On First Looking into Chapman's Homer
John Keats
Much have I travell'd in the realms of gold,
And many goodly states and kingdoms seen;
Round many western islands have I been
Which bards in fealty to Apollo hold.
Oft of one wide expanse had I been told
That deep-browed Homer ruled as his demesne;
Yet did I never breathe its pure serene
Till I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold:
Then felt I like some watcher of the skies
When a new planet swims into his ken;
Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes
He star'd at the Pacific — and all his men
Look'd at each other with a wild surmise —
Silent, upon a peak in Darien.
This poem by John Keats is from the Romantics era and reflects Romanticism. The Romantics could be called "sappy" writers. They are described as being overcome by an emotion by an experience such as what is happening in the poem. Keats is describing the first time he read Chapman's homer. Each line is a way Keats describes how he feels as he reads it. In general each line is describing something happening for the first time. Or something small on the brink of experiencing something extraordinary. The colorful ways the words are used is also a way the poem reflects Romanticism. Romantics are also notorious for using a much more colorful language and not being so literal as most other genres are. Their figurative language is often the main appeal for many to read Romantic works.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
John Locke
What makes Locke different from a few previous authors is because Locke believes literature through enjoyment is the pursuit of knowledge. But he does not believe in figurative speech or speaking in rhetoric. Rather he thinks everything should be literal and have a direct connection between the symbol and the word. Locke also addresses the essence of an object explaining the essence is made by the mind and not by nature.
Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke believed in the progression of change. He also believed in making the majority influence what direction the change will go into. He stresses the importance of having an imagination to have successful creative art. Burke also talks about things being the same within people. A good example is taste. Taste in all men is the same. Every single man tastes the same way however the difference is there are different preferences as to what is a good taste and what is bad.
Mary Wollstonecraft
Wollstonecraft lived a turbulent life. She began her writings with a memoir of the French Revolution but later became an advocate for the education of women. She discusses the possibility that women are inferior to men only because they are not as educated as them. She also proposes that there should be more equality in the schools. There should be no difference between public or private, class, or gender. So that everyone will learn to live with everyone.
What makes Locke different from a few previous authors is because Locke believes literature through enjoyment is the pursuit of knowledge. But he does not believe in figurative speech or speaking in rhetoric. Rather he thinks everything should be literal and have a direct connection between the symbol and the word. Locke also addresses the essence of an object explaining the essence is made by the mind and not by nature.
Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke believed in the progression of change. He also believed in making the majority influence what direction the change will go into. He stresses the importance of having an imagination to have successful creative art. Burke also talks about things being the same within people. A good example is taste. Taste in all men is the same. Every single man tastes the same way however the difference is there are different preferences as to what is a good taste and what is bad.
Mary Wollstonecraft
Wollstonecraft lived a turbulent life. She began her writings with a memoir of the French Revolution but later became an advocate for the education of women. She discusses the possibility that women are inferior to men only because they are not as educated as them. She also proposes that there should be more equality in the schools. There should be no difference between public or private, class, or gender. So that everyone will learn to live with everyone.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Sydney on Profrock
What would Sydney say about The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock?
Sydney believes poetry is a form of imitation of what is true in nature. The T.S Elliot poem is full of symbolic puns and historical references that both imitate what action is occurring. Sydney looked for such things in poems, but he also strongly believed in direction. The poem is full of lust and self doubt. As Prufrock is amongst these women he thinks to himself about all his imperfections like his hair thinning. Sydney would not have liked the fact he was self concious because we are all made in God's image and so why should he be ashamed of what he looks like? The direction Sydney looks for is the direction to a more moral life. He felt poetry should teach and help a person become more moral. However, I think there is a different side of Sydney. Perhaps he would have liked this poem because of its hidden meanings in the lines. He believes poetry is a form of imitation of nature. The lust man has for a woman is a form of nature and that is what is occurring in the poem. As Profrock recites the historical puns within the poem. The first stanza immediately hints he wants to be alone with a woman. It is clear lust is an apparent inspiration for the poem. Had Sydney thought differently about poems being meant for moral direction he may have really enjoyed this poem because of its mystery.
Sydney believes poetry is a form of imitation of what is true in nature. The T.S Elliot poem is full of symbolic puns and historical references that both imitate what action is occurring. Sydney looked for such things in poems, but he also strongly believed in direction. The poem is full of lust and self doubt. As Prufrock is amongst these women he thinks to himself about all his imperfections like his hair thinning. Sydney would not have liked the fact he was self concious because we are all made in God's image and so why should he be ashamed of what he looks like? The direction Sydney looks for is the direction to a more moral life. He felt poetry should teach and help a person become more moral. However, I think there is a different side of Sydney. Perhaps he would have liked this poem because of its hidden meanings in the lines. He believes poetry is a form of imitation of nature. The lust man has for a woman is a form of nature and that is what is occurring in the poem. As Profrock recites the historical puns within the poem. The first stanza immediately hints he wants to be alone with a woman. It is clear lust is an apparent inspiration for the poem. Had Sydney thought differently about poems being meant for moral direction he may have really enjoyed this poem because of its mystery.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Later Middle Ages
Later Middle Ages
The later Middle Ages were a much different time than the earlier years. The earlier years experienced the fall of Rome and now at the end of the Middle Ages there is a growth economically and a new system came forward. "feudalism" will be come very influential on the culture. People began buying protection and birthing into rights instead of using the democratic system Rome was known for. The legal and political structure became more of an outgrowth of what already exists. Traditions and hereditary status were among the things stemming from what already exists. The rural populated areas were bringing their product into the urban settings and the urban inhibitors were creating the business but also running the rural merchants as well. Feudalism is very city based with it comes to its economic trends.
Intellectual Currents of the Later Middle Ages
The intellectual Currents had an interesting twist later in the Middle Ages. There was also some allegorical criticism and scholasticism both of which are Aristotelisanism influenced with an Islamic influence blended into the mix. A closer look at grammar became apart of the seven liberal arts to study when critiquing a piece. In the new schools that were being developed philosophy became very important in the curriculums. The document most influential from this period is the Scholia Vindobonesia. The author explains that poetry is fed by grammar, rhetoric and logic. The poems content is to be ethics and discipline. Poetry is to delight, offer moral instruction and arouse patriotism (pg. 172). This is much different than that of Aristotle who disowned poetry because they were the true danger. The scholastic phase of medieval criticism and was influenced by Islamic writes. They tended to view poetry as a branch of logic rather than of grammar or rhetoric (173).
The Transcendentals
The Transcendentals dealt with different philosophies of the term "being". This was shown by their peculiar predicates. They also hold the theory that truth is found within a being. Being as in physical instead of finding it in nature. The Medieval Allegory and Aquinas is based upon a very complex theory. "Everything points beyond itself, beyond its immediate worldly significance, toward a higher level of significance in a more comprehensive pattern of events and divine purpose (pg. 208)".
The later Middle Ages were a much different time than the earlier years. The earlier years experienced the fall of Rome and now at the end of the Middle Ages there is a growth economically and a new system came forward. "feudalism" will be come very influential on the culture. People began buying protection and birthing into rights instead of using the democratic system Rome was known for. The legal and political structure became more of an outgrowth of what already exists. Traditions and hereditary status were among the things stemming from what already exists. The rural populated areas were bringing their product into the urban settings and the urban inhibitors were creating the business but also running the rural merchants as well. Feudalism is very city based with it comes to its economic trends.
Intellectual Currents of the Later Middle Ages
The intellectual Currents had an interesting twist later in the Middle Ages. There was also some allegorical criticism and scholasticism both of which are Aristotelisanism influenced with an Islamic influence blended into the mix. A closer look at grammar became apart of the seven liberal arts to study when critiquing a piece. In the new schools that were being developed philosophy became very important in the curriculums. The document most influential from this period is the Scholia Vindobonesia. The author explains that poetry is fed by grammar, rhetoric and logic. The poems content is to be ethics and discipline. Poetry is to delight, offer moral instruction and arouse patriotism (pg. 172). This is much different than that of Aristotle who disowned poetry because they were the true danger. The scholastic phase of medieval criticism and was influenced by Islamic writes. They tended to view poetry as a branch of logic rather than of grammar or rhetoric (173).
The Transcendentals
The Transcendentals dealt with different philosophies of the term "being". This was shown by their peculiar predicates. They also hold the theory that truth is found within a being. Being as in physical instead of finding it in nature. The Medieval Allegory and Aquinas is based upon a very complex theory. "Everything points beyond itself, beyond its immediate worldly significance, toward a higher level of significance in a more comprehensive pattern of events and divine purpose (pg. 208)".
Monday, October 20, 2008
The Early Middle Ages
Historical Background
The progression of intellectuals in the Roman Empire was interesting. The changing and how it affected the literature was something I did not realize. It seems there is a constant friction between pagans and the catholic church. As paganism grew there is a strain on Christianity and so intellectual writings becomes rare. St. Augustine is widely known for his wild past and his reconciliation with his faith. Through his writ tings in Confessions, brings the theory that perhaps he is another reason why a pagan would choose a christian belief rather than their own. "The vehicle for man's redemption from sin is the Incarnation; only through Christ, who is the "mediator between God and men" (pg. 157).
St. Augustine
St. Augustine made Christianity as an attainable goal rather than something supreme like many of the religious extremists would make it sound. St. Augustine was contradictory in many of this beliefs. He stated that paintings, sculptures, and plays were necessarily false, not from any intention to be such but merely from an inability to that which they represent (157). St. Augustine's biggest point is how one should endure signs. He emphasizes you must understand a sign completely before you can assume what it must mean.
The progression of intellectuals in the Roman Empire was interesting. The changing and how it affected the literature was something I did not realize. It seems there is a constant friction between pagans and the catholic church. As paganism grew there is a strain on Christianity and so intellectual writings becomes rare. St. Augustine is widely known for his wild past and his reconciliation with his faith. Through his writ tings in Confessions, brings the theory that perhaps he is another reason why a pagan would choose a christian belief rather than their own. "The vehicle for man's redemption from sin is the Incarnation; only through Christ, who is the "mediator between God and men" (pg. 157).
St. Augustine
St. Augustine made Christianity as an attainable goal rather than something supreme like many of the religious extremists would make it sound. St. Augustine was contradictory in many of this beliefs. He stated that paintings, sculptures, and plays were necessarily false, not from any intention to be such but merely from an inability to that which they represent (157). St. Augustine's biggest point is how one should endure signs. He emphasizes you must understand a sign completely before you can assume what it must mean.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Longinus
Longinus brings up the placement of Sublime as a characteristic of enjoyable literature. This is a theory I relate very closely to. He says the sense of sublime man gets from literature should be what the analysis is about. He also relates sublime with emotion. Sublime and emotion are two things I would say attract me to certain pieces of literature as well.
What Moves Me
Overall things that make me go into deep thought are things that move me.
A book that moved me and literally changed my life was the book, "Into the Wild". The book taught me that life was too short to be afraid of doing things. The strength and ideals Chris McCandless had and believed in so strongly he died as a consequence of his following moves me that someone could believe in themselves that much. The things he did before his death are incredible and are things any average person things about but could never act on.
My favorite short story is The Ones who Walk Away from Omelas simply because it morally asks you what you would do and really turns the table on the reader which I love. It made me think about how I consider scapegoates and the functions of society.
My favorite poet is Dorothy Parker because her cynical, pessimistic out look on relationships with people in general is something I relate to immensely. Often times I feel like her words make sense of my thoughts therefor I have become extremely attacted to many of her poems.
My most read author is Laurie Notaro and Chuck Palahniuk. Notaro's writings make me laugh because her sense of humor acts as a sublime for me. Palahniuk's eccentric plots move me because the ties in the most random occurrences and makes them make perfect sense. These two authors do not serve any other purpose other than they entertain me giving me a sense of Sublime.
My favorite Readings
1) The ones who Walk away from Omelas - Ursula Le Quinn
2) Into The Wild
3)Choke
4) Idiot Girl Adventure Club
5) The Portable Dorothy Parker
Things that are brutally honest also move me. Movies that depict tragedies are a big infatuation of mine. Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee is a movie that I watch repeatedly just because it makes me feel emotions almost instantaneously and overwhelms you with a sense of compassion for those people. Schindler's List is another movie I will never tire off. American History X is my all time favorite movie because of what the character, Derek Vinyard, stands for in changing yourself and learning from the passed. Edward Furlong's character is also something that attracts me to the movie.
My music taste has changed immensely as I have matured. A band that I have been able to relate to most recently is Steely Dan. What has attracted me to Steely Dan is the relaxed sense Donald Fagen sings the songs. He sings them so casual you feel like you are in a conversation with him listening to what his latest rant is. Many of the songs seem to be stories of his growing up which at the time was current but now obviously looking back I can relate to many. The song Reelin in the Years has become one of my favorites because the critical nature of the person he singing about reminds me of a relative I catch flack from every now and then. I have now gotten to listen to more symbolic songs than I used to.
The hidden references in songs is what attracts me to many political bands. Different sounding bands are my most recent obsession or form of sublime I have found. There is something about their individuality in their sounds and often times the lead singers voice that attracts me. Ironic lyrics are almost always a key component to my attraction. If the lyrics are clever I always catch on and enjoy it.
Songs
1) Pink Floyd -Breathe - The poetry used in the song is euphoric and perfectly sychronizes with the music and reminds me to relax when i'm stressed out.
2) Allman Brothers Band - Blue Sky - This song is most effective for me when i'm walking outside at the begining of spring.
3) Billy Joel - Only the Good Die Young
4) Bob Dylan - Like a Rolling Stone - teaches me to second guess occurances in my life
5) Jane's Addiction - Jane Says - I like it because it is a girl who changes her life and is ironic.
A book that moved me and literally changed my life was the book, "Into the Wild". The book taught me that life was too short to be afraid of doing things. The strength and ideals Chris McCandless had and believed in so strongly he died as a consequence of his following moves me that someone could believe in themselves that much. The things he did before his death are incredible and are things any average person things about but could never act on.
My favorite short story is The Ones who Walk Away from Omelas simply because it morally asks you what you would do and really turns the table on the reader which I love. It made me think about how I consider scapegoates and the functions of society.
My favorite poet is Dorothy Parker because her cynical, pessimistic out look on relationships with people in general is something I relate to immensely. Often times I feel like her words make sense of my thoughts therefor I have become extremely attacted to many of her poems.
My most read author is Laurie Notaro and Chuck Palahniuk. Notaro's writings make me laugh because her sense of humor acts as a sublime for me. Palahniuk's eccentric plots move me because the ties in the most random occurrences and makes them make perfect sense. These two authors do not serve any other purpose other than they entertain me giving me a sense of Sublime.
My favorite Readings
1) The ones who Walk away from Omelas - Ursula Le Quinn
2) Into The Wild
3)Choke
4) Idiot Girl Adventure Club
5) The Portable Dorothy Parker
Things that are brutally honest also move me. Movies that depict tragedies are a big infatuation of mine. Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee is a movie that I watch repeatedly just because it makes me feel emotions almost instantaneously and overwhelms you with a sense of compassion for those people. Schindler's List is another movie I will never tire off. American History X is my all time favorite movie because of what the character, Derek Vinyard, stands for in changing yourself and learning from the passed. Edward Furlong's character is also something that attracts me to the movie.
My music taste has changed immensely as I have matured. A band that I have been able to relate to most recently is Steely Dan. What has attracted me to Steely Dan is the relaxed sense Donald Fagen sings the songs. He sings them so casual you feel like you are in a conversation with him listening to what his latest rant is. Many of the songs seem to be stories of his growing up which at the time was current but now obviously looking back I can relate to many. The song Reelin in the Years has become one of my favorites because the critical nature of the person he singing about reminds me of a relative I catch flack from every now and then. I have now gotten to listen to more symbolic songs than I used to.
The hidden references in songs is what attracts me to many political bands. Different sounding bands are my most recent obsession or form of sublime I have found. There is something about their individuality in their sounds and often times the lead singers voice that attracts me. Ironic lyrics are almost always a key component to my attraction. If the lyrics are clever I always catch on and enjoy it.
Songs
1) Pink Floyd -Breathe - The poetry used in the song is euphoric and perfectly sychronizes with the music and reminds me to relax when i'm stressed out.
2) Allman Brothers Band - Blue Sky - This song is most effective for me when i'm walking outside at the begining of spring.
3) Billy Joel - Only the Good Die Young
4) Bob Dylan - Like a Rolling Stone - teaches me to second guess occurances in my life
5) Jane's Addiction - Jane Says - I like it because it is a girl who changes her life and is ironic.
Monday, September 15, 2008
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