ROMANTICISM

When it comes to the subject of Romanticism I am somewhat lost and confused. I however, don’t see myself being in the Neoclassicism group had I been born in this time, but not really in to the Romanticism movement either. I will try my hardest to analyze the poem assigned as if I had every idea of what the Romantics were trying to convey through their poetry.
“Literature depicting emotional matter in an imaginative form,” is an easy enough way to grasp the concept of Romanticism and Floating Island by Dorothy Wordsworth does depict nature and emotion in such a way. Take this particular stanza for example:

Once did I see a slip of earth,
By throbbing waves long undermined,
Loosed from its hold; -- how no one knew
But all might see it float, obedient to the wind.

The poet describes the island as a “slip of earth” that was undermined by “throbbing waves”. The words are full of imagination and emotion. The idea of the waves throbbing conveys a certain emotion to the reader. The idea of the wave throbbing almost makes them seem alive. The word choice gives the waves a pulse of some sort. It is a fascinating idea to consider these “living”, pulsing waves “loosed from its hold” the piece or “slip” of earth and now the poor little island is at the mercy of the wind or at least “obedient to the wind”. Now someone who would describe an island through the use of scientific rationalization might not write a poem that would bring rise to the same emotions as Wordsworth’s poem. Instead of “slip of earth” they may simply substitute “island” and that wouldn’t be very imaginative at all. “Slip of earth” makes the island seem delicate and fragile. If you said “Once did I see an island surrounded by waves gashing in the wind, the same waves that tore it away from its continent and the wind slowly eroded it.” The reader doesn’t feel connected to the island at all in the poem. In phrasing the poem the way Wordsworth phrased it the reader almost feels like the island has emotion. The reader can make an emotional connection with the island.

Towards the end of the poem it talks about the island sinking and disappearing under the waves. The poem again makes the island seem as if it had been alive by comparing this scene to its death.

Without an object, hope, or fear,
Thither your eyes may turn -- the Isle is passed away.

Edgar Huntly

Brown’s use of describing the sensations and thoughts that Edgar Huntly is experiencing can be used to describe the scenery in the majority of the text so for me it was hard to pick one specific point in the novel. Page 154 however, did stick out to me because I am slightly claustrophobic and if this ever happened to me I would totally freak out. The last paragraph really grasps how the wilderness is a threat without actually depicting the scenery in detail. I of course understood he was trapped in a cave of some sort, but the reader knows more about Edgar’s delusions and fears than the cave itself. “I existed as it were in a wakeful dream. With nothing to correct my erroneous perceptions, the images of the past occurred in capricious combinations, and vivid hues.” He entertains the idea that some tyrant had thrust him into a dungeon. I know he is in the cave in the wilderness, but the thought of the dungeon after the previous statement makes the place seem cold and dark and eerie. At the top of page 155 he then mentions the thought of having been buried alive. You can really sense how frightening and lonely the cave is from this idea and the reader begins to wonder as Edgar does himself, that he might be left there to die. I believe an author oriented toward the picturesque might not have captured the fear or the terror Edgar experiences at that moment. The author would be more about the caves stone walls, the color of the ground, or describing the darkness in a more literal sense rather than describing as Brown did. Further down the same page it reads, “There is no standard by which time can be measured, but the succession of our thoughts, and the changes that take place in the external world.” From this sentence alone I feel like the cave is deep and dark and cut off from the world. I felt a tremendous sense of isolation from this piece in the reading than if I had read something along the lines of, “the cave walls were impossible to measure in height and all was very dark.” I would argue that the book would have lost a lot of its intensity had it been written in a more picturesque way. I think describing the character’s reaction towards the environment allows the reader to feel what the character is feeling and fear what the character fears whereas if it had been described in a more visual sort of way I might have thought Edgar was a wimp and should just crawl out of the stupid cave.

Eng 372 Horror and Terror

The difference between terror and horror seems to be a fine line. If terror is considered to be a feeling of dread and is related to being anxious or fearful, whereas horror if a feeling of revulsion after something has occurred one might say that terror comes first and depending on the outcome horror could be one of the results. I am in no way saying that you cannot have one without the other.

For example you could say this picture of Britney Spears is a look or a reaction to terror. She seems very anxious and fearful that the dangerous flying object in the air might hit her in the dome piece at any second. If the ball does or does not make impact and she is not injured she might experience an outcome like we discussed in class. She would take a look around at the beautiful pool scene that surrounds her and feel peace. She might appreciate her vacation more than ever before. However, if the seemingly innocent beach ball contains a hidden grenade and the end result is Britney staring into a pool now filled with blood wondering where her legs have gone; that would most likely be considered horror.

Another example I wanted to share is from The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I think this novel shows the aspects of terror as well as horror in a detailed fashion. Throughout the entire story a father and son are living in a postapocalyptic world hiding from cannibals. They are truly in a state of terror through the entire book. There is always a sense of impending doom. They are anxious, alert, and terrified at all times. There is one particular part in the book that stood out as a feeling of horror rather than terror. The father finds a seemingly abandoned house and searches it to find a group of people who have been hoarded away into a cellar. When the realization comes to him that these people have been captured to eat he is disgusted and flees. At that moment in his journey he is horrified opposed to the general feeling of terror he had been experiencing throughout the story previously.

Introducing Myself To The Class!

Hello Everyone. My name is Sara Ehlers and this is my first semester at WSU. I'm a pretty shy person until you get to know me. I am very artistic. I've always painted, sketched, and wrote. Music is very important to me and is something I don't think I could live without. I listen to music (loudly) when I'm doing just about anything. I can't cook at all and I am cursed when it comes to anything to do with automobiles. You really don't want me driving your cars or else they will probably break down the next day then explode.