English 1C Essay #1: The Hermeneutic
Consider Benjamin’s distinction “between what is meant and the way of meaning it” (257)1 and how the intention of a text and its “modes of intention” can create intratextual conflict (74).2 Although Benjamin’s apparent subject matter is translation from one language to another, his observations can be applied to all writing, for in any text, there is the intentio—even if we cannot apprehend it and even if we ascribe no interpretive importance to authorial intention—and there is the modus. How should this phenomenon impact approaches to textual interpretation?3 Should any legitimate hermeneutic consider the possibility of intentionality/modality conflict? In other words, if one “knows” what a text means to say, is discussion of the manner of meaning merely academic? As part of your discussion and analysis of the intersection of mode/intention and its effect on textual interpretation, you must include (in a way of your own choosing, but a significant way) an analysis/discussion of the episode “Darmok” we watched for class.
Requirements:
750 word minimum length
At least one outside source
MLA style throughout, but no works cited page
Heavy analysis (no summary of Benjamin or “Darmok,” and only necessary summary of outside sources)
No five paragraph essays
Time:
This essay exam is designed to take no longer than two hours of actual writing time, but I don’t have Canvas configured to enforce a time limit. Instead, I ask that you try not to spend more than two hours writing the exam if possible. I strongly discourage you from spending more than four hours writing your essay; however, you can spend as much time as you see fit in planning your essay.
Footnotes:
From the Zohn translation as printed in Walter Benjamin: Selected Writings Volume 1 1913-1926, edited by Bullock and Jennings, 2002 printing.
From a Zohn translation as printed in Walter Benjamin: Illuminations, edited by Hannah Arendt, 2007 printing.
Phenomenon here refers to the potential for mode/intention conflict within a text
Last Completed Projects
| topic title | academic level | Writer | delivered |
|---|