Analysis of “Poetry and Religion” by Les Murray. Poetry is an imaginative awareness expressed through meaning, sound, and rhythmic language choices so as to evoke an emotional response. It is also an ancient form that has gone through numerous and drastic reinvention over time. The nature of poetry as an authentic and individual mode of expression makes it nearly impossible to define. While religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spiritual and, sometimes, to moral values.
His tone is singularly effective—wild, plaintive, thoughtful, and in full accordance with his themes... We look upon him as one of the few men of indisputable genius to whom our country has as yet given birth". Nathanael was a well-respected man and even Author Herman Melville dedicated his great novel Moby Dick to Mr. Hawthorne. I learned many interesting facts about Mr. Nathanael Hawthorne, but the one thing I absolutely loved was he was intelligent, inspiring, exhilarating, and inspirational when he wrote. The one novel I love and happened to read was The Scarlet Letter, It was about a red letter “A “being sewn onto a woman’s dress for adultery and was considered sinful. Can you imagine if we had the scarlet letter now days?
In Dead Poets Society, was Robin Williams channeling Thomas Jefferson? It is clear that Williams’ character, Professor Keating, was very much influenced by Walt Whitman. But Whitman, himself, was more an admirer of Emerson, than he was an originator of what most consider the Transcendentalist movement. Still, even that movement had a precedent in the philosophy of Thomas Jefferson. There exists a clear thread from Jefferson, through Thoreau ,Emerson and Whitman, and on to Keating: Each lives in a period preceding significant cultural and political upheaval, where strong minded men were challenging the status quo.
Genesis 1-2 can show us that God is all-powerful and all-loving. As far as Genesis 1-2 goes, it is more important to understand the scripture, rather than prove it to be factual. “Although popular images of controversy continue to exemplify the supposed hostility of Christianity to new scientific theories, studies have shown that Christianity has often nurtured and encouraged scientific endeavor, while at other times the two have co-existed without either tension or attempts at harmonization” (Ferngren, 2). Genesis 1-2 is the cause of much unnecessary tension between the religious and scientific communities. The writers of Genesis 1-2 wrote it in a way that presents the Earth’s creation as a factual account of God creating the heavens and the Earth.
However, the play itself is specifically meant to be presented to an Elizabethan era audience, despite some of the more modern adaptations of the play. As such, the conversation in Act IV Scene III between Hamlet and Claudius as to where Polonius’ body is hidden, is meant to target the original Elizabethan audience by using religious allusions that would have been better understood by such an audience along with the treatment of the mentally ill, and the relations between England and Denmark. To begin with, the religious allusions that Shakespeare uses in this scene are difficult to fully understand today, unless one has a good knowledge of history, however, they would have been easily understood back when the play was first performed. In Act IV Scene III, Shakespeare deliberately has Hamlet voice a pun about the Diet of Worms, which would have been much more known to a portion of the Elizabethan audience, as religion played a much larger role in the world back then, especially in a country where there had been so many changes in religion such as England. Similarly, he also alludes to the fact that the Diet of Worms is the “best of all diets”, as it was about what the Holy Roman Empire -- who England was briefly tied to by the marriage of Elizabeth’s older sister Mary to Philip I of Spain, who was the son of Charles V, who was
The poem points to the paradox of naming: while naming is creative and powerful, it is also limiting. Once named, an object snaps into focus. But the name interferes as well: it comes between us and the object. We can think of the object now only through the name that has been attached to it. The opening line of the poem, “By naming them he made them,” connects “naming” with making (Page line 1).
These literary devices show how powerful the heroes and enemies in the Angelo-Saxon religion actually are. The literary devices in this epic helped to bring the story to the readers’ head easier, and make it better and for the person telling the story to repeat it. Oral tradition requires assets like kennings and imagery because the story has to be
Although both poets seem to portray God as grand, personal force of energy in their writing, their personal view and relationship with God oppose one another. Hopkins was “Reverend father Gerard Manley Hopkins.” He was a Roman Catholic and a Jesuit priest. Thomas Hardy was a Victorian Realist who had mixed feelings on religion. The irony and struggles of life and a curious mind led him to question the traditional Christian view of God. Never the less they both believed in a greater power and the evidence is in these poets writing.
Alexander Pitzele ENL 240.01 British Lit I November 13, 2014 “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” is a tale of romance, mystery, and magic. While it is obvious that “Sir Gawain” is not a true story, it has meaning beyond entertainment. All fiction is a reflection of human society at the time it was written, and the Medieval period was an age of progress and change. Humanity moved from smaller townships and farms to great cities protected by castles and strong walls. Additionally, by that time Christianity and its practitioners had begun to push pagan beliefs into the past.
King Henry V Speech: Saint Crispin’s Day. Henry V speech of Saint Crispin’s Day is one of the most memorable speeches said by all kings. Saint Crispin’s day falls on October 25 and is the feast day for the Christian Crispin’s day. Best known for the Battle of Agincourt which occurred in 1415. Saint Crispin’s Day speech is one of the best inspirational speeches in literature, and it was written by the most famous dramatist in the history of the English language.