Joel Manfredi

English 5870

Dr. De Vries

If there was ever a reading that went way over my head this semester, this one was it.  I was pretty much confused the entire time that I read it and still don’t have a good grasp on what it was I was supposed to get out of it.  I’m hoping that by reading some of your posts I will gain a better understanding of this reading.  

The person who sees the grand canyon but doesn’t really see the canyon because they have been conditioned that the canyon is supposed to be seen a certain way… okay.  And the only way to see the grand canyon again (if that’s even possible anymore because it’s called the grand canyon which already skews one’s view) is to approach it from “off the beaten track.”  But even here Percy says that finding the canyon this way “will only be the closing of another access to the canyon.  He says, “the thing is recovered from familiarity by means of an exercise in familiarity.”  I don’t know what that means.

An interesting question, however, is asked at a certain point of this reading.  “Does access to the place require the exclusion of others?”(52)  I would argue yes and no, because it depends where you are, what you are looking for or doing, and what you are trying to gain from your experience.  If you are fishing in the mountains, you might want to have privacy and feel a whole lot better in a remote location with nobody around.

On the other hand, if you are in a third world country, you may want to have some familiarity with others around you to feel a sense of security. 

I’m having a hard time figuring out how this piece relates to our class and ethnography in general.  Maybe I just need some help in understanding what it is that I am missing.  Obviously, I’m not getting something…