Question

Rodriguez-Padilla celebrates the purity, honesty, and directness of his own childhood writing: "You wrote from the heart back then, about the things you cared about. You didn't care to be the next Kate Chopin or Oscar Wilde" (Eschholz 54). Yet, this piece begins with a quotation from Montaigne and includes several literary references. Is that considered a pardox? Is writing "from the heart" compatible with writing in a sophisticated or intellectually demanding way? Why, or why not?

Answer 1

Answer and Explanation:

1. This can be considered a paradox. This is because the quote states that the writer did not care about being Kate Chopin or Oscar Wilde, in this case, we can understand that he did not care about the great names of literature, but the author contradicts himself, when he uses quotes from well-known writers, showing that he, in fact, gives importance to the great names of literature. This is a paradox, that is, it is a contradiction that maintains a little bit of truth.

2. Writing "from the heart" is not compatible with writing in a sophisticated and formal way. This is because writing in a sophisticated way means writing in a rational, coherent and grammatically correct way, writing "from the heart" means writing with emotion, regardless of rules, linguistic devices or academic concepts, but in the way that emotion commands.