Erik's Analysis of "Zeal Without Knowledge"

Erik Heras
Professor Spencer
Writing 150 Honors
November 28, 2011
Critical Analysis of Zeal Without Knowledge by Hugh Nibley

In the passage Zeal Without Knowledge, Hugh Nibley extensively and effectively uses analogies, examples and quotations to increase the audience’s comprehension and to appeal to ethos. Through these literary devices Nibley successfully guides the reader through each point he is trying to advance. However, the organization of the ideas was very confusing and prevented the full understanding of what the passage was about as a whole. Although the small ideas are easy to grasp as they are presented, the big picture is not as clear.

Analogy is used extensively in this essay. It is very useful tool as it helps the reader better understand abstract ideas by embodying them in more tangible and easily visualized concepts. For example, when Dr. Nibley begins talking about zeal, he uses an automotive analogy: “Zeal is the engine that drives the whole vehicle: without it we would get nowhere. But without clutch, throttle, brakes and steering wheel, our mighty engine becomes an instrument of destruction, and the more powerful the motor, the more disastrous the inevitable crack-up if the proper knowledge is lacking.” From this, one understands that Dr. Nibley is trying to say that zeal can be destructive without the proper knowledge guiding it in the right direction. Analogies are also typically more memorable than abstract statements. One remembers the ideas better when they are presented in way that is easily visualized.

The use of examples is another widely used tool throughout the passage. This helps the reader visualize the idea by giving the reader something to tie the idea into. On the first page of the text, to illustrate the concept that our minds can only focus on one idea at a time, he says, “If you put on a pair of glasses, one lens being green, the other being red, you will not see a gray fusion of the two when you look about you, but a flashing of green and red. One moment everything will be green, another moment everything will be red.” From this it is much easier to picture and comprehend the concept he is discussing. On the third page of the text, when talking about how sin is when potential is wasted, he gives an example which relates to his most likely audience (average Americans like us): “Why do people feel guilty about TV? What is wrong with it? Just this—that it shuts out all the wonderful things of which the mind is capable, leaving it drugged in a state of thoughtless stupor.” Through this the likely audience can make a connection between the familiar idea of wasting time watching TV and the resulting guilt and the idea of wasting time being a sin.

The use of quotations adds credibility to the writing, by borrowing the authority of other sources. Quotations are used extensively in this essay. In the first page alone, Dr. Nibley quotes five different sources. Quoting N.S. Sutherland, “’The eye is always flickering about...The brain adds together a variety of impressions at high speed.’” This quote reinforces and expands on Dr. Nibley’s discussion of the thought process and the way our minds works. By quoting other sources it gives the reader the impression that the author has a strong understanding of the subject and what other people have to say about the subject. As a result, it gives more credibility to his own ideas. He uses quotes to introduce, back up and expand on his ideas. By using quotations, the points in the text are strengthened.

Although every individual idea is presented in a way that is typically easy to grasp, and each idea is connected to the others, overall, it seems that the text covers so much subject matter that it is hard for the reader to keep track of all the ideas and see how they come together into one big picture. The title does not seem to be comprehensive. Zeal as it pertains to knowledge seems to be only a part of a larger whole, but the title leads the reader to think that it was the main topic of the text. It is difficult to identify a single, all-encompassing main topic of the text, as both the title and the organization are a bit confusing to the overall understanding of the text.

Literary devices of analogy, example and quotation are used in this essay to help the reader understand individual concepts. However, the passage as a whole is difficult to connect together under a single theme. As the text progresses, the reader is left to wonder how all the ideas come together.