Using your best writing skills, discuss the following quote. What do you believe Fitzgerald is saying? Have you found this sentiment to be true in your own reading experience? Explain.
“That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you're not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong.”
― F. Scott Fitzgerald
I think that he's saying that there isn't anything that has happened or ever will happen to you hasn't been covered in literature in some way shape or form. Nothing that we want, need, or experience is so outlandish that it has never, in the history of literature, been written about before. I have found it true and surprisingly comforting how in most books I've read I have connected with the characters and found myself thinking "hey I do that" or "hey I've been there done that and bought the T-shirt" having that connection with humanity through literature is comforting and humbling.
ReplyDelete-Nicole
Fitzgerald’s quote undoubtfully holds meaning within literature worldwide. I, ultimately, believe that this quote means that literature is not just superficial. It connects all sorts of nations together by tying in universal goals, dreams, disappointments, and even tragedies. As humans, we, to some extent want to achieve the same thing, like happiness, wealth, health, and/or love. This quote states that literature is the binding material in which it connects these emotions worldwide to different races and ethnicities. Due to this, no one is “lonely” or “isolated” because the true meaning of literature connects us all in one way or another.
ReplyDeleteI also can witness to this on a personal level. When I read literature, I feel connected to something more meaningful than just the words on the page. I understand and ultimately feel the real message that is being emitted from page to page. And so, I feel a sense of belonging for which I understand the bigger meaning and the sense of compatibility with other reader’s feelings and emotions.
That is why Fitzgerald describes this part of literature to be beautiful. The reader, himself or herself, has the capability to personally and deeply feel a sense of conformity with others by looking beyond the printed words.
I believe this quote by Scott Fitzgerald emphasizes how all pieces of literature are tied together. One story might copy a detail from another work of literature, and then that work might borrow an idea from another novel, etc. People are able to view certain works of literature however they want. If they think the author is portraying a certain idea, but another person thinks something completely different, then that is alright. Many times in my classes I will have a completely different response to the story then someone else in my class, and this quote assures me that it is alright to not agree with literature. Literature is a type of enjoyment for people to use their imagination and recognize patterns that have already been in other works of writing that they have read.
ReplyDeleteMiranda Murphy
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ReplyDelete“That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you're not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong.”
ReplyDelete― F. Scott Fitzgerald
The beauty of literature is the fact that everyone can look at something, yet see so many sides to the same word or sentence. Literature shows us that we are all different, and in some ways it should open our eyes to show that nothing is one-sided. Literature should allow us to be more open-minded and worldly. Diverse. The beauty in life is discovering that life is even more complex than the eye can see. There is more going on than what happens in Alleman, Iowa and I think sometimes we forget that. People in New York City have different ways of thinking and customs. Literature allows us to see that. The possible meanings and feelings you pull from one piece of literature is endless. Every person has had their own experiences and feelings toward objects, and literature can open our eyes to other people's discoveries. So yes, we all feel differently about things and have different life experiences, but that is not enough. The fact that literature allows everyone to experience what is written down piece on paper (possibly forever) is beautiful. Words can be forgotten, but literature can't. There is something about seeing the words for yourself right under your nose.
To me this quote tells readers that they are never alone. Reading literature can take a reader anywhere they want to go, they can escape from reality for a while and just enjoy themselves. Fitzgerald says that even though people may be from different places and have different lives, it does not mean that they may have the exact same interpretation and feelings reading literature. That is what makes literature beautiful, it brings people together and shows them that they have more in common than they may think.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Fitzgerald was trying to point out that for every character and situation they face in the book, it has been inspired or influenced to the author via the author's own experience or even witnessing of the event. That gives the sense of belonging or understanding between the characters and the readers because it's loosely based upon what the author knows so he can elicit the desired emotion from his or her readers.
ReplyDelete“That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you're not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong.”
ReplyDelete― F. Scott Fitzgerald
I think Fitzgerald is trying to say that when we read, we all bring our different experiences to it and take different things away from it. We may feel the exact same way or we may react completely opposite to what we read. When we read, we find things that we have in common with one another and things that make us who we are when we share them aloud. Even though we all do not go through the exact same experiences and trials, we all have something in common.
I think this demonstrates why we have archetypes in literature and why it is so important to us personally and as a culture. Literature contains universal character types and plots that we all understand. They simultaneously come from and contribute to personal experience and culture. We all have conflicts between wanting to be an individual and wanting to belong, but sometimes we fear that our thoughts and feelings are strange and nobody understands. When we read a great book, it's such a personal experience that even though the communication isn't mutual, we know that at least one author understands us.
ReplyDeleteThe quote by F. Scott Fitzgerald demonstrates that one person is never alone on this earth. There is always someone who has gone through the same or at least a similar experience as you. The beauty of literature is that although you may feel alone where you are because no one around you has been through what you have, there is someone in the world that has written about it. Someone in this world understands you. A person can find peace or a since of belonging by reading because literature is universal. And that is the beauty of literature.
ReplyDeleteLiterature, for many people, is an escape; Scott Fitzgerald brings attention to this in his quote. There are certain cultural norms that have been around since the beginning of time, and authors bring those into a lot of their pieces. There are universal themes that people understand and connect to. People often find, through literature, that their struggles are not isolated to their lives only, but that characters in the stories they read have been through the same things; they feel like they belong. I, myself, often find that I can connect with a character in a book better than I can connect with people in my life.
ReplyDeleteThe quote by Scott Fitzgerald helps explain why so many people love literature. Literature connects us to each other. It can help people escape from their life for a moment and enter into this imaginary world. In this world no one is ever alone and in some way a reader can always relate to at least one character. Also the beauty of literature is that everyone can relate to it in a different way. I believe that this quote really does capture in two lines why so many people enjoy reading.
ReplyDeleteThe quote by Scott Fitzgerald truly reveals one of the main reasons I love reading literature.
ReplyDeleteLiterature captures the essence of the human condition. Our culture may be completely different compared to other countries, but we all have universal needs like love or the need for purpose in life.I believe everyone has an inborn longing for those things. Literature fulfills all those needs for everyone because authors ponder the same things as us. They produce characters that resemble us, and typically we can make connections with the struggles or even victories the characters go through. I love how anyone can turn to literature for answers in our lives because I'm sure the authors began with the same questions.
I've never met a character in literature, or life, that succeeded in finding and maintaining satisfaction completely alone. In this quote, Fitzgerald identifies our two greatest needs. The first is the need for something that we can long for and place our hope in. Something that we believe will, someday, satisfy us. The second need, while seeming slightly less grand, is just as essential. It is the need to be understood. Whether we admit it or not, we take great comfort in the fact that we are, at the core, the same. Bonded by our need for satisfaction, we are the same. Yet we still fight for individuality, arguing that our different "somethings" make us utterly unique and free from others. Literature quietly ends the fight by allowing both the author and reader to unabashedly bear their souls and recognize pieces of themselves in each other.
ReplyDelete“That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you're not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong.”
ReplyDelete― F. Scott Fitzgerald
I can relate to F. Scott Fitzgerald's quote. I think that, most of the time not even realizing it, we pick a character from the books we read and find that we can relate to them. It might not even be the main character but you feel as though you have gone or are going through the same thing. I believe that you do realize that you aren't crazy and that other people feel the same way you do and that it's okay to be different from others. I agree with the quote completely.