5.
I felt that the piece of writing was very beautiful. Both in prose and in meaning. It describes the oneness that has been felt by man with nature since the dawn of time.
"I became a transparent eyeball. I am nothing. I see all. The currents of the Universal Being circulate through me..."
This quote stood out to me because of it's vivid description of the almost Nirvana like feeling of pleasure that one derives from being one with nature.
I do however still feel that the philosophies of the rationalists are equally acceptable.
6.
I feel that this reading is a near perfect example of Transcendentalism because of it's focus on nature and the ability of the human spirit, when in contact with nature, to transcend the world that is percieved by the human eye.
"I became a transparent eyeball. I am nothing. I see all. The currents of the Universal Being circulate through me..."
This quote exemplifies the feeling of bliss that one enters when in touch with God, or nature as it seems to be in the story.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Unit 2 Standards
"ELAALRL1 The student demonstrates comprehension by identifying evidence (i.e., examples of diction, imagery, point of view, figurative language, symbolism, plot events and main ideas) in a variety of texts representative of different genres (i.e., poetry, prose [short story, novel, essay, editorial, biography], and drama) and using this evidence as the basis for interpretation."
"ELAALRL2 The student identifies, analyzes, and applies knowledge of theme in a work of American literature and provides evidence from the work to support understanding."
I have addressed this by my analysis of Rip Van Winkle.
Example: "The story glorifies the life of a simple man (Van Winkle himself) and makes him into something of a folk hero. Instead of the protagonist in the tale being someone like a knight or a great man, Rip is an idle minded simpleton. This displays the romantic ideal of making normal people into heroes instead of writing about people that must of us will be."
"ELAALRL3 The student deepens understanding of literary works by relating them to their contemporary context or historical background, as well as to works from other time periods."
I identified the historical context of Rip Van Winkle here:
Chiefly; the story glorifies the life of a simple man (Van Winkle himself) and makes him into something of a folk hero. Instead of the protagonist in the tale being someone like a knight or a great man, Rip is an idle minded simpleton. This displays the romantic ideal of making normal people into heroes instead of writing about people that must of us will be. This glorification was very popular at the time because of the oppression of the colonists by the seemingly rich and powerful English.
"ELAALRL2 The student identifies, analyzes, and applies knowledge of theme in a work of American literature and provides evidence from the work to support understanding."
I have addressed this by my analysis of Rip Van Winkle.
Example: "The story glorifies the life of a simple man (Van Winkle himself) and makes him into something of a folk hero. Instead of the protagonist in the tale being someone like a knight or a great man, Rip is an idle minded simpleton. This displays the romantic ideal of making normal people into heroes instead of writing about people that must of us will be."
"ELAALRL3 The student deepens understanding of literary works by relating them to their contemporary context or historical background, as well as to works from other time periods."
I identified the historical context of Rip Van Winkle here:
Chiefly; the story glorifies the life of a simple man (Van Winkle himself) and makes him into something of a folk hero. Instead of the protagonist in the tale being someone like a knight or a great man, Rip is an idle minded simpleton. This displays the romantic ideal of making normal people into heroes instead of writing about people that must of us will be. This glorification was very popular at the time because of the oppression of the colonists by the seemingly rich and powerful English.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Bryant poem- Romanticism
Imagination:
"Of the last bitter hour come like a blight
Over thy spirit, and sad images
Of the stern agony, and shroud, and pall,
And breathless darkness, and the narrow house,
Make thee to shudder and grow sick at heart;--
Go forth, under the open sky, and list
To Nature's teachings, while from all around--
Earth and her waters, and the depths of air--
Comes a still voice"
This passage encourages the reader to use their imagination when alone with their thoughts to envision death in a different way. This is very romantic because because of the emphasis of feeling over cold science.
Nature:
"Yet a few days, and thee
The all-beholding sun shall see no more
In all his course; nor yet in the cold ground,
Where thy pale form was laid with many tears,
Nor in the embrace of ocean, shall exist
Thy image. Earth, that nourish'd thee, shall claim
Thy growth, to be resolved to earth again,
And, lost each human trace, surrendering up
Thine individual being, shalt thou go
To mix for ever with the elements,
To be a brother to the insensible rock,
And to the sluggish clod, which the rude swain
Turns with his share, and treads upon. The oak
Shall send his roots abroad, and pierce thy mould."
This exemplifies the romantic ideals of nature by stating that when you die you become an intimate part of nature. You become the roots of the trees and the very ground that you once walked upon.
Celebration of the common man:
"
Thou shalt lie down
With patriarchs of the infant world--with kings,
The powerful of the earth--the wise, the good,
Fair forms, and hoary seers of ages past,
All in one mighty sepulchre."
This passage shows the romantic ideal of holding the average person in equal esteem as a king or a lord. It is saying, as in the country song "Country Trash", we'll all be equal under the grass.
"Of the last bitter hour come like a blight
Over thy spirit, and sad images
Of the stern agony, and shroud, and pall,
And breathless darkness, and the narrow house,
Make thee to shudder and grow sick at heart;--
Go forth, under the open sky, and list
To Nature's teachings, while from all around--
Earth and her waters, and the depths of air--
Comes a still voice"
This passage encourages the reader to use their imagination when alone with their thoughts to envision death in a different way. This is very romantic because because of the emphasis of feeling over cold science.
Nature:
"Yet a few days, and thee
The all-beholding sun shall see no more
In all his course; nor yet in the cold ground,
Where thy pale form was laid with many tears,
Nor in the embrace of ocean, shall exist
Thy image. Earth, that nourish'd thee, shall claim
Thy growth, to be resolved to earth again,
And, lost each human trace, surrendering up
Thine individual being, shalt thou go
To mix for ever with the elements,
To be a brother to the insensible rock,
And to the sluggish clod, which the rude swain
Turns with his share, and treads upon. The oak
Shall send his roots abroad, and pierce thy mould."
This exemplifies the romantic ideals of nature by stating that when you die you become an intimate part of nature. You become the roots of the trees and the very ground that you once walked upon.
Celebration of the common man:
"
Thou shalt lie down
With patriarchs of the infant world--with kings,
The powerful of the earth--the wise, the good,
Fair forms, and hoary seers of ages past,
All in one mighty sepulchre."
This passage shows the romantic ideal of holding the average person in equal esteem as a king or a lord. It is saying, as in the country song "Country Trash", we'll all be equal under the grass.
Romanticism-Rip Van Winkle
Rip Van Winkle is an excellent example of romanticism because of a few things.
Chiefly; the story glorifies the life of a simple man (Van Winkle himself) and makes him into something of a folk hero. Instead of the protagonist in the tale being someone like a knight or a great man, Rip is an idle minded simpleton. This displays the romantic ideal of making normal people into heroes instead of writing about people that must of us will be. This glorification was very popular at the time because of the oppression of the colonists by the seemingly rich and powerful English.
"The great error in Rip’s composition was an insuperable aversion to all
kinds of profitable labor. It could not be from the want of assiduity or
perseverance; for he would sit on a wet rock, with a rod as long and heavy
as a Tartar’s lance, and fish all day without a murmur, even though he
should not be encouraged by a single nibble. He would carry a fowlingpiece
on his shoulder for hours together, trudging through woods and
swamps, and up hill and down dale, to shoot a few squirrels or wild
pigeons. He would never refuse to assist a neighbor even in the roughest
toil, and was a foremost man at all country frolics for husking Indian corn,
or building stone-fences; the women of the village, too, used to employ him to run their errands, and to do such little odd jobs as their less obliging
husbands would not do for them. In a word, Rip was ready to attend to
anybody’s business but his own; but as to doing family duty, and keeping
his farm in order, he found it impossible."
The tale also has a good deal of nature related imagery. The people who seem to bewitch Rip are described to be something akin to trolls who play nine pins and drink magical alcohol. They exemplify something of the natural state of the forest area.
"On entering the amphitheatre, new objects of wonder presented
themselves. On a level spot in the centre was a company of odd-looking
personages playing at nine-pins. They were dressed in quaint outlandish
fashion; some wore short doublets, others jerkins, with long knives in their
belts, and most of them had enormous breeches, of similar style with that
of the guide’s. Their visages, too, were peculiar; one had a large head,
broad face, and small piggish eyes; the face of another seemed to consist
entirely of nose, and was surmounted by a white sugar-loaf hat, set off
with a little red cock’s tail. They all had beards, of various shapes and
colors. There was one who seemed to be the commander. He was a stout
old gentleman, with a weather-beaten countenance; he wore a laced
doublet, broad belt and hanger, high-crowned hat and feather, red
stockings, and high-heeled shoes, with roses in them. The whole group
reminded Rip of the figures in an old Flemish painting, in the parlor of
Dominie Van Schaick, the village parson, and which had been brought
over from Holland at the time of the settlement."
Chiefly; the story glorifies the life of a simple man (Van Winkle himself) and makes him into something of a folk hero. Instead of the protagonist in the tale being someone like a knight or a great man, Rip is an idle minded simpleton. This displays the romantic ideal of making normal people into heroes instead of writing about people that must of us will be. This glorification was very popular at the time because of the oppression of the colonists by the seemingly rich and powerful English.
"The great error in Rip’s composition was an insuperable aversion to all
kinds of profitable labor. It could not be from the want of assiduity or
perseverance; for he would sit on a wet rock, with a rod as long and heavy
as a Tartar’s lance, and fish all day without a murmur, even though he
should not be encouraged by a single nibble. He would carry a fowlingpiece
on his shoulder for hours together, trudging through woods and
swamps, and up hill and down dale, to shoot a few squirrels or wild
pigeons. He would never refuse to assist a neighbor even in the roughest
toil, and was a foremost man at all country frolics for husking Indian corn,
or building stone-fences; the women of the village, too, used to employ him to run their errands, and to do such little odd jobs as their less obliging
husbands would not do for them. In a word, Rip was ready to attend to
anybody’s business but his own; but as to doing family duty, and keeping
his farm in order, he found it impossible."
The tale also has a good deal of nature related imagery. The people who seem to bewitch Rip are described to be something akin to trolls who play nine pins and drink magical alcohol. They exemplify something of the natural state of the forest area.
"On entering the amphitheatre, new objects of wonder presented
themselves. On a level spot in the centre was a company of odd-looking
personages playing at nine-pins. They were dressed in quaint outlandish
fashion; some wore short doublets, others jerkins, with long knives in their
belts, and most of them had enormous breeches, of similar style with that
of the guide’s. Their visages, too, were peculiar; one had a large head,
broad face, and small piggish eyes; the face of another seemed to consist
entirely of nose, and was surmounted by a white sugar-loaf hat, set off
with a little red cock’s tail. They all had beards, of various shapes and
colors. There was one who seemed to be the commander. He was a stout
old gentleman, with a weather-beaten countenance; he wore a laced
doublet, broad belt and hanger, high-crowned hat and feather, red
stockings, and high-heeled shoes, with roses in them. The whole group
reminded Rip of the figures in an old Flemish painting, in the parlor of
Dominie Van Schaick, the village parson, and which had been brought
over from Holland at the time of the settlement."
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