Wednesday, November 18, 2015

The Rise: The Grit of the Arts [Pt. 1]

[The Rise

In the chapter on "The Grit of the Arts" from Sarah Lewis's book The Rise, what did you find more useful? Why? Please provide a page number citation.

17 comments:

Aliyah B. said...

I thought that the definition of "grit" was the most useful. This was found on page 170, "It is not about resisting the 'hourly temptation' [...] but toiling 'over years and decades.'"

This definition is useful because it paints a clear image of what giving it your all is. Grit isn't about procrastinating on your 5 page paper and then rushing to meet the midnight deadline. It's the years you put into working for your degree or your career. You have to be dedicated.

Mikaela S said...

On page 169, Lewis gave me a clear explanation of "grit". She described it as,"an often invisible display of endurance that lets you stain in an uncomfortable place, work hard to improve upon a given interest, and do it again and again" (Lewis 169-170). I found this quote most useful because when you experience grit, changes and growth will be made. A lot of times people get too comfortable with the place they are in at some point in their lifetime when there is actually a lot more that can be accomplished. Grit is good!

Unknown said...

I like the definition on page 170, "It is not about resisting the 'hourly temptation' [...] but toiling 'over years and decades.'" I liked this one because it is basically describing my life right now. I am a science major and I feel like I have a test or a lab exam every week and it is like I can't catch a break because once I am done with one test, I have another one to study for and reading this quote keeps in my head that what I'm doing this for. In the long run, I'm going into a career that I love and will sustain the rest of my future. I know I have to do this hard work now, to get my degree and my career in the future.

Tashawna N. said...

One thing that I thought was useful in this chapter comes from page 169 where it says, "Grit is connected to how we respond to so-called failure, about whether we see it as a comment on our identity or merely as information that may help us improve." I found this most useful because I definitely believe that our course of action and character is somewhat changed by the way that we choose to look at how we respond to things and whether we take our failure to be a good thing in a way that now you know because you have experienced that and made a mistake or as you just should have done better and there is no excuse to have not done your best.

~Tashawna Nash

Unknown said...

The thing that stood out to me was on page 167, where Lewis talks about the "ongoing pattern of collapse" and how it happens because of the blind spot created by success. I think that is very important because many generations get stuck in their ways and are unwilling to re-adapt and make themselves better; they are persistent in the belief that their way is the right way, unwilling to accept the fact that their way has flaws. This is a notion that we, as human beings, have to overcome in our lives in order to have a better future for ourselves. It is something that I have to work on and so does the rest of society.

Shervonti N. said...

Something from this chapter that I found useful was on page 169, and it was the short talk of the study about self-control. Useful (and interesting) because it shows that there are people (even at young ages) that are better at controlling their impulses.

It really stuck out to me because of time management struggles that I am sure a lot of us are facing right now with final projects and prepping for the final exam before our final exams. For some of us, we are pushing ourselves to manage our time to ultimately get the two marshmallows (best grade possible) but for some of us, that may not exactly be possible and we're settling for the one marshmallow (a passing grade).

Anitra B. said...

The quote that I found most meaningful from this chapter was on pages 169-170 when Lewis wrote "Grit is not just a simple elbow-grease termed for rugged persistence. It is an often invisible display of endurance that lets you stay in an uncomfortable place, work hard to improve upon a given interest, and do it again and again". I found this quote interesting because Lewis gave us a clear definition of grit, and differentiated it from persistence. I believe that she is saying that grit differs from persistence in that grit allows you to learn and grow. If you put yourself out of your comfort zone and try new things you will gain knowledge and/or experience, and having grit means that you consistently step out of comfort zone, no matter how uncomfortable. Grit is a good quality to have in life.

Olivia Slater said...

"Grit is connected to how we respond to so-called failure, about whether we see it as a comment on our identity or merely as information that may help us improve" (Lewis, 169); this quote speaks volumes. The sheer fact that failure is referred to as "so-called failure" enforces the idea that failure is a matter of opinion. Being able to pull yourself back up and continue on, despite the minor set backs, proves that a failure is nothing more than a detour. I chose this quote because it is has a dignified tone. This is how I always view things that I may not get quite right. Wallowing over things that never were won't help anyone the future. One must overcome set-backs and take on the "so-called failure" attitude.

Unknown said...

I really enjoyed reading the last chapter of the book. I actually found a lot of things useful in this chapter. However, if I had to pick one I'd say the most notable is on page 173. Lewis says, "In this Nordic country, pride is equated with endurance." Even though she is specifically talking about Finland here I think this is true about a lot of parts of the world. The definition of Grit in today's society has been tainted. Pride and endurance are not the same thing, therefore cannot be equated. One can be prideful while enduring something, but they both have separate clear cut definitions. And from my observations I think more people in this generation possess pride and lack of endurance. Hearing someone else say it really made me stop and think not only about what qualities I notice in others, but the ones I possess as well.

Tiera W.

Brianna R. said...

Something from the chapter that most stood out to me was the definition given which stated that "Grit is not just a simple elbow-grease term for rugged persistence. It is an often invisible display of endurance that lets you stay in an uncomfortable place, work hard to improve upon a given interest, and work hard to do it again and again" (169-170). Along with this I also really found the it very interesting where Lewis quoted Harvard University President in saying "we need to make it safer to fail" (172). I agreed with this because I feel like failure is one of the greatest fears people have because society often makes people feel like it's something we can't recover from or something we should be ashamed of. This reminded me of a point in this semester where I was really struggling with one of my classes, I really did not want to fail, so rather than sticking it out and working my hardest through it, I dropped it because I was afraid to fail, especially since school is usually something I never struggle too much with. Rather than being stuck in that uncomfortable place and fighting my way through, I took "the easy way out". I think fear of failure can sometimes cripple us and really prevent us from giving it our true all out effort, because if we fail in the end, we see it as a bad and disappointing thing.

Ajeenah Johnson-Brown said...

I had heard Lewis's definition of grit before from my Health teacher last year. She describes Grit as,"an often invisible display of endurance that lets you stain in an uncomfortable place, work hard to improve upon a given interest, and do it again and again" (169-170). I remember my teacher said that life experiences, such as college, give us the grit to persevere through life. I think this also goes back to previous discussions in Lewis' book about coming out of our comfort zone. Being complacent will not get you through or prepare you for life.

Unknown said...

According to Lewis grit is defined as the "endurance that allows you to stay in an uncomfortable place" (Lewis 169). For most an uncomfortable place is failure. Failure, to some is often unwanted. But in reality failure is often needed to experience success. By having some degree of failure, it add grit. Grit is often needed in life in order to endure anything that may come as a struggle.

Maya Estell said...

In the chapter on "The Grit of the Arts" from Sarah Lewis's book The Rise, what did you find more useful? Why? Please provide a page number citation
In this specific chapter, I found a lot of information useful. More specifically, the connection that the author made connecting Art and Science. "A clarion call to connect art and science came after C.P Snow's 1959 lecture "the two cultures and the scientific revolution" made the claim the we needed to better perceive the connections between science and literary intellectuals in western culture" (Lewis, p.170). I agreed with this in that Art records all type of historical events inbcluding science. There is definitely a clear connection between art and science and that is one of inspiration such as Jae Jemison. For example "A Jazz musician once told me, musicians as well as artists"(Lewis, p.190).

Unknown said...


In first reading the word "grit," I assumed it was negative, or had sometime of negative connotation. On page 169 there is an explanation of grit, saying it is "an often invisible display of endurance that lets you stain in an uncomfortable place, work hard to improve upon a given interest, and do it again and again." To me this is saying that grit is another word for growth. Complacency is an aspect that many people stop trying to become the best that they can be, but grit is a word used to describe those who choose to go the extra mile.

Kelsey W said...

The idea of grit is very interesting. It isn't the same as self-control because it is longer term and in my opinion is either something someone has or doesn't have. On page 170, he says that grit is without positive reinforcement so essentially it would be altruistic in nature. We debated in my social psychology class about whether altruism even exists. We approached it from the idea of helping other people for a reward though, not yourself. Even if people are seemingly being altruistic with their grit though, they know in the end there will be some sort of reward even if it is just a good feeling of knowing you did not quit.

Alicia Sears said...

On page 169 they described grit as a connection to how we respond to so called failure as a comment on our identity or information that may help us improve. This particular definition was very powerful to me because I used to be very hard on myself and give up if I didn't meet my personal expectations but now I use it as a tool to make adjustments and see what it is that I'm doing wrong which has helped me grow tremendously as a college student.

Quincy Sanderlin said...

In this chapter, I found Lewis's connection to grit and perseverance important. On page 169 she says,"Grit is connected to how we respond to so-called failure, about whether we see it as a comment on our identity or merely as information that may help us improve". Here she is inspiring readers, to not only move on from failures but to also use them as motivation.