Thursday, September 3, 2015

Poetry can tell stories

As I was reading book II, there was a phrase that really stuck out to me. It is on line 86 when Nestor had just finished his speech to the elders, and it goes as follows: "They swarmed like bees that sally from some hollow cave and flit in countless throng among the spring flowers bunched in knots and clusters;"
That is a very poetic form of decorum, which reminded me that stories can be told in poetry. The fact that they went into so much detail for each individual character, as Kekoa brought up, I think just goes to show the poetic nature of his writing.


I liked Minerva's persuasion was based on if you leave, those who died will have died in vain, as was brought up by Kevin. I think too many times as we devote our lives to certain things we feel an obligation to continue. That lays a perfect kairos if you are trying to convince someone to keep doing what they are doing, it's almost like an addiction. This story really depicts the art of 'guilt tripping' you could say, which it turned out for the better of course.

But just as Eli said, we tend to follow those same patterns today, which I completely agree with. The art of persuasion has been and is a very valuable skill to have.
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6 comments:

  1. Kevin DormanSeptember 3, 2015 at 2:35 PM

    Your mentioning of decorum and how using poetry or vivid descriptions can move an audience to action reminds me of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. I think one of the reasons his talks appeal to so many people is not just the doctrines they contain but also by how they are presented.

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  2. UnknownSeptember 3, 2015 at 3:00 PM

    It's amazing to me how a story that holds so much tragedy can still be told with such grace through poetry. Homer definitely knew how to paint a perfect scene with his poetic language.

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  3. UnknownSeptember 3, 2015 at 11:32 PM

    I think a technique that Homer himself uses is building up each character with lofty descriptions, automatically making the listeners think more highly of the person described. It creates a burden for them to respond accordingly, to live up to their "manly" image. Our own self-image can be a stumbling-block against certain forms of persuasion.

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  4. UnknownOctober 12, 2015 at 4:08 PM

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  5. UnknownOctober 12, 2015 at 4:08 PM

    I agree that just one sentence can have a great impact on someone. The ability to express your point of view clearly and persuasively is a skill that many lack. However, I believe that if one has this skill, they have endless possibilities in his or her life.

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  6. UnknownOctober 12, 2015 at 4:08 PM

    I agree that just one sentence can have a great impact on someone. The ability to express your point of view clearly and persuasively is a skill that many lack. However, I believe that if one has this skill, they have endless possibilities in his or her life.

    ReplyDelete

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