Preview

Alain De Botton's On Anticipation

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
502 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Alain De Botton's On Anticipation
On Alain de Botton's "On Anticipation" Alain de Botton's main argument on the relationship between anticipation and travel is that while one waits in anticipation of a trip they begin to imagine the most beautiful scenario while often leaving out reality. He also explains how when we are going to travel we tend to leave out the thoughts of the actually travel itself. We see ourselves somehow just showing up to this beautiful destination without having any travel or problems. "In my anticipation, there had simply been a vacuum between the airport and my hotel. Nothing had existed in my mind between the last line on the itinerary and the hotel room." (Botton) Botton shows this main idea in his quote explaining then when he got off the airport …show more content…
Botton goes into full indepth descriptions of what he sees and also feels allowing the reader to create their own personal image of where he is in their minds. This may seem like it wouldn't persuade the readers by allowing them to create their own scenarios and image in their head but it does the opposite. Botton uses descriptions in a way that makes you create the image the exact way he wants you to almost making you feel the same emotions he did. Botton says "nothing was as I had imagined it, which is surprising only if one considers what I had imagined. " I picked this quote out of the many other ones where Botton actually describes what he sees because I feel that Botton in a way wrote a light satire about his own use of imagery. Botton also uses Huysman's character the Duc des Esseintes along with his own personal accounts to persuade his readers into thinking that his view is correct. Botton does this by telling des Esseintes story of traveling to London but things don't turn out the way des Esseintes had pictured it to and decides to go home. He uses des Esseintes' story as a sort of backing to his own personal accounts of being let down by the reality of the actual destination because of the images they created in their mind due to the anticipation of the trip. Botton tells his own personal accounts which is very effective because

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Characterization of Main Characters in Two Short Stories by Robert Lipsyte „Future Tense“ and Robert Cormier “ In the heat…

    • 725 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Another component that Finney presents is Imagery. The way that he portrays characters and item is by painting a picture for the reader. Finney explains imagery in the second paragraph by describing the main character's visual appearance.…

    • 169 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Delicate Operation

    • 294 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The best part about his writing was the way he paints a picture of everything that occurs in the reader’s head. While reading it’s easy to really see every single aspect of the gory procedure Selby is describing. This imagery is effective for two major reasons, one it again adds to the mood of the story and two it adds to the emotion and suspense. This style of writing really makes the reader identify with the character, creating a lot of sympathy and makes the reader feel obligated to keep reading till the end how the story turns out.…

    • 294 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The use of imagery helps the reader to paint a mental image of the scenes throughout the book. As Simon…

    • 518 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    He shows how things looked like through the eyes of Farquhar instead of what was truly going on. "Suddenly he felt himself whirled round and round - spinning like a top. ...objects were represented by their colors only; circular horizontal streaks of color - that was all he saw." This is showing evidence that he is starting to lose his consciousness and things are slowly becoming vague and uncertain.…

    • 499 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Imagery is an important literary device which, when used well, can enable an author to convey powerful and persuasive themes. Imagery can also be used to convey the mood of a book in ways that straightforward, factual descriptions never could. Jewett's use of imagery is incredibly effective. She uses imagery to convey Sylvia's surroundings and emotions to the reader. The following passage is a good example of how Jewett uses imagery: "Sylvia's face was like a pale star, if one had seen it from the ground, when the last thorny bough was past, and she stood trembling and tired...(Line 55-57)." These lengthy and intricate sentences are filled with detail. This allows the reader to create a very detailed image in his/her mind of what is occurring in the excerpt. Nevertheless, Jewett still uses many short telegraphic sentences to focus the reader's attention to what is happening at that moment. In Line 10 and Line 27 Jewett writes, "Sylvia knew it well,"� and "Sylvia felt her way easily."� Both of these sentences are very "to the point"� telegraphic sentences. Even though they are telegraphic it does not detract from their importance "" it adds to it.…

    • 586 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I decided to write about Claude Debussy because I believe he was an extraordinary composer and his works really influenced the 20th century. Claude Debussy was born on August 22, 1862, in France. Debussy, showed a significant interested in piano since he was a kid. This passion about piano, opened the door for a new path regarding music, that changed his life in a very good and beneficial way. Although, he did not come from a rich family, Debussy became a very honorable person. His journey in the music’s life started at the age of 7, when he began to take piano lesson. As a result, he entered at the Paris conservatory at the age of 11. During his years at the conservatory, he showed his talent and outstanding confidence while playing the piano.…

    • 1116 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hitchcock once said that there’s “no drama in a bomb going off, there’s drama in the anticipation of the bomb going off”.…

    • 722 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Traveling mindset causes more happiness in ones life than having a home mindset. Being home made Alain de Botton upset. "The home town was unimpressed. It was still raining. The park was still a pond and the skies funereal… I felt there could be few worse places on earth than the one I had been fated to spend my existence in". Alain de Botton was not happy to be back from his vacation. While in Barbados, it only right to have a traveling mindset. He explored by reading under coconut trees and swimming along baby turtles. When returning, he had a home mindset, which is also a closed mindset. His return to London was a reminder of the indifference of the world to any of the events unfolding in the lives of its inhabitants. If de Botton had a traveling mindset while returning from his trip from Barbados, he would have not felt as if being home was the worst place. de Botton was settled in his exceptions, and explored everything in…

    • 906 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    The principle of anticipation and continuity are two of the sustainment essential to maintaining combat power, enabling strategic and operational reach, and providing Army forces with endurance. By applying the principle of anticipation, a sustainment network can extend operational reach in greater flexibility to maintain tempo, moderate risk, or develop opportunities. Anticipation is the skill to forecast operational requirements and begin…

    • 1521 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Habit” by Alain de Botton, de Botton makes distinctions between the “traveling mindset” and a…

    • 1338 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The prose piece, Kiss and Tell by Alain de Botton, offers the reader a humorous, as well as embarrassing, glimpse into the life of a young woman named Isabel. Botton establishes a comical ambiance between the daughter and her parents, by creating a situation that many can relate to, by way of dialogue.…

    • 1107 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Interpretations of texts are painted by the representations of personalities, through events and situations. They enthrall the audience to reflect on characters’ vices and virtues, determining their true nature, and spawning conflict between their various perspectives drawn from techniques. These differing personal interpretations evoke conflicting perspectives in the audience’s minds.…

    • 878 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    -The aspects of Polo’s description like the infinite number of villages, creatures that yeild musk, rice, tilted fields. Another alluring part is how there are multiple places represented by different people , because there are either many monarchs or just none. I think that all the different imagery might make them think that he is lying or just crazed.…

    • 844 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Classical Arguement

    • 1323 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The chapter, “Visual Rhetoric: Images as Arguments,” uses a wide variety of idea to help supports different claims. It gives quotes, images, and comparisons to help a writer give credibility to their claim. I chose a quote by Napoleon Bonaparte to help persuade my readers. He is a famous conqueror from history, which gives his appeal to men credibility. He had to persuade thousands to fight and die for him, so I can use his words to help sell hair products. It also appeals to emotions which is part of the same claim I used in the paper.…

    • 1323 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics