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Literary notes about Student (AI summary)

In literature, the word “student” is used in multifaceted ways that reveal much about educational, social, and personal identity. In some works, the student is portrayed as a seeker of wisdom and truth—a figure whose struggle with knowledge illuminates broader philosophical debates, as in Plato’s observation of those troubled by the rigors of philosophy [1] or Emerson’s assertion that every man is a student in life [2]. In other texts, the student appears in more everyday, sometimes satirical settings: from the humorous anecdotes involving a fat student in a social club [3] or the comically crude portrayal of a stout student [4], to more serious narratives where a student’s journey reflects the disappointments and triumphs of formal education [5, 6]. Moreover, the role often extends beyond the strict definition of academic enrollment—the term may also refer to an individual deeply engaged in creative pursuits, as seen in the diligent art student perfecting his craft [7] or the divinity student ever curious about the mysteries of faith [8]. Whether depicted as a symbol of youthful potential, an everyman grappling with larger societal challenges, or a specific member of the institutional student body [9], the varied use of “student” across literary genres emphasizes the enduring tension between learning and living.
  1. When a student imagines that philosophy gives him a headache, he never does anything; he is always unwell.
    — from The Republic of Plato by Plato
  2. Is not indeed every man a student, and do not all things exist for the student's behoof?
    — from Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson by Ralph Waldo Emerson
  3. The fat student laughed indulgently and said: —We are all highly respectable people in the field club.
    — from A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
  4. The stout student who stood below them on the steps farted briefly.
    — from A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
  5. After a lapse of some months, spent at home in mere idleness, I found myself a student at Eton.
    — from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 2 by Edgar Allan Poe
  6. The cost of tuition, which was fifty dollars a year for each student, we had to secure then, as now, wherever we could.
    — from Up from Slavery: An Autobiography by Booker T. Washington
  7. The training of his eye and hand to the most painstaking accuracy of observation and record must be the student's aim for many years.
    — from The Practice and Science of Drawing by Harold Speed
  8. Alyosha did not dare to look at Rakitin, the divinity student, whom he knew almost intimately.
    — from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
  9. A member of the student body A student Popular with the student body Liked by the students The student body passed resolutions.
    — from The Elements of Style by William Strunk

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