The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature
In times like these, we are all in the process of transformation, and so is the world around us. The Great Work, the magnum opus, is the work we are all engaged in, whether we know it or not. The Great Work is the reassembling of the tiny shards of light into which the universe was shattered at the Creation. Every story we tell, every poem we write... See more
Paul Kingsnorth • The Great Work: Alchemy and the Power of Words – Paul Kingsnorth
Traditionally humankind has sought the answer to Aristotle’s question from the four wisdoms—philosophy, science, religion, art—taking insight from each to bolt together a livable meaning. But today who reads Hegel or Kant without an exam to pass? Science, once the great explicator, garbles life with complexity and perplexity. Who can listen without
... See moreRobert McKee • Story: Style, Structure, Substance, and the Principles of Screenwriting
Our story arcs are a legacy from the Greeks, who gave us tragedy, a genre built on rises and falls that peak with a climax. Aristotle called the moment of maximum intensity peripeteia — which translates to reversal — and named the aftermath catharsis, the release of emotional energy. That’s how we all know pride comes before fall and that the darke
... See moreAngus Hervey • Collapse, Renewal and the Rope of History | by Angus Hervey | Future Crunch | Aug, 2021 | Medium
A bit of me thinks these old writers knew exactly what they were doing when they told their tales, but not in the sense that they thought to themselves, ‘I am now going to craft a story that carries a hidden meaning which I want my readers to figure out for themselves.’