Nineteenth Century Romantics Week 3!

Today we explored William Wordsworth’s Preface to the Lyrical Ballads. This is an amazingly revolutionary document in the context of its time, daring to acknowledge the worth of ordinary human being and daring to say that the language of the uneducated contains more essential truth than the language of most academics. Powerful stuff! And his friend Coleridge did not agree with all of this, although he did go some of the way in defending Wordsworth’s revolutionary ideas. So today we explored Preface  itself and then moved on to looking at Wordsworth’s wonderful poem on Tintern Abbey.  In tutorials we focussed on “The Tables Turned” and then on “I wondered lonely as a cloud”, contrasting this with Dorothy Wordsworth’s journal entry on the same event…

And Oh yes…. we had a peek preview of some of the best blogs so far that have been coming in. Here are the blogs we explored in this morning’s lecture: Well done to you all:

*Veronica Casha https://vcasha230.wordpress.com/

* Anthony Digges  https://anthonydigges.home.blog/

*Caitlin Mccartney https://caitlinmccartney.art.blog/ 

*Hamish Milne  https://hamishmilne.home.blog

*Julianna Murphy  https://juliannasliteratureblog.wordpress.com

*Samia Piper-Larkings  https://samia.home.blog

*Serena Saliba https://serenasliteratureblog.wordpress.com/

*Lauren Ward  https://laurenward.home.blog/

*Isabella Woodley   https://bellawoodley.wordpress.com/

*Sandy Yaacoub  http://sandy544628477.wordpress.com

And remember please- if you fell inclined to visit the Blogs of the Mount Druitt students (who are studying a Liberal Arts Certificate through ACU as part of the Clemente program 

 

So here now are the audio versions of today’s lectures and tutorials. You will find the slides used today up in LEO in week 3.

Here are the white board images that accompanied the tutorials (please click on each image to enlarge it to full size!):

 

And here are a batch of new blog topics for week 3: 

 

1/ CRITICAL

Why was Wordsworth’s Preface to the Lyrical Ballads so revolutionary?

 

2/ CRITICAL

What does Wordsworth’s poem “I wondered lonely as a cloud” tell us about the poets emotional connection to the daffodils he sees?

 

3/ CRITICAL

Dorothy’s journal is REAL. It is direct, straightforward and paints a feelingful picture!

William’s poem is FORCED AND FAKE. It might be vibrant and energetic, but it is too pushy!

 

Whose side of the argument are you on? Make a case.

 

4/ CREATIVE

Write a prose journal entry (like Dorothy Wordsworth’s) in which you capture a day in the country with all its events and its one special moment.

 

5/ CREATIVE

Write a poem (like William’s) in which you capture the deeper meaning of an event experienced (in the country or the city). What makes this event come so deeply alive to you?

 

6/ CREATIVE or CRITICAL

Either by way of analysis OR by way of creating a parallel experience (in prose or verse) see if you can show your reader what you understand by these lines which complete William Wordsworth’s second stanza of “Lines- Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey…”

 

“Almost suspended, we are laid asleep

In body, and become a living soul:

While with an eye made quiet by the power

Of harmony, and the deep power of joy,

We see into the life of things. “

 

7/ CREATIVE or CRITICAL

Create your own topic, building on issues raised in class and drawing on your own experience as well on the literature studied today.