“I used to be able to see flying insects in the air. I’d look ahead and see, not the row of hemlocks across the road, but the air in front of it. My eyes would focus along that column of air, picking out flying insects. But I lost interest, I guess, for I dropped the habit. Now I can see birds. Probably some people can look at the grass at their feet and discover all the crawling creatures. I would like to know grasses and sedges—and care. Then my least journey into the world would be
a field trip, a series of happy recognitions. Thoreau, in an expansive mood, exulted, “What a rich
book might be made about buds, including, perhaps, sprouts!” It would be nice to think so. I
cherish mental images I have of three perfectly happy people. One collects stones. Another—an
Englishman, say—watches clouds. The third lives on a coast and collects drops of seawater which
he examines microscopically and mounts. But I don’t see what the specialist sees, and so I cut
myself off, not only from the total picture, but from the various forms of happiness."
This was my favorite paragraph in Seeing by Annie Dillard because she dedicates the majority of the section to other people's observations and interests. While the entirety of the essay is about seeing the little things in life, Dillard shows her understanding of the reader by providing examples of noticing different little things. Not everyone sees the same 'little things' in life, and this is further developed with the idea of the artificial and obvious later explained in the essay. I love that she gives numerous instances, each from a different observer, each so simply perfect, realistic, and unbelievable all at the same time. She acknowledges that each person may be fascinated with their own little things while an outsider is completely uninterested. I am intrigued by how she crafts this idea in her writing because it is such a simple fact (people have different interests) that she eloquently weaves into her thesis of the importance of noticing the little things in life. Perhaps I am drawn to it because she is essentially reinforcing and encouraging my own personal interests and telling me that it's okay to devote time to my individual pointless pastimes like making lists or inspecting shades of blue in nature. Besides the reassuring meaning of the paragraph, the way it is constructed also shows Dillard's skill as a writer. I think that the combination of plentiful active examples and a lack of descriptive words is a unique and artful touch, as we discussed in class, not to mention incredibly advanced. In fact, as I look back through this post I realize my overuse of adjectives and lack of verbs. Annie Dillard forces the reader to focus on the content of what she writes as opposed to the beauty and intricacy of it. However, once you're done reading, the beauty and intricacy all seem to flood into your brain and overwhelm you. It's actually quite amazing.
Emma makes an interesting point; like Emma, and also Dillard, I often dwell on, or notice, things that are barely even trivialities to others. Each person's perspective is so different from the next that I may not even notice something that is of utmost importance to one of my peers. I also like how Emma uses this essay to reassure herself of her own interests. Ironically, while reading Seeing, this concept did not even occur to me; Dillard's idea that we all see, or interpret, things differently even manifests itself in her writing itself. I had found various different messages in Dillard's work, but other readers see her work completely differently due to varied perspectives. Also, I like how Emma uses Dillard's work to critique her own writing. For writers to improve, it is extremely important for them to read the work of other writers, something illustrated perfectly from Emma's reading of the text. From reading Dillard's work, I think there are about a million things that I could incorporate into my writing in order to improve it.
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