Excerpts from: Hatch’s Order of Magnitude: Methodical Rankings of the Commonplace and the Incredible for Daily Reference, by a Man of Extraordinary Genius and Impeccable Taste, by Michael Hatch.
Introvertedness to Extrovertedness:
1. Mute
2. Introverted
3. Quiet
4. Average
5. Open
6. Friendly
7. Outgoing
8. Gregarious
9. Life of the party
10. Raving lunatic
Intelligence:
1. Somatic death
2. Vegetable
3. Slow learner
4. Feeble-minded
5. Obtuse
6. Average
7. Astute
8. Perceptive
9. Bright
10. Gifted
11. Genius
12. Prodigy
Pleasure to Pain:
1. Orgasm
2. Euphoria
3. Bliss
4. Pleasurable touch
5. Comfort
6. Numbness
7. Discomfort
8. Irritation
9. Pain
10. Torment
11. Agony
Times to Eat:
1. Farm breakfast
2. Breakfast
3. Second breakfast
4. Brunch
5. Elevens
6. Tiffin
7. Lunch
8. Afternoon snack
9. Tea
10. Sundowner
11. Dinner
12. Supper
13. Late dinner
14. Dessert
15. Late-night snack
16. Midnight snack
17. Dead-of-night bite
This text made me feel a number of emotions. First and most powerfully, I felt humor. The author’s use of odd and clever words made me laugh out loud a number of times. I also felt a bit inferior because there were so many words I did not recognize and had to look up online. The text not only made me feel different emotions, but it made me think. I wondered how the author decided the order in which he put the words and what standards he used to compare with.
The text was so effective making me think and feel because it followed some of the guidelines laid out by Aristotle in “Poetics.” First of all, on page 3, Aristotle stressed the importance of a plot, and that plot should have a beginning, middle and end. Hatch (the author of the text above) uses this in each of his “poems” (comparisons/lists). He starts at the beginning with one concept and works towards the end where the concept changes (either to the opposite meaning, or on a scale from weak to strong). The middle of his poems is the transition period, where the difference between the first concept and the last are neutral.
Also under the category of plot, Aristotle says (on page 4) that “Reversal of the Situation is a change by which the action veers round to its opposite.” Hatch uses this model of reversal in every one of his poems. He starts with one idea (such as “stupid” or “pleasure”), and by the end of the poem he has made his way around the opposite idea (“smart” or “pain”).
Another important part of a poem or tragedy that Aristotle stresses is the character. He states that the character must be true to life (page 5). Hatch uses this suggestion in each of his poems, and that is why they are so funny to me; because everything is true!
I liked two things in particular about this post. First, it was refreshing to see something humorous, a change from all the dramatic posts (many of which were intriguing, I'm just saying it was a nice change). Second, you interpreted a few of Aristotle's key points very differently than me, which is of course a good thing. I value an opinion that is different from my own. I imagined Aristotle's "Reversal of Situation" to be more character focused, as in one of the main characters performs an action which results in an occurrence opposite of that expected. I thought it was interesting how you looked at it more generally as in the beginning point of the text flips around by the end to mean something completely different. In the same light, I thought of Aristotle's stress on character as more specific to character development (like personality traits). I didn't think of it as having a specific flare in a piece of writing, in this case, a relatable, humorous list.
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