Analysis of "Seeing" by Annie Dillard
Max
11/5/12
Eng. 101 9:30-11:00
"Seeing" by Annie Dillard:
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.
2) Lovers can see well, because their vision transcends the obvious, if they love a lake, they do not merely see a lake, but also see what the lake represents for them, they see meaning. The knowledgeable can see because as small children we are constantly learning, but those who are knowledgeable continue to learn throughout their lives, which enables them to keep discovering new ways to view the world and allows them to keep an open mind and open eye. Those who know little can see, but only if they are open to knowledge, even if that knowledge is self taught, they just must be open to experience and to wonder.
3) Seeing contributes to happiness because when we allow ourselves to see, we allow ourselves to open our minds and our hearts, and to see the wonder in the world, which we often close ourselves off to as we grow older. Perhaps when we begin to learn of all the sufferings of reality, we close ourselves off to seeing, because we don't want to know, but if we do not allow ourselves to see and feel suffering, we shut the door to the joys and wonders of this world as well.
4) The part of Dillard's essay which struck me the most was her retelling of the experiences of those who had been blinded from birth and were then granted sight, and how they did not have a sense of visual space or distance.
11/5/12
Eng. 101 9:30-11:00
"Seeing" by Annie Dillard:
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.
2) Lovers can see well, because their vision transcends the obvious, if they love a lake, they do not merely see a lake, but also see what the lake represents for them, they see meaning. The knowledgeable can see because as small children we are constantly learning, but those who are knowledgeable continue to learn throughout their lives, which enables them to keep discovering new ways to view the world and allows them to keep an open mind and open eye. Those who know little can see, but only if they are open to knowledge, even if that knowledge is self taught, they just must be open to experience and to wonder.
3) Seeing contributes to happiness because when we allow ourselves to see, we allow ourselves to open our minds and our hearts, and to see the wonder in the world, which we often close ourselves off to as we grow older. Perhaps when we begin to learn of all the sufferings of reality, we close ourselves off to seeing, because we don't want to know, but if we do not allow ourselves to see and feel suffering, we shut the door to the joys and wonders of this world as well.
4) The part of Dillard's essay which struck me the most was her retelling of the experiences of those who had been blinded from birth and were then granted sight, and how they did not have a sense of visual space or distance.