Chose any ONE of the topics below:
1 Following on from William Wordsworth’s poems, describe an experience in nature that has given you a sense of meaning that is beyond books. Write down your experience either as a poem or as a prose passage- your choice!
2 Find out some more about the monastery Tintern Abbey and its location and describe why and how you think Wordsworth was so inspired by the place.
3 Do you think Mary Wollstonecraft is fair in her assessment of women’s lack of “strength both of mind and body” in her “Introduction” to A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (paragraph beginning “My own sex, I hope, will excuse me, if I treat them like rational creatures…..”).
4 William Blake describes his “Garden of Love” as “filled with graves”. Rewrite this poem so that it presents the Garden of Love as a place that anyone would really wish to visit. Begin by changing “filled with graves” to “filled with ripe fruits”.
5 Write a poem or short prose piece that uses the image “The mind-forg’d manacles” (from Blake’s poem “London”).
6 Write a short piece on what you have learned about slavery in the Romantic era from any of the poems and prose extracts listed for Week 1.
7 Discuss briefly which section of the Introduction to the Norton Anthology Volume D: Romanticism (pages 3-31) you found most interesting and why.
Important: Don’t forget to observe the word length in your blogs (around 200 words) and don’t forget when possible to try to incorporate visuals in your blog making sure that you acknowledge the source. Please read the rubric for this assessment item (unit outline page 10-11) so that you can score maximum marks for your work here. Also note the suggestion on page 22 of the unit outline that your blogs address the topic (when possible) “This unit has enabled me to reflect on the similarities and differences between human experience in the 19th and 21st centuries.” Any other questions – please send them through via email: Michael.griffith@acu.edu.au
Michael Griffith: Home Page- Literature and Life Summer 2023 