Journeys
...ributes to the cumulation of images. We “follow” his eyes and hear, such sounds as “The roaring dell”, and see the dell “o’erwooded, narrow, deep”, and “only speckled by the midday sun” as he tells the reader of the sights, sounds and feelings of the place his mind has taken him to. Coleridge also includes other techniques such as onomatopoeia in “roaring dell” and the use of elision to keep within the ten syllable metre for example “Unsunn’d” or “stood’st”. This example of a journey through the mind in place of the real thing tells me that journey is perhaps an accumulation of the knowledge of one’s mind and senses to explore a concept at heightened awareness of our initial understanding. Another way the journey is represented is the one that ‘The Wind in the Willows’ by Kenneth Grahame portrays. To me his extract from the BOS Stimulus Booklet allows us to grapple with the idea that perhaps a journey is a gathering of information about the world or universe around us. Through techniques such as listing when Toad says, “letter-paper, bacon, jam, cards and dominoes”, juxtaposing Toad’s enthusiasm with Rat’s disinclination, and puns such as “I’m going to make an animal of you, my boy!”, Grahame creates a sense of excitement and urgency in the reader. Toad presents his idea of a journey as, “Here today, up and off to somewhere else tomorrow”. His journey is full of hope and promise, rich with new possibilities and knowledge. “Travel, change, interest, excitement! The whole world before you, and a horizon that is always changing!” he proclaims to others. The exclamation marks allow the reader to note Toad’s statement as a new discovery in their little town. Rat tempers Toad’s proclamation by saying, “And I am going to stick to my old river . . . as I’ve always done.” Using the italics Grahame emphasizes Rat’s point of sticking with the old. This text presents another side of the imaginative journey. That the journey can be a risk rather than an enjoyment. My related text for journey is a factual book by the Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler called ‘The Art of Happiness’. This book relates to the imaginative journey as it involves your imagination that makes the book a rewarding experience. This self-help book attempts to separate the “wheat” of true happiness from the “chaff” of compulsive pleasure seeking, self centered gratification or dysfunctional relationships etc. This book also tells us that the spiritual journey, which a self-help book is, encompasses our imagination. With chapter headings such as “Transforming Suffering” and “Overcoming Obstacles” it takes you through steps and stages on the way to your happiness. It puts forth practices that you can implement into your life to achieve this such as “Shifting Perspective” or “Dealing with Anger and Hatred”. The book uses emotive language, blocks of dialogue, metaphor and anecdotes to present imaginary situations such as in ‘Dealing with Anger and Hatred’ we are told that to combat these emotions we must “actively cultivate the antidotes to hatred [and anger]: [which ...