English 12B Unit 1: The Romantic Period (1798-1832)

William Blake

- (1757-1827) - Unable to obtain a formal education - Hired by an engraver at 14 because of talent in drawing - Taught wife to read, write, and engrave - Ran a small businesses illustrating books with his wife, but struggled to earn an income, like his father - Self-published his poetry with his engravings as illustrations - Had visions since childhood that viewed the world as a place of contrasts - Shows contrasts in his parallel poetry volumes "Songs of Innocence" and "Songs of Experience" and other famous works like "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell" - Often used symbols to communicate his ideas - Known for expressing complex ideas in simple language

Robert Burns

- (1759-1796) - Poor Scottish farmer - 1786: published "Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect", which included the poem "To a Mouse" - Known as Scotland's "ploughman poet" - Wrote "Auld Lang Syne", which is still sung today all over the world on NYE - Wrote most of his poems in the Scottish dialect (his use of dialect was innovative in his day and helps capture the flavor of everyday life in rural Scotland) - His poetry adjusts spelling to reflect Scottish pronunciation

Sonnet

- 14 lines of iambic pentameter - Italian: composed of an octave and a sestet linked by an intricate rhyme scheme. The poet establishes the theme, situation, or emotional stance in the octave and the sestet starts with a "volta" (turn) and goes on to an elaboration, modification, or commentary - Pertrarchan/ Shakesperian: 3 quatrains and a couplet, with the concluding 2 lines synthesizing, summarizing, or ironically qualifying the separate thought units of the first 12 lines - Pertrarchan sonnet rhyme scheme: abbabba and cdecde or cdcdcd - The word "sonnet" comes from the Italian word "sonetto", meaning "little song"

Pronoun used as a direct object

- A pronoun that is used as a direct object will follow an action verb and answer the question "Whom?" - A pronoun that is used as a direct object is in the objective case

Pronoun used as an indirect object

- A pronoun that is used as an indirect object will answer the question "To whom?" or "For whom?" after the direct object - A pronoun that is used as an indirect object is in the objective case

Pronoun used as an object of a preposition

- A pronoun that is used as an object of a preposition is in the objective case - Object of a preposition: the noun or pronoun at the end of a prepositional phrase

Elegiac stanza

- A quatrain (4-line) stanza written in iambic pentameter with an "abab" rhyming pattern - The type of stanza Gray uses in "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, and given its name in honor of that poem

Dialect

- A regional variety of language, as demonstrated by its grammar, vocabulary, and punctuation - Captured the flavor of everyday life from the perspective of people from all aspects of society, but especially of average working people - Provides clues about the speaker's background, personality, and attitude

Pronouns as objects of verbals

- Because participles, gerunds, and infinitives are verb forms, they can take objects - A pronoun that is the direct object of a verbal is in the objective case

"Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" by Thomas Gray

- Elegy written by Thomas Gray - Implied theme: people seem to die before they have had a chance to fulfill their potential (can be concluded from his self-criticism in reality and some lines from the poem) - Uses "elegiac stanza" (quatrain stanza written in iambic pentameter with an "abab" rhyming pattern) - Ends with an epitaph - Uses assonance--repeatedly uses words with a long "o" sound to create a mournful tone - Uses alliteration-- repeats the letter "l" to give his words a flowing, languid feeling

What was the historical context that inspired the romantic movement?

- French Revolution - Industrial Revolution

"The Chimney Sweeper" from "Songs of Innocence" by William Blake

- Parallel poem to "The Chimney Sweeper" from "Songs of Experience" - Explores the life of young chimney sweeps of Blake's time - Addresses the horrible conditions the children were forced to live and work under - Shows the innocence of youth - The young subject of the poem didn't know his parents (mother died and father sold him as a toddler), but seems accepting of his attitude. He is accepting of his work as his duty and finds comfort and hope in religion. He accepts his lot in life and believes he will be rewarded in heaven if he is dutiful - The topic of the poem is sad, but the mood is one of hope, faith, and innocence

"The Chimney Sweeper" from "Songs of Experience" by William Blake

- Parallel poem to "The Chimney Sweeper" from "Songs of Innocence" - Explores the life of young chimney sweeps of Blake's time - Addresses the horrible conditions the children were forced to live and work under - Shows the disillusionment that comes from the loss of innocence - The young subject of the poem was sent to work by his parents while they go to church to pray. He seems resentful and misunderstood and says that his parents don't know he is unhappy. He is miserable and wishes to be back in the country on the heath. He thinks religion is a lie to appease suffering people. The tone is cynical and resentful

"The Tyger" from "Songs of Experience" by William Blake

- Parallel poem to "The Lamb" from "Songs of Innocence" - Focuses on the unique characteristics of the tiger - Discusses the tiger's creator - Wonders upon the strength and power of the tiger - Tone: awestruck and anguished - Sentence structure: longer sentences, variation in lines 4 and 24 - Sound devices: pounding rhythm, jarring half rhyme of eye and symmetry

"The Lamb" from "Songs of Innocence" by William Blake

- Parallel poem to "The Tyger" from "Songs of Experience" - About an innocent lamb - Focuses on the unique characteristics of the lamb - Discusses the lamb's creator - Wonders upon the gentleness of the lamb - Tone: childlike and sweet - Sentence structure: short sentences, childlike questions - Sound devices: jingly rhythm, word repetition

Thomas Gray (1716-1771)

- Quiet and reclusive poet with fairly small poetic output because of harsh self-criticism and perfectionism - Only published one anonymous book of poetry - Wrote "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" and "Ode on the Death of a Favorite Cat, Drowned in a Tub of Gold Fishes" - Almost stopped writing altogether after some of his later poems were harshly criticized

"To a Mouse" by Robert Burns

- Speaker addresses a mouse in the field whose nest he has just destroyed with his plough - Speaker sympathizes with the mouse and is quite apologetic - Speaker then ponders how in many ways the mouse is luckier than he - Stated theme: the best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry - Implied theme: nature is a great teacher - Implied theme: human activity can destroy the cycles of nature - Written in Scottish dialect

Tone

- The attitude that a writer or speaker conveys about his or her subject (example: the tone of a poem may be happy, sad, or puzzled) - Word choice, details, sentence structure, and sound devices (rhythm, rhyme, etc.) all help to achieve a particular tone

Who or Whom?

- The correct case of "who" is determined by how the pronoun is used in a question or a clause - Nominative case: who, whoever - Objective case: whom, whomever - Possessive case: whose

Objective case personal pronouns

- Used for direct objects, indirect objects, objects of prepositions, and objects of verbals - Singular: me, you, him, her, it - Plural: us, you, them

Nominative case personal pronouns

- Used for subjects and predicate nominatives - Singular: I , you, he, she, it - Plural: we, you, they

Possessive case personal pronouns

- Used to show ownership or possession - Singular: me, mine, you, yours, his, her, hers, its - Plural: our, ours, your, yours, their, theirs - Most often used before a noun or by themselves - Often confused with contractions

Objective case pronouns as appositives

- When a pronoun is part of an appositive to a direct object, an indirect object, or an object of a preposition, the pronoun should be in the objective case

What were society's struggles in the early 19th century?

- poverty - schism between social classes - child labor - unemployment because of technological advances - increased crime rate - decreased quality of working conditions

Theme

A general message about human experience that the specific details of a work convey, may be directly stated in the work or merely implied by the details

Elegy

A lyric poem with a formal style and serious tone that focuses on death or loss

Appositive

A noun or pronoun that renames or identifies the noun or pronoun next to it in a sentence

Epitaph

A statement commemorating a person who has died

Gerund

A verb ending in "-ing" that is used in all the ways a noun is used

Symbol

An object, a person, an animal, or anything else that represents something beyond what it is physically. It usually represents an abstract idea or range of ideas

Symmetry

Balanced form

Beauteous

Beautiful

Prepositional phrase

Begins with a preposition and ends with a noun or pronoun called the object of a preposition

How did Blake's poetry reflect the romantic sensibility?

Blake's poetry reflected the romantic sensibility because he portrayed the world as one of contrasts and vividly showed those contrasts with symbols and images that were relevant to that era

What were the ideas of romanticism?

Celebration of the beauty of nature and the individual's interaction with it

Pronoun problems

Common pronoun problems include the misuse of "who" and "whom," incomplete comparisons, and the misuse of reflexive and intensive pronouns

Cowering

Cringing

Host

Crowd; great number

Pensive

Deeply thoughtful, in a sad or dreamy way

How does dialect poetry fit into the romantic movement?

Dialect poetry fits into the romantic movement because it emphasizes the importance of the individual

Intercourse

Exchange; dealings

Predicate nominative

Follows a linking verb and identifies, renames, or explains the subject

Rash

Hasty; impetuous

Aspire

Have ambitions; yearn

Possessive pronouns with gerunds

If a pronoun comes directly in front of a gerund, it should be in the possessive case--in just the same way a possessive pronoun would come in front of a regular noun

Sylvan

In or relating to the forest; woodland

Anvil

Iron block on which heated metal is shaped

Secluded

Isolated

Bounded

Leaped

Sprightly

Lively

Sublime

Majestic; awe-inspiring

How was nature perceived by the romantic poets?

Nature was perceived as beautiful, sublime, and awe-inspiring by poets

Prospects

Outlooks

Sportive

Playful

Lyric poetry

Poetry with a short musical form that expresses the deep emotions and thoughts of a single speaker

Dominion

Rule, control

Pastoral

Rural and serene

Chasten

Scold; subdue

Steep

Soak

Raptures

States or expressions of joy; ectasies

What meaning is conveyed by symbols in poetry?

Symbols represent ideas that are beyond what they are physically

What does the analysis of a poem's tone add to its comprehension?

The analysis of a poem's tone adds a deeper meaning to the poem's comprehension, it has the ability to change the way the poem is viewed because tone is sometimes unnoticed, but can be contradictory to how the poem is usually viewed if that is the case

Vocabulary focus: prefixes

The prefix "fore-" is sometimes added to a noun. It means "earlier" or "beforehand"

How does a speaker affect the meaning and tone of a poem?

The speaker shapes the meaning and tone of a poem with his attitude and views of the poem's subject.

What is a theme in a poem?

The theme of a poem is the overall general message about human experience that the specific details of the poem convey

Speaker

The voice that communicates the poem, may be the speaker or a personality the poet adopts temporarily - You can draw conclusions about the speaker's background, personality, and attitudes based on the language and details that he or she uses in the poem

Vocabulary focus: Greek etymology

The word "symmetry" has roots in the Greek language. It comes from the Greek word "symmetria", which means "agreement in proportions"

Foresight

Thoughtful planning for the future

Timorous

Timid, fearful

Rejoice

To be filled with delight

Exhortations

Words of encouragement; urgings