ChefNarwhal2665
Percy tells several stories some of them quite good stories …
Percy tells several stories some of them quite good stories but it is often hard to know just what he is getting at, just what point he is trying to make. If he’s making an argument, it’s not the sort of argument that is easy to summarize. And if the stories (or anecdotes) are meant to serve as examples, they are not the sort of examples that lead directly to a single, general conclusion or that serve to clarify a point or support an obvious thesis. In fact, at the very moment when you expect Percy to come forward and pull things together, he offers yet another story, as though another example, rather than any general statement, would get you closer to what he is saying.
There are, at the same time, terms and phrases to suggest that this is an essay with a point to make. Percy talks, for example, about “the loss of sovereignty,” “symbolic packages,” “consumers of experience,” and “dialectic,” and it seems that these terms and phrases are meant to name or comment on key scenes, situations, or characters in the examples.
For this assignment, tell a story of your own, one that is suggested by the stories Percy tells perhaps a story about a time you went looking for something or at something, or about a time when you did or did not find a dogfish in your Shakespeare class. You should imagine that you are carrying out a project that Percy has begun, a project that has you looking back at your own experience through the lens of “The Loss of the Creature,” noticing what Percy would notice and following the paths that he would find interesting. Try to bring the terms that Percy uses like “sovereign,” “consumer,” “expert,” and “dialectic” to bear on the story you have to tell. Feel free to imitate Percy’s style and method in your essay.
Percy charts several routes to the Grand Canyon: you can take the packaged tour, you can get off the beaten track, you can wait for a disaster, you can follow the “dialectical movement which brings one back to the beaten track but at a level above it.” This last path (or stratagem), he says, is for the complex traveler. Our complex friend stands behind his fellow tourists at the Bright Angel Lodge and sees the canyon through them and their predicament, their picture taking and busy disregard. In a sense, he exploits his fellow tourists; he stands on their shoulders to see the canyon. (p.438)
The complex traveler sees the Grand Canyon through the example of the common tourists with “their predicament, their picture taking and busy disregard.” He “stands on their shoulders” to see the canyon. This distinction between complex and common approaches is an important one in the essay. It is interesting to imagine how the distinction could be put to work to define ways of reading.
Suppose that you read “The Loss of the Creature” as a common reader. What would you see? What would you identify as key sections of the text? What would you miss? What would you say about what you see?
If you think of yourself, now, as a complex reader, modeled after any of Percy’s more complex tourists or students, what would you see? What would you identify as key sections of the text? What would you miss? What would you say about what you see?
For this assignment, essay with three sections. You may number them, if you choose. The first section should represent the work of a common reader with “The Loss of the Creature,” and the second should represent the work of a complex reader. The third section should look back and comment on the previous two. In particular, you might address these questions: Why might a person prefer one reading over the other? What is to be gained or lost with both?
A note on sources:
You are asked to locate three sources, though you may include more if you
like. Sometimes, your professor will stipulate that your sources be scholarly;
for this essay, however, you are welcome to pull from any reliable source.
first person is acceptable though, as before, be cautious about
overusing phrases such as “I think” and “I believe”
· use a creative/original title
· write in the present tense to discuss and analyze texts; creative
prompts have more latitude.
Rubric:
Introduction and thesis statement: how well you’ve executed a strong
introduction and clean thesis statement, the latter should identify: the
central issue, which stylistic features that will be used for support, your
interpretation, and the primary research you’ll include.
Structure: how well organized the essay is; whether or not the structure
adheres to the main points identified in the thesis; the presence of topic
sentences and transitions; balanced and fully developed paragraphs that
progress and evolve the argument.
Analysis: Effectiveness, clarity, and thoughtfulness of arguments. Analysis
demonstrates critical thinking that avoids repetition and excludes summary.
How well integrated, relevant, and properly attributed the research material
is. Essay meets minimum length requirement and does not exceed it by more than a page.
Conclusion: One that does not simply parrot the intro but instead provides any
new insights achieved in the analytical process. May consider the issue in the
broader context of our current society or include personal experience and/or
stance on the theme in question. Conclusion should be balanced in length and
development as compared to the preceding pages.
