I've (re)learned a few things. Among them, we can choose our own term paper topic, that polemical methods and fiction differ in what they can teach us but they still do teach, and that Wallace Stevens perfectly captures the essence of the idea that understanding simile and metaphor brings us another sense of conciousness(this is a notion I first touched with when I studied Stevens with a very dear friend).

I do think that there is something to the Longanus(sp?) approach to criticism; about whether or not something lifts us into the sublime. I can think of a few works of art(film and book and other) that I think produced such a sensation in myself, but I'm almost afraid that saying what they are would set up others for possible disappointment should they seek them out. However, we also discussed today how actual 'evidence' can't really prove or disprove whether or not something is real. Maybe the 74 elders did just see light playing on the mountains, as Martin Buber theorizes; does this mean that they weren't in the presence of Yahweh? NO. With this in mind, I'll mention my own petty artistic experiances of the sublime(first seeing Hayao Miyazaki's film Princess Mononoke, first in-depth reading of Romeo and Juliet, Michealangelo's David.... thank you for humoring me).

I also learned a few new words.Eschatology, which refers to notions of an End, and which can be understood either literally(as certain pernicous influences attempted to impart it to me when I was younger) or metaphorically. This latter is probably how the New Testament, and the book of Revelation(which in itself is the literal meaning of apocalypse; in Greek apo means remove, and calypsus means veil- "Remove the veil"- Reveal) should be considered. This yields the understanding that the world is coming to an end all the time, we just don't realize it. When being told of this idea, I couldn't help but think of Virginia Woolf, and Mrs. Dalloway. Which may or may not be at all relatable to the New Testament, but perhaps. Perhaps. Perhaps.