The Space Between

In Literature, and Fictional Storytelling, the point of view is the related experience of the narrarator, not of the author. Authors rarely in fiction, insert or inject their own voice, as this challenges the suspension of disbelief. the ability to use viewpoints effectively provides one measure of someones writing ability. recognizing bias is the first step toward critical thinking in academic work. yet, by their very nature, biases can be so intergrated, one does not see them even if they are staring them right in the face. I think that in all writing, it is difficult for the writer to take a step back and not interject somewhat the biases that they hold to. especially in fiction, when the author is given creative room, they write what they know, and what they believe. I believe that biases can be overcome. yet i believe it is a skill that most, even skilled, writers do not have.

who gets to decide?

When Picasso was asked the question, "what is art?" he simply replied, "what is not?" There is no definition for art. I believe art is purely objective. If at that time, a man made object is invoking feelings in the observer, for that person, that is probably art. Art is way too diverse by nature to admit to the unification of a single definition. Art is as difficult to define as it is to evaluate. This is mainly because each individual artist chooses the rules and parameters that guide their work. it can still be said that art is the product of choosing a medium to express one self, a set of rules for that one medium, and a set of values that determines what needs to be expressed. of course art is completely objective. we like certain art for objective reasons. reasons we study in books, see on tv and are taught through cultural bias.

from sand creek

This poem is incredibly postmodern. I first noticed the fragmentation of the story. Each line is carefully placed, separately from the rest. There is no system to the placing of the lines. Its sparatic and follows no grammical rules. The story as a whole is also simply about nothing. The setting is at the salvation army where the author states he was "wandering among old spoons and knives, sweaters and shoes." The author also states that he doesn't have a life. he says,"i couldnt have stolen anything; my life was stolen already." he states that his life is not his own, that it was stolen from him.

breakdown of words and meanings

Where does the breakdown of words and meanings lie? Personally, I believe this breakdown lies in the inadiquate system of language. Language is used to live. This introduces a complexity in the description of language and argues for a weakening of boundaries between various systems for communication. Margaret Atwood writes, "what is flour? we'll skip that part, its too complicated." Ths is very symbolic. Mrgaret is pointing out the obvious that of course everyone knows what flour is, but if she was to go in depth and start to explain what flour is, it would mean nothing to us. we wouldnt understand her because of the inadiquate system of language set before us. Margaret then says at the end "toast is me, I am toast." at first, this means nothing to the reader. of course she isent toast! but then one begins to think more deeply about the meaning of this word toast. and this is where the breakdown of word meanings lie. toast is just a word set up to describe a thing. Margaret points this out, the lack of meaning of toast and the lack of true meaning in words in general. The exhaustive description of language is an ideal, which may perhaps never be achieved , but there will certainly be much less change of it's being achieved if language is separated from the living of life totally. The structures of language is not absolutly unrelated to the total meaning structure availiable to a community.