Tuesday, December 20, 2011

writing tip of the day: love you some math

when writing something that requires intense logic (like, say, a THESIS), turn it into a math equation.


ASSUMPTION:
M is believed to be true romantic love.

VARIABLES:
M=Hermia & Lysander's relationship, believed to be true romantic love
x=Ovid's Pyramus and Thisbe myth
x=true romantic love
Shakespeare's rendition of Pyramus and Thisbe myth=1/x  (in other words, it is an inverse.  the Shakespeare rendition is a reversal, as it turns all of Ovid's moments of sincerity into farce.)

FUNCTIONS:
The mathematical function of MULTIPLICATION means that one thing acts itself upon all the parts of the other thing.  (Instance: 3 x 5 = upon every part of the number "3" (1+1+1), 5 enacts itself: (5+5+5), therefore 3 x 5 = 15.)

PROOF:
(M)(1/x)=1/M.
Therefore, when Shakespeare's Pyramus and Thisbe myth is enacted upon Hermia and Lysander's relationship, it shows the assumption as false: M is not true romantic love.

PROOF:
M=1/x (meaning they are set beside each other as a equals, for the purpose of comparing, which is what Shakespeare does in act V.)
This yields x=1/M.
Therefore when set side by side, "true love"=inverse of Hermia & Lysander's relationship.

Therefore, when Shakespeare's rendition of the Pyramus and Thisbe myth is acted (yes, double meaning) upon or beside the Hermia and Lysander relationship, it reverses the meaning of the relationship, such that what was believed to be true love is exposed as the inverse of that: FALSE LOVE.

This is especially helpful because it reveals holes in your thinking.  For instance, wouldn't 1/x turn anything upside-down, even healthy relationships?  I think there are more variables than what I've figured out here.  Also the definition of multiplication I have used here should also work in reverse ("5" broken into parts = 1+1+1+1+1, and when each of those parts, acted upon by the "3" (3+3+3+3+3) still yields the same result).  So how does Hermia and Lysander's relationship act itself upon all the parts of Ovid's myth?  This is going to be one I keep thinking on...

Please, let me know if you have mathematical insights, as it's been some ******* years since I've taken a math class.  (Although I will say this: senior year of high school, much to my utter surprise (and the surprise of all my fellow Gural-classmates) I somehow got the math prize of the year.  I still to this day think it was a big mix-up.  But mix-up or no, I got the SWEET book pictured above.)

3 comments:

  1. sorry, i'm not reading this. i'm good at math (at least i was in high school), but i can't take the pairing of math and thesis writing. but whatever floats your boat!

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  2. I could only read about half of this until my ADHD kicked in and I got really antsy and couldn't finish it except to skim. And then I remembered why I changed majors from physics to English.

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  3. I am clapping at/for/because of you. Well done.

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