Kevnotes

[Quote of the post] Knowledge is Power. Power corrupts. Study hard; be evil. -Jarrel
[Song of the post] Ride On - Final Fantasy VIII

This story Uncle Edna is a comment on the disadvantages of critical literary analysis required for written commentaries. The author effectively uses irony in the life of a young teenage boy to show that the ability to perceive what others usually don't is dangerous.

The comment made by his teacher totally supports this fact. "'It's like we're cursed,' he said. 'When my friend and I go to listen to choirs, we can hear all the off-keys, all the slip notes... in the same way, when you read a passage, you have to break it into pieces in your head... analyse it... won't be able to just enjoy it or read it for entertainment...'". This shows that once you have the ability to analyse something critically, all the bad points start showing up, and it prevents you from enjoying it further.

Furthermore, this point is further elaborated when Uncle Edna is leaving the library with his friends. He tries to explain that when you start analysing a person, trying to think what he is thinking about, trying to understand his feelings, you begin to "see" everything about that person. For emotions and thoughts and character, these are all non-superficial qualities, and thus the analyst has to assume some of them. And because of Uncle Edna's character, he assumes the worst, just in case. It is this quality of his, combined with his poor communication skills, and the relectance to worry other people with things that they don't need to worry about, that results in his point not getting across.

Ironically, he also utilizes this skill upon himself. In double comic irony, the text you are reading now is actually another "critical analysis" on a person's character, namely, Uncle Edna himself. The author skillfully uses bombastic language and vague pronouns at this point to confuse the reader further. Also note that the author already is confused beyond any doubt.

In conclusion, through the use of Uncle Edna, the author conveys the message that total perception is a "curse" which not many can handle.

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Finished studying Language Arts halfway today. Still got 8 stories left. I really hope Second Opinion doesn't come out.

And I'm halfway through Core Math as well. Argh. I'm so inefficient. I need to wake up earlier tomorrow. I need to draw quadratic curves more nicely.