How many numbers do you see?
That depends on how your mind is working today. Because this is a puzzle
and a challenge, most of us go into game mode, a bit of competition. I immediately saw the 10 traditional digits
in the decimal system and was so very proud of myself, thinking I aced it. But Sister Pat, my high school math teacher, also
saw numbers beyond the first ten, including 21, 24, 84, 6841, and so on. If you
visited your friend who lives at 62 Grove Street, you might have seen the 62
right away—and eliminating the 62, the 1 would have popped up for you.
Too many word
people consider themselves to mathephobes—dreading anything from math classes
to working the stock market. But numbers
are humanly meaningful in ways that illuminate the writing and reading of
poetry. As John Steinbeck wrote, "Poetry is the mathematics of writing, and closely kin to music."
A digression:
A digression:
Analytic psychologist
Carl Jung averred that the number four is universally symbolic of wholeness,
safety, home. The number four shows up
in such quaternities as north/south/east/west; up/down/left/right;
spring/summer/autumn/winter; hot/cold/moist/dry; water/fire/air/earth. The sun, source of life on earth, is
worshipped in most religions in the form of a circle. The cross is the division of the circle into
four quadrants. The swastika, an ancient
symbol of connection was based on the circle, and co-opted for evil purposes by
the Nazis. The Christian religion is
based on the quaternity of Father/Son/Holy Ghost/Satan. But, in an attempt to deny the
interconnectedness of all aspects of experience, Satan is erased. Carl Jung used the mandala, the universal
symbol of life for Buddhists and Hindus, as a healing circle.
In everyday life, the number four
appears in the four wheels of all but a few cars; the squaring off of walls; and
in expressions as “square deal,” “square meal,” “squaring a debt,” “square
shooter,” and “squared her shoulders.”
Using
the number “4” as our constant will help us to interpret—to create meaning—in
response to poetry. "Poetry by the Numbers" shows up in several
ways: (1) Syllabics—how many syllables are in a line; (2) Meter—what are the
stress patterns in a line; (3) Stanzaics—how many lines are in the stanzas; (4)
Length—how many lines and stanzas are in a poem. We will explore these in turn in following
blog posts.
For now, let’s think about what
numbers mean to you. Reply to one or
more of these questions:
What is your favorite number, and
why?
What numbers tend to show up in
your life? In what ways?
Respond to the expression: “Things
come in threes.” Name some threesomes in
your life, in literature, cultural experience, popular songs, et cetera.
Find a quote that includes the number “three.” Interpret
the quote by seeing the number 3 as the expression of something missing. What’s missing?
Works Cited:
Cover Art: https://themindsjournal.com/hidden-numbers/
When I read a sonnet, I'm always aware of the number of lines, and how that governs the movement and shape of the argument. If it's an Elizabethan sonnet, the shape is 4+4+4+2. The first quatrain offers a proposition, then the next two quatrains move the argument along with proofs and examples, and the concluding couplet caps the sonnet with a rhymed conclusion. The form is compelling because it's compact and requires the poet to say much in a comparatively small space. Fourteen lines make the poet and the reader enter into an agreement that all that needed to be said has been said. There are sonnets of thirteen and fifteen lines, but they offer different experiences. Fourteen does it best for this reader.
ReplyDeleteNumbers have rarely if ever been my strong point. I always have trouble with math and arithmetic. I do agree however that number pay a key role in the zeitgeist of human imagination. Virtually all known culture gives certain numbers magical properties that determine their meaning in a more cultural sense. Four for example is a an extremely unlucky number in Japan because when spoken it is similar for the kanji for death. Numbers play a key role in how culture use their symbols and how they give greater meaning to their narratives. My personal favorite number is the always tried and true lucky number seven. I always felt it brought me luck. If I had to pick a different one, then it would have to be twenty-seven because I was born on said day. I was never afraid of the number Thirteen and always kind of liked how it was the number used mostly by the United states on their history, like thirteen colonies for example. For me personally the number thirteen is alright. I have never payed attention to if certain numerical patterns have happened in my life. I would guess that twenty-seven is one because my birthday is on it. I way loved the expression “the best thing come in threes” and always felt the number three plays a key role in the symbols or expression used. The tree godheads of father, son and holy spirt for the Christion god. The tree fates from Greek mythology and the three aspect of body, mind and soul so that three play a key role in our mythologies. The expression “Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth” show how we think the universe truth come in three and that there are fundamental aspect that follow this pattern.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I have to admit you threw me a curveball professor Rich. All this talk about words and language and now I’m reading a blog post about numbers. I’m shocked, in disbelief, and with just a sprinkle of flabbergasted but I’m game. Let’s talk about numbers. My favorite number is 12 for the only reason being that it’s made up of the first two numbers. I don’t know why this makes me like the number but it does. So this, of course, means I hate the number 13. Not because of anything superstitions but because of how smug it looks. I know it thinks it’s better than 12 because it higher up I won’t stand for that. A number that shows up in my life a lot is number 1. Why you may ask? Because I’m a winner, as long as we ignore the times that I lost. Those moments don’t matter to me because I’m always a winner in my mom's eyes. Many things come in threes. And I have had many threesomes in my life. Such as the number of pigs in my childhood stories, the three-piece suits I wear. And the rock, paper, scissor’s game I play. There’s also the rule of three in comedy where you limit yourself to three funny examples. Also, most quotes come in three such as “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”, “Blood, sweat, and tears”, and “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit”. The quote “Blood, sweat, and tears” means you put all you can into something but it is missing one thing. That’s exhaustion, whether it be physical or mental.
ReplyDelete-Julio Velazquez
Well since you ask for my favorite number, I will tell you and try to find a meaning that is beyond the fact that I was born that day. I was born on July 16 so yes my favorite number is 16! On a side note: I have a summer birthday and it sucks because it was always going to land on a day when we were never at school so I would never be able to throw a birthday party at school.
ReplyDeleteNow going back to the number 16, it's my favorite number because yes I was born that day, but also I was born that day for a reason. Many moments in life, whether they are good or bad, I like to think that things happen for a reason and therefore being born on the 16th meant something.
When I was much younger, I used to think the number 13 was the sign of a curse, and that seeing a black cat meant something bad was going to happen, however growing up I realized that all of it was bullshit. I think 13 is just like any other number and the same way I view 16 as a meaning in my life, someone born of the 13th could view it the same.
Growing up, I always had a strong connection to the number “4”. I always seemed to sit in the fourth desk in the fourth row in elementary school, I am the eldest of four children, and the number itself just seemed so appealing to me. To this very day, I call the number four my lucky number.
ReplyDeleteI always look for numbers in poetry. Whether it be in the number of stanzas or the number of syllables in a word or line, I’m always counting when I’m reading poetry. I guess I would say this is strange for me to do, since I am what you would call a “math phobe.” Math was never my strongest subject, and although I eventually got better at it, I still have an uneasy feeling towards it. Of course, I’m speaking in terms of multiplying, dividing, converting fractions into decimals, graphing equations and so on.
Although I have a certain feeling towards math, no number makes me feel uneasy. In terms of “13,” I know how bad of a reputation that number has. It is seen as unlucky, and there seems to be so much negative energy being put on it. I have no particular feeling towards the number “13”. I don’t find it lucky, nor do I find it unlucky. To me, it is just a number.
But sometimes, numbers to me are more than just numbers. In my life, I often see the numbers “4,” “17,” and “30”. These numbers to me mean something more than just their quantity or number value. I stated previously why I am drawn to the number “4”. As for “17” and “30”, I would say that these numbers have been handed down to me from my mother. My mother was born on the 30 of July. Growing up, her house was number “1730,” a combination of both numbers. When moving into the house she was going to raise her family in, she chose house number “17” which is where I still live today. Even my brother was born on the exact same day as her, July 30. Clearly, “17” and “30” resonate with me positively because of how my mother sees these numbers, as they are her lucky numbers.
It seems as though the number “3” is significant. Many phrases have been made up from the number “3”, such as “things come in threes” or “third time’s the charm.” In terms of my own life, I have three siblings, my favorite band consists of three words, and in all honesty, I try not to be awake at 3 A.M. This is because I’m a believer in the paranormal, and they say that ghosts are their strongest at three am because the veil between the living and the dead is the thinnest. I always feel uneasy at 3 A.M.
Looking at my life now, numbers have significant meanings to me. I think from now on I will try and see what numbers keep popping up in my life, and what they mean to me in relation to the events they are related to.
Jessica DeLuca
I would have to say my favorite number is the number 2. I was born on the twenty-second day of July which is two 2s and the number 2 is a number that seems to come around very often for me. Perhaps it is because my last name starts with the letters ay typically making me the second person to get called on during attendance and seated in the second row during the days of assigned seating in elementary and high school. Whenever asked to pick a number between 1 and 10 I will almost always say 2. Two is all around me, I lived on the second floor of my dorm building, I have a few friends whose addresses begin with the number 2 (mine does not) and see it around in stores and street signs. 2 just happens to be a very common number. I can proudly say I do not suffer from triskaidekaphobia, I feel indifferent towards the number 13. I do not believe it holds any astrological powers but respect other’s beliefs while I remain neutral to it. I’ve only heard the saying things come in three when referring to death, I’ve heard people die in three and after a second person has died it’s not too soon till someone esle kicks the bucket. However, to turn that saying into something positive I can say the most significant group of three in my life are my mother and her two sisters, my aunts. Three women that raised me making them the most significant set of 3 to me. Another popular saying that mentions 3 is Third times the charm, meaning if you don’t succeed the first and second time you’re bound to by the third. I am not a follower of a religion or believe the number 3 holds any kind of power as much as the number 13 does. However, I believe any number can be significant if we chose to put a value or meaning on it.
ReplyDeleteDr. Rich,
ReplyDeleteI absolutely took the number picture as a challenge and decided to share it with my friends. One of my friends only saw 6 numbers, meanwhile I looked at it and saw 9 numbers (because I could not find the number 5). I also thought of “oh but technically...you could make larger numbers” but I did not want to see too over the top. I also enjoyed the evaluation on the number four because it's something I never realized and it appears almost everywhere. I dislike the number 13 because it feels like bad luck to me and I also hate odd numbers. 13 pops up in a lot of horror movies, there's no 13th floor in any buildings, and overall it's deemed a negative number. Once I think of threes, I think of an ellipsis which is the three dots “...”. It occured to me that this is for the omission of word(s) or sentences, meaning it is missing something. A quote I think of is “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” and the one thing it is missing is the idea that there will always be evil people or experiences wherever people go and the wise thing to do would be to embrace them and know what not to do.
Janaya M- ENG3215*04
My favorite number is 6 and there is a very simple and vain reason that it is my favorite. It is the day that I was born. January 6th 1995. Ever since I was young, 6 has always been a number of luck for me. It is crazy to think that people associate things suck a good and bad luck to numbers such as 7 and 13. Many people find that 7 is lucky and 13 is unlucky and there are people who believe in the opposite and believe that 13 is lucky and 7 is unlucky. I must admit that the number 13 isn’t my favorite despite it never causing me any misfortune; that I know of. Another number I see a lot is 22, which is a number my friend and I started to see because it was the age of a girl that my friend liked. Long after the girl was no longer a topic of discussion, the number kept pooping up and we looked at it as a good omen. I do believe that people look for their numbers in life and that's why they appear often. However, there have been many times when both 6 and 22 have appeared and I have benefited from it. I have not really seen nor assocaited numbers with misfortune, but I have seen the time on a clock and it read out the numbers 9:11 and felt weird looking at it. I have talked to friends and they have experienced the same thing as well. It is as if we never miss it when it is on the clock. That being said, those numbers are the most infamous numbers in America and people look at the time hundreds of times a day. We all have numbers that mean something to us and we will always associate them with meaningful things.
ReplyDeleteMarcos Vasquez
You are undoubtedly correct, Dr. Rich! It does depend on how many numbers you can see based on how your mind is working during that day. Because initially, I saw 12 digits in total: 0, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 68, 41, 21, 24, 28 (My Birthday), 84, and 6041. More to your point, considering, upon a long grueling day, I'm quite surprised that I saw that many. I have often been of afraid of math all my days. And let's not talk about math test anxiety.
ReplyDeleteBut Carl Jung's digression theory on numbers has given me a greater appreciation about numbers. I can now see numbers clearer in poetry as well as our daily lives. With that, number 7 is my favorite number because it is noted as a significant number in the biblical sense. When it comes to the meaning of number 7, we can somewhat agree that it is a spiritual number that is usually associated with inward wisdom and knowledge. It could be a sign that we should follow our inner instinct and your inner voices. This way, we will be able to hear the voice from God as well, which means that we will receive divine help, even if when we are not aware of it.
Moreover, many scholars agree that the Holy Bible represents seven as the number of completeness and achievement. "It obtains much of its meaning from relation to God's creation of all things. The word 'created' is used 7 times, teaching God's creative work. There are 7 days in a week, and God's Sabbath is on the 7th day, whereas the Bible initially divided into 7 major divisions. The Divisions were 1) the Law; 2) the Prophets; 3) the Writings or Psalms; 4) the Gospels and Acts; 5) the General Epistles; 6) the Epistles of Paul, and 7) the book of Revelation. Initially, the total number of books in the Bible was forty-nine, which is 7 x 7, further illustrating the integration of seven into the Word of God".
Besides, we can also consider that number 7 is the sum of numbers 3 and 4. Number 4 is known as a number of hard work and personal efforts, while number 3 is related to mysticism and creativity. And number 7 will help us find our deeper life purpose and accomplish our soul mission. Thus, is why number 7 is my favorite number.
My favorite number is three. I have a twin sister and a little brother who is three years younger. My siblings are my best friends; we do everything together. My parents are three years apart and have been married for thirty years. I have three dogs. I think a lot of people don’t like odd numbers. But I like the idea of being uneven. The same thing goes for the number 13. I have always liked that number, one because 3 is my favorite number, two because 1 is an odd number. I also like the mystery the number holds. I am a huge fan of horror movies. One quote about three reads “I almost wish we were butterflies and liv'd but three summer days - three such days with you I could fill with more delight than fifty common years could ever contain.” (John Keats, Bright Star: Love Letters and Poems of John Keats) I like this quote. I think what is missing is the lovers' affection. The other day in one of my english courses, one of my classmates read a poem he wrote about pie(3.14). His poem used many mathematical terminology and I thought it was clever and beautiful. I guess I always felt like numbers were connected to song and poetry. I am a singer and I danced and we were constantly using counts for ques. I am not a huge fan of math, however, I work with kids and that is the homework I am constantly being asked to help with. I believe I have gotten quite good with fractions and mixed numbers and I could not say that when I was in high school.
ReplyDeleteAlyssa Ortiz
When it comes to the number three, many people tend to connect it to Christianity simply due to its popularity. However, besides this usage of three in the religion I was taught to worship, I never really had much of a connection with the number in my life. Sure I enjoy the Star Wars movies, whose stories tend to come out in threes, but besides that three has never played a major part in my life. However, while the number of has not much of a part in my life, it has been part of some saying that are quite common. Take the saying "Two is company, three is a crowd." In this saying, three represents the missing moment of quiet that two people would like to spend alone. Although I have yet to be in such a romantic context to have to say the phrase, the fact that three is being exaggerated as a crowd in order to get the third person to leave the other two people alone shows that three is far from the only 'sacred' number. In terms of couples, Christianity two people per romantic relationship and discourage multiple partners. Different numbers are held to be important in different scenarios and they can be arbitrary. Honestly, I feel as though these numbers only are 'sacred' because we as people give them significance. If the number three was not made important through the Bible then would people care about it as much? Sure people would always need numbers to get points across in life and in stories but it is we the people that add the unseen, extra meanings as we craft myth as well as culture.
ReplyDeleteFrom Matthew Ponte
What is your favorite number? Why?
ReplyDeleteI don't have a favorite number. As I was growing up, I realized I have a thing for odd numbers. As an adult my therapist told me it's a form of OCD. Whenever I count. things have to be odd, such as ceiling tiles, window frames, books, cars, boxes and etc. What pissed me off the most and made me feel like an odd ball, was that my mom is ten years older than my aunt, who is ten years older than my sister, who is ten years older than my brother. We could never forget a birthday except mine. My sister is three years older than me and I'm seven years younger than my brother. To me, I stick out like a sore thumb. As a child, I would complain to my mom and she being the motherly person she is, replied, "Well that's what makes you you. And you are special." I would look at her and say, "I'm not buying that." Now I can look back and smile. The need to count odd numbers still exist but not as intense as it used to be. I also had a thing for washing my hands three times now I can proudly admit I got it down to two times. My birthday is an odd month. My birth year is an odd year. My birth date is an even number ( I used to secretly add my double digit of 14 for an odd number). To this day, I do not have a favorite number.
Meagan AWP 5000