Author: Chris Coyne

The end of this academic term is coming quickly upon us. Yes, we will be doing a final self-reflective essay to end this class, but I believe that this blog has presented me with a unique opportunity to discuss where my writing has come this semester in context of intertextuality. This blog also gives us a medium that is more free than a formal academic paper. Continue reading “Self-Reflective Blog Post”

I just just finished reading a post by “kk29” (whom i assume is Kate Keller after looking at the class roster, however my assumptions constantly fail me) discussing pine trees in nature. I’ve had this same feeling countless times when setting literary works apposite each other. “No way,” I tell myself, “could the author have done this on purpose. The works are too far apart, the odds this author avidly read that author just seem too slim.” And then I step back and look at the common imagery or theme. “But its just too close to be a coincidence.”

Continue reading “More Than a Coincidence”

Whenever I tell people that I’ve declared as an English major, the most common response is “oh, so you must be like… deep then, huh?” Most of the time to avoid a long conversation and to remain polite I simply respond with “Yep, I’m pretty deep.” I normally don’t tell people the real reasons that I’m an English major. These reasons don’t exactly make sense to a lot of people.

The real reason I’m majoring in English goes beyond that I plan on attending law school after my four years at Geneseo. It goes beyond the fact that I simply like reading. The reason lies in the points made in Joe Moran’s Interdisciplinarity. That is that English has a method just as science and math do. In the same way, there is a certain aspect of art in math and science.The biggest similarity and the thing that brings these disciplines together is the way they evolve. The disciplines evolve by building upon work done in the past. Authors of verse or prose are often worried about originality. In math and science, building upon the work of those in the past is encouraged. I’d argue that language and literature evolves in the same way.

There is a correct way to write and express thoughts. There are methods to writing prose and verse. These methods are products of people who have paved the way in the English discipline. Ralph Waldo Emerson (in my opinion, one of the trail blazers) said “All my best thoughts were stolen from the ancients.” Originality is often something that people in the English discipline search for, when in reality it’s somewhat unnatural. Moran wouldn’t be able to make an argument about the connection of the disciplines if English hadn’t built itself up just as science has. Original ideas are revered, but are there any truly original ideas? The English discipline is where it is today because of the building upon of ideas of the greats before us. This is the way the disciplines are intertwined.

I don’t want to be an English major because I’m deep. I want to be one because I think there is a science to expressing myself, and that science lies in the evolution of the discipline.

Did Cane really address Euripides’ The Bacchae? Did Toomer have the text in front of his as he wrote? Were the connections between texts intentional, or did Toomer make these connections subconsciously? Are these connections we see even real, or is that our inherent need to make sense of things showing through?

It seems that it is part of the human condition to try to get inside the head of any given author. When I read something I find myself desperate to understand what the author was thinking when he chose the words that he did. On some level I believe that it will enrich my reading experience. I hold that authors want us to ask these questions about their work. The thing that will give us a better reading experience is finding connections that maybe the author didn’t even have in mind when he/she was writing.

This is where the idea of intertextuality meets interdisciplinarity. Before readers can begin to look across disciplines they need to make connections between texts. Finding these connections between not only different texts but across texts that existed in a different time period (like Cane and The Bacchae)is the start to understanding interdisciplinarity.

Toomer wants us to look at his texts and ask what the meaning is. He wants us to want to get inside his head. Trying to understand connections and immerse oneself in a text is the key to enriching the reading experience.

English has long been my favorite discipline. Sure, I love to write and I’m proud of my ability to express myself through written words, but that’s not why i fell in love with this discipline. I fell for the questions that made me think. I lived for the answers to those questions that made me think of other questions. I lived for those “AHA” moments where things in a work of literature suddenly take on an entirely new meaning. Continue reading “Meaningful Questions”

Artists and writers, for centuries, have discussed the benefits and consequences of man existing within the natural world. Many argue that there is a clear divide. Man is destroying nature. They are two forces that can not and should not coexist. Other artists assert that man belongs in the natural world. They argue that the line between man an nature is blurred, or nonexistent. The discussion of mans’ place in nature is one that has produced beautiful literary works, as well as sparked fierce debates. Continue reading “Destruction and Harmony; Man in Nature”