Daimaly Gines
10/25/12
FD #3
Expos, Section
Imagination: A Human’s Special Sense
Human beings have the ability to create their own individual worlds through imagination. However, the imagination is limited because of the constant use of technology and the reliance on vision. The technological culture has separated humans from the actual world and their senses; much like vision has done. In the essay “The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses”, Juhani Pallasmaa focuses on the exploration of the senses and how they interact with one another. We also see his discussion on how vision can affect the human experience. The more visually capable we are, the more we begin to lose our sense of imagination. Similarly in the essay
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We see that our imagination comes into play when our vision is obscured. Without the sense of vision, our other senses quickly assume richness and power. This occurs to blind people such as Hull, who at the age of forty-eight became completely blind. Sacks states that Hull “speaks of how the sound of the rain, never before accorded much attention, can now delineate a whole landscape for him…it throws a coloured blanket over previously invisible things” (304). In other words, we see that Sacks is showing us how strong Hull’s imagination was after becoming blind. Just because Hull became blind, it did not mean that Hull’s life was over. On the other hand, it was a new beginning for Hull. He was able to make use of his other senses and see how important they are. With Hull’s imagination also came a sense of intimacy with his surroundings. He felt as though with his strong visual imagery, he had a strong sense of closeness, which evolves from imagining. The term ‘delineate’ has a significant meaning in Sack’s text because imagination is what led Hull to be able to portray the images precisely in his mind. Similarly, Pallasmaa states, “anyone who has half-woken up to the sound of a train or an ambulance in a nocturnal city, and though his/her sleep experienced the space of the city with its countless inhabitants scattered within its structures, knows the
Childhood innocence and imagination are powerful elements and can shape a child’s life. Although, to fully experience life, one must grow out of childhood imagination and mature into adulthood. The narrator of “Zolaria” starts her tale as a young, wide-eyed girl and ends still naïve but as an adult. However, the narrator tries unsuccessfully to be part of the real world by ditching her friend Hanna-at a time Hanna needed her most- and making new friends with the popular kids.
The novel “Tangerine”, written by Edward Bloor, is a realistic-fiction novel that focuses on the motif of sight, and how what’s on the surface isn’t the same as what’s beneath. The motif of sight plays the part of showing that just because someone has glasses doesn’t mean that they can’t see, but they can sometimes see better than other people. Through the motif of sight, Paul, the main character, has a growing understanding of his friends, his family, and himself.
The realistic fiction novel, “Tangerine”, featured a boy named Paul that had always seen the world from a pair of glasses. Paul moved to Tangerine, Florida and faced many unusual things. The story introduced motif which is a repeated element throughout a story. Tangerine repeated the motif of sight which played a huge role in the story altering how people lived their lives. Through the motif of sight, paul, the main character in the novel, has a growing understanding of his friends, family and himself.
In this article Senses and Sensibility in Byzantium by Liz James will side step the squabble between art history and visual culture. It will explain what happen with art history and visual culture. Furthermore, it will explain how these both interact with other senses. The authors explain how the five senses of the human are involved in Art. Byzantine art tends to be considered in almost exclusively visual terms. However, Byzantine writings about works of art appeal to all the senses and aim to involve the listener (who may also be looking at the object described) in an emotional engagement with the image and with the scene it depicts.
It is easy to judge individuals based on our crooked misconceptions. Sight is a useless physiological sense if one is unable to view/perceive things on a deep, meaningful level. Due to this, individuals tend to allow other relationships to trigger personal insecurities within. One must be capable to share a vision with others to achieve enlightenment and self-awareness. In “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver, the author utilizes various rhetorical devices to convey the importance of perception and sight.
In the excerpt of the book "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr, the author uses the literary element of imagery in order to strengthen the main idea that blind people view the world in a different and unique way. This view is one that people with sight cannot understand nor picture. Doerr implements this element when describing how a blind person views the world. When describing how they view color and objects it sets an image in the readers mind to give them the ability to relate and to better understand the blind character. By understanding a sliver of how a blind person views the world the readers form a vision of their own. The Author uses imagery when describing how the character identifies certain objects and distinguishes one object from another.
Although most contemporary humanity has established self confidence, they often confront their feelings as they deal with the reality of the unknown. As author Raymond presents his story “Cathedral 1981”, he allows the reader to comprehend the transformation of the narrator as he initiates the story with prejudice toward the blind man, confronts the irony of a visual, and advances his faith into the unseen.
We often perceive sight as our immediate and best tool for understanding the world around us, when in fact, it is not. There are other methods of understanding that go beyond our senses, methods that most people are unable to comprehend. In his short story “Cathedral”, Raymond Carver uses point of view to suggest that there are ways to perceive and understand something beyond just seeing it. In fact, Carver suggests not only that sight is only the most basic level of understanding, but also that true understanding comes from a feeling that is not one of any our five senses.
Sacks describes the shared experience of lack of proper visual perception between Virgil and Dr. P. in very different ways due to the very varied responses to the effects of their visual impairment. Virgil’s regaining his blindness is an “escape” because his visual experiences had massively negative effects, Dr. P.’s blindness was “tragic” due to his inability to properly perceive the world around him. There is a stark difference between the two lives of these people and in this essay, I will explain this and draw the proper
This theme is important because people go their entire lives looking but not really seeing. In the beginning of the story, the blind man asks to see the wife’s face, “(blind peoples) sense of touch is no keener than the average person 's, but the more frequent use of touch enables them to more quickly and efficiently analyze the things they touch” (Bowles).
The act of looking corresponds to physical vision, but in Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral”, the act of seeing involves a much deeper level of engagement. The narrator is fully capable of looking. He looks at his house and wife, and he looks at Robert. The narrator is not blind and therefore assumes that he is superior to Robert. Robert’s blindness, the narrator believes, makes him unable to have any kind of normal life. The narrator is certain that the ability to see is everything and puts no effort into seeing anything beyond the surface.
Carver is well known for his short stories and poetries. Among his works, “Cathedral” is considered one of the best, favorite, and most optimistic and the most developed. Carver’s story revolves around the theme of seeing and looking. Most people believed they could not live without cathedrals which brought them closer to their God. Similarly, people place so much importance to the physical eyesight and tend to think they can hardly live without it. Robert, a blind man, is invited to the narrator’s home and the narrator is shown troubled by Roberts’s disability. Later on, the narrator is amazed to see the blind smoking despite having even thought of helping him with his drink earlier on (Carver 516- 524). The latter brought to attention that as much as natural looking is essential, more essential is the ability to see or to visualize things. The writer explains that it might be tougher to be without eyesight; however, it is possible to live without it and make the best of what else one has, more so the brain. Visualizing brings out a better view of the significance of life and things surrounding us.
In conclusion, Pallasmaa discusses the importance of these senses in the design process. He talks of the distance created
Life consists of constant cycles of spontaneous outbursts of joy and unexpected disappointments; there is an upside to this repetitive tug of war. On this rock we call home, we are surrounded by the most gorgeous creations, structures, and landscapes that add a touch of serenity to our miserable existences called aesthetics. Aesthetics as an adjective is defined as concern with beauty of the appreciation of beauty. As a noun it means a set of principles underlying and guiding the work of a particular artist or artistic movement. The surrounding beauty that we take for continuous granted is significant towards our existence. In everyday interaction, we straddle the line between aesthetic judgement, where we appreciate any object, instead
The sixth sense is demonstrated in all the progression and inventions of human civilizations. Sometimes, the inventions springs suddenly but after a long trials and sufferings; so that the inventor attains his goal at once as if a sudden inspiration had illuminated his researches. The poets called this inspiration an intuition and the sophists regarded it a heavenly discovery and unidentified suggestion. Laurent, a French philosopher said that "the inventor is an intuitive poet” and Claude Bernard had also revealed this special sense and this intuitive discovery in the creative scientific achievements. The characteristics of memories and thoughts serve as a stimulus for the cognitive sense organ which helped humans to exploit their abilities throughout ages. To invent tools and to develop the use of language in order to ease their life and to cope with the variable circumstances. (Disney, 1954, p.327-329)