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Summary Of Annie Dillard's Essay Seeing

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We are living in the world of technology, where just a small device called smartphone can offer us whatever we want to see. We are living in a world, where we are too busy to go out and explore nature. Caring about this actual situation, Dillard writes an essay Seeing to express her opinion about the importance of observing. According to her, “(Seeing) is a matter of keeping my eyes open”( Dillard, 27). It is not just the use of vision, but it is also the ability of the soul to feel and to understand. “Seeing” in this chapter is the process of finding, understanding, and feeling. The “open eyes” in this context does not imply the physical state of the eyes, but it is widened as a state of consciousness to perceive and enjoy the world around us. For instance, when we look at a flight of swallows, we do not only recognize them as birds, but we notice them as a sign of spring, which brings warmth and hope. Looking at a thing can arouse feelings in us. Watching swallows evokes the feeling of freshness and energy to start a …show more content…

Therefore, she encourages us to keep our eyes open to wait and to enjoy the wonderful moments that nature gives us. Keeping our eyes open is keeping our minds cultivated. Steward Edward White once said: “I have always maintained that if you looked closely enough you could see the wind—the dim, hardly-made-out, fine debris fleeing high in the air” (Dillard, 28). If we look at everything thoroughly, we will recognize the existence of things that seem to be invisible such as air, wind, and sunlight. Therefore, observing is very important in shaping our perception of the world. From noticing the sky, the sea, the trees, the animals, and others subjects, we gradually understand what this world is

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