When I read this section, it made me think of how we must use our imaginations (our heads) whenever we undertake imitation - the examples I thought of were the Yeats poem "Long-Legged Fly," in which he summons Helen of Troy as a little girl imitating a tinker's shuffle, and so requires us to re-imagine the most beautiful woman in the world as a child imitating someone else's life. Then it reminded me of "Grey Gardens," which also had made me re-imagine Jacqueline Kennedy as someone's cousin, rather than as a world figure. Through such imitations of life, movies summon our imaginations. And through their rhythms, as you note, they also summon our hearts (a poet in grad school once told me that the rhythm of iambic pentameter echoes the beating of the human heart) - and when I think of movies, I also think of the clattering sound of the old-time reels, sounding like a heart speeding up with excitement because of the images that soon will begin to flicker across the screen.

Melanie, I just loved what you wrote. There were some highlights from an appearance that Franklin Leonard did recently in which he said that perhaps the single most important thing a screenwriter can do in their script is generate an emotional response from the reader. And that is what I take away from your post: That imitation at its best is about finding a way to convey something which can cause a reader to FEEL something. I talk about this with my students a lot, how we want to create reader identification with the characters, especially the Protagonist as they are the conduit for us into a movie. And probably the best way to do that is by creating an emotional resonance or connection. Anyhow thanks for that. Love the image of the reels rattling around. Reminds me of Cinema Paradiso, such a terrific film. Such love for movies!

Thank you, Scott - I'm so grateful to you for leading this discussion and providing a chance to dig into "Poetics" and discover just how relevant Aristotle's ideas remain.

Timeless message about rhythm and imitation. Imitation is our first step in learning and expanding our horizon, from thereon (re)creation can follow. Finding the right flow of a text can sometimes be difficult especially if your analytical brain is most of time in charge. I find it that the switch from left brain to right brain is easier when you do something that requires more right brain thinking, such as making music or listening to music, paint etc. When you've made that transition and look at a text you might find it easier to find the flow and the natural beating of the text.