To Know a Fly Vuincent Dethier

To Know a Fly

Vuincent Dethier, USA (1915-1993)

b. Apply the four levels of meanings to "To Know a Fly".

Literal Comprehension: Scientists are the people who conduct any experiment properly which is scientific and adventurous one. If a scientist wants to know about something, he does observe the result and brings out a conclusion. There is lack of fallacy, confusion and there is a proper correlation between cause and effect. For the reasonable experiment the scientist asks meaningful questions and makes it fruitful. If he sees a fly moving around the food he asks question 'Is the fly tastes with its feet?' For that he makes an experiment by fixing the fly in wax and giving it to taste variety of drinks (sweet, less sweet, sour, water, etc). When he cuts all leg the fly can't taste at all. The fly doesn't taste weakest sugar and does fast taste to the sweetest water. It doesn't touch salty sugar with its proboscis. The scientific experiment is free of weakness and fallacy. It is not like trainer who is finding how can a flea listen? It is not like conclusion of fool that the cause of intoxication is glass. It is not like rescued man from earthquake who says the building fell when he pulled down window shade.

Interpretation:  This essay may be trying to tell us that human beings are not always superior in everything and in everywhere. Humans are also just part of nature. So far the matter if taste is concerned, the fly can taste for better than we human beings. Fly can't be fooled by artificial sweeter. The nature has many things to say so we have to apply reasons and experiments to get them. We think humans are the greatest on earth but surprise we become when we see ape's reaching up to hung banana.

Critical Thinking:  All the concepts presented in this essay are not acceptable. Are there only wicked people in the world? How can a fly taste reasonably more than humans do? Why has the writer undermined humans?

Assimilation: This essay taught me that humans are not superior in every case. Animals are greater in their respective places. It is meaningless to be proud of being human. Just like tasting this there are many aspects where animals can be superior to us.

c. The essay "To Know a Fly" is an effort to prove the statement, " A properly conducted experiment is a beautiful thing." Explain.

In this essay "To Know a fly" the writer has conducted an experiment to find whether a fly tastes with its feet or not. There is an experiment by fixing the fly in wax and giving it to taste variety of drinks. The drinks consist, sweet, less sweet, sour waters, etc. The experiment is taken regularly and found that the fly does taste sweetest water but doesn't touch the salty water with its proboscis. The fly lowers its proboscis in the least salty and sweet water but does not do to mostly insalt water. When all feet are cut the fly can't taste of all any type of drink. This experiment gives the idea that the fly can taste with its feet. A fly can have power to taste the weakest sugar solution that we cannot. It also can differentiate different tastes of sugar that we can't be cheated by artificial sweeter because the item which is sweet to us is sweet to the fly also. It doesn't take out its proboscis when its feet touch salty water. But it takes proboscis out when the water is not salty or it is sweet or normal. Here in this essay the experiment is done nicely to identify whether a fly tastes with its feet or not. When a systematic steps and procedures are conducted the logical result is obvious. With proper experiment finding a fly walking on food draws a logical conclusion.