The Upstream And Downstream Of Seeing By Annie Dillard

Annie Dillard’s essay “Sight into Insight” emphasizes how specific moments in time can be interpreted differently, therefore; no two people will be able to compare perspectives on the same situation. Dillard starts her essay off by connecting to the reader through a story she tells “either when she was six or seven years old” (Dillard para.1). For fun Dillard would hide pennies in trees and make signs saying stuff like “SURPRISE AHEAD” or “MONEY THIS WAY” (para.1) to lure people into checking what was exactly inside the tree. The point of this was not to see what kind of people would actually take the time to look, but the mind-blowing thought of how “someone would receive a free gift from the universe”(para.1). Although it all depends on the

In the excerpt "Owls", by Mary Oliver. Oliver uses vivid imagery to communicate both sides of nature, the light and beauty; and the dark and frightening reality. Both parts terrifying when in excesses, but when each is balanced, they create nature.

In Virginia, there is a place called Tinker’s Creek. Dillard often goes to this creek for experiences with nature. During one of these trips, she has a little snippet of the revelation, which makes her see the beauty and the ugliness of the world together thus giving more meaning to life. In this passage, Dillard uses symbolism, verb choice and similes to explain how she views life with more meaning.

In the nineteenth paragraph, Dillard use more imagery and refrainment from using periods continues the tone of awed appreciation. As she and Rahm were flying, they “...dove at the snow headlong like suicides; we jerked up, down...so..we left our hearts, stomachs, and lungs behind.” The lack of periods in the sentence forces the reader move faster, therefore experiencing the erratic movements of the plane. Her tone of awed appreciation is continued because now she is experiencing the ride for herself. Through the use of this imagery, the audience is able to understand how watching the plane and riding the plane juxtapose to each other, since watching is much more peaceful and smooth.

1) According to Dillard, lovers and the knowledgeable can see well. Yet she also suggests that those who are knowledgeable on a topic, such as people who have been blind from birth and can suddenly see (due to an opperation), can perhaps view more objectively the world around them, and see it in a way that those with vision from birth cannot. Infants, she says, can see very clearly, for they are viewing the world for the first time, and can observe the colors and the light with no prejudgments, but we forget this experience as we grow older, and only occasionally catch glimpses of this phenomenon.

Most people depend on their sight to guide their path, but what if they lose their sense of sight? What would they do? Emily Dickinson’s vision grew poorer and poorer as she aged due to writing poems in the dim light of the night. She wrote two poems related to sight, but there was a much deeper meaning to the both of them. Sometimes people with the ability of sight are blinded as to someone who is blind can see clearly. People can not always depend on their eyes to lead their path in life.They have to open their soul to lead the way.

Her first example occurs in paragraph four when she is describing the pond. By using “a remarkable piece of shallowness,” the author not only emphasizes the significance of the pond but also describe the depth of it. The reader can literally picture a shallow pond in his or her mind while also understanding how much life it can support, hence the term remarkable, as further explained in the paragraph. Once Dillard finally encounters the weasel, their look was described that of “two lovers, or deadly enemies.” By using this comparison, she exemplifies the strength of the connection, even though it is described using near opposite manners. With the use of this paradox, Dillard succeeds at showing the inability to remove oneself from a powerful moment. As one moves further into the story, it is evident to any reader that her use of “learn something of mindlessness” truly wraps her story together in a sense that it continues her style while still relating it to the theme. The idea of learning from nothing emphasizes the thought that simplicity is acceptable when one is chasing his or her dream. Without a focused mind, clear of distractions one would lack

We often perceive sight as our immediate and best tool for understanding the world around us, when in fact, it is not. There are other methods of understanding that go beyond our senses, methods that most people are unable to comprehend. In his short story “Cathedral”, Raymond Carver uses point of view to suggest that there are ways to perceive and understand something beyond just seeing it. In fact, Carver suggests not only that sight is only the most basic level of understanding, but also that true understanding comes from a feeling that is not one of any our five senses.

The essay “Living Like Weasels” is written by Annie Dillard. Dillard appears to be an eccentric nature lover who’s trying to make sense of her life. She proclaims that we should live like weasels because they live only by their one necessity. At first, this does seem like an admirable way to live. We often perceive weasels as these small, innocent creatures that can do no harm to us. Besides, what harm could an animal 7 ounces heavy and the size of our finger do? It’s easy to see why Annie Dillard would want us to live like weasels. After all, these creatures live with a sense of simplicity by chasing after their one necessity. By living like weasels we are able to live without a bias. Dillard sees that finding our one necessity is crucial to survival. She wants us to “stalk” our one necessity and see where it takes us without interfering with it. Dillard encourages this philosophy onto the reader, presenting it as the best way to live life and maybe even the only to live. (Dillard 15)

This piece of writing was enjoyable to read. Annie Dillard does a magnificent job on getting this idea about sight across to the reader with her descriptive writing and personal anecdotes. She uses images of nature to show how people see the world and perceive things differently. The beauty in Dillard’s view of nature is created through her meticulous perception and she points out simple aspects of the world that most people usually take for granted in their every day lives such as being able to see the flying insects in the air. In reading Annie Dillard’s essay on seeing, I learned two important concepts. First of all, slowing down for a moment to consider the world that surrounds us, and having a greater appreciation in the small things in

The narrator of Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” places significant importance upon the act of looking. He is “bothered” by the visit of his wife’s blind friend, Robert, and extends a hollowed pity to him over his marriage, calling it “pathetic”. The narrator relies heavily on things that he “sees”, his wife laughing, the blind man eating. He assumes a sort of position of superiority to Robert, based on nothing more than that he has vision while Robert does not. This looking and vision is without depth. The narrator looks at much while truly seeing very little.

Birds appear in many fields that require skills or talent. You can find artist drawing them, scientists observing them, and poets writing about them. Sometimes these things overlap and meet one another. John James Audubon not only studied birds for a living, but also drew them for the sake of science. Annie Dillard illustrates a flock of birds flowing overheard with her words, while Audubon takes a more technical approach. Even though they experienced the same encounter, their backgrounds forced them to take different perspectives while talking about birds.

Raymond Carver does an excellent job of formulating the overall theme of looking without seeing. While it is very apparent to the reader that the main character can see physical objects just fine, one can also see that he clearly has a limit to that sight when it comes to emotional connections. As we follow the story, we can see the narrator transform and ultimately reach a breakthrough in the end. By using point of view, character, and symbolism, Carver is able to highlight the theme of the story.

The style of syntax she uses when constructing the found poem supports the efficacy to getting her message through to the reader. The structure of her poem leads the reader towards her goal of understanding the process of expanding their mind. The main body of the poem, excluding the first and last stanza, can be dissected into three consecutive distinct parts: commands, observations, and questions the author provides. The poem first introduces observations and follows with the metaphysical question: “And why have not / The currents of the sea worn away its bottom?” (Dillard 7). This first stanza serves as a signpost to how Dillard structured the rest of the poem, and it gives the reader a vignette of what will come after. After that stanza, Dillard provides four commands concerning interacting the sky and the sea. This begins the path she sets out for the reader. After presenting the commands, Dillard moves on to provide descriptions about the skies and seas, including observations such as the “Aurora Borealis” and “the height and velocity of waves.” She finally concludes the path she set for the reader with yet another metaphysical question: “If the water which now lies on the floor / Of the deep sea has to lie there forever, / Why was it made fluid instead of solid?” The final stanza of the poem serves as a reminder of the path the

Ways of Seeing by John Berger is a set of essays used to explain different techniques used in oil paintings, advertisements, and the way people look at things differently from one another. The abstract image Altera Pars by Wojciech Grzanka is a part of his surreal photo manipulation series called “It’s All In My Head”. In this image a woman clearly with two sets of arms shows that she is control of how and what she feels. Her attire shows mixed feelings on how she wants to be looked at. She is wearing a dress that fades away towards the bottom and underneath she is wearing pants. She stands comfortably in a room that is grungy and dirty. Women and men should not be condemned to live up to society’s expectations of what is right and wrong.