Gabriella Gizzo - Life is a Journey

Gabriella Gizzo                                                                                               10/14/12

Understanding Literature                                                                               Event Analysis

Life is a Journey

In society, we are constantly trying to improve ourselves by making choice that will positively affect our life.    These stories will depict my theory perfectly.  In my meditation class, last week I learned from the Zen master, Dr. Davis, that there needs to be a balance in our daily lives.  The benefits of meditation come not just from the good things, but also from the days we struggle with it because that makes us stronger.  All of the events in our lives impact us, whether good or bad and bring us one step closer to inner salvation.  

            In the first half of Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, I got a perspective look in the life of Victor.  In the beginning of Victor’s life, his childhood was good because his parents loved him, but he didn’t socialize with any other children.  Victor instead, chooses to focus on reading and studying at home.  This foreshadows how he will turn out as an adult.  Later on in his life, Victor is constantly studying all these philosophical principles and areas of science.  His family worried about him because they didn’t believe it was productive and beneficial to him.  This is where the title is shown because he becomes obsessed with science since he views science as his inner salvation.  Every day, Victor lives out the scientific principles by doing tests and experiments.  The idea of creating something human with inhuman (animal) qualities consumed him.  Victor did succeed in creating this creature which would lead to the death of his brother.  However, science which was once his inner salvation betrayed him because of the death of his brother.   

         In the “Formula”, by Langston Hughes, I got look into the perspective of a relationship between the beauty and art of poetry with the reader.  I think the title was interesting because a formula is a document written with instructions on how to do something.  The author used the title to explain the main idea of having a relationship with poetry and how to have one with poetry.  Poetry is everywhere and usually people try to avoid it, but rather we should embrace it because it contains good educational readings.  I believe of the best parts of poetry is that the poems have themes that impact all of us on a very personal level.  You can really connect to them.  

In the “Old Walt”, by Langston Hughes I also got a perspective on the personal relationship between the speaker and the reader.  The speaker explained to the reader that he was constantly looking for something because he wanted to know what his purpose was in life.  He was always trying to attain that goal of finding his purpose.  Furthermore, he continues to explain that we are all on a journey so therefore we aren’t just searching for one aspect of our lives and stopping.  We are continually searching for many different things in our lives and this continual search leads to us attainting one step closer to inner salvation. 

            My meditation class last week was shorted because an FE100 class was required to take the class.  There wouldn’t be enough room for all of us, so Dr. Davis asked us if we could come later.  Even though, I did arrive later I still got to do the sitting meditation for 20 minutes.  I noticed how my positioning was getting stronger, but how my focusing with my eyes was a constant struggle.  Dr. Davis explained to the class that meditation and enlightenment doesn’t come in that one quick perfect movement when everything is done perfectly.  Meditation rather, is a constant practice and struggle because each week we are trying to re center ourselves and take the time to connect within.  Dr. Davis further explained that struggling and stress in moderation can be a good thing because that adrenaline will motivate you to keep working on the form of meditation.  Therefore, people do need balance in their lives because not everything is good and not everything is bad.  As a society, instead of trying to only do good things we should healthfully struggle with the bad or challenging things so we grow as people. In order to find our inner salvation, we must work our lives because our live is a constant journey. 

            In conclusion, I enjoyed this week’s readings and message a lot because I found it interesting how I went to the meditation class first then read the stories.  It amazed me how I learned that lesson in message and then applied it to my readings because it fit both of them so perfectly.