quest final 1

7/25/2019 Quest Final 1

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Tollison 1

Trip Tollison

Dr. Deborah Paes de Barros

English 203

3 March 2015

When the Quest is !er

" ne!er #ould ha!e belie!ed it. The applause #as $or %e. &ll %' li$e " ha!e been sh'( a

#all $lo#er( an intro!ert #ith a strong strea) o$ gee) glo#ing so%e#here underneath an

un$inished* ga#)' e+terior* hiding in the shado#s $or $ear o$ being recogni,ed. " re%e%ber the

$ascination and a#e " $elt #hen " $irst heard Ton' -obbins spea). " could not e!en conceptuali,e

ho# %uch o$ hi%sel$ he proected #hen he spo)e* nor ho# the )no#ledge he #as rela'ing to %e

%ight inspire changes in %' li$e( e!en less belie!e that " %ight so%eda' do the sa%e. /et here

#as a group o$ pro$essionals* the best in their $ields* co%ing up to than) %e $or an outstanding

presentation* and as)ing %e to share %ore o$ %' thoughts #ith the%. "t #as #ith onl' a

%o%ents re$lection that " reali,ed that b' proecting %' $ull sel$ into this group* " had* on a

s%aller scale* done the sa%e thing Ton' -obbins did #hen " had heard hi% spea). " had inspired

changes in ho# these people #ould use their )no#ledge to do things. e!er again #ould " ha!e

reason to dread public spea)ing. " had $aced %' $ear and o!erco%e* e!en sur%ounted it. M'

personal epic uest had been $ul$illed. o# #hat

4uch is the e!er a$ter6 o$ an' success$ul portra'al o$ a uest. Though the e+istence o$

the persona %a' continue* the telling o$ the ourne' is done. The %oti!ating $orce o$ see)ing6

that de$ines the heroic uest presents so%e !er' speci$ic challenges to an author7 #hen to re!eal

the nature o$* and co%pletion o$* the uest( ho# to $inali,e the telling o$ the tale. Ti%e beco%es


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Tollison 2

an authors in!isible tool. "n both The -a,ors Edge b' 4o%erset Maugha%* and in "nto the Wild

b' 8on 9ra)auer* though the authors presentations o$ the heros ourne' di$$er radicall' and

pro!ide al%ost opposing $or%s o$ entertain%ent* each author uses ti%e as a tool to share their

o#n philosophies on li$e.

The abilit' to transcend ti%e allo#s great $reedo%s to a #riter* 'et this abilit' also

reuires a #riter to choose the #hen6 o$ both the beginning and ending o$ the presented stor'*

as #ell as controlling the pace and $lo# o$ ti%e. The heros search has an intrinsic challenge as to

#hen e+actl' to begin and end the authorship o$ the tale. The decision o$ #hen and ho# to

introduce the %ain characters de$ines ho# the author #ill proceed #ith the stor'. $ten the

author* once the pri%ar' search is $ul$illed* is done #ith the telling o$ the stor' and hastens to

address loose ends and $ind so%e #a' to end the tale #hile the a$terglo# o$ the co%pletion o$

the uest still lingers in the readers %ind. The $air'tale cliches o$ nce upon a ti%e6 and the'

li!ed happil' e!er a$ter6 address this desire $or introduction and co%pletion #ithin the attention

span o$ a child and are rarel' appropriate $or use #ith %ore sophisticated audiences. Both

4o%erset Maugha% and 8on 9ra)auer choose to address these challenges in #a's that allo# the

authors to e+press their o#n concepts o$ the i%portance o$ ti%e in li$e.

"n the $irst line o$ The -a,ors Edge b' 4o%erset Maugha%* the author chooses to allo#

hi%sel$ a $reedo% o$ ti%ing and contrariness o$ subect not o$ten seen in tales o$ heroes.

Maugha% releases hi%sel$ $ro% these bonds o$ standard $or%at in the opening line o$ the boo)*

telling the reader* " ha!e ne!er begun a no!el #ith such %isgi!ing ... " ha!e little stor' to tell

and " end #ith neither death nor %arriage6:;


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Tollison 3

hints Maugha% in his $irst paragraph. These uses o$ the present tense in the introductor'

paragraphs introduces the authors sense o$ the i%portance o$ sta'ing in the present %o%ent

#hile li!ing li$e. "n the $irst page o$ the stor'* a gli%pse o$ Maugha%s philosoph' shines

through.

9ra)auer chooses a radicall' di$$erent philosoph' and approach. Beginning the $irst

chapter o$ "nto the Wild #ith a postcard $ro% the pri%ar' character sho#s the i%portance the

author places on capturing each indi!idual e!ent e!ent li$e o$$ers..

&pril 2=th*1;;2

>reetings $ro% ?airban)s@ This is the last 'ou #ill hear $ro% %e Wa'ne. &rri!ed

here 2 da's ago. ...

"$ this ad!enture pro!es $atal and 'ou dont e!er hear $ro% %e again ... " #ill no#

#al) into the #ild. &le+. :11

quest final 1

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