It is not often in a class based on literary analysis and critical thinking about classic literature that a student is asked to reflect on him or herself. It only makes sense, however, when called upon to do so, that this reflection is related to British literary history. I am a Neo-Classic, through and through, but as much as I would like to deny it, I cannot repudiate the claim that I have a touch of Romantic in me as well. As there exists parts of both philosophies within me, it becomes important to define the terms and explain what they mean, as well as their major differences. As I go through each of the differences, I will also explain how each one relates to me, whether in a major or minor way. For example, the Neo-Classics placed
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The Romantics tended to romanticize the past, perhaps wishing that they had lived in a time before their own. This too ties in very well with how I see myself as well. I try to live in the present each day, focusing on what I can accomplish in the time I have, but every once in a while the Romantic in me comes out. When reading Hemingway, Fitzgerald, or perhaps even the work of Anton Chekhov, I cannot help but wonder how things would have been if I had been alive in those times. This is not to say that I would rather have lived in those times, I would have been happier than in my present life, but one cannot help but wonder. Yet even in acknowledging that it would be foolish to go back to these times, especially considering recent medical advancements, as well as political changes, I can see that my Neo-Classicism overpowers my Romanticism. When looking at nature as well, Romantics wanted man to leave it free and untamed and simply enjoy its immense power where Neo-Classics sought to explain natural phenomena. Both sides of this can be found in me as well, as I may spend time researching how things in nature move or form, how some specific formation may have probabilistically occurred, but then afterwards I might go to the nature preserve down the road for my house just to relax and spend an hour outside, apart from the world, listening to
The Romantics tended to romanticize the past, perhaps wishing that they had lived in a time before their own. This too ties in very well with how I see myself as well. I try to live in the present each day, focusing on what I can accomplish in the time I have, but every once in a while the Romantic in me comes out. When reading Hemingway, Fitzgerald, or perhaps even the work of Anton Chekhov, I cannot help but wonder how things would have been if I had been alive in those times. This is not to say that I would rather have lived in those times, I would have been happier than in my present life, but one cannot help but wonder. Yet even in acknowledging that it would be foolish to go back to these times, especially considering recent medical advancements, as well as political changes, I can see that my Neo-Classicism overpowers my Romanticism. When looking at nature as well, Romantics wanted man to leave it free and untamed and simply enjoy its immense power where Neo-Classics sought to explain natural phenomena. Both sides of this can be found in me as well, as I may spend time researching how things in nature move or form, how some specific formation may have probabilistically occurred, but then afterwards I might go to the nature preserve down the road for my house just to relax and spend an hour outside, apart from the world, listening to