1. Identify and briefly define important words, terms, concepts, or characters.
Fascination- The state of being extremely interested. In order to fully understand Millhausers main idea in this essay, we need to think why we are so fascinated by the miniature things as opposed to something minute?
Miniature- A small scale reproduction. We may be amazed by something which is small; however something that is an imitation of something else seems to excite us even more.
Discrepancy- Discrepancy is the difference of two measurements of the same quantity. When Millhauser explains miniature he uses discrepancy as one of his key words. “The miniature that is to say, implies a relation, a discrepancy.” He is not trying to say measurement so much, but the same idea, in that something we know to be something big we see as a smaller version.
Distortion- Changing the way an object looks by stretching or changing it to make it more interesting or to emphasize the image or object in a different way. This just explains in more detail what a miniature of something really is.
2. Summarize the main idea, theme, action, or event of the reading. Be sure to include quotation that best captures the overall feeling or mood of the reading.
“Smallness alone compels no wonder. A grain of sand, an ant, a raindrop, a bottle cap, may interest or amaze the eye, but they do not arrest the attention with that peculiar intensity elicited by the miniature.”
When Steven Millhauser wrote this essay he was trying to teach us (human beings) that small things such as the examples he uses earlier, do not entice or arouse are curiosity as much as the miniature objects in this world.
3. Formulate a question for discussion. The question should be relatively substantial, based upon a specified passage or scene from the text, and capable of sustaining a thoughtful discussion.
At the end of his essay Steven Millhauser begins to question the idea of this discrepancy in a broader sense. “Some understanding of the spell cast by this particular discrepancy may be gained by first considering the nature of the particular discrepancy that is the gigantic.” Is ones curiosity drawn to the larger things as it is to the miniature? Do larger things attract our attention as the miniature's do?
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2 comments:
Like Jon said, a grain on sand won't interest our eye, but something fantastic and miniature will. For example, a miniature pen. It is the same shape as a regular pen, just in a smaller size. This amazes some people and would appear to be "cute."
Whenever I see a miniature of something, I try to compare it to it's original size. I look at what is different and what is the same. If I ever became a miniature of myself, I would look for the tiny details of life that I would never see at my original size; as well as avoiding the event of me getting squashed.
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