I think that questioning is the most important concept in both Scott and Greenblatt. Without explicitly saying the word question, they explain in their own unique way why questioning is so important to us as human beings. They delve into their own separate topics but they are constantly going back to questions. They both ask questions of the reader, and show the importance of asking ourselves questions, asking others questions, and asking the world questions. According to these two philosophical texts, if we don’t ask questions, we will be content with what others tell us, we will continue falling into forms of instant gratification, and we will never attempt to improve ourselves and our environment.
Based on the reading from Scott, aesthetic experience is a subjective, emotional response to art, and one major way to respond to art is by asking questions. In fact, Scott says that criticism and questioning are, in their own ways, art themselves, and should, therefore, be treated as such. Scott feels like questions are art, and bring humans from the beautiful and agreeable to the good. Although this is not crucial to basic survival, it gives us a reason to keep fighting and enjoy life to its fullest. According to Scott, living in the good makes life and art more meaningful.
Greenblatt argues that, in order to self-fashion oneself, you must ask questions to learn about the world around you and discover what has shaped your identity so that you can adapt and change if you want or need to. The first step towards self-fashioning, according to Greenblatt, involves identifying the self, the alien and the authority. In other words, you have to ask yourself who your authority and alien are, and who you are. Once you figure that out, you can ask yourself why you are the way you are, and seek to reinvent, or self-fashion yourself. You have to question yourself in order to change yourself.
Both of these thinkers consistently ask questions in their writing as well as talking about their importance. Scott even starts his piece with a question as a hook, asking, “Do you like what you like because of who you are? Or is it the sum of your likes and dislikes that makes you who you are as a person?” Using questions, they both turn their writings into more of a conversation. They encourage us to come to our own conclusions and don’t force-feed the reader answers. They leave the questions open-ended and explain that their knowledge on the topics skims the surface, but that there is no solid answer to any one of them. In summary, the concept of questions is crucial in the reading of these texts and how they are written.
Popova laces her texts with quotes from different pieces of literature to tie them together. I used quotes to back up my ideas as well. She includes photos of art in many forms to elaborate on her ideas. I used 3 photos to add to my points. Her opinions are noticeable but she backs them up with text. I tried to do the same. She seems to write like she speaks, not feeling the need to be super formal but just trying to show how she feels about the topic. I attempted to write my piece using proper grammar and elaborate on my ideas without making it sound like a report. I tried to include all of the elements of Popova's writing in my rhetorical analysis.
Throughout the three texts from Scott, Berger, and Greenblatt, the idea of questioning comes out as a major theme. Asking questions expands our knowledge, helps us make connections, and how we can use questions to understand more about the unknown. Berger brings up the point that education today shuts down questioning and therefore hinders growth beyond the structured curriculums. All of the writings show the importance of questioning to make the world a better place.
A. O. Scott introduces his book, Better Living Through Criticism, by asking, “Do you like what you like because of who you are? Or is it the sum of your likes and dislikes that makes you who you are as a person?” Throughout the first part of his book, he discusses criticizing art and asking the right questions to deepen our understanding of the creative world. How do we determine what we like and dislike? Why do we all like different things?
Why is the Mona Lisa so famous if it is so small and hard to get a good look at?
Warren Berger’s book, A More Beautiful Question, addresses the fear of asking these questions. Schools today do not like, or do not have time to allow students to ask questions. With the strict rules on what can be taught in a certain amount of time, teachers are forced to minimize time for asking questions and expanding learning. When questioning is discouraged at a young age, people become hesitant to be openly curious, even as they get older.
In today’s society, children’s curiosity is discouraged and fades away in school, so that even as adults, they are less likely to ask questions.
As Robert Greenblatt expands on his book, Renaissance Self-Fashioning, questions are important to ask for many reasons. Of course it deepens and broadens our knowledge of ourselves and the world around us, but it also helps us make changes and connections. Both Greenblatt and Scott talk about comparing seemingly unrelated things. This is seen in history, with the common themes of wanting more, starting and ending revolutions, and the thread of chaos.
If Steve Jobs had not asked, What is Apple? it might have gone bankrupt, making them unable to advance as much as they have in the past few years.
A major theme comes out of these three books, and it is that asking questions is important. If we never question, we will be content with what we have and never look for ways to improve. We will accept other people's opinions on art and aesthetics. We must encourage kids to question for them to be able to wonder and explore and make the world a better place. Curiosity is the only way we can continue to grow and expand as individuals and communities.