reader.

Our cohort is nearing the end of its secondary education and therefore it is important that we reflect on the ways in which it has shaped our attitudes, values and beliefs. For example, over the past five years, we have read, analysed and evaluated various literary works such as novels, plays, poems and films in our English studies. These texts have expressed various ideologies, explored interesting themes and introduced us to fascinating characters. These elements have left a lasting impression on our attitudes, values and beliefs. In addition to this, English literary texts have provided us with historical knowledge as well as a thorough understanding of the role that aesthetic devices

Miller asked a question in his text, The Dark Night of the Soul, which is asked on numerous occasions. ‘What might the Literate Arts be good for?’ Miller gives situations and reasons why we could say the Literate Arts are useless in today’s world. What might the Literate Arts be good for? I ask this question a lot nowadays too. When I go for an English class or see literary books, the question creeps into my mind unconsciously. In this modern world ‘reading and writing’ have gone downhill and yet people do not seem bothered or affected by it which makes the doubt in literary power even stronger. But after a lot of thinking and research, I have come to realize that literate arts are still needed in

Literature is such a beautiful thing because it does not give us an answer to it's questions. There are so many iffy spots that leave us to develop our own thoughts and feelings toward the piece of work. This is an interesting factor because at many times it affects us in a different way and can develop us as an individual. When reading a piece of literature, one person can interpret it in different ways than another person reading the same piece of work. I remember analyzing poems with my English class in the previous years and when we were asked to interpret it, we all had different answers. Sometimes what I got out of the poem didn’t even go close to the direction that my classmate

The following is a summary on the short essay The Dark Night of the Soul by Richard E Miller. This short essay is an essay that has been written with a main point always in mind, that reading and writing has very powerful influences people and their imagination but, the act of reading and writing is not being utilized as much in the modern world. Richard has created an essay that proves his point by taking five very different short stories and giving each a twist that helps the reader see the power of reading. As the reader is chronologically going through the essay he or she is given many possible meanings of the essay. The meaning and the

Literature is an essential part of the center of a person’s life. It provides a certain assurance and “feeds the soul” of one. Whether it be a book, TV, or even an advertisement, literature exists everywhere. A person is able to develop many skills by studying literature, and expand the horizon of their learning. An immeasurable amount of insight and knowledge can be gained from the study of literature which contributes in providing readers with an understanding of the past, and a philosophical assimilation of the moral behind a writing piece.

Can you imagine a world where literature did not exist? It’s very hard, nearly impossible. Literature plays a major role in shaping society. Literature is a word used to describe written or spoken material. Literature educates, informs, entertains and influences the reader or listener in a myriad of profound ways. Broadly speaking, “literature” is used to describe anything from creative writing to more technical or scientific works, but the term is most commonly used to refer to works of the creative imagination. Writers can change one’s beliefs, thoughts, actions, indeed their entire lives. In Northrop Frye’s The Educated Imagination, Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird and Plato’s The Republic, the writers use literature to utter the importance

In the article “Why Literature Matters,” Dana Gioia discusses about how interest displayed in the arts has declined, especially in literature. Gioia uses a variety of different literary tools to create a compelling argument including appealing to the reader’s emotion, using facts and statistics, and creating a “call to action”. Throughout the whole essay, Gioia skillfully plays with the reader’s emotions to convince them. Gioia brings out aspects such as the consequences of the situation.

Literature Matters “Who needs literature?” (Gillespie). Literature is a way to experience another world written on a sheet of paper. In the article “Why Community College Students Need Great Books, J.M. Anderson refers to literature as “a form of travel in time and space, allowing readers to experience vicariously what others have thought, felt, and even seen.” Experiencing literature takes the mind to another world and allows it to be free with imagination and creativity.

As a young girl, I remember my grandma used to read me a story every night before bed. Now that I’m older I find writing as an escape, a way to let my feelings out. However, in the persuasive essay, “Why Literature Matters” by Dana Gioia, it is brought to light that literature is a dying subject. The author informs the reader of this tragedy by providing a solid, well built argument, and backing it up with factual evidence.

“We have everything we need to be happy, but we aren't happy, something's missing”(Bradbury 78). Montag believes that because mankind now has no regard for the original ideas that once formulated literature, they have begun to ignore it altogether. While the “leisure to digest the quality” that he refers to, is the general interest of the population to begin reading. They have lost interest in books, which leads to them not wanting to pick up a book again. If both elements are never put into action, then there is no possibility of literature ever being available.

Some topics are more interesting to read than others. In an article called ‘Why Literature Matters’ written by Dana Gioia, this article can be viewed as highly persuasive because of the techniques he uses to get his points across to the audience .Gioia is able to build arguments though his use of evidence and different literary techniques.

Richard E. Miller essay “The Dark Night of the Soul” to be an interesting way to think about reading and writing in today’s world. Richard uses the violence in the world to question if our educational system is relevant to keeping us safe and whether the power literature can be used to change the tragic event that happen around us every day.

Indeed, the best works of literature are those which are of relevance to our lives today. Through their relevance, these novels continue to persist and endure on. Through their relevance, we can better comprehend the messages, the themes, and the ideas that are imbued in them. Rather than literature being contradictory and in conflict with the truth and unpleasant reality of daily life, it becomes a weapon through which we can be educated about the existential crises facing our world today. In fact, the statement above could not be more far and distant from the reality of literature today. It is fatally flawed. Literature, whilst at the surface, seems whimsical and amusing is, at its very core, a medium through which we are enlightened