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Me every single morning. About 10 times.
So of course by the time third block comes around this is me:
Now, I fight it. I fight it so hard that I don't think my teachers know when I'm asleep half the time because I'm taking notes in my sleep, I'm answering questions, my head is upright. But even though it only takes me one second to wake up it takes me half that time to fall asleep again once the note's been jotted, once the question's answered, once my head's been lifted. I fight, but to no avail.
But there's one thing that does manage to wake me up.
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Me Gusta
Food always wakes me up. Food makes me happy happy alert. Food wakes me up at research, it wakes me up in Linear Algebra, and if I tried bringing candy one day, it'd probably wake me up in independent study.
So what does this have to do with literature?
Culture can fall asleep. Sometimes it fights, sometimes it doesn't. And guess what feeds it when it needs a bit of a stimulus? Literature.
Culture can fall asleep. Sometimes it fights, sometimes it doesn't. And guess what feeds it when it needs a bit of a stimulus? Literature.
Books all across history have been responsible for waking up culture; for shocking it into action. Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin shocked the Union; it was responsible for a significant increase in antislavery sentiment in the North. Thomas Paine's Common Sense made people think differently; it changed a culture from one of British loyalty to one of American independence; a few years later, his The American Crisis helped keep this feeling alive and gave further fuel to the revolution.
What does this all mean? It means that literature is a culture's food. Literature sustains a culture; it keeps it from starving itself into eternal sleep of stagnancy cultural death. Literature is vital to a culture's change; without it, progress stops and civilization withers.
I really enjoyed how you connected our need to for food to our need for great literature. Literature is indeed the driving force behind our society and it can provide insight to situations we can't always understand. I completely agree with your statement "without it, progress stops and civilization withers." you analysis of food and literature was both really fun to read and super relatable.
ReplyDelete-Areej
Thanks!
DeleteI love the comparison between food and literature there. And now you have an excuse for sleeping and eating in class- it's "literary research."
ReplyDeleteBut in terms of literature, do you think there's any "food" that's modern? I noticed that all your titles are pretty old. The Jungle would be slightly more recent "food" that actually dealt with food and riled up a lot of Americans. What do you think the most culturally galvanizing literature is today?
Yes, I can just tell Mr. Knapp that I'm doing my English homework.
DeleteWell, I'm not exactly literally smarticle, but I will try. Jungle is likely a good example; also, is Cry the Beloved Country somewhat newer? The newest thing I can think of that would work is 1984; but that was the late fourties so I"m sure that there are more recent examples.
For subcultures, if you want something really recent Crazy Love by Francis Chan or Radical by David Platt are some very recent books that have "nutritionized" some Christian circles.
I have to say, when I first started reading this post, I didn't know where you were going with it! But I have to agree on the staying up late part- I can especially relate to the snooze button. I also loved your reference to Uncle Tom's Cabin! It's probably one of the best historical references to a book with a culture shock that you could have included :)
ReplyDeleteI must say I had no idea where you were going with this at first (although I thoroughly understood the staying up late for homework thing, as well as the snooze) but I must say I love your connection to the way food is like literature in that sense that it wakes everyone up. I would have, however, found this story better supported had you connected it to a reading and used quotes from the reading.
ReplyDelete--Izzy
I suppose that one of the books that we read could have been meant as a bit of a culture shock (especially after today's lesson on theme); I could have used one to explain with text how a book can try to "wake up" society. I was focused more on ones that I knew from history class that have had a huge impact on culture and not on hypothetical could haves, but I'll keep in mind in-text support and try to work it in for my next analogy.
DeleteThis is an interesting point.
ReplyDeleteBut does literature feed a culture from the outside? After all, the sentiments in Common Sense were already present among the populace. Do you think that a good writer in the write place acts as a catalyst, or as an outside force?
(Perhaps it's like making food for yourself? I'm not terribly good at metaphors, haha.)
All analogies break down at some point. This could be a breaking point. But I think that Common Sense was more then simply an increase in a sentiment many people felt weakly, I think that it went from a radical small minority to a significant proportion of the population largely thanks to Common Sense. Thus, you could say that literature can be a minority subculture feeding the rest of the culture at large?
DeleteHowever, to a certain extent Common Sense, and most other books I know of such as Uncle Tom's cabin, have work as a catalyst spreading views that some group within a culture already had. In this sense, the best way to try to hold the analogy together would be to get super nerdy and refer to the 2 ATP input needed for glycolysis and also the need of molecules such as ADP and NAD+, enzymes, "starting" chemicals in cycles like Oxyloacetate, etc. to use the food (implying that there was some food present, more was just needed).
When you have to try that hard to preserve an analogy though its probably just failed at that point; at least it's hit the yield stress and can't quite return to its original form.
First of all, a question for you:
ReplyDeleteHow late Do you go to bed?
Because I can say with 90% certainty that I go to bed later than you and I can stay awake in class (most of the time [when it's important (Like when we learn new stuff)]) without food.
Anyways, I enjoyed how you used food as a stimulus for lack of sleep (something we can all relate to) in order to better illustrate your point of literature feeding culture. However, why does culture 'fall asleep' without 'food?' Is there a reason for that like how there is a reason for you falling asleep in class? Or is it unavoidable for culture to fall asleep eventually without literature as the only stimulus.
I think that the reason culture 'falls asleep' is because it stops taking in other points of view and becomes too comfortable with its own stagnancy. Is there a way to change this without requiring the 'food' or the literature?
I like to sleep and I don't function with no sleep. I will not answer that question because to you I'll sound very week, but I will say that I am 99% certain that you should be 100% certain.
Delete'Food' can just help keep culture awake. There are other things to keep you up; e.g., I won't fall asleep if I am actually doing something besides sitting and listening and taking notes; there's a reason I'm sleepier in Linear than I am in Engineering. So as a short answer yes. Food can help keep things awake but other things can also wake things up.
As someone who enjoys reading a great deal, I am pleased by the comparison you made between literature and something as necessary to survival as food. Bravo
ReplyDeleteThanks!
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