In 2017, I was diagnosed with OCD, so everything I do is an addiction in its own right. The way I have to rub my eyebrows, the amount of times I need to wash my hands, which side of the block I should walk my dog, if I should restart my paper, when am I allowed to take my break, how long I am supposed to work… my mind creates rules for every aspect of my life. Funnily enough, it even created rules for when I could break the rules. It is quite exhausting sometimes, but I feel as though without such compulsions, or little addictions, I cannot function. I feel as though I need them to be a contributing member of society. I am excited about this project because I can test my OCD and see if I can stop relying on it so much.

     I decided to choose my obsession with note-taking as the addiction to subside. I am very meticulous when it comes to taking notes, especially when it comes to my biology notes. I am extra careful because I do not want to miss key details. This is somewhat reasonable, but I tend to take it to the extreme. I end up writing information that isn’t going to be on the test anyway. I also spend a lot of time color-coding my notes, which although I enjoy doing, my OCD makes it a bit burdensome. I sometimes even rewrite an entire page of notes if I feel I color-coded something incorrectly.

     To combat these issues, I decided to “care less.” I forced myself to continue writing, even if I feel I made a “mistake.” This is an extremely difficult task as my OCD badgers me to obey it, but I prevailed. I think I did have one setback where I did rewrite a page, but sometimes you have to take it two steps forward, and one step back. Another thing I have noticed myself doing unfortunately is that I would replace this compulsion with a different one, but I’m going to have to forgive myself on that one because that will take me months to work on, far beyond this project.

     I am ecstatic to continue on, even if this is stepping out of my comfort zone.

1. I personally found the point found under the subheading “Language and thought” to be quite significant. “The language[s] we speak determines what we think” (Culler 60). There are words and phrases in some languages that simply cannot be translated with the exact definition, connotation, or emotion. The example Culler gave is the Hopi Indians’ perception of time that cannot be properly explained in English, which leaves us quite unsatisfied. I feel that many multilingual people can relate to such frustration when trying to find the right words to explain something; it is like there isn’t enough of them! Two translations of the same poem have vastly different meanings because language influences the way we think. I had felt deeply touched by a poem I read in Polish, but reading it in English does not invoke the same emotion. Each word has trained us to have a different feeling. Each word has trained us to have a specific thought process. Therefore, in a sense, each word determines what we think. 

2. Culler mentions many poetic and rhetorical devices in Chapter 5, those of which include: alliteration, apostrophe, assonance, metaphor, personification, metonymy, synecdoche, and irony. Countee Cullen only applies two of those devices in “Yet Do I Marvel,” namely metaphors and irony.Being that metaphors are spoken about quite often, irony will be the main focus.  Culler defines irony as a device used to “juxtapose appearance and reality” (Culler 73). One very obvious point of irony is Cullen’s poem is in line four, which states, “Why flesh that mirrors Him must some day die.” God created humans in his own image, with love and splendor. Why then, does he allow his dear creations to return to dust? This is what the author’s use of irony questioned. The appearance, or rather assumption, made by the reader is that because God loves his creation, he would rid them of any pain, sorrow, and death. The reality, however, is that God is rather inscrutable, and allows for unfortunate things to happen.

     Literature is convoluted and ambiguous. Determining whether a piece of writing is literature is a journey of analyzing, questioning, and theorizing. “I Sing Body Electric” is one of many of Walt Whitman’s infamous poems that can be classified as literature. The organization and the themes provide a deep and thought-provoking meaning, making it literature.

      This poem is like a quaternion, but as opposed to four divided sections, there are nine (a nanonion?). Each section has its own central idea. The first section is about the narrator’s love and admiration for the human body, expressing how it should not be judged or harmed. However, in the second section, he begins listing random people and their routines or whereabouts. In the third section, he honed down on one specific individual: a farmer who fathers five sons and an unknown amount of daughters, who all love and adore him dearly. He finishes the section wishing how he could meet this man, how anyone would be enamoured by his presence. The fourth section continues this theme of joy and contentment when surrounded by people and their touch, expressing how that is all he truly wants. The fifth section is about the narrator’s very graphic adoration of the female body, whereas the sixth section discusses his respect for male-kind. Both the seventh and eight section where about a slave-auction he attended, despite his hatred for this repulsive and dehumanizing market. He speaks about how all people are people, and should be treated with love and respect. The ninth section holds the conclusion of his panegyrics of human soul and body love. The division of these nine sections are very intentional and well-thought through. The narrator begins by stating what can be interpreted as the topic of the poem: human soul and body should be loved and strike people with awe. He continues by giving examples of the lives of others, and then “zooms in” to one particular common farmer. The joy and love in his family touches his heart, furthering his love for mankind. He specifies the qualities he loved about women and men, which then led to the conversation of the enslaved men and women at the auction. All sections when read at face value seem unrelated to each other, but with thorough analysis, it can be seen that Whitman’s purpose of this poem is to show how humans are all related to each other, and should all be respected.

     I found the “literature as intertextual or self-reflective construct” angle most interesting because it seems as though there is a paradox. This perspective argues that “works are made of other works”, whether that is from other writings or concepts, like traditions (Culler 34). A poem written by author A is really a reiteration of an idea author B had. Stories and plays are written, sometimes unintentionally, based on culture or preexisting biases. Literature is the transformation, progression, reform, or renewal of present or past literature. However, this begs the questions: What was the first piece of literature, and if we can define it, how can we be so sure? How would we know if it was not a continuation of an idea posed by someone or something else?