Module 3: Patterning
James Frye
Reflection, by nature, is chock full with patterns. Typically, the most recognizable strand of patterns is that all reflections call upon memory of prior experience. This poem, “A Divine Image” by William Blake, is a statement of claims based upon past experience that the author is making about the metaphysical characteristics of human nature applied to the physical human form. The statements that are contained within this poem qualify it as a reflection, because the statements, such as “Cruelty has a human heart / And Jealousy a human face” (Blake 1-2), imply recall and analysis of a prior experience. Calling the poem a reflection on past experience also serves to qualify and support the statements’ validity.
A Divine Image
Cruelty has a human heart,
And Jealousy a human face;
Terror the human form divine,
And Secresy the human dress.
The human dress is forged iron,
The human form a fiery forge,
The human face a furnace sealed,
The human heart its hungry gorge.
William Blake
In William Blake’s poetry, one novel pattern that can be identified abreast of the traditional is a random series of capitalized words throughout many of the poems. What new patterns can be detected in such an analysis of written reflection? What does a textual-level evaluation of grammar and syntax have to tell us about what devices more traditionally associated with evaluating poetry, such as metaphor and symbolism mean? How are letters and words parts metaphors and symbols in and of themselves, separated from the whole? In this poem, Jealousy (Blake 2) and Secresy (Blake 4) are two words that are atypically capitalized, giving them a hidden meaning and a new pattern of significance. These grammatical nuances call the reader back to reflect on the individual metaphorical significance of chosen words, and holistically, the words’ significance to the larger reflection within the poem. This makes them vital in both form and content (capitalization of structural letters signifying metaphysical importance).
Additionally, a more surface-level pattern that can be noted in the reflection is the repetition of phrases, similar to examples we see in the Sparks of Genius reading for this Module. In line 1, “Cruelty has a human heart . . . human face . . . human form . . . human dress” (Blake 1-4). This pattern of parallelism continues in the second stanza. If one does not perceive these patterns as significant and ignores them, then their discovery and recomprehension of the words allows for a completely new level of understanding. These are, essentially, the “diverse surprises” we need to make good patterns (Root-Bernstein 135).
Patterns are related things, often but not always repetitive, that are connected by similar or opposing characteristics. In my chosen example, each modified word aligns to a higher meaning, where each non-modified word aligns to a word of lesser significance. This textual pattern within the poetic reflection is consistent through all of Blake’s writing.
However, patterns in reflection itself can change drastically in their form, and do not merely exist within the text. While the idea behind reflection largely remains the same, different forms of reflections exist that all share a pattern of reflection, itself. For instance, a poem is the example that I have provided and analyzed to identify patterns, but creating patterns can take place through a variety of mediums. Such mediums include videoing (Internet Vlogging), as well as writing of various forms.
Traditional Pattern Belonging to Reflection:
Step 1: Experiencing
Step 2: Remembering
Step 3: Processing/Perceiving
Step 4: Reflecting/Creating/Sharing (through writing, vlogging, etc.)
The above patterns are consistent in a typical reflection, but what happens if we create new patterns by rearranging the order of events? How does it alter the reflective process? In the table above, I have altered what might be considered traditional patterns of reflection into new patterns. These patterns require the writer to shift from thinking back to an event, to thinking forward in anticipation instead. In the Sparks of Genius text, a reference to Virginia Woolf on forming patterns in writing says that “. . . in writing I seem to be discovering what belongs to what” (Woolf in Root-Bernstein, 128). Where experiencing, remembering, perceiving and creating traditionally belong to reflective writing, my re-patterning asks this question: What if anticipation prior to experience belonged to reflection in writing?
New RE-Pattern of Reflection:
Step 1: Anticipating/Creating (thinking/writing about the event or instance before its occurrence)
Step 2: Experiencing
Step 3: Remembering
Step 4: Processing/Perceiving (thinking about the initial perception of the event, and reevaluating said perception post-experience).
The end result of an anticipatory reflection is different from a post-experiential reflection because it requires one to think about what they think will happen when writing before it actually happens. This allows the writer to create a new kind of reflection: one that calls upon pre-assessment and, depending upon the event, a great deal of imagination. This new pattern of reflection would help students to grasp the idea of reflecting more clearly because it asks them to think critically enough to both embrace and separate themselves from their subjectivity at different stages in the writing process. This gives traditional reflection on past experience in writing a clearer identity segregate from writing a reflection on subjective pre-conception about something that has not happened yet. Providing students with the opportunity to engage with the new type of reflection can lead students through new avenues of creativity, as well—leading to reflections on experiences that students may never get the opportunity to have, and encouraging thorough creative work out of the imagination.
James Frye
Reflection, by nature, is chock full with patterns. Typically, the most recognizable strand of patterns is that all reflections call upon memory of prior experience. This poem, “A Divine Image” by William Blake, is a statement of claims based upon past experience that the author is making about the metaphysical characteristics of human nature applied to the physical human form. The statements that are contained within this poem qualify it as a reflection, because the statements, such as “Cruelty has a human heart / And Jealousy a human face” (Blake 1-2), imply recall and analysis of a prior experience. Calling the poem a reflection on past experience also serves to qualify and support the statements’ validity.
A Divine Image
Cruelty has a human heart,
And Jealousy a human face;
Terror the human form divine,
And Secresy the human dress.
The human dress is forged iron,
The human form a fiery forge,
The human face a furnace sealed,
The human heart its hungry gorge.
William Blake
In William Blake’s poetry, one novel pattern that can be identified abreast of the traditional is a random series of capitalized words throughout many of the poems. What new patterns can be detected in such an analysis of written reflection? What does a textual-level evaluation of grammar and syntax have to tell us about what devices more traditionally associated with evaluating poetry, such as metaphor and symbolism mean? How are letters and words parts metaphors and symbols in and of themselves, separated from the whole? In this poem, Jealousy (Blake 2) and Secresy (Blake 4) are two words that are atypically capitalized, giving them a hidden meaning and a new pattern of significance. These grammatical nuances call the reader back to reflect on the individual metaphorical significance of chosen words, and holistically, the words’ significance to the larger reflection within the poem. This makes them vital in both form and content (capitalization of structural letters signifying metaphysical importance).
Additionally, a more surface-level pattern that can be noted in the reflection is the repetition of phrases, similar to examples we see in the Sparks of Genius reading for this Module. In line 1, “Cruelty has a human heart . . . human face . . . human form . . . human dress” (Blake 1-4). This pattern of parallelism continues in the second stanza. If one does not perceive these patterns as significant and ignores them, then their discovery and recomprehension of the words allows for a completely new level of understanding. These are, essentially, the “diverse surprises” we need to make good patterns (Root-Bernstein 135).
Patterns are related things, often but not always repetitive, that are connected by similar or opposing characteristics. In my chosen example, each modified word aligns to a higher meaning, where each non-modified word aligns to a word of lesser significance. This textual pattern within the poetic reflection is consistent through all of Blake’s writing.
However, patterns in reflection itself can change drastically in their form, and do not merely exist within the text. While the idea behind reflection largely remains the same, different forms of reflections exist that all share a pattern of reflection, itself. For instance, a poem is the example that I have provided and analyzed to identify patterns, but creating patterns can take place through a variety of mediums. Such mediums include videoing (Internet Vlogging), as well as writing of various forms.
Traditional Pattern Belonging to Reflection:
Step 1: Experiencing
Step 2: Remembering
Step 3: Processing/Perceiving
Step 4: Reflecting/Creating/Sharing (through writing, vlogging, etc.)
The above patterns are consistent in a typical reflection, but what happens if we create new patterns by rearranging the order of events? How does it alter the reflective process? In the table above, I have altered what might be considered traditional patterns of reflection into new patterns. These patterns require the writer to shift from thinking back to an event, to thinking forward in anticipation instead. In the Sparks of Genius text, a reference to Virginia Woolf on forming patterns in writing says that “. . . in writing I seem to be discovering what belongs to what” (Woolf in Root-Bernstein, 128). Where experiencing, remembering, perceiving and creating traditionally belong to reflective writing, my re-patterning asks this question: What if anticipation prior to experience belonged to reflection in writing?
New RE-Pattern of Reflection:
Step 1: Anticipating/Creating (thinking/writing about the event or instance before its occurrence)
Step 2: Experiencing
Step 3: Remembering
Step 4: Processing/Perceiving (thinking about the initial perception of the event, and reevaluating said perception post-experience).
The end result of an anticipatory reflection is different from a post-experiential reflection because it requires one to think about what they think will happen when writing before it actually happens. This allows the writer to create a new kind of reflection: one that calls upon pre-assessment and, depending upon the event, a great deal of imagination. This new pattern of reflection would help students to grasp the idea of reflecting more clearly because it asks them to think critically enough to both embrace and separate themselves from their subjectivity at different stages in the writing process. This gives traditional reflection on past experience in writing a clearer identity segregate from writing a reflection on subjective pre-conception about something that has not happened yet. Providing students with the opportunity to engage with the new type of reflection can lead students through new avenues of creativity, as well—leading to reflections on experiences that students may never get the opportunity to have, and encouraging thorough creative work out of the imagination.