Blog #4: "The Known World" Essay & Reflection

In The Known World by Edward. P. Jones, Jones reveals the character of Moses through a third person limited point of view and utilizes detail and imagery to capture how Moses is in touch with the land in every physical essence and furthermore, shows his longevity as a slave with a modest, meek personality.

As the overseer slave to his master who dies that evening, Moses continues to plow the field after he dismisses everyone else for the evening. Certain details reveal the impossible length of his day and also the length of the time he has lived as a slave. Jones directly states that Moses worked for “fifteen hours”, but other details, “When, he, Moses, finally freed himself of the ancient and brittle harness…all that was left of the sun was a five-inch-long memory" suggest that Moses has spent many years of his life as a slave. 

Moses eating the dirt, his ability to sense the month and season, and his smile at the onset of rain represents his appreciation for the simple things in life. He has a humble approach towards everything, and even towards his position as the slave overseer. Moses' character is embodied in the quote "...the eating of it [dirt] tied him to the only things in his small world that meant almost as much as his own life." Moses is a smooth and easy man, he only values a few aspects of his life which include his family and his faith.

Reflection:

After carefully reading The Known World by Edward P. Jones, I had a difficult time settling on one interpretation of how the author revealed the character of Moses. Multiple things stood out to me: the all-consuming attachment that Moses has with nature, the spiritually cleansing effect that nature has on Moses, and his humble and meek attitude towards his life. After analyzing the "norming" essays and discussing them in class, I now realize that it was Moses' connection and intimacy with nature that allowed him to feel free. I was unable to make that connection. Instead, I attributed his behavior to his personality; in retrospect, I can see why that would be considered as a "safe" interpretation that lacks complexity.

If I had to grade my essay, I would give it a four. I don't think that this is such a harsh decision due to the fact that my essay lacked development and sophisticated analysis. I only had three paragraphs written and the third point was not completely finished. To be honest, the last sentence that I wrote about the value Moses has for family and faith was merely something I threw together at the last second. I didn't want to end my essay with a quote and no explanation, so I added an arbitrary statement at the end. If I had stuck with my point in the thesis that "Moses is in touch with the land in every physical essence" and extended it to his emotional and psychological side, I would have been more successful. After learning about what an essay that scored a nine should include, I realize that there is always some sort of irony, paradox, or contrast that needs to be found when it comes to identifying complexity. In this case the irony was simply the fact that although Moses feels freedom through his relationship with nature, it is nature itself that is binding and enslaving him by isolating him from humanity.

My situation was similar to my last essay; I was on the right track by discussing the physiological effects that nature has on Moses, but I needed to extend it further, to all aspects of his life. Again, I settled for the safer interpretation rather than building upon an interpretation that I was beginning to attempt, but ultimately deemed unconventional. I hope to be able to hone my craft in future, going deeper instead of only skimming the surface. Though it might sound cliché, I can truthfully say I should have gone with my gut. I wanted to note the significance of Moses staying out late and not going home to his wife and children, but I thought, "no, that's just absurd, he loves nature more than he does his own family?" But it turns out that it's not absurd at all to think of his relationship with nature as a romantic one. Somehow, I always end up in this place where I almost get to the complexity, where I'm literally one or two steps away from it, but something draws me back to what's comfortable.

One of my goals for the prose passage essay was to pick out the complexities by asking myself questions (are there details that contradict each other to show contrast, what kind of imagery is being used so that it affects mood and tone, etc.). I think that I was on the right track with my thinking, but I failed to identify the irony because I was solely focused on the details and the imagery; somehow I needed to tie it back to the big picture. Sadly, my other goals of being more organized and efficient in the active reading and planning stages of the essay were nowhere better than the previous essay. Again, I think that I was too overwhelmed to stay organized. I didn't get to ask myself all the questions that I wanted to while reading the essay, therefore, I missed the complexities. In the future, I am going to start writing down anything that I see in the passage that might answer my questions (Are there details that contradict each other to show contrast? What kind of imagery is being used so that it affects mood and tone? How is the author shifting his/her tone? How does the author change pacing?).