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Adding onto what Christopher wrote, the name "Darwin" is recognized all around the world, and he is always connected to science and his belief of evolution. He is a prominent figure in the scientific world, and also the real world with his controversial theories.

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Fiction is "diminution" because it tends to end stories with happy endings. Readers tend to enjoy and recommend stories that share a happy ending. By focusing on the ending, whatever hardships the main character experienced throughout the story becomes overlooked.

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Dogs often can be related to more than the prodigal son; while we don't always have that one family member that leaves or is removed, we almost always have that one family or thing that we lose. The prodigal son also invokes some feelings of negativity, because of the reason for leaving. On the other hand, the dog is simply welcomed, because it was lost. It is easy to replace the dog with another person, or even object, compared to a more constricted situation like the prodigal son.

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Dogs are seen as innocent and full of love. A prodigal son has unresolved tension and past wounds that he brings with him. Dogs give you some of the simplest love you can find, and it's devastating to lose that.

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I would want to believe something, while mostly like I would want it to be true, just because I don't want to continue grappling with the confusion. Many want to believe everything as it makes their life "easier," and it's like a source of comfort, knowing something instead of "torturing" yourself and forcefully not believing something.

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I enjoy happy endings as it concludes the story more peacefully and overall doesn't mentally disturb me. I also feel like some sad endings are a necessity to a story, though, and if slapped with a happy ending it would ruin it. I don't remember the name of the particular book I wanted to throw in the fire, but I remember the fact that the author introduced a lifelong dog companion who could speak via telepathy, and then killed the dog off in the most painful way in the first chapter. After that I dropped the book.

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Fiction is diminution because particularly with happy stories, it reduces down the scary aspects of life into instances that we can understand. In this poem, Darwin finds science terrifying and grim and needs to escape with fiction to simpler, nicer ideas.

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I think happy endings make me think less because I don't think too much about what could have happened and generally leaves me on a happy note. I'll still read a book after a death, but I have to put it down for a bit and sit on it.

I wanted to fling the ending Graveyard of Fireflies as well as Where the Red Fern Grows into the fire. Graveyard was frustrating because both kids did not survive partially because of the stubbornness of the brother who left the home of the only family he had left with his little sister even though he did not have a job or a stable way to take care of the both of them. What's worse is that even after his death the brother is in a constant replay of his really sad life.

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Darwin: revolutionary, people viewed his ideas as something that clashed with religion/what the Bible says about how God made humans in his image. People have argued that passage is more of a metaphorical sense and not literal and that's why Darwin's ideas can coexist.

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I like happy endings. I wanted to throw Romeo and Juliet in the fire.

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If the poem had ended on "prodigal sons summoned home" it would have been too righteous to have a conclusive end. The dog brings it home through its ability to be a relating aspect throughout almost everyone. So many people would prefer a dog to come home rather than a son, no matter how prodigal. Thus, a wind down to the peak of the speech.

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It really depends on the exact situation of the person but often times it is due to people not accepting facts. They may fight it simply because they hate change or they may have been told something was right that is now wrong. Another reason would be that there really isn't a good explanation so even though it flies in the face of everything else, they still believe it. -Zackary

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Fiction is diminution because happy endings become the normal. Happily ever after is what is expected, and the struggle that people have to go through during their lives is overlooked. The journey and struggles that people in the real world go through is given less importance and more focus is given on the endings.

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The alliteration of the s sound comes from the repeating use of words that start with s such as "Scanning", "species", "strong", "struggles to survive", and "sooner". This helps connect the phrases in this stanza together and help it flow better, while putting emphasis on these important words that relate to Darwin.

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People want to believe things that aren't true because a kind lie is easier to stomach (and to truly live with) than a terrible truth. Sometimes believing the truth means dismantling things we’ve believed our whole lives, or are a source of comfort to us. Rumors like this about famous figures are comforting to believe because it makes them human and makes us feel like we know them. We don't actually know them at all, but humans have a tendency to imagine themselves closer to a person than they are.

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I think that the innate human nature is not one of patience. Most people are not naturally patient, but rather learn patience as a skill growing up. I think this is reflected in the idea that we aren't perfect all the time & frequently people are like "I'm not ok not knowing, so I'd rather believe something that isn't true than live in the ambiguity."

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Ideas throughout the third and fourth stanzas both relate to each other while directly contrasting each other. In the third stanza, the idea of "triumph of strong over weak" is reiterated in the fourth stanza with the repeated happy endings that are possible for a story. However, the third stanza focuses on struggle and is gloomy compared to the fourth stanza, which is optimistic. The idea "strong over weak" ties to the happy endings, that strong will persevere as they have the ability to, though it doesn't necessarily mean it is just for them to. A story may have a happy endings as does competition in ecosystems, though that ending is not always deserved and comes at the expense of another. "Dying species", "doomed sooner or later" reflect Darwin's struggle with his work, and he had "earned the right to a happy ending", though the happy ending still comes at the expense of another.

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About the last line, it relates to Darwin's theories of survival of the fittest. And the fact that he focused his research on animals. The dog is a point of research. The dog in evolutionist theory that Darwin himself is the most influential and renowned figure, will never come back, it's gone because of survival of the fittest. It represents the pessimism of life. Darwin's theory is pessimistic in no way does he mention the existence of heaven or other optimistic Judaeo Christian beliefs about evolution or creation. She picked Darwin because she is bringing up the fundamental philosophy that "life just isn't fair." No matter what God or scripture believes is good and righteous, there will still be the pessimistic aspect of Darwinism in life. This poem is relevant to our lives because, it gives consolation that we aren't the only ones "dealt a bad hand" in life. However, those sad stories like Shakespearean tragedies are legacy creations. We can find consolation in the tragedy of others as we know we are not alone. Alternatively, if I had to rewrite the poem, I'd mention dark bands and musical pieces such as Harlequin Forest by Opeth or the Unforgiven epic trilogy by Metallica. All of which provide consolation, and when I talk to goths in real life, they are all so drawn to this subculture because it's consolation in finding beauty and goodness in darkness. In fact, goths are some of the humblest and most understanding people.

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why DO people want to believe things that aren't true?

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People sometimes choose to believe things that aren't true to provide themselves with a sense of consolation. Sometimes the truth can be so revealing, or too hard to withstand, that one chooses hide behind a lie.

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The list of happy endings is a mix of things that may be relatable for the average person, and things that generally only happen in fiction. I've never uncovered treasure or forged documents, for example. The dog is maybe the most real of all the examples for the most people. Everyone either has had a dog, or knows someone who has a dog. lost pets are very present in regular life, while in contrast I don't know any prodigal sons. The dog Fido brings us into the fictional stories that are being talked about.

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Stanza 1 Question 1: Names that have power like Darwin

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Stanza 1 Question 1: Names that have power like Darwin

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Einstein
Newton
Thomas Edison
Shakespeare
Benjamin Franklin
Martin Luther King
Rosa Parks
(these are just a few feel free to add on)

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In order to comprehend this poem, you really need to have a fundamental understanding of who Darwin is and the work he did in his lifetime.

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A couple of the phrases that we associate with Darwin are, "strong over the weak," "struggles to survive" & "dying species." Those last two are not famous phrases that we hear but add to his idea of evolution.

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"old maids married off to worthy parsons" seems very Pride and Prejudice.