13 min
Spirituality as Quest, Pt. 20 -- Augustine's "Confessions"; Reading a Story, Pt. 24 -- How Much Does a Narrator Know? Literature & Spirituality
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- Books
Our passage from the Word of God today is 2 Corinthians 3:2-3 which reads: "Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart."
Our quote today is from W. H. Auden. He said: "A real book is not one that’s read, but one that reads us."
In this podcast, we are using as our texts: "Literature and Spirituality" by Yaw Adu-Gyamfi and Mark Ray Schmidt, and "Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing" by X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia.
Our first topic for today is "Spirituality as Quest, Part 20" from the book, "Literature and Spirituality" by Yaw Adu-Gyamfi and Mark Ray Schmidt.
Today, we will continue reading a selection from Augustine's "Confessions."
This selection is from Book I - Childhood / Chapter 5 - Augustine's Prayer
Who shall bring me to rest in thee? Who will send thee into my heart so to overwhelm it that my sins shall be blotted out and I may embrace thee, my only good? What art thou to me? Have mercy that I may speak. What am I to thee that thou shouldst command me to love thee, and if I do it not, art angry and threatenest vast misery? Is it, then, a trifling sorrow not to love thee? It is not so to me. Tell me, by thy mercy, O Lord, my God, what thou art to me. “Say to my soul, I am your salvation." So speak that I may hear. Behold, the ears of my heart are before thee, O Lord; open them and “say to my soul, I am your salvation.” I will hasten after that voice, and I will lay hold upon thee. Hide not thy face from me. Even if I die, let me see thy face lest I die.
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Our second topic for today is "Reading a Story, Part 23" from the book, "Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing" by X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia.
Today, we're taking a look at How Much Does a Narrator Know?
The all-knowing (or omniscient) narrator sees into the minds of all (or some) characters, moving when necessary from one to another. This is the point of view in "Godfather Death," in which the narrator knows the feelings and motives of the father, of the doctor, and even of Death himself. Since he adds an occasional comment or opinion, this narrator may be said also to show editorial omniscience (as we can tell from his disapproving remark that the doctor "should have remembered" and his observation the the father did not understand "how wisely God shares our wealth and poverty"). A narrator who shows impartial omniscience presents the thoughts and actions of the characters, but does not judge them or comment on them.
...
Our passage from the Word of God today is 2 Corinthians 3:2-3 which reads: "Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart."
Our quote today is from W. H. Auden. He said: "A real book is not one that’s read, but one that reads us."
In this podcast, we are using as our texts: "Literature and Spirituality" by Yaw Adu-Gyamfi and Mark Ray Schmidt, and "Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing" by X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia.
Our first topic for today is "Spirituality as Quest, Part 20" from the book, "Literature and Spirituality" by Yaw Adu-Gyamfi and Mark Ray Schmidt.
Today, we will continue reading a selection from Augustine's "Confessions."
This selection is from Book I - Childhood / Chapter 5 - Augustine's Prayer
Who shall bring me to rest in thee? Who will send thee into my heart so to overwhelm it that my sins shall be blotted out and I may embrace thee, my only good? What art thou to me? Have mercy that I may speak. What am I to thee that thou shouldst command me to love thee, and if I do it not, art angry and threatenest vast misery? Is it, then, a trifling sorrow not to love thee? It is not so to me. Tell me, by thy mercy, O Lord, my God, what thou art to me. “Say to my soul, I am your salvation." So speak that I may hear. Behold, the ears of my heart are before thee, O Lord; open them and “say to my soul, I am your salvation.” I will hasten after that voice, and I will lay hold upon thee. Hide not thy face from me. Even if I die, let me see thy face lest I die.
...
Our second topic for today is "Reading a Story, Part 23" from the book, "Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing" by X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia.
Today, we're taking a look at How Much Does a Narrator Know?
The all-knowing (or omniscient) narrator sees into the minds of all (or some) characters, moving when necessary from one to another. This is the point of view in "Godfather Death," in which the narrator knows the feelings and motives of the father, of the doctor, and even of Death himself. Since he adds an occasional comment or opinion, this narrator may be said also to show editorial omniscience (as we can tell from his disapproving remark that the doctor "should have remembered" and his observation the the father did not understand "how wisely God shares our wealth and poverty"). A narrator who shows impartial omniscience presents the thoughts and actions of the characters, but does not judge them or comment on them.
...
13 min