0
Anonymous Posted 20 years ago
Vocabulary
The meaning of a line
Hi! I need your help. Please, explain in short what is the main point of the following sentence.
This is an essay on trifles - main point, trifles make up the happiness or the misery of mortal life and nothing's trivial, no matter how small or ordinary it may seem if you know how to look and find the meaning in it.
The line that puzzles me (especially the first part of it) reads: "The greater part of most ordinary biographies is a record of what was individually set in a minor key, and there is not much space between those apparent trifles that engender dissatisfaction and the sense of defeat and those that yield recurring pleasure."
Thanks!
This is an essay on trifles - main point, trifles make up the happiness or the misery of mortal life and nothing's trivial, no matter how small or ordinary it may seem if you know how to look and find the meaning in it.
The line that puzzles me (especially the first part of it) reads: "The greater part of most ordinary biographies is a record of what was individually set in a minor key, and there is not much space between those apparent trifles that engender dissatisfaction and the sense of defeat and those that yield recurring pleasure."
Thanks!
Top answer
>set in a minor key this is from music; basically in this case says recording events of a minor importance (trifling details in the life of a character)
- >set in a minor key this is from music; basically in this case says recording events of a minor importance (trifling details in the life of a character)
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
14 Answers
0
>set in a minor key
this is from music; basically in this case says recording events of a minor importance (trifling details in the life of a character)
this is from music; basically in this case says recording events of a minor importance (trifling details in the life of a character)
00
I'm not sure that that's it.
To Western ears, when music is written in a minor key, it tends to sound "sad." If you end on a minor note, you don't mean on an unimportant point, but and ending with something that is not good news or doesnt't reflect a positive message.
So things that are "in a minor key" is a metaphor for things that make you feel sad.
To Western ears, when music is written in a minor key, it tends to sound "sad." If you end on a minor note, you don't mean on an unimportant point, but and ending with something that is not good news or doesnt't reflect a positive message.
So things that are "in a minor key" is a metaphor for things that make you feel sad.
00
Marius, your're right, I got that part. The author is British so it is not "sad". But this is what I don't get. It says: what was individually set in a minor key....
Does that mean , in simple words, that one is responisble if he has an ordinary life? In other words, those ordinary biographies are ordinary because people themselves made them that way?
Thank yo
Does that mean , in simple words, that one is responisble if he has an ordinary life? In other words, those ordinary biographies are ordinary because people themselves made them that way?
Thank yo
00
LucreziaDoes that mean , in simple words, that one is responisble if he has an ordinary life? In other words, those ordinary biographies are ordinary because people themselves made them that way?No, I don't think so. The line just says that for most of us (if not all), the life is full of small events, some sad (see dissatisfaction), some joyous (s
00
GG is right about the connection between minor keys and sadness. Check this excerpt:
----------
Harmony, on the other hand, is for the soul. A lot of Gospel tunes are
written in major keys; they are bright and happy. As young children in
grade school we are often taught that major chords are happy, and
minor chords are sad. If I play
----------
Harmony, on the other hand, is for the soul. A lot of Gospel tunes are
written in major keys; they are bright and happy. As young children in
grade school we are often taught that major chords are happy, and
minor chords are sad. If I play
00
Although minor keys are certainly associated with non-cheery emotions, as GG says, the intended sense of the passage doesn't seem to accord with that interpretation:
So perhaps the writer was a little conf
"...there is not much space between those apparent trifles that engender dissatisfaction and the sense of defeat and those that yield recurring pleasure..."
00
That's how I understood it, as "minor importance", but "individually" still confuses me. I don't think that the author is confused. He teaches philosophy at Oxford (maybe I should have said that in the first place, lol).
Noone seems to fully understand this sentence, not even the native speakers.
As the matter of fact, I am a literary translator, and the worst nightmare of all of us is t
Noone seems to fully understand this sentence, not even the native speakers.
As the matter of fact, I am a literary translator, and the worst nightmare of all of us is t
00
I don't envy your you task. There are too many obscurities in this excerpt for me to attempt a rewrite, despite your clear summary of the essay.
I question: the word 'ordinary', the phrases 'individually set' and 'minor key', the connection between the main clause and the subordinate clause, the word 'space', and the word 'recurring'.
Does 'ordinary biographies' mean 'typica
I question: the word 'ordinary', the phrases 'individually set' and 'minor key', the connection between the main clause and the subordinate clause, the word 'space', and the word 'recurring'.
Does 'ordinary biographies' mean 'typica
00
0
The book in question is "The meaning of things - philosophy applied to life" by A.C. Grayling. It is a collection of essays on various topics, very interesting and not pretentious. I recommend it. It is just sometimes very difficult to translate because of his language.
0
Related Questions