ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces some of the ways in which we might ‘know’ the world around us. Writing is a perceptual art: one in which images, created through language, invite readers to make meaning. Becoming more aware of the everyday world around us involves more than just looking. Having the sensory perception is one thing; writing about it is quite a different matter. Heaney offers several concise references to time, allowing the reader to build a broader idea of events. With the Farley piece there is clear organisation of time and history, with decades named, even if Farley admits his recall of events might be partial. Writing is a process of becoming aware, of opening the senses to ways of grasping the world — ways that may previously have been blocked.
