Opie Taylor

Copenhagen’s Nyhavn boasts one of the most picturesque places on Earth; colorful buildings line the canal, offering restaurants, bars, and cafes. But in crafting Nyhavn, we lost the beauty of the natural surroundings, for the buildings obstruct the canal from afar, and their tall facades curtain any form of nature except the sky directly above. Gary Snyder’s 1996 poem “Covers the Ground” focuses on similar environmental issues, juxtaposing man-made structures with nature. In the poem, imagery…

The connections that one makes with the real or imagined landscapes reveals the need for individuals and society to feel a sense of belonging and unity. Melissa Harrison’s novel, Clay and the Funk Brothers’ short film, Looms represents this view of people and landscapes being inextricably linked. The novel, Clay explores how TC visits the park and secret garden as it is a platform for escapism and refuge. This need for escapism is stimulated by his fractured relationship with his mother, causing…

Perhaps one of the most emotionally appealing themes a writer can utilize is that of the social outcast endeavoring to find its place in the world, a theme utilized to great effect by both Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre despite their character’s different fates, the former featuring a supposedly monstrous creation who is ultimately rejected wholly by society and the latter an orphan child who is eventually able to carve an admittedly precarious foothold as a…

Jejuri poems are all about Arun Kolatkar visiting the temple town in the state of Maharashtra where 'every other stone is a god or his cousin'. The poems are delicately written yet sharply observed - a temple door, a yellow butterfly and Maruti himself find equal care given to them all in turn. Jejuri poems oscillate between faith and scepticism. In his plat and colloquial tone, Kolatkar ironically treats the parallel scenario reinforcing it with concrete imagery. Kolatkar's use of concrete…

Romanticism is a literary movement which is marked by several key components, many of which are observable in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. One element of Romanticism is the belief that imagination is able to lead to a a new and more perfect vision of the world and those who live in it. In this novel, Victor Frankenstein is the idealist who wants to create life from nothing; that is the ultimate ideal, marking victor as a Romantic. In another sense, Victor's actions demonstrate the Romantic…

Characters emphasizing their emotions and feelings was a very common theme during the Romantic Era. They used various forms of figurative language to give the reader a clear insight on their thoughts and feelings. In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein uses various forms of figurative language to express his emotions, thoughts, and feelings. As Victor creates life and goes through the conflicts of daily life, he changes as a human being. Through the use of diction, and the plot,…

Romanticism is the individual expression and style in fine art and literature. The idea is based on doing things with passion rather reason and imagination rather than intuition and logic. Romanticism contrasts with another style called Classicism and developed as a revolt against it. Artists and writers throughout history have demonstrated Romanticism through their work, but at one point in history it was an actual movement that created the transition between old and new ways of thinking. The…

William Wordsworth is an English poet who lived from 1770 to 1850, he was born on the 7th of April 1770 in Cockermouth, Cumberland, in the northwest of England, he is considered as one of the greatest poet in the romantic era, which is also called the Romanticism, He was an early leader of it, Romanticism was an artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe toward the end of the 18th century, it emphasis upon the power and terrors of the inner imaginative life. The…

The Power of Fear Mary Shelley's Frankenstein relates one of the most chilling, thought-provoking novels narratives of all time. Two centuries of enamored readers have pored over her deliciously-twisted story. Shelley's novel highlights a myriad of themes exploring ambition, revenge, moral obligation, and familial bonds. We, as readers, are introduced to Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant scientist who unearths the secret to innervating dead matter. He assembles a massive creature from…

American Romanticism is a literary and philosophical movement that was primarily in the 1800’s and was a response to the enlightenment. Some key things American Romanticism focuses on is nature, individual, imagination, insight, and intuition. Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson are two famous American Romanticism poets from the 1800’s that were very influential. While Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman are different in the ways they view society, they are similar in how they value the individual…