Dr. Bryan Burton on Dostoyevski

I always enjoy seeing what book Bryan Burton has in his hands at Starbucks. It was at Starbucks that he first insisted I read Dostoyevski. So it was a great pleasure to have him come speak today about C&P.

I particularly liked that my students were able to hear a real reaction to literature, how it connects with the deep stuff of life, how Bryan was first struck by Dostoyevsky while studying theology in seminary. I like that my students could see a pastor who is moved to his core by the power of a story. Indeed, it's always been evident to me, from the pew, that he was a man of books. I like to introduce students to men and women of books.

Even as a teacher who must explain existentialism to students each year, I got a little schooling today. It's such a complex and difficult topic that to hear it packaged anew was of great benefit. One sentence I wrote down as he spoke was, "you can't separate being and doing" in existentialism. That was a good phrase for me. If being (existing) is so vitally linked to doing, then the importance of psychology is elevated - I'd never thought of that before. And existential lit would then be profoundly interested in bringing the reader into a character's internal reality. We'll talk more about this, dig through it, in class.

A few final thoughts: Our library needs a copy of Invitation to the Classics, if we don't already have it (we might). We also need The Gospel in Dostoevsky. I need to read some Dorothy Sayers. I should get on to Tolstoy sometime soon. And I am seriously considering forgiving Dr. Burton for blaspheming Shakespeare :)

Did Raskolnikov Repent?

Assignment: Blog about RRR's repentance, if and when. You may quote, summarize, or report.

It is my assertion that he did in fact repent. Repenting consists of admitting one's wrong and then committing oneself to not repeating the wrong. RRR admits his sin to Sonia when he first confesses to her:

"Sonia, I have a bad heart, take note of that... I have come because I am bad...... Well, of course in killing the old woman I did wrong. Well, that's enough." (pp325-327)

It is true that he continues to indulge in rationalization of his crime, but I find this to be a realistic portrayal of the sinner and his sin. The Bible talks about the continual working out of one's salvation (Phil 2:12) and in other places of an ongoing process of being saved. In RRR's confession to Sonya, and then to the public at the "crossroads," and finally to the law, he puts himself in the singular position of repentance. But his redemption is far from over.

Redemption happens in the epilogue (structurally significant, I think). It's important to note that this part of his salvation is worked out alongside Sonya. It would not have happened outside of love. The first part is largely mental -- yes, I am a sinner just like the rest of humanity, and I can't save myself. The second part is a transformation of the heart -- walk alongside me, Sonya, walk with me, Jesus.

"[Raskolnikov] could not have analyzed anything consciously; he was simply feeling. Life had stepped into the place of theory and something quite different would work itself out in his mind... But that is the beginning of a new story -- the story of the gradual renewal of a man, the story of his gradual regeneration, of his passing from one world into another, of his initiation into a new unknown life." (p430)

Oh How I Love Terms, Part I

Rhetoric
Modes of Discourse: exposition, description, narration, argument
Subsets of exposition: cause and effect, compare and contrast, process analysis...

Argument
Subset of argument: persuasion (motivates audience to action)
Modes of Persuasion:
ethos (appeal to authority)
pathos (appeal to emotion)
logos (appeal to logic)
Inductive logic (specific to general)
Deductive logic (general to specific)
Syllogism
Analogy (specific to specific)
Axiom, axiomatic
Implication (author/sender implies)
Inference (reader/audience infers)
Invective
Fallacy
Examples of fallacies: ad hominem, non sequitur, bandwagon, straw man, false dilemma, circular reasoning, scapegoat...

Rhetorical question (no response is requested)
Ambiguity (must be intended)
Irony:
Dramatic (discordance b/w what appears and what is known)
Situational (discordance b/w what is understood/expected and what actually is)
Verbal (discordance b/w what is said and what is meant)
Sarcasm (ridicules)
Satire (must have a target)
Allusion (specific and oblique): classical, literary, historical
Motif
Symbol
Archetype