As we discussed last week, Napoleon’s growing empire brought antiquities (and stories surrounding them) back west—inspiring poems like Shelley’s “Ozymandias.” Turning to Keats, we’ll see more examples of this depiction in verse of the poet’s encounter with the material past.
We happen to have a fantastic resource for encountering the past through objects just a short subway ride from campus. I want to encourage you to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art (you can enter for free) to view some of these antiquities yourself. You might check out the Greek vases or sculptures that Keats writes about or the Egyptian statuary Shelley had in mind. If you have other ideas and want to run them by me, feel free.
To receive extra credit (in the form of a bump in your participation grade), write a short blog post here to reflect on your visit. (Once you’re logged in to the blog, go to the top of the page to the “+new” link, which will bring you to a window to write your post. Let me know if you run into any trouble.) The post should be no longer than 500 words and must be accompanied by an image (a photo you take during your visit of an object you find particularly resonant with one of the poems we’ve read). EDIT: We’re threatening to run up against our space limit for the blog, so please decrease the file size of images you upload. (https://blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/help/#images) You can also link to images uploaded elsewhere if you have another storage space.
This short reflection must be posted before the midterm to receive credit.
1 comments
This is a great opportunity! I didn’t know know the MET allowed free admission.. But now that the class knows, maybe we will all show up every day of the week. This way the admission guard will get to know our faces and not expect a “$25 recommended fee” when we stop by to see the Egyptian Exhibit, statue of Julius Caesar, or a painting of George Washington, in a British Red Coat (as I’m getting a virtual tour on google).
There is another painting of George Washington crossing the Delaware river, in an American Blue Coat. If I can add that this painting represents the discussion of the French Revolution and Washington is portraying the American-version of Paine, except the part where Washington is more revered than Paine for supporting Revolution.
-Nhan