Seeing by Annie Dillard

1. Seeing by Annie Dillard AmitSulakhe Ashley Ahn John Kim

2. What is this text about? • Dillard talks about seeing and nature • She begins with describing how she used to hide pennies and wait for people to find them • Then she talks about nature for a while and describes how it is a “now you see it, now you don’t affair” and that “what you see is what you get” • Later she mentions the emotion and sensation a person who was once blind goes through when they can finally see

3. How is the text structured? • Dillard first describes a scenario, then gives a little personal insight on the scenario • Two major sections in text (two types of seeing) • Seeing in nature • Blind people who can now see • Through these two sections she is allowing the reader to understand what she feels seeing is

4. The Language of the Text • Imagery • “A fog that won’t burn away drifts and flows across my field of vision. When you see fog move against a backdrop of deep pines, you don’t see the fog itself, but streaks of clearness floating across the air in dark shreds.” • Tone • “After thousands of years we’re still strangers to darkness, fearful aliens in an enemy camp with our arms crossed over our chests” • Diction • “On windless Summer evening I stalk along the creek bank or straddle the sycamore log in absolute stillness, watching for muskrats. The night I stayed too late I was hunched on a log staring spellbound at spreading, reflected stains of lilac on the water.”

5. To whom is text addressed? • Addressed to those unable to see the world as Dillard does • Insatiable curiosity • Spiritual appetite • To those who neglect nature and the little things in life • People with a one-dimensional point of view • Lack perception • Friendly, informative

6. What effect does text have? • Pathos • Dillard tells us how she feels throughout her experiences • Ethos • Unique first-hand accounts • Accurate descriptions • So much detail in nature ignored by majority • Surprising the extent at which perception matters • Sight is not the same for everyone

7. What is the text arguing? • Seeing is beyond what is in front of you • Even the blind can “see”. See through their hands • Seeing is noticing the small details in front of you • Seeing effects all the senses and is a whole body experience • Seeing is different for everyone • The blind see the world differently than those who can physically see (use hands to see) • People who can physically see, see things in a different perspective than those around them

8. Author uses separate anecdotes and research to get her point across. • Anecdote about penny • Anecdote about experience with nature • Research on blind people who can see again

9. Is the text effective at its goal? • Argument of text is evident in three examples author gives reader • Pathos • Shares anecdotes with reader • Penny and nature sections • Logos • Obvious that author has done research on the blind • Arguments worked well together to get point across to audience. Effective essay.