Cover to "The Figurative and Literal Descent of Man"
When approaching this paper I was conflicted. On the one hand, I had written papers like this before (in 10th grade with Ms. Rakusin), but, on the other hand, it had been over two years. I was worried I wouldn’t have enough to say about one word, but I found that the more I wrote the more easily the argument came to me. I became more and more committed to my argument as I continued to write the paper. I’m worried the paper got more convoluted towards the end. This often happens in my essays because I start thinking faster than I can type, and I tend to leave out important connections.
The Figurative and Literal Descent of Man
Paradise Lost by John Milton, claims in the introduction to concern itself with “Mans First Disobedience,” (1.1) although the reader needs only to read a few lines down to realize that Paradise Lost is about much more than “Mans First Disobedience” (1.1). Milton’s epic poem chronicles the creation of the universe, the rebellion of the archangel Lucifer, and the loss of Eden, or Paradise. And while Milton’s work could be read simply as a reimagining of religious canon, Milton’s work as a whole is as imbued with plurality, as are his individual writing choices. While the poem is undoubtedly a retelling of the Judeo-Christian creation story, Milton’s Paradise Lost is, ultimately, a story of descent. By analyzing Milton’s usage of the word and it’s derivations one can understand the multiplicity and complexity with which Milton writes.
The meaning of the word descent is varied. When discussing the “descent of man” or the “descent of Satan,” most people use the word to call forth its figurative meaning: “the action of sinking to a lower or subordinate state or condition; a moral, social, or psychological fall or decline” (n.7). In 1533 the word took on this figurative meaning in Dutch philosopher and scholar Erasmus’s appeal to Christian soldiers, Enchiridion Militis Christiani, or Handbook of a Christian Knight, but before this new meaning of the word became commonplace, the earliest recorded definition of the word was “the action or fact of coming down by generation or inheritance, and related senses” (n.1). Despite the apparent incompatibility of these two definitions, Milton intertwines both the figurative and genealogical meanings of the word descent in Paradise Lost. From the moment God discovered Eve had eaten the forbidden fruit, both meanings were entangled: God proclaimed to Eve that for her transgression, “thy sorrow I will greatly multiplie / By thy conception; Children thou shalt bring / In sorrow forth” (10. 193-95). As well, the punishment inflicted upon both Adam and Eve was to carry down to their offspring: “if care of our descent perplex us most, / Which must be born to certain woe, devourd / By Death at last, and miserable it is / To be to others cause of misery, / Our own begotten, and of our Loines to bring / Into this cursed World a woful Race” (11). This transference of punishment further links Adam and Eve’s figurative descent with the genealogical descent of the human race.
The word “descent” not only demonstrates Milton’s uniquely multiplicitous writing style, but also helps the reader gain a better understanding of both Milton’s Paradise Lost and of the “ways of God,” (1.26): Milton’s proclaimed purpose of the poem. Although this word does not capture the array of perspectives Milton gives in Paradise Lost or other aspects which make the poem significant, “descent” is the reason Milton wrote his poem. The first descent, and that which precipitated the fall of man, was Satan’s; after rebelling against God, the archangel and his army were “hurl'd headlong flaming from th’ Ethereal Skie… To bottomless perdition, there to dwell” (1.45-47). In describing Satan’s descent to Hell, Milton tonifies the concept of descent in the poem, and implicates the first descent to readers in the second book by saying “From this descent / Celestial vertues rising, will appear / More glorious and more dread then from no fall” (2.14-16); this helps to achieve Milton’s purpose of “[justifying] the ways of God to man,” (1.26) by giving reason and precedence to the widely held Judeo-Christian notions of virtue and morality. Milton quickly ties the fall of Satan to the fall of man, “say first what cause / Mov’d our Grand Parents in that happy State, / Favour’d of Heav’n so highly, to fall off / From their Creator, / and transgress his Will / For one restraint, Lords of the World besides? / Who first seduc’d them to that fowl revolt? / Th’ infernal Serpent” (1.28-34), and Satan’s entrance into Paradise was first described as a “foul descent” (9.163). After the sin of man was known by the angels in Eden, God declared “fall’n he is, and now / What rests, but that the mortal Sentence pass / On his transgression” (10.47-49).
Before man had first sinned, Earth was described to be “like to Heav’n, if not preferrd” (9.99) and as a “Seat worthier of Gods” (9.100), but after God had learned of man’s transgression God “descended strait” (10.90) to Earth. Milton’s choice to describe the journey to Earth as a descent implies that the sins of man had transformed a place once “worthier of Gods” (9.100) into a place of “lower or subordinate state or condition” (n.7). From then on, the journey from Heaven to Earth is described as a descent even when discussing events such as the birth of Jesus, showing that the original sin long marred the Earth, further tying the descent of man to all descendants of Adam and Eve.
Sources:
"descent, n." OED Online, Oxford University Press, March 2020, www.oed.com/view/Entry/50722. Accessed 13 April 2020.
Milton, John, 1608-1674. Paradise Lost.
The meaning of the word descent is varied. When discussing the “descent of man” or the “descent of Satan,” most people use the word to call forth its figurative meaning: “the action of sinking to a lower or subordinate state or condition; a moral, social, or psychological fall or decline” (n.7). In 1533 the word took on this figurative meaning in Dutch philosopher and scholar Erasmus’s appeal to Christian soldiers, Enchiridion Militis Christiani, or Handbook of a Christian Knight, but before this new meaning of the word became commonplace, the earliest recorded definition of the word was “the action or fact of coming down by generation or inheritance, and related senses” (n.1). Despite the apparent incompatibility of these two definitions, Milton intertwines both the figurative and genealogical meanings of the word descent in Paradise Lost. From the moment God discovered Eve had eaten the forbidden fruit, both meanings were entangled: God proclaimed to Eve that for her transgression, “thy sorrow I will greatly multiplie / By thy conception; Children thou shalt bring / In sorrow forth” (10. 193-95). As well, the punishment inflicted upon both Adam and Eve was to carry down to their offspring: “if care of our descent perplex us most, / Which must be born to certain woe, devourd / By Death at last, and miserable it is / To be to others cause of misery, / Our own begotten, and of our Loines to bring / Into this cursed World a woful Race” (11). This transference of punishment further links Adam and Eve’s figurative descent with the genealogical descent of the human race.
The word “descent” not only demonstrates Milton’s uniquely multiplicitous writing style, but also helps the reader gain a better understanding of both Milton’s Paradise Lost and of the “ways of God,” (1.26): Milton’s proclaimed purpose of the poem. Although this word does not capture the array of perspectives Milton gives in Paradise Lost or other aspects which make the poem significant, “descent” is the reason Milton wrote his poem. The first descent, and that which precipitated the fall of man, was Satan’s; after rebelling against God, the archangel and his army were “hurl'd headlong flaming from th’ Ethereal Skie… To bottomless perdition, there to dwell” (1.45-47). In describing Satan’s descent to Hell, Milton tonifies the concept of descent in the poem, and implicates the first descent to readers in the second book by saying “From this descent / Celestial vertues rising, will appear / More glorious and more dread then from no fall” (2.14-16); this helps to achieve Milton’s purpose of “[justifying] the ways of God to man,” (1.26) by giving reason and precedence to the widely held Judeo-Christian notions of virtue and morality. Milton quickly ties the fall of Satan to the fall of man, “say first what cause / Mov’d our Grand Parents in that happy State, / Favour’d of Heav’n so highly, to fall off / From their Creator, / and transgress his Will / For one restraint, Lords of the World besides? / Who first seduc’d them to that fowl revolt? / Th’ infernal Serpent” (1.28-34), and Satan’s entrance into Paradise was first described as a “foul descent” (9.163). After the sin of man was known by the angels in Eden, God declared “fall’n he is, and now / What rests, but that the mortal Sentence pass / On his transgression” (10.47-49).
Before man had first sinned, Earth was described to be “like to Heav’n, if not preferrd” (9.99) and as a “Seat worthier of Gods” (9.100), but after God had learned of man’s transgression God “descended strait” (10.90) to Earth. Milton’s choice to describe the journey to Earth as a descent implies that the sins of man had transformed a place once “worthier of Gods” (9.100) into a place of “lower or subordinate state or condition” (n.7). From then on, the journey from Heaven to Earth is described as a descent even when discussing events such as the birth of Jesus, showing that the original sin long marred the Earth, further tying the descent of man to all descendants of Adam and Eve.
Sources:
"descent, n." OED Online, Oxford University Press, March 2020, www.oed.com/view/Entry/50722. Accessed 13 April 2020.
Milton, John, 1608-1674. Paradise Lost.
Cover to "On the Nature of Self"
When I approached the final piece of writing for this semester I was worried. I felt I had nothing left to say about Scott or Greenblatt. I was worried there was too much that could be said, and yet, paradoxically, nothing that could be said. But as I sought out the right words and the right order to put them in, I finally began to feel like I truly understood their connection. I worked to convey my thoughts in a way that was concise yet forced the reader (you) to work through the ideas in the way I had to. I started by reading over my commonplace book, in an attempt to find a starting place which is why the quotes stand out the way they do in the introduction and conclusion. Next I thought about the readers separately and how they communicated their arguments which is why each author has a section that must be opened individually. Finally I thought about the two in conjunction while writing the introduction and conclusion which is why those sections of text are side by side with no restrictions to how they are viewed.
On the Nature of Self
Cover to:
"Steven Greenblat on the Measure of a Man"
Reading the first “Brain Picking piece by Maria Popova, I was infatuated by the ideas presented. The work detailed on of the arguments made by Alan Lightman in his book, Searching for Stars on an Island in Maine. Popova shows Lightman’s argument with an explicit style, using block quotes and brief explanations of what, precisely, Popova is attempting to display. As well, Popova expertly weaves her beliefs in alongside Lightman’s quotes while also advocating for deeper thinking on the part of the reader, a common theme throughout her posts.
In my imitation of Popova’s style, I attempted to recreate some strategies I noticed she used in many of her posts. Popova’s writing style favors brevity and elevated language which I tried to emulate. As well, I noticed she started most of her posts with a quote to grab the reader’s attention and to introduce the topic of her post. I noticed Popova often used long quotes separated by short paragraphs explaining their corresponding quote, which I also emulated. Popova drew attention to these quotes by using large quotation marks which draws the reader’s eye. While I was unable to format this, I sought the create a similar aesthetic appearance by bolding the quotes. As well, Popova often briefly cites other authors which I tried to do, but overall Popova mainly focuses on the central author. Finally, I attempted to channel Popova’s artistic choices by including images I felt helped convey the tone and message of my piece, highlighting the title in yellow, and finishing with a final reference to similar readings.
In my imitation of Popova’s style, I attempted to recreate some strategies I noticed she used in many of her posts. Popova’s writing style favors brevity and elevated language which I tried to emulate. As well, I noticed she started most of her posts with a quote to grab the reader’s attention and to introduce the topic of her post. I noticed Popova often used long quotes separated by short paragraphs explaining their corresponding quote, which I also emulated. Popova drew attention to these quotes by using large quotation marks which draws the reader’s eye. While I was unable to format this, I sought the create a similar aesthetic appearance by bolding the quotes. As well, Popova often briefly cites other authors which I tried to do, but overall Popova mainly focuses on the central author. Finally, I attempted to channel Popova’s artistic choices by including images I felt helped convey the tone and message of my piece, highlighting the title in yellow, and finishing with a final reference to similar readings.
Stephen Greenblat on the Measure of a Man
It is, of course, an abiding question, as old as consciousness — we are material creatures that live in a material universe, yet we are capable of experiences that transcend what we can atomize into physical facts: love, joy, the full-being gladness of a Beethoven symphony on a midsummer’s night."
As A.O. Scott remarks in Better Living Through Criticism, taste is, oxymoronically, entirely personal and, at the same time, entirely not. This is to say that while beauty is subjective, individual to each individual, the powers that influence our thinking are completely out of our control.
There is, axiomatically, no disputing taste, and also no accounting for it. And yet the conventional wisdom applied to this fundamental human attribute - the neurosensory switch that flips tubeless when we encounter Beauty, Sublimity, or Charm, to boredom or disgust when those qualities failed to materialize - amounts to heaps of contradictions. There is no argument, but then again there is only argument. How could you not like that? Wait, you mean you actually liked that? Taste, we assume, is innate, reflexive, immediate, involuntary, but we also speak of it as something to be acquired. It is a private, subjective matter, a badge of individual sovereignty, but at the same time a collectively held property, bundling us into clubs, cults, communities, and sociological stereotypes.
Maria Popova opens her post on the concept of “bringing meaning” to one's life by drawing attention to the duality of the human experience— the physical versus the spiritual. Spirituality has been an integral aspect of our experience for as long as we know. While the physical aspects are easily relegated to the laws of science, the spiritual aspects of our humanity are what gives us pause. Does everyone feel the way we do when they read a classic? Are we wrong for preferring Suzanne Collins to Emily Bronte? Is my taste in music bad? Stephen Greenblat offers a theory on our personalities and desires with his work Renaissance Self-Fashioning on the topic of development of a sense of self in the 16th century.
I perceive that fashioning oneself and being fashioned by cultural institutions— family, religion, state— were inseparably intertwined. In all of my texts and documents, there were, so far as I could tell, no moments of pure, unfettered subjectivity; indeed, the human subject itself began to seem remarkably unfree, the ideological product of the relations of power in a particular society. Whenever I focus sharply upon a moment of apparently autonomous self fashioning, I found not an epiphany of identity freely chosen but a cultural artifact. If there are main traces of free choice, the choice was among possibilities whose range was strictly delineated, had social and ideological systems in force.”
Greenblat provides insight into the ways that personality was influenced in the 1500s, but, more meaningfully, into the ways we can view our own personalities and choices. While our modern world has changed irrevocably since the Renaissance, cultural impacts on our personalities still exert inescapable amounts of pressure onto one’s sense of self. We can see the impact of societal pressure once more in Warren Berger’s work on curiosity, A More Beautiful Question, wherein Berger presents the concept of self censoring.
Children may be self-censoring their questions due to cultural pressures. Joshua Aronson of New York University has studied some of the difficulties that low-income minority students face, such as the disproportionate tendency of schools to suspend African American boys. But Aronson has also conducted interesting research on what he calls ‘the stereotype threat’. It zeros in on the psychology of stigma, in particular ‘the way human beings respond to negative stereotypes about the racial or gender group.’ Aronson studied standardized test performances among black, Latino, and female college students, and his findings suggest that when a person perceives him / herself as the target of a well-known stereotype (e.g., girls aren't good at math), it can have an adverse effect on performance in schools. Would students who are battling against stereotypes be less inclined to enter lessons by asking questions, revealing to the rest of the class that they don't know anything? ‘Absolutely,’ Aronson said.
As Aronson revealed, students are negatively impacted by the role culture plays in the development of self. As Berger provided through his in depth analysis of curiosity, we can see that while our world is very different from the one Greenblat describes, the pressures of self-fashioning remain.
While this writing exist on their own, they compliment each other beautifully. A.O. Scott opens his book, Better Living Through Criticism, by discussing the nature of beauty. Scott introduces the idea of subjective universality, or the belief of subjective beauty, but quickly dismisses this belief. In Warren Berger’s book, A More Beautiful Question, Berger discusses the idea that our preferences are impacted by our past experiences. This, combined with Scott’s rejection of subjective universality leads the reader to the first of three overarching themes of the combined readings: beauty is subjective.
Along with his point on preferences, Berger argues that whatever our culture places emphasis on has a major impact on our culture. As well, Berger discusses the conundrum of curiosity in the modern day, and asserts that society does not teach curiosity, but expects it. This leads the reader to the second of the themes: we must take it upon ourselves to foster curiosity.
Berger’s argument about cultural influence on personality connects seamlessly to Stephan Greenblat’s argument for self-fashioning, or the belief that personalities are influenced by those close to you and societal pressures. In conjunction, these points lead the reader to the third and final theme: personalities are heavily impacted by both cultural pressures and those close to us.
Along with his point on preferences, Berger argues that whatever our culture places emphasis on has a major impact on our culture. As well, Berger discusses the conundrum of curiosity in the modern day, and asserts that society does not teach curiosity, but expects it. This leads the reader to the second of the themes: we must take it upon ourselves to foster curiosity.
Berger’s argument about cultural influence on personality connects seamlessly to Stephan Greenblat’s argument for self-fashioning, or the belief that personalities are influenced by those close to you and societal pressures. In conjunction, these points lead the reader to the third and final theme: personalities are heavily impacted by both cultural pressures and those close to us.
Complement with further reading of Stephen Greenblat’s Renaissance Self-Fashioning, A.O. Scott’s Better Living Through Criticism, and Warren Berger’s A More Beautiful Question