Close Reading of "Look at Your Fish" Essay

Close Reading of "Look at Your Fish"

Samuel H. Scudder composed "Look at Your Fish" in 1874. The piece is a narrative and anecdote of Scudder's first encounter with Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz. Agassiz, at the time of their meeting, was an accomplished zoologist working at the Harvard University Lawrence Scientific School. Scudder was an entomologist who studied under and was mentored by Agassiz during his time at Harvard. "Look at Your Fish" is Scudder's recollection of his first day in Professor Agassiz's course and the first class exercise in which Professor Agassiz assigned to the class. "Look at Your Fish" is told in a chronological, linear fashion. There are a few groups for whom this piece is the intended audience. One audience could be college students; another group could be professors at the undergraduate and graduate levels. This piece would also be relevant to any teacher or anyone serving in a teaching and/or leadership role. Scudder's thesis is direct, yet it comes at the conclusion of the work. The writing has a basic formality in structure and formatting while it may be slightly less formal in its content. Scudder does not write to persuade his audience; readers infer from the tone that the author's intent is to share a moment in education that influence the author personally, professionally, and academically for years to come. Scudder successfully conveys a "teaching moment" he had with a professor because of his tone, organization, and succinct writing.

Scudder describes a non-traditional learning experience he had under Professor Agassiz. Through this experience Scudder learned the value of several things. He learned the value of patience and taking one's time. The solution to the problem or exercise that Agassiz puts before his class does not come instantaneously. Often, the attitudes of adolescents and young adults of advanced societies have lost touch with the concept of solutions coming over time. In the instantaneous, attention deprived information age, any form of waiting is unbearable and often perceived as an unnecessary nuisance.Scudder learned that with close examination and time, some of the answers to the toughest and/or simplest problems will come to us.

Scudder illustrates the potential for education to be interesting and challenging in unexpected ways. Often students are expected to be bored and are bored in school; the boredom can come from their lack of motivation, yet there are plenty of motivated and bright students who are not adequately stimulated by formal education. In this case, Scudder had a very interesting and somewhat profound experience as part of his coursework at Harvard in a very unexpected fashion. Points of "Look at Your Fish" include to pay attention, cultivate awareness, remain open-minded, mistakes and/or failures are happen, and sometimes, do not think too hard because what is correct is also obvious. Mainly, Scudder presents an educational experience so as to expand students' and educators' ideas of learning.

Scudder uses a lot of dialogue and little narration to make his points. The level of diction is academic because he is describing an academic experience within an academic setting. The language is also somewhat informal and/or personal because there is some narration dispersed throughout the piece, which are mainly descriptions of Scudder's feelings or inner monologue as he relives and recounts the anecdote to the implied reader/audience. There is little slang, if any. The writing is a mix of academic, formal, and conversational language, which appropriately informal at times. The tone is one of dry humor. Agassiz comes off as brilliant, but eccentric, difficult, but well-intentioned.

"You have not looked very carefully; why," he continued, more earnestly, "you haven't seen one of the most conspicuous features of the animal, which is as plainly before your eyes as the fish itself. Look again; look again!" And….....