I really like how localized Zac keeps his sign inventory. Reading Dr. Davidson's comments in our email this week, I realized that I often miss all of the little things in class because I am trying to think globally. I challenged myself with Zac's poem to look at the small things. After I finished, I looked at Zac's and realized all of the smaller, local signs I missed. It really is a new way to read poetry because I think the common mythology of poetry is that the reader must look for deep meaning. Without the small signs, the process can not begin. It's too overwhelming. The smaller the sign, the richer it seems for interpretation. I think the way he categorizes the way that the poem describes earth is so pointed, but it calls attention to a really notable moment in the poem. Thanks Zac for that close read and inventory.
Yes, definitely. As Hugo says, "Think small. If you can't try philosophy of social criticism." Same goes for literary criticism, I believe. Great criticism begins small--a small paradox, an unlikely metaphor, a strange characterological representation.
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