In chapter 6 of “narrative” by Johnathan Culler, Culler shows how the plot is the main element in this chapter/story. I thought about a book I read This is where it ends by Marieke Nijkamp while I read chapter 6. The book had many tragic events and discourse. During a school shooting the students were so scared and their expressions could say so much. The plot had many events from shooting teachers to students to the shooters own siblings and then himself. Not much was said during the book it was mostly silence and fear. The plot and discourse caught my full attention because it was a triller which is a good thing and something the author looks for in a reader. I don’t read many books because I always get distracted but this book was so suspenseful and full of fear and I had a visual of everything in my mind which felt like a movie. 

Plot gives a book, short story, movie, Television show so much importance. It catches attention from the audience. Plot is a very powerful element of a piece of work it’s what connects everything and brings knowledge to a text. 

In Chapter 5 of “Rhetoric, poetics, and poetry” by Johnathan Culler, Culler describes the connection between Rhetoric, poetics, and poetry. He describes the different types of rhetorical figures throughout the chapter. One example he used was metaphor. Metaphor is used widely to give the reader a visual of the text. Visual learning can help many readers understand a text faster than other methods. It creates creativity in one’s mind. Metaphor was used in the poem “The Sea is History” by Derek Walcott, “and the furred caterpillars of judges examining each case closely.” I see comparison in this metaphor because of the word judge Walcott used. I felt like Walcott was comparing something big and important to something small as a caterpillar which is also important. This metaphor was inspiring because even if you may feel low and smaller than someone or something just know that you are still important to everyone. This helps shape the meaning of the poem because already Walcott used metaphor multiple times in the poem however, I felt like “and the furred caterpillars of judges examining each case closely” was a deep metaphor. It gave a meaning to the poem which I found interesting. 

In chapter 4 of “Literature, meaning and interpretation” by Johnathan Culler, I found “Language and thought” the most interesting. It talked about various ways language has an impact on everything. “Different languages divide up the word differently.” The language we use influences our surroundings. We use language to express our feelings and any ideas we have. My native language is Hindi. I usually mix up english in my Hindi to put more depth in my words. Since I talk more in English than I do in Hindi it can be difficult to find the correct words to say in Hindi. However, I do feel like some words in English are very basic and don’t convey my message as I want to. “But we do have massive evidence that one language makes ‘natural’ or ‘normal’ thoughts that require a special effort in another.” I agree with this statement because I feel like when I talk in Hindi I don’t have to put in effort to get my point across because some words have so much depth in them. 

In chapter 2 of “What is Literature and Does it Matter?” by Jonathan Culler described literature through different angles. I found Literature as fiction the most interesting in the chapter. Fiction can be entertaining as it builds up scenarios in our mind that we probably don’t get to see in non-fiction or reality. Literature as fiction also shows a better understanding of the world and human condition also known as being born, growing up, falling in love, issues, death, etc. Literature as fiction helps us get the imagination of the story. I also feel like literature as fiction helps us get a deeper meaning of the character and see them through their shoes. 

Reading chapter 2 of “what is literature and does it matter?” It shows that there is no need to compare literature and non-literature. Culler says literature is not only a word, this word describes a lot of things. The word literature brings so much creativity in texts. Literature is used in small texts, poems, introduction, etc. Theorists recommend using rhetorical devices in non-literary texts. Culler shows that we shouldn’t differentiate literature and non-literature as they are similar. Understanding the text and finding the main idea is the main goal and gaining the knowledge from the text. Culler also mentioned that literature comes in many shapes and sizes and to get a specific definition of the word literature.

Question: Why does it matter if we read literature or non literature if they are similar?