Same thing for transcendentalist period
· Thoreau
· Emerson
· Whitman
posted by d | 8:44 PM
Contributors
- Same thing for Romantic Period
- neoclassical period
- A General Overview of Romanticism
- And Now for a Few Notes on Neoclassicism
- List of Authors and Works (Correct if incomplete)
- Billy's Thoughts on the "Woman Warrior"
- Huck Finn
- Ranna talks about whitman
- On the Long Brown Path
- Foray into non-musical madness
9 Comments:
ahaha danielle I almost peed myself when I read the Sparta interjection....hilarious. Anyways...I guess no one else has dedicated their Friday night to English class, but I hope this post finds everyone else..and I have no idea what you did to make the links for the authors? so if you could clarify that ill copy and paste this to the right site..
THE AMERICAN CRISIS
-Thomas Paine
I'll do bullet format so it's easier/faster to read
-He was a Quaker
-one of the "strongest champions of Revolution"
-Laz told us about how he was the only author of the period to actually go out and experience what he was writing about... i.e. he actually camped through the winter with the American Army, p.s. he liked George Washington a lot.
PASSAGES TO LOOK FOR:
-his essays were more of a diary format, so if anything on the final talks about specific battles, carnage, movement of troops, it will most likely be Paine and The American Crisis.
THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO
-Poe
had tons of money troubles, was constantly asking his family for proceeds
-Some basic character info...
Montresor-Narrarator
Fortunato-Man who offended him, was lured into the wine cavern and eventually cemented into one..
Luchesi-wine connoisseur who's name montresor used to make Fortunato eager to prove his greatness, and to therefore follow Montresor into the...dungeon thing...
Everyone had pretty much known this story...so if anyone needs more info about lemme know and ill get some more..or just find it yourselves:o) hopefully this is enough basic stuff to get you going...
Walt Whitman
Song of Myself
This one is easy to recognize. Look for...
1. The use of pronouns I and my coupled with freestyle poetry verse.
2. Chant-like listing (so Whitman) of objects, people, and events. Often separated by ellipsis
3. Discussion of what grass is
4. Barbaric yawp
Signifigance
1. Whitman relates every atom in his body to others. Creates connection between himself and other people, which is a romantic notion.
2. Discussion of grass leads to Whitman's views on death. He believes that he will become part of the earth. His soul will still exist, but it will be in a different form.
"All goes onward and outward, and nothing collapses./ And to die is different from what any one supposed, and luckier."
This is a very transcendental view on afterlife.
This poem is fairly straight forward.Do not confuse the first person addresses with those in Song of the Open Road. This poem describes what Whitman is. He uses I and my to share what he thinks and feels.
ummm Dan (as in, Daniel Kim) posted the Sparta thing...
I am Danielle.. and I sign my name... with an "ielle" at the end of it.
Just to clarify. :)
"Civil Disobediance"
Henery David Thoreau
Main argument points:
Government rarely proves itself useful and derives its power from the majority
The majority are in power beacuse the strongest group, not because they hold the most legitimate viewpoint
People's first obligation is to do what they believe is right
People should not follow the law dictated by the majority
When a government is unjust, people should refuse to follow the law and distance themselves from the government
A person is not obligated to devote his life to eliminating evils from the world
but is obligated not to participate in such evils
Including not being a member of an unjust institution (like the government)
Thoreau argues that the United States fits his criteria for an unjust government given its support of slavery and its practice of aggressive war
Pet Peeves in the argument: Slavery, Mexican War
How to identify it: Anarchistic tone when discussing the govenrment, Discussion of the Mexican War, Heavy emphisis on the individuals obligation to not be a part of inujst groups or orginazations
Important lines:
I HEARTILY ACCEPT the motto, — "That government is best which governs least"; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically.
also I believe, — "That government is best which governs not at all"; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have.
I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government.
Practically speaking, the opponents to a reform in Massachusetts are not a hundred thousand politicians at the South, but a hundred thousand merchants and farmers here, who are more interested in commerce and agriculture than they are in humanity, and are not prepared to do justice to the slave and to Mexico, cost what it may.
Walt Whitman-When I heard the Learn'd Astronomer
-talks about how when an astronomer showed him the scientific "proofs...figures...charts...diagrams" and lectured, he became "tired and sick" until he "wander'd off" by himself and "Look's up in perfect silence at the stars"
-transcendental because it rejects formal education and instead encourages people to learn from first-hand experiences in nature, emphasizes the importance of people being individuals ("I wander'd off by myself"), and glorifies nature ("the mystical moist night-air")
Why this poem is Whitman:
-free verse; has no rhymes and varying line length; shows romantic emphasis on freeness of rules in writing
-uses easy-to-understand language; fits in with transcendental deemphasis on formal education and is more readable than Thoreau and Emerson
--Caroline
This comment has been removed by the author.
MELVILLE : BILLY BUDD
Melville had very little formal education, which might explain why all of his works involve low-end jobs or some kind.
Whitman and he were the last Romantic authors.
He wrote about life at sea in both Billy Budd and Moby Dick because life at sea: 1. camoflauged honestly (there were no regulations for men at sea) 2. there was a certain degree of deprivation in terms of supplies and rights 3. latent homosexuality: he uncludes it as an underlying fact of life at sea rather than an endorsement of it.
BILLY BUDD-
setting: late 1700's (when Eng and France were at war)
subject: conscrption of soldiers
Quick summary: Billy Budd, a sailor on the American ship, the Rights of Man, is conscripted to the British ship of war, the Avenger.
"THE HANDSOME SAILOR" is usually very cheery, naive, simplistic, and has an innate quality of trustworthiness. He inspires those around him to be good, and keeps the morale of the sailors up.
Billy Budd is a tragic hero, and as one he goes through the course of "innocence to experience." and ends up dieing in the end as his transformation.
The whole concept of a tragic hero teaches us that we are flawed by nature and that's it's okay. Perfection cannot exist (Romantic belief!)
TRAGIC FLAWS: Billy's incapability of finding his words. The tragic flaw typically sets off the course of events that leads to the hero's death (Billy's flaw -> kills Claggart -> Billy is tried and convicted -> Billy is hanged -> the Avenger sinks)
There is a good blog discussion in this if you go the May archive.
Walt Whitman's
O Captain! My Captain!
This poem was written when Abe Lincoln was assasinated.
When trying to identify it, look for anything refering to sailing/a voyage. The poem is directed at the captain.
The "swaying mass" mentioned in part II of the poem doesn't lend itself to the individualism usually conveyed in transcendental works
In part I the quote "the prize we sought is won" refers to the efforts Lincoln put towards civil rights (including the emancipation of the slaves).
Henry David Thoreau: Walden (Conclusion)
Summary: "The universe is wider than our views of it." It isn't fences which bound our lives, you can be a town clerk and not be able to "go to Tierra del Fuego this simmer; but you may go to the land of infernal fire nevertheless."
We should pay more attention to life. Journeys and travel are just other ways of exploring oneself. "Nay, be a Columbus to whole new continents and worlds within you, opening new channels, not of trade, but of thought." Some do just the opposite, for it is in fact, easier to discover the New World, than a new self. "Only the defeated and deserters go to the wars, cowards that run away and enlist."
"It is not for a man to put himself in such an attitude to society [one of deliberate, contrary opposition], but to maintain himself in whatever attitude he finds himself through obedience to the laws of his being, which will never be one of opposition to a just government, if he should chance to meet with such."
"I left the woods for a good a reason as I went there. Perhaps it seemed to me that I had several more lives to live, and could not spare any more time for that one." As soon as he went into the woods, he began to fall into yet another beaten track, both literally and figuratively. He wants no one to follow him, but to follow themselves. "How worn and dusty then must be the highways of the world, how deep the ruts of tradition and conformity!"
Life life to the fullest, with eyes open. Do what you dream and success will exceed your expectations. "If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where the should be. Now put the foundations under them."
"It is a ridiculous demand which England and America make, that you shall speak so that they can understand you." The world can support more than one way of understanding. Language is changing, and no one can really truly understand another, but they can appreciate.
Why settle for the lowest common denominator?
"Shall a man go and hang himself because he belongs to a race of pygmies, and not be the biggest pygmy that he can? Let every one mind his own business, and endeavor to be what he was made." Beat of your own drum.
"...in an imperfect work time is an ingredient, but into a perfect work time does not enter." Make something prefect and gain immortality. "Any truth is better than make-believe."
"You may perhaps have some pleasant, thrilling hours even in a poorhouse." Especially, as regards to nature. The poor live the most independent lives of all. Sell your clothes, keep your thoughts. Moreover, if you are restricted in your range by poverty, if you cannot buy book and newspapers, for instance, you are but confined to the most significant and vital experiences..."
He doesn't want to "live in this restless nervous, bustling, trifling Nineteenth Century, but stand or sit thoughtfully while it goes by."
"Drive a nail home and clinch it so faithfully that you can wake up in the night and think of your work with satisfaction-- a work at which you would not be ashamed to invoke the Muse."
"Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth.... I called on the king, but he made me wait in his hall and conducted like a man incapacitated for hospitality. There was a man in my neighborhood who lived in a hollow tree. His manners were truly regal. I should have done better had I called on him."
Reject the Enlightenment, that we're the last in a line of progress. "There is not one of my readers who has yet lived a whole human life.... We know not where we are."
"There is an incessant influx of novelty into the world, and yet we tolerate incredible dullness." Who knows what can happen?
"Only that day dawns to which we are awake. There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star."
Elements of Transcendentalism: Self-reliance, individualism, living deliberately, find your own path without thought of others, hopeful, nature.
Post a Comment
<< Home