1. Just as Fanny’s benefactors in “The Swiss Peasant” don’t imagine that she could ever be of their class, many saw poverty as a “natural” state of being attributable to one’s race or ethnicity, moral character, or God’s will. In what ways do Dorothy Wordsworth’s journal entries refute such ideas through the individual cases she records? Find one or two specific passages.
Dorothy Wordsworth disputes the idea of poverty as a natural state in her journals where she writes about people she has met that are poverty stricken. The first character she writes about is an old man who works as a leach gatherer. The man is very poor, but Wordsworth writes about his circumstances and how he fell into poverty. She makes a point to state how the man’s …show more content…
Contrast Charlotte Smith’s “The Dead Beggar” and William Wordsworth’s “Resolution and Independence.” Make what you think are the two most important points about the differences.
Charlotte Smith’s “The Dead Beggar and William Wordsworth’s “Resolution and Independence “are poems with multiple differences between them. One important difference is the tone of the poems. Smith’s “The Dead Beggar” has a much darker tone and attitude towards death and poverty compared to Wordsworth’s “Resolution and Independence”. Wordsworth paints a picture of positivity and perseverance. While Smith paints a more grime picture of depravity, in lines such as “the friendless feel no want of friends”. Another important difference between these poems, is the viewpoint of the people in poverty. Smith writes a more disparaging account of poverty, which can be seen through symbolism of the “nameless pauper.” The death of the pauper is seen as the only way for the poor to escape poverty, as it is described in the poem “rejoice that here his sorrows ceased”. Wordsworth on the other hand describes the man in poverty as an example of perseverance. This can be seen when the narrator is talking to old man, who states “yet still I persevere”. This positive attitude from the poor old man inspires the narrator to “stay secure” in his own
Dorothy Wordsworth disputes the idea of poverty as a natural state in her journals where she writes about people she has met that are poverty stricken. The first character she writes about is an old man who works as a leach gatherer. The man is very poor, but Wordsworth writes about his circumstances and how he fell into poverty. She makes a point to state how the man’s …show more content…
Contrast Charlotte Smith’s “The Dead Beggar” and William Wordsworth’s “Resolution and Independence.” Make what you think are the two most important points about the differences.
Charlotte Smith’s “The Dead Beggar and William Wordsworth’s “Resolution and Independence “are poems with multiple differences between them. One important difference is the tone of the poems. Smith’s “The Dead Beggar” has a much darker tone and attitude towards death and poverty compared to Wordsworth’s “Resolution and Independence”. Wordsworth paints a picture of positivity and perseverance. While Smith paints a more grime picture of depravity, in lines such as “the friendless feel no want of friends”. Another important difference between these poems, is the viewpoint of the people in poverty. Smith writes a more disparaging account of poverty, which can be seen through symbolism of the “nameless pauper.” The death of the pauper is seen as the only way for the poor to escape poverty, as it is described in the poem “rejoice that here his sorrows ceased”. Wordsworth on the other hand describes the man in poverty as an example of perseverance. This can be seen when the narrator is talking to old man, who states “yet still I persevere”. This positive attitude from the poor old man inspires the narrator to “stay secure” in his own