...The Loss of the Creature by Walker Percy Dear Trinity, Congratulations on being admitted to Peace College! I am glad that you have made your decision to come here, in the fall of 2006. Peace College has numerous great opportunities to offer its students. You also told me that you are enrolled in English Composition 101 with Professor Dave Worster. One of the pieces of literature you will encounter in this class will be "The Loss of the Creature", by Walker Percy. For your preparation to the class I can summarize and give you my explanation of "The Loss of the Creature". Throughout the essay Percy tries to get across how any person with expectations or "packages" will not be able to fully accept and learn from any experience. "The Loss of the Creature" starts off with the definition of beautiful, which is a key point throughout his essay. Next, he moves in to his example of a family of tourists, and their experience (through his eyes) at the Grand Canyon. He describes his theory of the sightseer, and the discoverer; "Does a single sightseer, receive the value of P, or only a millionth part of value P" (pg 1) Value P, being the experience, and the beauty in which that person collected. Following the sightseers was a couple who stumbled upon an undisturbed Mexican Village. The couple thoroughly enjoyed their first experience, but could not wait to return with their friend the ethnologist. When they did return with him, they were so caught up in what his reaction would be; there...
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...Charles Kuehnle English 1010 August 28 Having just finished reading “The Loss of the Creature” by Walker Percy I felt the need to write down my thoughts. The first section of the piece talks about the Grand Canyon. The article starts with the discovery of the Grand Canyon by Garcia Lopez de Cardenas, and how by “being first, he has access to it and can see it for what it is.” (pg 459) Then Percy tells us of a man from Boston who goes to a traveling agency and books a trip to the Grand Canyon with his family. The family goes on a tour and the man says “Why it is every bit as beautiful as a picture postcard!” (pg 460), and Percy continues to say that the man does not feel cheated and that some might be able to say that he’s been to the Grand Canyon, but this made me question “He saw the Grand Canyon, but did he experience it?” This question is later answered by Percy as no that because of mass media such as travelers’ brochures, pictures, and stories, the man had already formed an expected image of the Grand Canyon in his mind, and because of his expected image he wouldn’t be able to experience the true natural beauty of the canyon, and that he might even feel bad about not being there at the right time for the right image. Later on in the piece it moves from the Grand Canyon to a discussion about the layman and a loss of sovereignty. By “loss of sovereignty” (pg 465) I believe that Percy is talking about the layman giving his sovereignty or chance to truly observe...
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...In his work “The Loss of the Creature”, Walker Percy asserts that learning is a direct confrontation of the unknown, a process of struggle for finding individuality. He contends that unique experience of the learner should be stumbled upon, rather than learning via the formal environments of laboratories and classrooms. Percy supports his claims by comparing the adventures of explorers to the excursions of the sightseers at the Grand Canyon, insisting that unprecedented discovery of the unknown generates better education outcomes than acquiring knowledge with existing expectations, as the “preformed symbolic complex” (47) inhibits learners from learning with an open mind. Advocating learning through authentic experiences, such as physical encounter...
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...““It” then becomes a learning experience”: Creating a Genuine Experience in Walker Percy’s “The loss of the creature” In Walker Percy’s “The loss of the creature”, he creates an argument stating that having prepackaged ideas about something can create a symbolic complex in an individual’s mind, causing them to lose the true essence behind it. Percy states that understanding can be reached through the true experience. People can only have a true experience if they can get rid of all the social biases and prejudices. Percy believes this to be true when he states, "the present is surrendered to the past and the future." (299) Thus, if one "surrenders" his experience, he loses what Percy labels as "it." In order to explain these examples, Percy...
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...Is "The Loss of the Creature" a Loss of Ourselves? We have all been tourists at some point, be it exploring a town landmark you've drove by thousands of times or a new country. We can even visit new places without leaving our home through Google Earth, and Netflix. Even our social media sites are inundated with tales of our friends regaling their exotic vacations, and news reports from far away countries. However, in the essay, The Loss of the Creature, Walker Percy wonders if this new found technology creates preformed ideas of a certain locale, and get in the way of experiencing the true essence of the location. To an extent, Percy is correct, however, there are aspects where these "preformed ideas" are a bit helpful. The title of the essay,...
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...In his article “The Loss of The Creature,” Walker Percy presents the case that human or “creature’s” experiences are most often trivial because of our preconceived notions. Percy believes we can only truly enjoy these experiences if we leave the “beaten track.” Only then can we see the true beauty of the experience. Percy gives three examples to prove his point. His first example describes a tourist’s plans to go see the Grand Canyon. Oftentimes, tourists have preconceived expectations about the wonder, and feel that they are let down with a dreary sight rather than the miraculous wonder they have fantasized. The second example Percy uses is of a couple who, while wandering through Mexico looking for an “unspoiled” place (a place which has not been tainted by modernism), get lost. They stumble upon an Indian village and live with the locals for a little while. After returning home, they tell their friends that they had an experience better than they expected. The third example Percy uses is that of a biology teacher who gave his students a dogfish to dissect. The students look at the dogfish as another specimen to be dissected for a grade instead of trying to learn about it as a piece of unexplored creation. In his article “The Loss of The Creature,” Walker Percy attempts to show how in our experiences we do not really see what we think we see. I believe he was correct in. However, I did not always believe this. When I first read “The Loss of The Creature,” it did not make...
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...have looked upon those brilliant creatures/ and now my heart is sore”. Discuss ways in which Yeats presents loss in ‘The Wild Swans at Coole’. ‘The Wild Swans at Coole, written by W.B.Yeats in 1919, can be noted to be symbolic of a significant point in his life, and therefore can be deemed a turning point, as made reflective in his poetry. Yeats himself was unhappy in nearly every aspect of his life at the time of writing, having faced continuous rejection from long-term focus point of his affection, Maud Gonne, undergoing his autumn years quickly descending upon him through natural ageing and witnessing his beloved birth place of Ireland socially and politically disintegrate around him. An on-going theme throughout his poem, unsurprisingly, is one of a longing, and seeking nature, which is implied continuously through the concept of ‘loss’, in both subtle and loud manners. The opening stanza is that of a landscape, which is beautiful, as a result of being unharmed by anything but nature, and therefore lacking activity which can be related to human actions or emotions- “the trees are in their autumn beauty/the water mirrors a still sky”- natures maintains a perfect aesthetic, which is happy in its eternal state. A sense of jealousy, personal to Yeats, can be pulled from this; the status of being denied the chance to possess this ‘eternal happiness’ is relative to Yeats, having proposed and endured rejection twice by Gonne. A sense of loss is evident here, regarding the hope...
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...Depression can be caused by traumatic or stressful events, such as the death or loss of a loved one (Depression). Victor lost almost everyone he cared about and he believes that he was to blame for their deaths. The creature was the one who killed William, but because Victor would not come clean about the “filthy demon” he created, Justine was wrongly accused and put to death for the murder (Shelly 53). This could be the starting point of Victors depression because this is the first time that the creature killed someone to Victors knowledge, jumpstarting his feelings of guilt. Elizabeth and Henry were also murdered by the creature, which Victor blames himself for because he created the monster. The secret Victor kept proved to be a burden, he knew that there was a monster that he created killing people but chose to keep quiet about it. He went through an internal struggle of whether or not to reveal his secret because coming out with the truth could have saved the lives of his loved ones. One of the prominent symptoms of depression is the loss of interest in daily activities (Depression). Towards the end of the novel Victor's father and Elizabeth both question Victor about his general unhappiness and why he is no longer acting like himself. Victor plays it off and Victor's father...
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...telling you this? It’s because they are slowly disappearing due to habitat loss. The tundra and Polar Ice caps are melting due to global warming, the ocean to oil spills, the Forest for space, paper and forest fires. Why am I telling you about this? You don’t care about this, do you? That’s why nothing has changed. The Tundra as well as the Polar Ice caps home to Polar Bears, Penguins, Snow Fox and Snow Rabbits.Slowly melting due to global warming about 112 billion pounds were added to the ice sheet in the 90’s it has decreased to 82 billion in the 2000’s, this leads to sea levels rising which also affects us it affect places below sea level such as the New Orleans, Bangkok and a third of the Netherlands and the loss of habitat. The bright surface of the ice acts as a reflector for the sun keeping the planet cool .It doesn’t only affect the...
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...chemistry and anatomy and seeked to build a creature out of old body parts. He started working and ended the project with his ultimate goal: a self-made creature. This, however, seemed to be Victor’s most significant mistake of his life, as the action led to untimely consequences. From the time of his creation to the death of him, the monster made sure to draw attention in an effort to gain power. He also frees himself...
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...HUMN 303 Week 7 Assignment Sheri A. Green DeVry University Professor Gessford August 23, 2014 Frankenstein, a novel first published in the year 1818, stands as the most talked about work of Mary Shelley’s literary career. She was just nineteen years old when she penned this novel, and throughout her lifetime she could not produce any other work that surpasses this novel in terms of creativity and vision. In this novel, Shelley found an outlet for her own intense sense of victimization, and her desperate struggle for love. Traumatized by her failed childbirth incidents, troubled childhood, and scandalous courtship, many of Shelley’s life experiences can be seen reflected in the novel. When discussing the character and development of the monster, Shelley launches an extensive discussion on the need for a proper environment and education for a child’s moral development. When we explore the novel in depth, we can see that it exudes the true horror of childbirth felt by Shelley, and articulates the fears and anxieties she had regarding her reproductive and nurturing capabilities. Shelley’s life was marked by a series of pregnancies, miscarriages, childbirths, and deaths. Her firsthand experience of a bereavement started early in her life, when her mother died when she was eleven days old, because of a puerperal fever contacted because of childbirth. This marked her first encounter with pregnancy and related complications, but unfortunately, it was not the last...
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...Throughout this passage, Frankenstein feels as though he has been separated from his fellow man due to his actions, this is revealed through Shelley's use of figurative language, most notably, the use of light and dark imagery. “They were my brethren, my fellow beings, and I felt attracted even to the most repulsive among them, as to creatures of an angelic nature and celestial mechanism.” Frankenstein’s desperation to be close to humanity is evidenced when he craves to be near ever the “most repulsive” men because men are “creatures of an angelic nature and celestial mechanism”; light and dark imagery make this comparison possible. “But I felt that I had no right to share their intercourse. I had unchained an enemy among them whose joy it was to shed their blood and to revel in their groans.” Light and dark imagery present in the line “joy it was to shed their blood and to revel in their groans.”, as joy and putrid bloodshed greatly contrast. This light and dark imagery is used to explain that the reason Frankenstein feels he is separated from his fellow man is due to the man-hunting monster he has created. “How they would, each and all, abhor me and hunt me from the world did they know my unhallowed acts and the crimes which had their source in me!” Frankenstein further laments his actions through the use of dark...
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...Frankenstein is the creator of the creature. Victor becomes obsessed with the idea of creating the human form and bringing it to life. Immediately after creating the creature, he is terrified because he doesn't truly understand what he has created. He returns home to his family, only to find tragedy there. Victor is not fully aware of the consequences of his actions and in a turn of events he spends his entire life trying to destroy the the one thing he spent his entire life creating. Much like a mother figure Victor Frankenstein brings a creature into the world but unlike most mothers Victor...
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...with Hospitalized Children For many children, hospitalization is traumatic. This may be due to “the feeling of not be in control of anything, the overwhelming size of equipment, unexplained comfort, and pain” (Siegel, Iida, Rachlin, & Yount, 2015, Background para. 3). Consequently, childhood trauma can result in depersonalization, disorientation, and loss of identity (Siegel et al., 2015). For this reason, the Institute for Health and Healing at California Pacific Medical Center implemented an expressive arts therapy program, termed Healing Sock Creatures, for hospitalized children. This therapy integrates psychotherapy with multi-arts in an attempt to reduce a child’s stress during their time in the hospital (Siegel et al., 2015). Results have shown that Healing Sock Creatures ultimately help to transform a child’s trauma of hospitalization into a corrective emotional experience (Siegel et al., 2015). Application to Nursing Practice In this study, Healing Sock Creatures created a safe, confidential, and caring environment, which allowed healing to occur on many levels (Siegel et al., 2015). Furthermore, these creatures proved to be a source of stress-relief and comfort for children (Siegel et al., 2015). As a nurse, this would be extremely beneficial. You would have the opportunity to get to know your patients better by them showing and explaining their unique companion, a mirror of their own feelings and experiences. As a result, you would be able to learn about a child’s...
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...First the denial phase, where the person cannot believe that something like that will happen to them. Next is the anger phase, where our body and mind still is not ready to process the loss, and reacts with anger at just about anything, including the lost loved one. Then there’s the bargaining phase, which includes things like, “if only I had been there.” Then there is the depression phase, and the acceptance phase. But in situations that mainly involve murder, the person going through these five stages of grief will not make it out of the anger phase without feeling a need to enact revenge. But this is dangerous. It fuels anger. It clouds vision. By now, morals go down the drain, and the mind believes that revenge is what is going to get them out of their depression and grief. But it does not allow them to escape the grief. It just causes a whole new cycle of...
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