Carson Sehr's Ramblings

The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym becomes illusory in all facets of its plot--the exposition, the body, and, most notably, the conclusion; this lack of any truly concrete aspects gives the work a liminal, apparitious quality. The work embarks with a far-fetched preface describing Poe as the editor of the work, simply giving form to the account of Pym, the true author. As Pym is in the storage hold beyond the wits of the sailors, On their voyage, they are literally in the middle of the ocean, as far from concrete as Poe could write. Even when their position in the ocean is narrowed to somewhere extremely southern, Poe undermines this apparent solidity, placing them in such a previously impenetrable realm (the capital-S South Pacific), and by questioning and disproving previous expeditions in this area and the islands discovered; this effect is magnified when Poe creates three previously undiscovered islands in the area.  Needless to say, when the Jane Guy lands and unloads o...

At the beginning of last year as an introductory essay prompt, we were each given one of the most obscure college application prompts my teacher, Mrs. Mueller, could find. This was mine: Modern improvisational comedy had its start with The Compass Players, a group of University of Chicago students, who later formed the Second City comedy troupe. Here is a chance to play along. Improvise a story, essay, or script that meets all of the following requirements: It must include the line, "And yes I said yes I will Yes." ( Ulysses,  by James Joyce) Its characters may not have super powers. Your work has to mention the University of Chicago, but please, no accounts of a high school student applying to the University -- this is fiction, not autobiography. Your work must contain at least four of the following elements: a paper airplane, a transformation, a shoe, the invisible hand, two doors, pointillism, a fanciful explanation of the Pythagorean Theorem, a ventriloquist or ven...

I wrote this as my final paper for AP English Literature and Composition in May 2018. Socrates concluded in Plato’s Republic , “In the higher world form of good [truth] appears last of all, and is seen only with effort.” The question of reality and our perception of it has long encapsulated the minds of philosophers, and these great minds have claimed that reality, and our place in it, eludes mankind most of all. What defines a simulation? Most of today’s depictions involve a technological origin, as in The Matrix , or emanating from the recesses of the mind, including “The Night Face-Up,” by Julio Cortázar and Sophie’s World , by Jostein Gaarder. The podcast, Philosophize This!, examines the possibility that we exist in a simulation. After a plethora of viewpoints and objective analysis in the style of Sophie’s World, the hosts conclude that although humanity cannot wholly garner its status of reality or simulation, the answer would not have consequence. If the evening news beg...

Hi, I'm Carson, and I'm a college student; *hi Carson*. I'm majoring in Psychology and English with an Education certificate in Vermillion, South Dakota, worlds away from my home in Rapid City. I suppose this serves as my foray into the blogosphere--an art form seen as dying by anyone outside of its reach. Even if it is dying, that doesn't bother me; I'm writing for me, and no one else. Ideally, this blog will be, as the title conveys, my attempts at coherent ramblings over works I'm reading, and what I make of them. If you somehow find yourself stumbling on this blog, welcome! You have the privilege/burden to see my view of the world. It's quite rare to find someone who sees the same world you see. -- Turtles All the Way Down by John Green (9)