Journal #2

Journal 2 - Annie Dillard – “The Death of a Moth,” from Holy the
Firm

1. How are the moths in the essay’s opening different from the moth at the campsite? What do the different moths represent?

The different moths are the different approaches to life. The moths in the bathroom are dead and empty, but the moths in the fire are still burning and alive. These moths are still burning to live with passion, but the ones in the bathroom are the ones who are not motivated.




2. What lesson does the moth provide that Dillard takes back to her students?

If the students wanted to be writers, then they need to be dedicated and put their lives into it. She talks about the courage of being a writer and how you write when it seems like you do not have anything to write about. ‘You can’t be anything else. You must go at life with your broadax.’ Attack your life head on and be the one that goes all the way.




3. How many references are there to fire in the essay? What’s the larger significance of fire in the essay?

The fire is a symbol of the desire to learn and to achieve. The fire always burns, so you need the burning desire to be successful and give all you have.



4. Address how each of the following quotes connect to Dillard’s overall point.

a. “I would rather be ashes than dust!
I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot.
I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.
The function of man is to live, not to exist.
I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them.
I shall use my time.”
-Jack London
b. “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”
-William Butler Yeats


c. “A book should serve as the ax for the frozen sea within us.”
-Franz Kafka

These quotes go with the story because they are each saying you shouldn’t waste your life away. You need to go out and work hard and not be a bystander. The desire to learn is needed and to not waste your time.