Monday, November 16, 2015
(Due Tuesday, November 17, 2015)
After discussing Mark Twain's Two Views of the River, you should have a working understanding of his purpose for writing the piece, his intended audience, and the strategies he uses to convey his message/knowledge. Review your notes and think back to our class discussions. Then answer the following question: What is Mark Twain's purpose for writing this piece? Since you should already be familiar with the content of the question, the purpose of this post is for you to practice writing an A.P.-level paragraph that is WELL-FORMULATED and DEVELOPED. Your paragraph response should include at least two direct quotations, properly MLA formatted. Be prepared to share your paragraph with the class and have it critiqued.
Riley Beronja-
ReplyDeleteIn this piece, Twain's main purpose was to contrast the novelty and wonderment of a novitiate with the desensitization of an experienced professional. Twain uses poetic diction when writing in the point of view of the apprentice to show the awe that he felt as an inexperienced boat pilot. He then uses prose when writing from the pilot's point of view to show that after time, you lose the sense of wonderment you used to feel. He says, "in one place a long, slanting mark lay sparkling upon the water; in another the surface was broken by boiling, tumbling rings that were as many-tinted as opal". He uses very detailed imagery to romanticize the water and he uses a variety of colors to describe his surroundings. In the pilot's point of view, however, he merely says, "'This sun means that we are going to have wind to-morrow; that floating log means that the river is rising, small thanks to it; that slanting mark on the water refers to a bluff reef which is going to kill somebody's steamboat one of these nights'". He uses parallel diction to show how his view of each of these obstacles has changed, furthering that as you become more experienced you become more desensitized.
Mark Twain's purpose of Two views of the river is to show the wonderment and innocent views of the river, but shows the loss of passion and wonderment with a gain of understanding. Twain uses poetic diction to further his perspective of the beauty of the river. “There were graceful curve, reflecting images,woody heights, soft distances;” (Twain 160). By using the poetic diction it creates a sense of awe that is present with the sight of being an inexperienced steamboat captain. He then uses pros to portray the decentralization of the river after years of experience. “But as I have said, a day came when I began to cease from noting the glories and the charm which the moon and the sun and the twilight wrought upon the rivers face” (Twain 160). The use of parallel diction shows the change from awe to a jaded view of the river. The years as a riverboat captain stripped him from the beauty of the river which he originally saw as an amature.
ReplyDeleteIn Mark Twain's Two Views of the River, he compares the awe of this river as an innocent apprentice to the desensitization of an experienced professional. Twain begins with the use of very poetic diction really illustrating the wonderment of this river. He quickly changes his point of view to the river boat pilot and explains his loss of awe for this river. He says "But I had lost something, too. I had lost something which could never be restored to me while I lived." He uses prose while writing as the pilot to show that feelings for something changes after time. That the once beautiful and innocent river is now a dangerous and killing monster. He says "I stood like one bewitched. I drank it in, in a speechless rapture. The world was new to me, and I had never seen anything like this at home." He uses a variety of colors to describe what's around him along with imagery to drop the reader into the scene. He uses parallel diction to show how the different views of this same river are so powerful.
ReplyDeleteIn Mark Twain's Two View of the River, his main purpose was to contrast his view of the river as an apprentice, to his view as a professional. Twain uses poetic diction for the love and awe he experienced as an apprentice. He says " slanting mark lay sparkling upon the water, in another the surface was broken by boiling, tumbling rings that were as many-tinted as an opal; where the ruddy flush was faintest..." Twain uses detailed and descriptive imagery to show the beauty of the river. Then he uses prose from the point of view of an experienced river boat pilot to describe the loss of wonder and awe. Twain states "No, the romance and beauty were all gone from the river. All the value any feature of it had for me now was the amount of usefulness it could furnish toward compassing the safe piloting of a steamboat." The love Twain once had for the river has now been diminished by simply gain of knowledge. Twain makes it apparent that over time, you become desensitized after gaining knowledge of something you once loved. Twain's piece isn't just about a little boy who once romanticized a rivers beauty; Twain relates this piece to all things.
ReplyDeleteTwain’s purpose for writing this piece is to illuminate the plight of vanishing passion towards something that was once new and alluring, but eventually grew tiresome and dull. At first, the novice steamboat captain found the river upon which he worked a magical place. As the sun set, “A broad expanse of the river was turned to blood; in the middle distance the red hue brightened into gold…” The color Twain describes paints an enchanting picture. This is a picture formerly rich with color that would turn somber as a jaded steamboat captain analyzes the river once again. The expert captain saw that the “romance and beauty were all gone from the river.” What was once adoration turned to abhorrence of the river’s imperfections. The expert captain deemed the river useless, however, when the novice captain observed the river, he solely saw fruitfulness. This piece shows that often times, things are only deemed perfect when one does not understand them. Wonderment is regularly found in novelty.
ReplyDeleteIn “Two Views of the River,” Mark Twain’s purpose is to compare his perspective of the river from an inexperienced apprentice to that of a jaded and scholarly steamboat pilot. Twain begins this piece using poetic diction, describing each article of the river using an array of colors and painting with words. He illustrates a common sunset with wonder and awe, saying “I still keep in mind a certain wonderful sunset which I witnessed when steamboating was new to me. A broad expanse of the river was turned to blood; in the middle distance the red hue brightened into gold, through which a solitary log came floating black conspicuous; in one place a long, slanting mark lay sparkling upon the water…” Once becoming an educated pilot, all of the colors Twain first used to describe the sunset have now been replaced with warnings and signs of danger. “This sun means that we are going to have wind to-morrow; that floating log means that the river is rising, small thanks to it; that slanting mark on the water refers to a bluff reef which is going to kill somebody’s steamboat one of these nights, if it keeps if stretching out like that…” The change from light to dark was made in a staccato tone, free of passion and wonder. Overall, Twain’s purpose was to convey that education at the expense of wonder is no gain.
ReplyDeleteIn Mark Twain’s piece, Two Views of the River, Twain compares the childlike views of a novice to those of a jaded expert. Twain conveys how when something is new, everything seems more innocent and wonderful though as you do the task more you become desensitized to what you once saw beautiful. Throughout the piece Twain illustrates how the longer you do anything the more the novelty of the task wears off. In the beginning Twain describes the river by saying, “A broad expanse of the river was turned to blood; in the middle distance the red hue brightened into gold, through which a solitary log came floating black and conspicuous…” (Twain, 159-160). Quickly, the poetic language of the novitiate turns into the concise, matter of fact language of the expert. Twain explains, “‘This sun means that we are going to have wind to-morrow; that floating log means that the river is rising, a small thanks to it…” (Twain, 160). Though Twain describes the same view, it’s clear to see that the wonderment is lost from the expert’s view of the river.
ReplyDeleteMaria Rochow
ReplyDeleteMark Twain’s purpose in Two Views of the River is to illustrate the journey of being a novice apprentice to an experienced river boat captain, who becomes insensitive to the wonder and awe of the river that once captured him before. Twain starts out with the apprentice, new, novice, naive, and in awe of the natural world. This reverence is shown when he describes a sunset, one night, “I still keep in mind a certain wonderful sunset which I witnessed when steamboating was new to me. A broad expanse of the river was turned to blood; in the middle distance the red hue brightened into gold.” The poetic diction that Twain uses to paint the picture of the sunset, displays the innocents of the newly acquired profession. As Twain becomes a river boat captain, the sense of romance and beauty dimness; this notion is replaced with danger and a loss of passion. The perspective of the apprentice is filled with colors that describe the charm of the river, but the perspective changes as the pilot points out dangers in the path ahead. “No, the romance and beauty were all gone from the river. All the value any feature of it had for me now was the amount of usefulness it could furnish toward compassing the safe piloting of a steamboat.” As time progressed acquired knowledge made his love of the river diminish. Twain began to see and realize the complications and dangers of the river, instead of beauty and wonderment.
Alexa Belanger
ReplyDeleteIn Mark Twain's piece, "The Two Views of the River", Twain's purpose is to contrast his past and present view of the Mississippi River. He compares his past novice view to his present educated and dull view of the river. Originally, Twain starts out as a riverboat pilot who admires the beauty and innocence that the river has. "I stood like one bewitched. I drank it in, in a speechless rapture. The world was new to me, and I had never seen anything like this at home" (Twain 160). This quote portrays the awe and admiration that Twain once had for the river. After many years, as a riverboat pilot, boating abroad the Mississippi River, his view of the river changes. He is no longer excited to see the river and it no longer has that previous "awe" affect. "All of the grace, the beauty, the poetry, had gone out of the majestic river!" (Twain 159). This drastic change of opinion and view is shown through Twain's use of parallel diction. He shows the change of view from a novice, and a person of innocence, to a view of a person with experience and expertise. His many years working as a riverboat pilot took the awe and admiration out of the river that it once contained.
The main purpose of Mark Twains piece, Two Views of the River, is to show the difference between an apprentices view of the river and the how an experienced river capitan interprets its beauty. Twain uses a combination of alternating and divided patterns. Though this strategy, he effectivly differentiates between the novice and the experienced. As a passenger on the river boat, Twain witnessed the majestic river. "A broad expanse of the river was turned to blood;"(Twain 159) this memory illustrates his reflection of the stunning sunset that introduced the river to his thoughts. Through becoming a Capitan and navigating the river, his perspective changed to a new view of seeing the compications and dangers that the river holds. These obsacles can be devastating for a riverboat if not avoided. "No, the romance and beauty were all gone from the river."(Twain 161) This shows that through gaining an understanding of the potential threats underwater, the river loses its visual appeal.
ReplyDeleteMaddie Mougalian
ReplyDeleteIn "Two Views of the River" written by Mark Twain, many different possible purposes were conveyed. He compare and contrasts his views on the Mississippi both now and in the past. He shows the reader exactly how he gained a new attitude towards the river. He originally saw the greatness of the river, but soon saw the dangers it caused to his boat within the river. He starts off saying "All the grace, the beauty, the poetry, had gone out of the majestic river!" (Twain 159). Twain is expressing his love and passion for the river at this time. When his perspective changed, he states "No, the romance and beauty were all gone from the river" (Twain 161). He describes how those feelings that were once there, are now gone. Twain's change in perspective is caused by experience, education, and expertise. Twain uses both alternating and divided patterns. These strategies are what made his piece effective.
Twains' purpose of "The Views of the River" is to show how your view can change from one of amature understanings about what is going on to one where you can clearly understand what ,in this case, the river is telling you."All the grace, the beauty, the poetry, had gone out of the majestic river!" (Twain 159). "I still keep in mind a certain wonderul sunset..."
ReplyDeleteTwain's "two views of the river" is meant to show his reader's how much a professional view can change from a novices. I had made a valuable acquisition. But I had lost something, too" Pg 159 Novitiates find beauty easily, taking every detail in its new and glorious view. Professionals on the other hand can only see what challenges lay ahead, or what the future holds; natural beauty is lost on them replaced instead by a calculating almost cold view. "All the grace, the beauty, the poetry had gone out of the majestic river" pg 159.
ReplyDeleteTwains' purpose of "The Views of the River" is to show the audience and the world that once you have experienced something. All the beauty of it will leak out overtime every time it is experienced until there is no beauty left; only cold hard facts that are supported by logic and have no sentimental value. "All the grace, the beauty, the poetry, had gone out of the majestic river!" (Twain 159). However there will be some beauty and grace left, it won't be in its original form though, it will be in the form of nostalgia and memory. "I still keep in mind a certain wonderul sunset…" (Twain 159).
ReplyDeleteThe purpose of Mark Twains' piece "The Views of the River" is to show the difference in beauty a person sees once they are immersed in the specific item or activity. Twain uses two different views of the river, the first being the apprentice who sees the river as pure beauty "where the ruddy flush was the faintest, was a smooth spot that was covered with graceful circles and radiating lines." But as Twain grew up and became more of a professional he only saw the dangers of the river and what was once beauty became a hazard. "All the grace, the beauty, the poetry, had gone out of the majestic river!" His writing tells us there is still beauty after learning the ins and outs of something but it is not the same as when one looked upon it with the eyes of a novice.
ReplyDeleteBekah Halley
ReplyDeleteIn Mark Twain's "Two Views of the River" he compares and contrasts how he saw the "majestic river" once filled with "grace" and "beauty" as a young apprentice but now, as a well experienced steamboat captain the "glories and the charms which the moon and the sun and the twilight wrought upon the river's face" (Twain 160) have all faded and he only sees the dangers and scholastic benefits of the river. Twain's purpose for writing this piece is to provide an admonitory for his audience in that over time beauty fades and what was once "graceful circles and radiating lines, ever so delicately traced" (Twain 160) would eventually become "that slanting mark on the water refers to a bluff reef which is going to kill somebody's steamboat one of these nights" (Twain 160). By showing his innocent, naive, and childlike thoughts as an apprentice through beautiful and "romantic" imagery and then later how he lost the passion and interest he once had he advances his purpose in trying to portray that things don't last forever and people should hold onto them while they still can. Through the analogy of a doctor he warns his audience to contemplate their decisions. Will they "gain more or lose more by learning their trade". Twain somberly claims that desensitization, for him at least was inevitable and only wishes his audience their best in trying to avoid it.
In Mark Twain's essay "Two Views of the River" his purpose is to show the comparison between his different views on the river as time passes. He started off as a young apprentice who thought that the river was new, exciting, and full of potential. "The World was new to me and I had never seen anything like this at home" (Twain 160). As Twain becomes an experienced captain he sees only the dangers and negativity of the river, he has lost all his wonder for it. "All the grace, the beauty, the poetry had gone out of the majestic river" (Twain 159).
ReplyDelete