All, go to odds and ends number 19 post from 10 October 2016 by literateone on Dals.
Do you have a link....
Found it... Great stuff! And never hurts to refresh or learn from past thoughts....https://dalneitzel.com/2016/10/03/odds-n-ends-about-fenns-treasure-hunt-19/
LitterateOne on October 10, 2016 at 1:44 pm said:
All,
I’m officially pulling my hat out of the ring.
As an active participant in the chase and as a parting gesture of good will to all those that have provided so much beneficial advise and rational thoughts that have helped me in my journey, I’ll leave you with this.
Read the poem over and over, to read is to decode.
What I believe is the hidden code in which unlocks the poem, is grammar.
There are many examples of “simple” words in the poem that we all tend to overlook because we believe we understand their true meaning, but in reality we do not.
That is why Forrest tells us to show the poem to a kid, they may have a better understanding of proper grammar as they are being (or should be) taught it in school, over time we as adults take it for granted and think we understand the meaning of words and unfortunately use them erroneously as Forrest points out.
Here is a good example of this and what I believe may be key in breaking down the poem:
When a speaker places “the” before a noun, he is generally sending a signal to the user that the noun marked with “the” is something that he believes the listener already knows about. When the listener hears a noun marked by the, he usually thinks to himself “this is something that the speaker thinks I know.”
For example, if I hear someone say “Open the door,” I know that he thinks I know which door he means. If the sentence is coming from outside of my front door…
There are ten examples of this found within the poem:
1. the canyon
2. the home
3. the meek
4. the end
5. the blaze
6. the chest
7. the answers
8. the cold
9. the wood
10. the gold
So if the above grammar rule is true then Forrest assumes we know “the answers” to each of these “the nouns”, why would he make this assumption? Forrest has said that all the information we need to find the treasure is found within the poem, this leads me to believe that “the” answers that he already knows (as he says in the poem) should be found within the poem.
“the answers” that he already knows could be the answers to the “the nouns” and what each of them are.
Lets look at the first “the noun”. Why say “the canyon” and not “a canyon” because Forrest assumes that we know exactly which canyon he is writing about, and if he had just written “a canyon” we would have to make an assumption as to which canyon he means, but we should already know the answer.
A few of the “the nouns” we can easily make assumptions as to their meaning:
1. the meek, those that are not brave or bold.
2. the end, our destination, the end of our quest or possible the end of “our” creek.
3. the chest, simply the treasure.
4. the gold, the chest’s contents.
5. the answers, the ones that Forrest already knows but we must figure out.
The others you must figure out:
1. the canyon
2. the home
3. the blaze
4. the cold
5. the wood
There is a one word within the poem that I believe is key, this word may unlock an answer that opens up the poem.
We all share a common bond or relationship with Forrest and that relationship is the writer and the reader relationship, understand how this relationship and grammar play together and it may help you in your understanding.
Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him for life.
Good luck all in your quest!
LitterateOne
