Monday, June 7, 2010

#7- TOTAL ECLIPSE

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4 comments:

  1. The main idea that I got out of the essay “Total Eclipse” is that humans need to start making time in their lives in order to live. This is because at the beginning, Dillard mentions that there is a difference between seeing an eclipse on photographs that capture it greatly and perceiving through your own eyes; just like there is a difference between “kissing a man and marrying him” (89). After reading this part of the essay, I thought that it would end in a positive note by saying that humans simply need to learn to go slowly and feel things instead of just looking at them without realizing their beauty. However, it was somewhat sad to see that Dillard’s point of view is completely different. She writes that after going through a type of frenzy of watching an eclipse, the people soon all “hurried away [and] rushed down the hill as they joined the highway traffic” (102). This goes to show that life does not allow men to savior a moment at least just for a little while since we constantly have the need to move around and do things and not simply breathe with “a sigh of relief” (103) in order to relax and take things easily and calmly.
    -Mariale

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  2. I agree with you, I also think that beauty is something you need to look for, not something that you will find along the way. Everything has something wonderful to look at.
    Something I realized from the essay is when Dillard contradicts herself when talking to us about the eclipse. She starts off by saying “During a partial eclipse the sky does not darken, not even when 94 percent of the sun is hidden”(89) as she follows concluding the essay she then says “The sun was too small, and too cold, and too far away, to keep the world alive. The white ring was not enough”(96). We deduce from the previous quotes that Dillard while explaining to the audience that the sun is never off sight and that there will always be light as if there was always a chance to keep on going, she finally says that while experiencing the eclipse, the sun was not enough to save the world, as if the eclipse she experienced was a once in a life time experience and that her chances of keeping on going while everything is dark, it is all gone. Felipe

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  3. Something interesting that I found in this essay was how detailed Dillard was at the beginning were she carefully describes the clown painting hanging on her hotel room. She is so focused on the clown that she notices that it has “thin joyful lips” made out of “red chili peppers”, in addition, he had “string beans” as eyes (85). Not only does Dillard focus on the clown’s physical characteristics but she is also able to make a connection of his glance to that of “Rembrandt” since they had the same lively, knowing, deep and loving” stare (85). Something that I wondered was if this whole paragraph on the clown was just a part of her style that is very descriptive or if she did this in order to restate that in fact, people need to stop once in a while in order to look at the details of each little insignificant thing that may be hanging from our walls or to that of a hotel’s since everything has a special value that we cannot appreciate when we are always thinking about the next thing that we need to be doing, whether it is waking up or taking a call or getting somewhere quickly.
    -Mariale

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  4. Dillard tries to portray through her essay that as darkness comes, everything get wrong “The sun was going, and the world was wrong. The grasses were wrong; they were platinum.”(91) She tries to explain through various passages such as this one that while time moves on, we will encounter changes in our life but we’ve got to learn to deal with these changes. Moving on, she also makes a comparison of her scenario with a Middle Ages movie in which she establishes a direct connection with the Middle Ages and believes she is inside a really one; “I looked at Gary. He was in the film. Everything was lost.”(91) She tries to give us the message that as we expect things to happen, such as a total eclipse with an incredible background, things may turn out differently and we may encounter difficulties as mentioned before. Felipe

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