The Loss of the Creature

1. Dialectical:

1 : logic 1a(1)

2 a : discussion and reasoning by dialogue as a method of intellectual investigation; specifically : the Socratic techniques of exposing false beliefs and eliciting truth b : the Platonic investigation of the eternal ideas

3 : the logic of fallacy

4 a : the Hegelian process of change in which a concept or its realization passes over into and is preserved and fulfilled by its opposite; also : the critical investigation of this process b (1) usually plural but singular or plural in construction : development through the stages of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis in accordance with the laws of dialectical materialism (2) : the investigation of this process (3) : the theoretical application of this process especially in the social sciences

Source: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dialectic

2. Performed symbolic complex is having a preconceived idea about something that you have not seen or experienced before. Then, when you do see or experience the “thing,” you automatically measure it against this idea. If it looks just like you thought it would look according to the pictures, postcards, or what people have told you, you are pleased, but it if doesn’t measure up to these expectations, you are disappointed. According to Percy, you are not truly experiencing life fully. Only people who discover the “thing” initially can see it for what it truly is.

3. The Loss of the Creature mentions several ways the sightseer can recover the Grand Canyon. Some of these include “leaving the beaten track,” “by a dialectical movement which brings one back to the beaten track but at a level above it,” and being “recovered in a time of national disaster.”

A person who leaves the beaten track leaves the tour and goes to walk around on his own. People who do this have a chance to experience things on their own, without someone telling them what they should think about it. On a tour of the Grand Canyon, the leaders may...