"The Miracle of Melancholia" by Eric G. Wilson
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After reading "The Miracle of Melancholia" by Eric G. Wilson, need to answer these questions 3 questions. It could be all together in a paragraph or question by question.
-Can this author be right?
-Is it possible that melancholia can have a positive outcome?
-What are some examples that come to mind?
All the answers together at least 500 words in length.
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Solution Summary
The solution discusses "The Miracle of Melancholia" by Eric G. Wilson.
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Firstly, it seems your instructor expects something at least two pages in length; that to me suggests at the very least two very large body paragraphs, if not three regular body paragraphs (or even five, if this is more of a journal reflection and not an essay with intro/conclusion work). Keeping that in mind, I'll propose a structure at the end. But for now, let's look at the rest of the question:
It seems the question is asking for your reasoned opinions; this to me suggests that as long as you are basing your thoughts on the text itself, any thoughts you have as an answer should be just fine. That said, it could be a little tricky, since the article itself (which I read here: http://articles.latimes.com/2008/feb/17/opinion/op-wilson17 ) seems to include a few things directly you could consider for a response.
To kind of "recap" the information, as I understand it, Wilson's position is clearly that experiencing pain is (A) something that the U.S. as a collective whole goes to great lengths to constantly avoid, (B) this kind of avoidance is not only setting people up to eventually fall into sadness more deeply when sadness occurs, and (C) that normal experiences of pain can be helpful opportunities for seeing beauty, worth and value in those things that matter, like personal relationships or other beneficial circumstances in the world (for example, having plenty of options for food on any given day). In his own words, "Melancholia, far from error or defect, is an almost miraculous invitation to rise above the contented status quo ...
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