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 moths in the beginning of the essay serve as food for the spider. Before, when they were alive, the moths dumbly fell into the trap of the spider’s web. Now, they are just hollow shells of what used to be a winged creature. The moths at the campsite go to the flame because they like the brightness. The light is a curiosity to them and they go towards it because it is attractive to them.

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

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

There are multiple references to fire in the essay. One example would be when the big moth caught on fire in Dillard’s candle. Another would be the book she was reading, A Day On Fire. Dillard lit a candle at home and just left it burning. Her cat was burned by the little fire as well.
The larger significance is that Dillard wants to ignite a fire within herself and her students. Both fires would burn for knowledge and motivation to learn or do something important. She has the goal to become a writer and for her students to

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

The first quote goes along with what Dillard wants to prove. She wants to have a significant impact on her students and their lives instead of just being another teacher that they will hear lectures from about school work. The second also goes along with this point. Dillard wants to educate the children and set them up for learning even more and craving to learn. Learning shouldn’t be boring like filling a pail with water. It should be enlightening and an ignition of their minds. The third quote can be used to describe when she was trying to read the book and wouldn’t stop until she got something out of it. She wanted to become motivated, or use the book as an “axe” against her mind, “the frozen sea within us”, and she wants for her students to read and pursue their passions and open up their minds to see in different perspectives, to think differently and to think more.