Ralph Waldo Emerson

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is American poet who wrote throughout 1873 to 1880, primarily influenced by the Romantic era. Born to the daughter of a Revolutionary War hero and an established lawyer, Longfellow was expected to attend college and follow his father’s footsteps. However he was more fascinated by the coastal culture of his town in Maine, fascinated by the stories of the sailors who detailed their exotic travels. Accordingly, Longfellow pursued his intrigue,…

CONTEXT- All-India Congress had just ratified the Quit India resolution, India was at a tipping point in terms of freedom from British imperialism, the time was optimal for mobilizing public opinion in favor of freedom. AUDIENCE-Gandhi’s speech, “Quit India”, given on August 1942 in Bombay was geared towards an Indian population, oppressed by British rule (Manas). Gandhi spoke to all social groups in India in this speech, however he selectively addressed the Muslims and Hindus. In fact, a…

In Mending Wall, nature seems to be the third wheel of the story, the silent character surrounding the neighbours. However, the protagonist of Mending Wall has profound respect for nature and the beings that occupy it. He uses nature in trying to convince the neighbour not to build a wall. This is evident when the persona says “… apple trees will never get across/ … and eat the cones under his pines…”. The apple trees are personified as the speaker claims that they will never cross onto the…

Non-Dalit Autobiography in Marathi: The autobiographical writing in Marathi Literature emerged with different structure, themes and dimensions in the 19th century. Lokhitwadi’s letters, Mahatma Phule’s writings, Mukta Salwe’s ‘complaint’, Chiplunkar’s essays and Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak’s speeches were autobiographical in tone. In this phase, preaching was the main impulse of their autobiographical literature. Those who lived an extra-ordinary life got the authority to explore their…

The Novel, “The winter of Our Discontent” written by John Steinbeck is related to the literature of the American Seminar course. Within the novel, it has many moments in which the protagonist, Ethan Hawley, reflects upon himself and his decisions in life. He often refers to his,” Place”, where he goes to sort of meditate and become one with nature. He describes his Place as, “That is my place , the place everyone needs.I was compelled to go and sit inside there and hear the little waves slap the…

American Romanticism was a literary movement that started in the 19th century. American Romanticism shares a lot of similar qualities with transcendentalism. Walt Whitman wrote about similar topics as Emily Dickinson, although they lived two very different lives. Walt Whitman was a transcendentalist who lived in New York and did journalism. Emily Dickinson was a romanticist who fell in love with a married man and then continued to spend most of her life in seclusion. Walt Whitman and Emily…

An analysis of Merwin’s tone in his literary works compared to Whitman’s tone in his works was brought forth by L. Edwin Folsom, a professor of english at the University of Rochester, Massachusetts with a Ph.D in the subject. He specializes on the literary works of Walt Whitman and analyzes the different tones, but same purpose found in the literature of Merwin and Walt Whitman. Folsom begins with a quote from Merwin saying that he identifies himself as being an American poet, but not in any way…

Of the two individuals that we studied on this week, I feel that Walt Whitman spoke more to the 21st century. The poem explores the themes of the self, the all-surrounding "I," sexuality, social equality, the human body, and what it means to live in the contemporary world. Whitman speaks to a general idea of self, a shared aim between his individual character—the Walt Whitman he often portrays as the good guy in his poems—and the Democratic self, which is the communal personality that most…

1.) Thoreau’s journals, within “American Earth” by Al Gore, consolidates numerous themes and materials revolving around environmental writings. Sequentially he starts out contemplating that even after one dies they will live on through nature. He then continues to elaborate on the beauty of nature and how humans take it for granted. This is evident when he’s describing men that have grown ignorant to sounds of nature, “silence audible,” as he calls it. Why? The modernization of society, causing…

The time period of transcendentalism changed the views of many people as well as bringing the five tenets of transcendentalist. These tenants were discussed by Walden explaining confidence, self-reliance, free thought, nonconformity, and importance of nature. Many pieces of literature contain some or all of these tenets, the ones i’m going to discuss and analyze today are Still I Rise by Maya Angelou that focuses on self-reliance and stanza 1 and 52 from Song of Myself by Walt Whitman which…