Great Works of Literature II

I believe that a possible question on the midterm could be based on Frederick Douglass’ narrative as well as connecting it to a separate reading or concept that we have worked on in our prior classes. Douglass’ narrative had a lot of material that could be used, whether to discuss it alone or describe it together with another piece of writing. Therefore a likely question could be to compare the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave with the Declaration of Sentiments. Alternatively, it could be to compare Douglass’ narrative with the idea of the enlightenment. The latter suggestion seems to be a better choice for me personally but I thought that mentioning more than one option would allow more possibilities.

My idea for a midterm question would be to choose two of the documents we read and compare and contrast them, as well as answer the question of how these two documents connect to the theme of Enlightenment.

Enlightenment is the central theme we always come back to in class. The documents, such as the Declaration of Sentiments, show the people’s struggles to be able to gain the freedom to be enlightened and free. There are many similarities in each of the documents so there is plenty to compare, and since they were each written for a different audience, there are plenty differences. By allowing the freedoms that came with the documents, enlightenment became possible.

A possible question for the midterm could be to discuss the themes and motifs in Fredrick Douglas’ Narrative.  Elaborate on what these themes and motifs say about the time and discuss how they relate to themes of the Enlightenment and how it relates to prior readings.  Possible readings to compare to are Immanuel Kant’s “What is Enlightenment” or one of the multiple declarations read in class.

I think this is a very good question because it asks to make relations from texts that were separated by many years and compare how the themes are similar.  There are many connections between the texts and this gives an opportunity to discuss those connections.  Also, this question brings one of our more modern texts that we have read and relates it the the overall theme of the class that we first discussed.  I also think that this question is broad so there is a lot to discuss yet still has set guidelines that will make for a great essay and discussion.

I kind of like poetries and i like Chinese poetries better. Because they are in ancient Chinese, even though not in modern Chinese, i could still understand them better than old English. Nevertheless, no matter what kind of language is used in the poetry, poetry is a unique and fascinating form of writing undoubtedly.

“Poets are not only subject to these experiences as spirits of the most refined organization, but they can colour all that they combine with the evanescent hues of this ethereal world; a word, or a trait in the representation of a scene or a passion, will touch the enchanted chord, and reanimate, in those who have ever experienced these emotions, the buried image of the past. ” (A defense of Poetry, Shelley) Indeed, only poets can describe a beautiful scene that is fading away by using the most accurate words and organizing them in the most concise yet graceful way. I always thought the poets are amazing; sometimes there are so many information we can get through a single line of poetry. They compress a story into a few lines of words and they rhyme with each other; so that it would be difficult for us to not think of the poetry once we read them.

I’m not sure how to understand “Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.” I guess it has something to do with the western culture.

We’ve been studying about the theme of “Enlightenment” since the beginning of class. For the idea for our mid-term exam, I think we should write short essay on “How the Education influence people to reach the Enlightenment since some writers such as Sor Juana, and Frederick Douglass clam that through the getting the education, they find their true calling and found the way to deal with their own destiny.

(I know I was supposed to comment. Consider this my comment.)

I liked Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Sonnets from the Portuguese. The last poem especially caught my interest: XLIII. The poem is must assuredly in sonnet form, but I cannot be entirely sure if it is in Italian or English form. The sonnet is in iambic pentameter, with 14 lines and 5 meters per line.

In the first stanza, Browning begins her poem by quoting one of Shakespeare’s most famous openings to a sonnet: “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” indicating that the following poem is to be a love poem. Also, this gives the reader an idea that the poem may be a Shakespearean sonnet. Browning then proceeds to further solidify her initial statement by giving examples of how she loves “thee”: “to the depth and breadth and height…”; “freely,”; “purely”.
In my opinion, the sonnet is about a person (Perhaps Browning) who opens her heart to her lover, within which are all of her “old griefs” and fond childhood memories. Therefore, she is allowing her lover access to her innermost self, which proves her love.
In the last line: “I shall but love thee better after death.” it is unclear as to whether the death will be her own or her lover’s. Perhaps this was done on purpose?