Ekphrasis, "Monarch of the Glen"

The stag clacks up the stony ridge to a crest carpeted by wispy grasses. Here he surveys his airy dominion. The sky, a backdrop of slate, portends coming rain. The damp air folds around the Cairngorms. He strikes a noble pose with head aloft to scent the hinds lingering below. With neck thick in anticipation of autumn’s rites, his mane bristles like a rampant lion. His roaring bellow echoes from Ben Machudi—a proud declaration of his unrivaled sovereignty. Barrel-chested and prime in life, he struts with justified haughtiness. His sienna coat turns the howling wind. Is àrd ceann an fhèidh sa chreachann. Lofty is the deer’s head on the mountain. His rightful seat remains unchallenged. Satisfied, he beds on the lee side of the mount and chews the tender grasses. Above the wheaten cradle his antlers reach skyward like barren oaks. Their branches, unadorned, quicken the heart of a gamekeeper watching jealously far below. But safe still the stag remains, for even Bran or Sceolan dare not tread here.

The Misfit Academe

I shouldn't be writing this blog.

I should be writing an essay. I don't want to write the essay. Why? I find it boring. That may sound ridiculous considering the fact that I picked the topic. But, even with the boon of picking my own topic, scientific writing doesn't thrill me. It is a spiritually thankless art. Sure, a skilled scientific writer may do better in grad school or be more likely to get published in a prestigious journal. However, that is a different kind of fulfillment that what one gains when the muses strike a chorus of thunder and the pen boldly writes of inner thoughts.

I deeply tempted to write the essay in the form of a scholarly personal narrative (SPN). As an undergrad I was lucky enough to have a great professor introduce me to this form. The SPN blends the virtues of traditional scientific writing (credibility, attribution, review, and process) with the voice of the author. I know that it can be done and what is more--I have already done it. So what is holding me back? Put simply, guts. I wasn't given the slightest guideline for this essay. Essentially, it was "go west, young man, and prosper!". So, there are no explicit warnings against writing in this style. Yet, I am savvy enough to read between the lines. The essay is for a course in a department in which I am an outsider--a department in which engineering and design and numbers take precedence. Literary creativity would at best be seen as nothing more than a misguided attempt to fill up pages with words and at worst would be seen as a failure of a liberal arts hack to adapt to the realm of science. Yet, the SPN offers a unique opportunity to enliven a dreary topic.

Relatability. All of politics, success and life is based on relatability. What good are all those numbers, coefficients, r-squares, and chi-values without application and context? They are absolutely worthless. Science exists not to exclude the layman from a social circle, but to improve his life through defined procedure. Yet, the layman does not readily translate Pearson coefficients into money, joy, or love. Science is the slave to art. Art may have value on its own, but without art science cannot be digested by the multitude.

You know what? I am writing an SPN tomorrow!