American Literature - Assignment Example

American Literature To a Waterfowl” and “Thanatopsis” deal with death and the poet finds answers in nature. In “To a Waterfowl” Bryant tries to understand nature and derive answers from what he sees; the solitary bird provides a picturesque image. On the other hand, “Thanatopsis” tries to explain how nature consoles one who loses his individuality. Bryant finds religion in nature through “To a Waterfowl” and in “Thanatopsis” he speaks about death and does not delve into religion.

“Thanatopsis” is deeply rooted in romantic perspective because the poet uses ‘he’ and ‘she’ to describe their relationship. He focuses on the serene harmony of nature and its healing sympathy. “To a Waterfowl” has an element of the Age of Reason and demonstrates Deism because the poet believes there is a ‘higher power’ that guides the bird to its end and teaches it the way. Also, this higher power (God) will lead the poet on his long trip to an eternal resting place. 2. “Rip Van Winkle” provides a better illustration of the Romantic period.

Rip was unable to work for profit and always preferred to spend hours fishing and always sought refuge with a group that spent time sitting and gossiping. He goes to the Catskill Mountains and falls into a deep sleep, and when he returns he finds the village has changed. 3. In the story “The Fall of the House of Usher” Roderick decides to bury Madeline in the tombs at the basement of the house. He fears that doctors might come for Madeline’s body and use it for scientific experiments. This depicts the age of reason.

Also, Poe’s description of the house; the decaying trees and presence of murky ponds shows the beauty of nature and its role in the development of the story. This accentuates the Romantic period. The house is unhealthy and stones are disintegrating. 4. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Rappaccini’s Daughter” has Giacomo Rappaccini, a famous physician, tending to his garden with great effort and care for the medicinal purposes. Giacomo confines Beatrice, his daughter, to his home and garden. He places the chief treasure to the sole charge of Beatrice despite its harmful effects (University of Virginia Library, 1047).

Beatrice is not allowed to interact with the individuals. This leads her to show more affection to the plants. She even calls the chief treasure her sister. She becomes poisonous herself because of her been raised in the garden and environment filled with poisonous plants. Giovanni meets Beatrice and he develops feelings of doubt as she urges him to look past her poisonous exterior and concentrate on her interior, which is full of pure and innocent essence. Giovanni gets a powerful antidote from Professor Baglioni and brings it to Beatrice.

Instead of destroying the poisonous nature of Beatrice, the antidote kills her. The effects of the scientific works of Rappaccini make Beatrice not to be able to be together with Giovanni. Also, Giovanni ends up blown mentally and physically. Beatrice cannot make her own decisions, but her father does. 5. Transcendentalism deals with the exchange of the world of facts and categories with that of ideas and imaginative segments. Thoreau’s book “Walden” (1854) and Emerson’s essay “Self-Reliance” (1841) evaluate how inspiration is inhibited by social conformity.

They agitate for innovative techniques when dealing with children’s education. Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” calls for individuals to prioritize their principles in relation to government laws.”Slavery in Massachusetts” allegorically compares slaves to processed sausages and meat; this is in an effort to enlighten his listeners to the grave injustices brought about by slavery (Frederick, 1998). 6. Emily Dickinson’s “Because I could not stop for Death” and “I Heard a Fly Buzz when I Died” embrace death in a way the average man would not.

Both poems revolve around death, but differ in the events that occur after death. Dickinson in both poems tries to educate the reader on what lies ahead of death. He offers a positive appeal of death. “Because I could not stop for Death” gives the reader the reassurance of an afterlife and the poet talks of the ongoing spiritual faith after death. “I Heard a Fly Buzz when I Died” presents a painless death that is described in a horrifying manner. The ideas of Romanticism are evident in “Because I could not stop for Death.

” The poet uses the subject of human mortality in the first stanza, and lets the reader have a surge of imagination by using different rhetorical devices. Use of hyphens lets the reader imagine and bring out his creativity. 7. Free verse is poetry that refrains from regular metrical schemes, rhyme, or rhythm. Walt Whitman uses rhythm and meter in an irregular form. He uses free verse as a celebration of freedom from European attitudes into individual liberty. In “ I Hear America Singing” does not incorporate rhyme and rhythm, but greatly uses synecdoche and other devices.

The word “America” in the first line depicts individual Americans who are workers. He celebrates individuals and the physical body be using “Carols’ in the first line. In “Beat! Beat! Drums!” Whitman remarkably uses rhythm to imitate the sounds of life by imitating the drum beats that occur in a regular prose. He uses alliteration of the “b” sound and repetition in “Beat! Beat! Drums!—Blow! Bugles! Blow!” Works Cited Frederick, Michael J. “Transcendental Ethos.” Thoreau. 1998. December 10 2011. . “The Romantics.” N.d.

December 10 2011. . University of Virginia Library. “Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 1804-1864. Rappaccini's Daughter.” N.d. December 10 2011. < http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=HawRapp.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=2&division=div2 >.