"Nature, the Gentlest Mother" by Emily Dickinson describes Mother Earth and how she takes care of her "children" and "household" (Dickinson). Nature is "impatient of no child" which symbolizes how Mother Earth takes care of everyone on the planet and even when her "children" harm her (carbon emissions, fires, ecosystem meddling), she will always be their mother and take care of them from the "feeblest" to the "waywardest" (Dickinson). The next stanza in the poem describes how Nature aids her children. She is present in the forests and hills, and is "heard by travelers" (Dickinson). "Hearing" nature invokes onomatopoeia of wind whistling and rustling the trees in the forests and whipping the tall grass and wildflowers on the tall and rolling hills. Also the animals making a variety of noises in the forest are a sign of Nature's presence. The flowers growing on the hills represent the gentle loving touch of Mother Earth as life on the hill. The third stanza uses personification. Emily Dickinson describes all of the flora and fauna, as well as the creatures and critters that roam the Earth, as Nature's "household" and "assembly" (Dickinson). Nature has "fair conversation" with her "household" (Dickinson). The conversation is a representation of the interaction between Nature and the living things on the Earth. Without sun light and rain the plants and trees could not survive. Also, the changing seasons effect the ecosystems and the animals. Mother Earth takes care of her "children" by providing "warm summer days" and not having freezing, deadly winters (Dickinson).
Emily Dickinson explains that nature, or Mother Nature, has an effect on every creature, whether it is the “minutest cricket” or “the most unworthy flower” (Dickinson). Dickinson has done a great job of personifying nature in this poem also. She says that “her voice among the aisles incites the timid prayer”, so she has given nature a voice that reaches all creatures she has created (Dickinson). She also says that “with infinite affection and infiniter care, her golden finger on her lip, wills silence everywhere” (Dickinson). She has given nature not just a finger but a golden finger. That symbolizes that nature’s finger is of a more important significance because gold represents more noble or distinguished feature. She clearly has a deep affection for nature in this poem. This poem also has a good amount of imagery. Her descriptions are very strong and animated. She creates the image of children sleeping, a very miniscule cricket, an ugly or ‘unworthy’ flower, and how when nature turns to darkness it creates silence everywhere. She presents rhymes in the final stanza, but it is only with the second and fourth lines. The rhyme scheme does not seem to matter as much to her as a good rhythm. She keeps a constant rhythm that is different, but makes the reading flow. The syllables do not always match up with each line, but she creates a certain element of poetry that makes this poem, “Nature, the gentlest Mother”, worth reading.
Dickinson, Emily . "Nature, the Gentlest Mother." Bartleby.com: Great Books Online. Web. 27 Mar. 2012.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Journal #28 More Emily Dickinson
In Emily Dickinson's poem, "I Heard a fly buzz when I Died", she is coming to terms with her death. There is an absolute stillness in the air and in her body. The people that mourn her are anticipating her death in the calmness, and, when she gives up her earthly attachments, she sees a fly buzzing through air. She would have passes away in utter silence, but the fly interposes on her serene passing. The fly seems to represent something of insignificance playing a significant role. It is an unimportant insect in life, but it symbolizes something of importance that cuts her off from the living world. From the beginning of the poem, the author has established a complete image of the setting. There is an overbearing calmness in the deceased and in the air. She also uses imagery to describe the insignificant fly. The fly is described "with blue, uncertain, stumbling buzz" so that the reader gets a good idea of what it looks like. It is not confident in its movements and it is stumbling, but even these imperfected movements distract the dying woman on her death bed. There does not seem to be a very strong spiritual message from this poem. The woman could be thinking about what will happen after she dies, like whether her soul will go to Heaven or if anything at all will happen, but she is thinking about a fly in her last moments. It is sort of ironic that a person could be living their whole life, not knowing the purpose, meaning, or significance of their existence, and when they could be analyzing their every action they are thinking about a bug. The fly could then be a representation of her. She is an insignificant being in the whole scheme of life, but she could have a profound effect on someone else or something else. It seems to be saying that anything, no matter how small or seemingly unnecessary, has some sort of importance in the world.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Journal #27 Emily Dickinson tune
Emily Dickinson was raised and pressured to be a Christian by her family. She had a deep respect for the Bible, but she basically refused to conform directly to Christianity. She had different religious ideas throughout her life, and many times there were Christian ideas involved. She waffled between different religious ideas, so it makes sense that Amazing Grace, or other hymnal songs, would be common tune in her poems. Amazing Grace has the obvious religious background and theme, but it also represents an idea of hope, although it is mostly a hope in God, which was prevalent in many of Emily Dickinson's poems. It is like she contradicts herself by using this song at the same time. By using this tune, she would be saying that God's grace saved her, but she could be believing in a different god that is not the Christian God. It is a very interesting thing to use this tune, or really any tune for that matter, over many poems. As the song says: "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me..." She is saved by God's grace, but it is her God, which can be the typical Christian God, or anything different that she has formed in her own mind and ideas. She could be talking about either God, and, since she is not alive any longer, it is not really possible to know which one she was talking about. Basically she has her own religious feelings and interpretations that could be her own thing or a specifically different combination of Christian morals and ideas with her own. Amazing Grace is a typical religiously based song, so her use of it could just be significant because she was strongly religious. She interprets Amazing Grace the way that she wants to, and she uses it to coincide with her own works of poetry. Emily Dickinson's use of the song Amazing Grace has its own implications, which can also have different interpretations by those who read her poems.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Emily Dickinson writing style
Emily Dickinson has proven herself to be one of the greats of poetry in her time and beyond. Her poems resonate today, and her unique writing style remains unmatched. One of her distinctive elements as a poet is her use of dashes. They are consistent in her works, and, as Fagan says, they “become a thread between the sayable and the unsayable, a caesura between life and death, a pause, a gasp, sometimes a chasm over which one must make a leap of understanding.” She claims that the dash represents more than just a piece of punctuation. Dickinson’s writing style consists of a lot of figurative language such as rhymes, imagery, and personification. Her common themes, or motifs, include nature, the individual and their relation to different things like God and death, and beauty. Her writing is more like the transcendentalists because of its usual optimistic characteristics, but it resembles Modernism because it took poetry in a new direction that modernists were really just trying to reach.
Dickinson’s poem, “The Soul selects her own Society”, shows exactly the extent of her dashes. Literally every line ends in a dash, and some contain them within lines. It reads: “The Soul selects her own Society—then—shuts the door—“ (Dickinson 440). Although Fagan claims that there is an utterly profound reason for these dashes in Dickinson’s writing, it seems like more of just a unique style she used, and simply and added pause to make the poems read the way she intended. In “Because I could not stop for Death”, Dickinson explains that death occurred when she would not give in to it, but it brings her “toward eternity” (448). This shows her interest in death, and that she views it as a bridge to a new eternity. Dickinson’s “The Savior must have been a Docile Gentleman” shows her Christian influence. She is not necessarily Christian, but she still writes about it. In “Hope is the thing with Feathers”, she explains that hope is something that lives in the soul, and in the soul of everyone, and there is not a storm strong enough “that could abash the little bird” (Dickinson). Whether religiously, morally, or intuitively based, Dickinson’s optimistic hope is something that will not be destroyed so easily.
Dickinson uses figurative language in just about every poem. There are rhymes such as “and sweetest in the gale is heard; and sore must be the storm that could abash the little bird that kept so many warm” (Dickinson). In the same poem she gives hope animal qualities. She says that hope has feathers and perches in the soul. Arguably, every poem of Dickinson’s uses imagery. She writes words that cause the reader to see the images that she describes. Her beautiful and complex writing style help create these images in a person’s mind. Ultimately, getting the reader to visualize what the writer creates is one of the main goals. They basically just want to get the people to see their vision.
Dickinson, Emily. "Hope Is the Thing with Feathers (254)- Poets.org - Poetry, Poems, Bios & More." Poets.org. Web. 21 Mar. 2012.
Dickinson, Emily. “from Dickinson’s Poetry.” Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 437-451. Print.
Fagan, Deirdre. "Emily Dickinson's Unutterable Word." Emily Dickinson Journal 14, no. 2 (Fall 2005): 70–75. Quoted as "Emily Dickinson's Unutterable Word" in Bloom, Harold, ed. Emily Dickinson, New Edition, Bloom's Modern Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2008.Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin
Dickinson’s poem, “The Soul selects her own Society”, shows exactly the extent of her dashes. Literally every line ends in a dash, and some contain them within lines. It reads: “The Soul selects her own Society—then—shuts the door—“ (Dickinson 440). Although Fagan claims that there is an utterly profound reason for these dashes in Dickinson’s writing, it seems like more of just a unique style she used, and simply and added pause to make the poems read the way she intended. In “Because I could not stop for Death”, Dickinson explains that death occurred when she would not give in to it, but it brings her “toward eternity” (448). This shows her interest in death, and that she views it as a bridge to a new eternity. Dickinson’s “The Savior must have been a Docile Gentleman” shows her Christian influence. She is not necessarily Christian, but she still writes about it. In “Hope is the thing with Feathers”, she explains that hope is something that lives in the soul, and in the soul of everyone, and there is not a storm strong enough “that could abash the little bird” (Dickinson). Whether religiously, morally, or intuitively based, Dickinson’s optimistic hope is something that will not be destroyed so easily.
Dickinson uses figurative language in just about every poem. There are rhymes such as “and sweetest in the gale is heard; and sore must be the storm that could abash the little bird that kept so many warm” (Dickinson). In the same poem she gives hope animal qualities. She says that hope has feathers and perches in the soul. Arguably, every poem of Dickinson’s uses imagery. She writes words that cause the reader to see the images that she describes. Her beautiful and complex writing style help create these images in a person’s mind. Ultimately, getting the reader to visualize what the writer creates is one of the main goals. They basically just want to get the people to see their vision.
Dickinson, Emily. "Hope Is the Thing with Feathers (254)- Poets.org - Poetry, Poems, Bios & More." Poets.org. Web. 21 Mar. 2012.
Dickinson, Emily. “from Dickinson’s Poetry.” Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 437-451. Print.
Fagan, Deirdre. "Emily Dickinson's Unutterable Word." Emily Dickinson Journal 14, no. 2 (Fall 2005): 70–75. Quoted as "Emily Dickinson's Unutterable Word" in Bloom, Harold, ed. Emily Dickinson, New Edition, Bloom's Modern Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2008.Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin
Whitman writing style
Walt Whitman’s writing style has a few distinct characteristics. Being one of the most influential and important writers of his time, and all time, he had something that was new to American writing and poetry. He neither fell directly into the Realism writing period nor the Modernism period, and it shows in his works. In many works, Whitman’s free verse poems are very musical and several times they begin with ‘The Song of…’, such as “A Song for Occupations,” “Song of the Exposition,” or more commonly “Song of Myself.” He also appeals to the common man in many poems, and familiar themes are patriotism, democracy, humanity and nature, and a couple of poems on Lincoln’s assassination. An important symbol in “Leaves of Grass” is the ‘I’ in it alludes to Whitman, but it represents a more omnipotent narrator. At the same time, this is also a certain pretention to his writing because Whitman is writing as the omnipotent.
The free verse style that Whitman uses is one of his most distinguishing features as a writer. During his time, it was very unconventional, and enough to give him the informal title of the father of free verse. William Sloane Kennedy “celebrates Whitman's free verse for diligently shedding the artificial syntax of traditional poetry, thereby evoking the spontaneous rhythms and turns of phrase characteristic of authentic human speech.” His writing is natural and comes from what he finds to be natural. In “One’s-Self I Sing”, Whitman says: “one’s-self I sing, a simple separate person. Yet utter the word Democratic, the word En-Masse… the Female equally with the Male I sing… the Modern Man I sing.” Being another poem that is Whitman singing, this represents what he is personally feeling. It comes from within, and it expresses his thoughts. “It can be indubitably proved that his poetic art…is profoundly consonant with the laws of nature and symphonic music” (Kennedy). Kennedy argues that Whitman’s style is naturally musical; that almost every other poet is unnatural and unmusical; and that Whitman’s poems could even be organized in a way that is typical of poets instead of his free verse style.
Regarding themes, Whitman even says that war is only one to have. He says: “Know’st thou not there is but one theme for ever-enduring bards? And that is the theme of War” (Whitman). Experiencing the Civil War first hand, Whitman must have seen something very important about it to make it that important of a theme. But, as Whitman says, “for you these from me, O Democracy… I am trilling songs.” Essentially he must be saying that he writes about war, or sings about it, as an ode to democracy. Whitman expresses his patriotism in “Turn O Libertad.” He says that things are changing, and changing for the better; “turn your undying face, to where the future, greater than all the past, is swiftly, surely preparing for you.” Whitman’s sorrow after Lincoln’s assassination is seen in “O Captain! My Captain!” and “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d.”
Kennedy, William Sloane. "Whitman's Word-Music."Reminiscences of Walt Whitman, London, 1896: 162–90. Quoted as "Whitman's Word-Music" in Bloom, Harold, ed. Walt Whitman, Classic Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CCVWaW042&SingleRecord=True (accessed March 20, 2012).
Whitman, Walt. "Leaves of Grass, 1891-92 Edition." Published Works. Web. 20 Mar. 2012..
The free verse style that Whitman uses is one of his most distinguishing features as a writer. During his time, it was very unconventional, and enough to give him the informal title of the father of free verse. William Sloane Kennedy “celebrates Whitman's free verse for diligently shedding the artificial syntax of traditional poetry, thereby evoking the spontaneous rhythms and turns of phrase characteristic of authentic human speech.” His writing is natural and comes from what he finds to be natural. In “One’s-Self I Sing”, Whitman says: “one’s-self I sing, a simple separate person. Yet utter the word Democratic, the word En-Masse… the Female equally with the Male I sing… the Modern Man I sing.” Being another poem that is Whitman singing, this represents what he is personally feeling. It comes from within, and it expresses his thoughts. “It can be indubitably proved that his poetic art…is profoundly consonant with the laws of nature and symphonic music” (Kennedy). Kennedy argues that Whitman’s style is naturally musical; that almost every other poet is unnatural and unmusical; and that Whitman’s poems could even be organized in a way that is typical of poets instead of his free verse style.
Regarding themes, Whitman even says that war is only one to have. He says: “Know’st thou not there is but one theme for ever-enduring bards? And that is the theme of War” (Whitman). Experiencing the Civil War first hand, Whitman must have seen something very important about it to make it that important of a theme. But, as Whitman says, “for you these from me, O Democracy… I am trilling songs.” Essentially he must be saying that he writes about war, or sings about it, as an ode to democracy. Whitman expresses his patriotism in “Turn O Libertad.” He says that things are changing, and changing for the better; “turn your undying face, to where the future, greater than all the past, is swiftly, surely preparing for you.” Whitman’s sorrow after Lincoln’s assassination is seen in “O Captain! My Captain!” and “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d.”
Kennedy, William Sloane. "Whitman's Word-Music."Reminiscences of Walt Whitman, London, 1896: 162–90. Quoted as "Whitman's Word-Music" in Bloom, Harold, ed. Walt Whitman, Classic Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CCVWaW042&SingleRecord=True (accessed March 20, 2012).
Whitman, Walt. "Leaves of Grass, 1891-92 Edition." Published Works. Web. 20 Mar. 2012.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
BLOG 18: Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass”, which Ralph Waldo Emerson called “the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom that America has yet contributed”, displays works on war, nature, life and death, and more (Kaplan 431). One of his poems, “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer”, really shows what Whitman is about. It is that transcendentalist belief that more can be learned from seeing things as they naturally are than from a lecture. In the poem, a man listens to an astronomer explaining something, but the author grows “tired and sick” (Whitman 411). He leaves the lecture and finds that looking up at the stars in perfect silence is much more divine. In this poem, but more so in many of his others poems, he expresses his attachment to nature.
“Emerson argued that divinity was present throughout the physical world and that all humans were equally miracles of creation”, which is something that Whitman definitely believed (Letter to Walt Whitman). Whitman said: “As to me I know nothing else but miracles”, and, after listing many natural things as miracles he says that “These with the rest, one and all, are to me miracles” (Whitman). Emerson also had the same belief that Whitman expressed in “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer.” In “Nature”, Emerson basically says that intuition, with seeing things as they naturally fall in relation to a larger scheme of life, is preferable to sciences. They both seem to have this same belief, but it would make more sense if they could find harmony between the two. Listen to the lectures and study the sciences, and then apply that when looking at the stars or viewing nature.
One subject that Henry David Thoreau and Walt Whitman appear to differ on is government. Thoreau wanted little to no government, as he says: “That government is best which governs not at all", while Whitman praised democracy (Thoreau). Emerson and Thoreau had a lot in common due to their mentor-mentee relationship, and Whitman and Emerson had a lot in common, so, by the associative property, Thoreau and Whitman had a lot in common. They both loved nature and believed it had something to teach.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Letter to Walt Whitman (July 21, 1855). Quoted as "Letter to Walt Whitman" in Bloom, Harold, ed. Walt Whitman, Classic Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2007.Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CCVWaW058&SingleRecord=True
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "Nature." Ralph Waldo Emerson Texts. Web. 06 Feb. 2012.
Kaplan, Justin. “from Walt Whitman: A Life.” Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 430-436. Print.
Thoreau, Henry David. "Thoreau's Civil Disobedience - with Annotated Text." The Thoreau Reader. Web. 25 Jan. 2012.
Whitman, Walt. "Miracles - Walt Whitman (1819-1892)." Books & Literature Classics. Web. 11 Mar. 2012..
Whitman, Walt. “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer.” Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 411. Print.
“Emerson argued that divinity was present throughout the physical world and that all humans were equally miracles of creation”, which is something that Whitman definitely believed (Letter to Walt Whitman). Whitman said: “As to me I know nothing else but miracles”, and, after listing many natural things as miracles he says that “These with the rest, one and all, are to me miracles” (Whitman). Emerson also had the same belief that Whitman expressed in “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer.” In “Nature”, Emerson basically says that intuition, with seeing things as they naturally fall in relation to a larger scheme of life, is preferable to sciences. They both seem to have this same belief, but it would make more sense if they could find harmony between the two. Listen to the lectures and study the sciences, and then apply that when looking at the stars or viewing nature.
One subject that Henry David Thoreau and Walt Whitman appear to differ on is government. Thoreau wanted little to no government, as he says: “That government is best which governs not at all", while Whitman praised democracy (Thoreau). Emerson and Thoreau had a lot in common due to their mentor-mentee relationship, and Whitman and Emerson had a lot in common, so, by the associative property, Thoreau and Whitman had a lot in common. They both loved nature and believed it had something to teach.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Letter to Walt Whitman (July 21, 1855). Quoted as "Letter to Walt Whitman" in Bloom, Harold, ed. Walt Whitman, Classic Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2007.Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CCVWaW058&SingleRecord=True
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "Nature." Ralph Waldo Emerson Texts. Web. 06 Feb. 2012.
Kaplan, Justin. “from Walt Whitman: A Life.” Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 430-436. Print.
Thoreau, Henry David. "Thoreau's Civil Disobedience - with Annotated Text." The Thoreau Reader. Web. 25 Jan. 2012.
Whitman, Walt. "Miracles - Walt Whitman (1819-1892)." Books & Literature Classics. Web. 11 Mar. 2012.
Whitman, Walt. “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer.” Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 411. Print.
BLOG 17: Emily Dickinson
The best thing about Emily Dickinson is that she wrote many short poems. Some deal with life and death, some with nature, some with the soul, and more. Writing many poems lets her cover more topics, and, although they are frequently short, they develop large ideas. In “Much Madness is divinest Sense”, Dickinson writes about how insightful people are the ones who are really mad, while madness is true understanding. She says: “Assent—and you are sane—demur you’re straightway dangerous—and handled with a chain” (Dickinson 442). She is saying that those who follow are normal, and those who disagree are the prisoners. The majority is setting what is sanity, but Dickinson is saying that the majority is not correct. In “This is my Letter to the World”, she writes that she wants to teach the things that nature taught her even though the world does not recognize her. This shows her interest in nature, her desire to bring others into its vicinity, and her want for others to “judge tenderly” of her (Dickinson 451).
Emily Dickinson definitely relates to Ralph Waldo Emerson on different topics. Regarding “Much Madness is divinest Sense”, Emerson’s writing in “Self-Reliance” provides some similarities; he said that “to be great is to be misunderstood” and, remarking on this, Brugman said: “while a strong individual is necessary for a strong society, a strong society crushes the individual who stands out as different” (Emerson). Dickinson’s poem expresses exactly this. Conformity equates to sanity and “demur” leads to punishment. One of Dickinson’s influences, Emerson clearly inspired some of her feelings toward nature. The ideas that she expresses in her poetry seem like direct descendents from Emerson.
The relation between “Much Madness is the divinest Sense” and Henry David Thoreau could be from a line in “Civil Disobedience that says “a minority is powerless when it conforms to the majority” or when he says that “the true place for a just man is also a prison.” The just man Thoreau speaks of is like the mad man in Dickinson’s poem because when they object they are both imprisoned. Dickinson’s view on nature from “This is my letter to the World” seems just as relatable to Thoreau as to Emerson because he also believed in learning from what it had to teach, which he explains in “Walden.”
Brugman, Patricia. "Individual and Society in 'Self-Reliance'." McClinton-Temple, Jennifer ed. Encyclopedia of Themes in Literature. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2011. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=&iPin=ETL0377&SingleRecord=True
Dickinson, Emily. “Much Madness is the divinest Sense.” Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 442. Print.
Dickinson, Emily. “This is my Letter to the World.” Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 451. Print.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "Self-Reliance." Ralph Waldo Emerson Texts. Web. 13 Feb. 2012.
Thoreau, Henry David. "Thoreau's Civil Disobedience - with Annotated Text." The Thoreau Reader. Web. 25 Jan. 2012.
Thoreau, Henry David. "Thoreau's Walden - an Annotated Edition." The Thoreau Reader. Web. 21 Feb. 2012.
Emily Dickinson definitely relates to Ralph Waldo Emerson on different topics. Regarding “Much Madness is divinest Sense”, Emerson’s writing in “Self-Reliance” provides some similarities; he said that “to be great is to be misunderstood” and, remarking on this, Brugman said: “while a strong individual is necessary for a strong society, a strong society crushes the individual who stands out as different” (Emerson). Dickinson’s poem expresses exactly this. Conformity equates to sanity and “demur” leads to punishment. One of Dickinson’s influences, Emerson clearly inspired some of her feelings toward nature. The ideas that she expresses in her poetry seem like direct descendents from Emerson.
The relation between “Much Madness is the divinest Sense” and Henry David Thoreau could be from a line in “Civil Disobedience that says “a minority is powerless when it conforms to the majority” or when he says that “the true place for a just man is also a prison.” The just man Thoreau speaks of is like the mad man in Dickinson’s poem because when they object they are both imprisoned. Dickinson’s view on nature from “This is my letter to the World” seems just as relatable to Thoreau as to Emerson because he also believed in learning from what it had to teach, which he explains in “Walden.”
Brugman, Patricia. "Individual and Society in 'Self-Reliance'." McClinton-Temple, Jennifer ed. Encyclopedia of Themes in Literature. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2011. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=&iPin=ETL0377&SingleRecord=True
Dickinson, Emily. “Much Madness is the divinest Sense.” Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 442. Print.
Dickinson, Emily. “This is my Letter to the World.” Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 451. Print.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "Self-Reliance." Ralph Waldo Emerson Texts. Web. 13 Feb. 2012.
Thoreau, Henry David. "Thoreau's Civil Disobedience - with Annotated Text." The Thoreau Reader. Web. 25 Jan. 2012.
Thoreau, Henry David. "Thoreau's Walden - an Annotated Edition." The Thoreau Reader. Web. 21 Feb. 2012.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
BLOG 16: Jack London
“To Build a Fire” by Jack London is a story of a man, an overly confident one at that, and the point, or at least one of the points, is that he thinks he is control when he is not. He is on a long trail, and, although he does not use all of it advantageously, he has information and is well aware of what to expect. Another man told him to bring a companion, he did not; his friend, Bud, wore nose straps, he did not. He does not respect other people enough to follow advice, he does not respect his only companion, the dog, enough to not attempt killing it, and he does not respect his environment so he dies. The man who was “quick and alert in the things in life, but only the things, and not in the significances” learned that there are forces outside of his control (London 604). He could have respected the omnipotent and omnipresent intensity of nature, but he suffered in the end.
Ralph Waldo Emerson’s works are somewhat contradictory in regard to this. He advocates respect toward nature to a great extent, but at the same time he focuses on self-reliance. Emerson beautifies nature all throughout “Nature” explaining that deifies people, that art comes from nature, and that it is not a substance but a phenomenon. In “Self-Reliance”, he says “A stranger will say with masterly good sense, precisely what we have thought and felt all the time.” The main character in “To Build a Fire” could have learned from what others say.
Thoreau follows the message from this story also. Specifically in “Walden”, he shows the importance of nature. He even explains that it can teach people by saying: “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach…” The man in London’s story, once again, could have learned from this. Nature teaches messages, and, in this case, it was the difference between life and death.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "Nature." Ralph Waldo Emerson Texts. Web. 06 Feb. 2012.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "Self-Reliance." Ralph Waldo Emerson Texts. Web. 13 Feb. 2012.
London, Jack. “To Build a Fire.” Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 603-614. Print.
Thoreau, Henry David. "Thoreau's Walden - an Annotated Edition." The Thoreau Reader. Web. 21 Feb. 2012.
Ralph Waldo Emerson’s works are somewhat contradictory in regard to this. He advocates respect toward nature to a great extent, but at the same time he focuses on self-reliance. Emerson beautifies nature all throughout “Nature” explaining that deifies people, that art comes from nature, and that it is not a substance but a phenomenon. In “Self-Reliance”, he says “A stranger will say with masterly good sense, precisely what we have thought and felt all the time.” The main character in “To Build a Fire” could have learned from what others say.
Thoreau follows the message from this story also. Specifically in “Walden”, he shows the importance of nature. He even explains that it can teach people by saying: “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach…” The man in London’s story, once again, could have learned from this. Nature teaches messages, and, in this case, it was the difference between life and death.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "Nature." Ralph Waldo Emerson Texts. Web. 06 Feb. 2012.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "Self-Reliance." Ralph Waldo Emerson Texts. Web. 13 Feb. 2012.
London, Jack. “To Build a Fire.” Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 603-614. Print.
Thoreau, Henry David. "Thoreau's Walden - an Annotated Edition." The Thoreau Reader. Web. 21 Feb. 2012.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
BLOG 15: Edwin Arlington Robinson
Edwin Arlington Robinson’s “Richard Corey” is a somewhat funny, ironic, little poem. It starts with an upbeat mood and “a gentleman from sole to crown”, but in the very last line the mood shifts completely to Richard Corey shooting himself (Robinson 575). With 16 short lines, this poem has a limited amount of interpretation. Corey is a sound man who seems content on the outside, but he clearly has some problem that is not projected externally. It shows that no matter how people may seem, or happy they seem, there is no way to know what they are dealing with on the inside. On the other hand, “he was rich—yes, richer than a king…”, but even this vast accumulation of wealth cannot satisfy Richard Corey. It shows that material items do not bring happiness, and, possibly, that they bring the exact opposite. The money, maybe some sort of stress related to it, caused him “to put a bullet through his head” (Robinson 575).
Henry David Thoreau has the same opinion on materialism as Robinson in “Richard Corey.” Thoreau, in “Walden”, went to the woods, which is exactly where material items are not. He even said that material items are “improved means to an unimproved end” (Thoreau). Although he hardly left society, he was clearly a believer in the idea that money does not buy happiness. He got joy from nature, from the woods, from walking, and similar things that were all free.
Emerson probably has the same beliefs as Thoreau. In “Nature” he said that a harmony between man and nature will bring delight, and, since nature cannot be bought and is not a material item, it can be deduced that Emerson also does not think that money buys happiness. Ultimately, saying that money does not buy happiness is more of a philosophical argument than a rational argument. If nature is what brings a person happiness, then the rational argument would be that nature can be made more accessible by a person with money than by a person without.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "Nature." Ralph Waldo Emerson Texts. Web. 06 Feb. 2012.
Robinson, Edwin Arlington. “Richard Corey.” Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 575. Print.
Thoreau, Henry David. "Thoreau's Walden - an Annotated Edition." The Thoreau Reader. Web. 21 Feb. 2012.
Henry David Thoreau has the same opinion on materialism as Robinson in “Richard Corey.” Thoreau, in “Walden”, went to the woods, which is exactly where material items are not. He even said that material items are “improved means to an unimproved end” (Thoreau). Although he hardly left society, he was clearly a believer in the idea that money does not buy happiness. He got joy from nature, from the woods, from walking, and similar things that were all free.
Emerson probably has the same beliefs as Thoreau. In “Nature” he said that a harmony between man and nature will bring delight, and, since nature cannot be bought and is not a material item, it can be deduced that Emerson also does not think that money buys happiness. Ultimately, saying that money does not buy happiness is more of a philosophical argument than a rational argument. If nature is what brings a person happiness, then the rational argument would be that nature can be made more accessible by a person with money than by a person without.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "Nature." Ralph Waldo Emerson Texts. Web. 06 Feb. 2012.
Robinson, Edwin Arlington. “Richard Corey.” Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 575. Print.
Thoreau, Henry David. "Thoreau's Walden - an Annotated Edition." The Thoreau Reader. Web. 21 Feb. 2012.
BLOG 14: Anton Chekhov
Anton Chekhov’s “The Darling” is a story of an ignorant woman who cannot think for herself, so she incessantly falls in love and relies on men for opinions and ideas in a patriarchal society. The story seems misogynistic in nature like when Olenka, the main character, says something and the current husband retorts: “Haven’t I told you before not to talk about things you don’t understand. When we vets are talking shop, please don’t butt in. It’s extremely tedious” (Chekhov 562). Olenka is continually giving women a bad name. Her ignorance and conceited arrogance make a strange combination; she says that there is nothing as important as theatre and that people need to watch it and appreciate it more, but, not too soon after, she is too focused on timber and says: “We’re working folk, we can’t be bothered with trifles. What do people see in those theatres, anyway?” (Chekhov 561).Very rarely do people actually change their opinions on things they are passionate about so carelessly, which can make Olenka seem more fictional or make people think less highly of women. Ultimately, though, Chekhov was not a misogynist because he wrote this story to “show what women ought not to be”, and to reassert that women deserve the right to a mind and soul of their own (Poggioli).
As Henry David Thoreau said, “A minority is powerless while it conforms to the majority.” Olenka represents feebleness in women being a minority, and a dependence on men. Men are almost always the majority or at least leaders, matriarchies being somewhat rare, so women, as Thoreau says, are powerless. In Chekhov’s story, she seems to be more dependent than powerless because she has power when she has love or a man, but when she is alone she cannot even form a basic opinion on something as simple as rain.
Emerson believes something quite similar to Chekhov, but contrary to the plot of the story. Dependence being the antithesis of self-reliance, Emerson was teaching independence, and, since Chekhov was warning women not to be like Olenka, he really had the same message. Emerson said that “In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts”, but this presents an interesting perception. Olenka either recognizes her rejected thoughts in every man, or she has no thoughts to recognize or even reject.
Chekhov, Anton. “The Darling.” Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 557-565. Print.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "Self-Reliance." Ralph Waldo Emerson Texts. Web. 13 Feb. 2012.
Poggioli, Renatto. "Storytelling in a Double Key" in Anton Chekhov's Short Stories, Ralph E. Matlaw, ed. (New York: W. W. Norton, 1979): pp. 324–26, 327–28. Quoted as "Love in the Story" in Harold Bloom, ed. Anton Chekhov, Bloom's Major Short Story Writers. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishing, 2001. (Updated 2007.) Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= BMSSAC34&SingleRecord=True (accessed March 6, 2012).
Thoreau, Henry David. "Thoreau's Civil Disobedience - with Annotated Text." The Thoreau Reader. Web. 25 Jan. 2012.
As Henry David Thoreau said, “A minority is powerless while it conforms to the majority.” Olenka represents feebleness in women being a minority, and a dependence on men. Men are almost always the majority or at least leaders, matriarchies being somewhat rare, so women, as Thoreau says, are powerless. In Chekhov’s story, she seems to be more dependent than powerless because she has power when she has love or a man, but when she is alone she cannot even form a basic opinion on something as simple as rain.
Emerson believes something quite similar to Chekhov, but contrary to the plot of the story. Dependence being the antithesis of self-reliance, Emerson was teaching independence, and, since Chekhov was warning women not to be like Olenka, he really had the same message. Emerson said that “In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts”, but this presents an interesting perception. Olenka either recognizes her rejected thoughts in every man, or she has no thoughts to recognize or even reject.
Chekhov, Anton. “The Darling.” Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 557-565. Print.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "Self-Reliance." Ralph Waldo Emerson Texts. Web. 13 Feb. 2012.
Poggioli, Renatto. "Storytelling in a Double Key" in Anton Chekhov's Short Stories, Ralph E. Matlaw, ed. (New York: W. W. Norton, 1979): pp. 324–26, 327–28. Quoted as "Love in the Story" in Harold Bloom, ed. Anton Chekhov, Bloom's Major Short Story Writers. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishing, 2001. (Updated 2007.) Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= BMSSAC34&SingleRecord=True (accessed March 6, 2012).
Thoreau, Henry David. "Thoreau's Civil Disobedience - with Annotated Text." The Thoreau Reader. Web. 25 Jan. 2012.
Friday, March 2, 2012
BLOG 12: Edgar Lee Masters
Edgar Lee Masters addresses several different things in “Spoon River Anthology” with his different characters that all express Masters’ realism. It is hard to say what his philosophy was because he is putting himself in the position of other people, many based on those he actually knew, so it will have to broken down into the different ideas in different poems. In “Trainor the Druggist”, shows how life is unpredictable. He says: “Only the chemist can tell…what will result from compounding fluids or solids. And who can tell how men and women will interact…” (Masters 19). He dies unmarried because he did not know what the results would be of his reaction with a women, or, in other words, how the child would turn out. In “Alexander Throckmorton” he says that “genius is wisdom and youth”, but wisdom comes with age so it is insurmountable to have both (Masters 125). Then, in “Professor Newcomer”, Masters tells of an engine that was so powerful it overworked itself to death. He compares this engine to humans using all their energies while having “nothing to do” (Masters 133). His “Fiddler Jones” ends with the lines: “I ended up with forty acres… a broken fiddle… a broken laugh, and a thousand memories, and not a single regret” (Masters 61). All of his experiences and memories made him who he is, so he has no regrets.
Thoreau would probably feel the same way as Trainor the druggist because he was left unmarried. Like the druggist, he stuck to his interests or what he knew. Thoreau would not agree with Professor Newcomer though. He says that “a man has not everything to do, but something…”, while Newcomer says man has nothing to do (Thoreau). And, of course, Thoreau wanted to live without regrets because he says so in “Walden.”
Emerson has a somewhat radical stance on what Trainor the druggist says. He probably thought it was possible to predict things the way he relied on intuition and basically says nature put things in certain relations that could be understood, but not by relying on sciences that were not so natural. Trainor is a man who solely relies on science that when he cannot predict what will happen in marriage, he does not get married. Relating to Throckmorton, Emerson admired infancy, which, Brugman explains, is pure and honest.
Brugman, Patricia. "Individual and Society in 'Self-Reliance'." McClinton-Temple, Jennifer ed. Encyclopedia of Themes in Literature. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2011. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=&iPin=ETL0377&SingleRecord=True (accessed January 30, 2012)
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "Nature." Ralph Waldo Emerson Texts. Web. 06 Feb. 2012.
Masters, Edgar Lee. “Spoon River Anthology.” New York: Tom Doherty Associates, Inc., 1996. Print.
Thoreau, Henry David. "Thoreau's Civil Disobedience - with Annotated Text." The Thoreau Reader. Web. 25 Jan. 2012.
Thoreau would probably feel the same way as Trainor the druggist because he was left unmarried. Like the druggist, he stuck to his interests or what he knew. Thoreau would not agree with Professor Newcomer though. He says that “a man has not everything to do, but something…”, while Newcomer says man has nothing to do (Thoreau). And, of course, Thoreau wanted to live without regrets because he says so in “Walden.”
Emerson has a somewhat radical stance on what Trainor the druggist says. He probably thought it was possible to predict things the way he relied on intuition and basically says nature put things in certain relations that could be understood, but not by relying on sciences that were not so natural. Trainor is a man who solely relies on science that when he cannot predict what will happen in marriage, he does not get married. Relating to Throckmorton, Emerson admired infancy, which, Brugman explains, is pure and honest.
Brugman, Patricia. "Individual and Society in 'Self-Reliance'." McClinton-Temple, Jennifer ed. Encyclopedia of Themes in Literature. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2011. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=&iPin=ETL0377&SingleRecord=True (accessed January 30, 2012)
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "Nature." Ralph Waldo Emerson Texts. Web. 06 Feb. 2012.
Masters, Edgar Lee. “Spoon River Anthology.” New York: Tom Doherty Associates, Inc., 1996. Print.
Thoreau, Henry David. "Thoreau's Civil Disobedience - with Annotated Text." The Thoreau Reader. Web. 25 Jan. 2012.
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