The worthy words of Wordsworth!
Seriously, try saying that 10 times fast! And now to the point… I absolutely loved reading Wordsworth! He’s been one of my favorite poets since high school, and I think he always will be. I mean Coleridge is okay too… but, you know… Well, reading the Lyrical Ballads this time got me thinking about why […]
Lyrical Ballads–Wordworth and Coleridge
One thing that particularly struck me about the preface was Wordsworth’s discussion on metre and the overall format of poetry. He states that “in one case the reader is utterly at the mercy of the poet,” whereas in the other (when the metre obeys certain laws) both the reader and the poet “willingly submit because […]
Wordsworth
Yesterday’s lecture made me both intrigued and skeptical of some of Wordsworth’s ideas. I decided to reread a poem from the “Lyrical Ballads” in order to see if Wordsworth could pull me in a direction that he seems to believe … Continue reading →
Lyrical Ballads and Organic Sensibility
A phrase that really stood out to me from the lecture on Lyrical Ballads was ‘organic sensibility’. This concept actually comes from the Preface to the Lyrical Ballads when Wordsworth says: For all good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: but though this be true, Poems to which any value can be attached, […]
Poetry And Empathy
So it has been a while since I last read any romantic poetry, it’s not usually the sort of thing I enjoy. I find it can be a bit too maudlin for my tastes, a bit too emotional. That’s not to say I don’t like or appreciate emotions, just that having something solely focused on […]
The Simplicity in the Lyrical Ballads
After attending the lecture on Wordsworth and Coleridge, I’m fascinated by a number of things: 1. How exactly do the words and rhythms of poetry work together so cleverly to produce a) raw emotion b) a sense of calmness and c) simplicity + beauty ? –>It must require certain skills, such as a vocabulary, good […]
Ian Hacking, Rewriting the Soul
In Arts One this term we are reading Ian Hacking’s book, Rewriting the Soul: Multiple Personality and the Sciences of Memory (Princeton University Press, 1995). Here is a link to the Prezi used by our lecturer for this book, Jill Fellows. In our seminar class on Wed. Jan. 21 I asked students to write down […]
Hacking vs. Freud (sort of)
I really enjoyed the ideas relating to action under description, especially as they relate to understandings of memory and potential revisiting of memory. One thing that I disagreed with in Freud’s text, and which bothered and confused me, was his analogy of memory and the mind being like an ancient Roman city (p. 31-33). I found it frustrating simply because he assumed “it is rather the rule than the exception for the past to be preserved in mental life” (Freud 35). When he introduced the analogy, I actually thought that…read more
Rewriting the Soul
One of the things I found most interesting in the discussion of multiples throughout Rewriting the Soul and in lecture was how the disorder in reality is most commonly found in women, whereas in fiction men tend to be the ones who have alternate personalities. The examples mentioned were Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, Bruce Banner/The Hulk and Smeagol/Gollum. I found this interesting […]
Hacking blog post
I thought Rewriting The Soul was an incredibly insightful, informative read, although perhaps one that was at times staggeringly thorough. Initially i assumed that it’s ultimate goal was to study the disorder of multiplicity- determine its causes and symptoms, etc. I was thus puzzled by the seemingly philosophical questions it posed early on regarding the […]