Is the world really too much for us?

After reading the poem “The World is too much with us,” I started reflecting on my experiences with nature and the city. I could admit that I enjoy the city more than I enjoy nature. The reason for this is because I am so used to living in a corporate environment that I forget that nature exists. For 17 years, I lived near Los Angeles where there is no sign of the sublime. All I would see were skyscrapers, lights, and madness (nonstop traffic). I was sucked into the world of time and money. At age 18, I moved to Washington where everything is what I call nature. All I see here are mountains and sceneries. Here in Washington, I actually take time to view the sunset and the lakes that are surrounded by mountains. Back in California, I was more focused on the “lights and cameras” and I never thought about the sunset. My experiences are compatible with the poem “The World is too much with us” because the speaker in the poem complains about the world being too overwhelming for us to appreciate. In some sense, I agree because as you can tell, I do not appreciate nature as much as I do the city.

    

The speaker in the poem says that we are too concerned with time and money that we use up all our energy worrying about it. I thought this was interesting because nothing has really changed from the time the poem was written (around 1806) and nowadays. We still experience the same effect that time and money had in the poem. There is a saying “time is money” and it is the motto for most businesses and for college students—at least for me it is. When it comes to studying, I say “time is money” because I don’t want to waste any time on something useless when I could use that time to study. The poem’s title, “The World is too much with us” is basically saying that the world has gotten too big for us (humans) to handle. Everything is getting bigger; from Big Macs to building to shopping malls. These “bigger” things enable us (humans) to spend and get as much things as possible. Our world revolves around materialistic objects—I don’t care what anyone says.  I think that it would be interesting to hear what the author, William Wordsworth, would have to say about our world now if he were thrown in a big city such as New York. What will people say in 100 years?      

Edgar Allen Poe's Gothic Literature

Edgar Allen Poe is one of the most influential authors of gothic literature. His short stories leave readers with a sense of uneasiness. This uneasiness is due to his vivid descriptions of horrifying, supernatural and psychological stories. Poe had a different feel for gothic literature and expressed it through his writings.

Gothic literature has elements that set it apart: the setting should take place near some sort of castle. In modern gothic stories the castles are transformed into large, old houses or mansions. The setting should also seem gloomy: rain, storms, etc. The tone and the felling of the story should be mysterious—resulting in suspense and fear. The setting of the story can also be based on or about an ancient prophecy. This gives the story more mystery, influencing readers to ask as to why this legend exists.

There can also be a character that sees prophecies or has omens that hint at what might happen. For example, in Sherlock Holmes, ravens are omens for a future death. Supernatural events are a must: having events that cannot be explained gives the story a more frightening setting. Supernatural beings—ghosts, ghouls, monsters—are so unusual, it easily frightens readers. Emotions are abundant in the characters to the point that it may overwhelm readers: overwhelming emotions influences readers to feel similar emotions, engulfing themselves in the characters plight. The vocabulary should also be complex enough to pin point a specific emotion, feeling, and image.

Poe did this and more . . . Poe used psychological thought processes as part of his stories. Characters usually think about their surroundings and themselves. One character may seem insane, while others seem confused. Readers begin to think about the possible motives and reasons for events and actions connected to a single person. This not only frightens readers because of the images but also scares them at the psychological level. Readers’ thinking and analysis of the stories frighten them because there is no clear answer to any question that arises from reading Edgar Allen Poe’s short stories and poems.

Poe’s stories also do not end with a satisfactory, happy ending—rather the end is usually gruesome, unnerving, surprising and never seems to give the reader closure. Poe wants to veer away from ideals of transcendentalism: his characters are usually evil and never innately good. The setting—castles, storms, dark nights—the intense expression of emotions—anger, madness, sorrow—and the overpowering, psychological characters—murderers, desperate victims—all make up the deadly and horrifying stories written by Edgar Allen Poe.  

Vanessa and Ivan 

During the 19^th century, the industrial revolution began and brought new forms of transportation, communication, and technology. Some of the cool new inventions were steamboats, steamed locomotive, telegraph, telephone, electric lighting, and the cotton gin—just  to name a few. In my opinion, one of the most important inventions was the telephone. The telephone was patented by Alexander Graham Bell who was a teacher at a school for the hearing impaired. The great thing about the telephone is that it was much faster and inexpensive. Within a year of the first phone call, a company by the name of Bell Telephone Company was established and calls were placed over one hundred miles away. Over 50,000 telephones were in use in the United States by the end of 1880. Another cool and important invention was the invention of electric lighting. This was important because lighting up streets and buildings allowed for more efficient opportunities like not having to worry about your candle blowing out. Thomas Edison developed a light bulb that was safe and inexpensive and allowed for improvement in electric lighting. Edison did not invent the light bulb but his improvement made electric lighting reliable.   

Even though the emergence of the industrial revolution had positive outcomes, not all changes were good. The revolution brought forth many challenges such as the high demand for fuel and other energy sources as well as more pollution. Researching the negative impact the industrial revolution brought forth, reminded me of the conversation we had in class about Frankenstein. In the book “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelly, two major themes were the concern with the use of knowledge for good or evil purposes and the invasion of technology into modern life. Victor Frankenstein—the creator of the monster—goes down the path of self-destruction with the help from the new and old knowledge he gained. Shelly’s main theme, in regards to technology, is the question: When do we know when technology is self-destructive and when do we know that technology is beneficial? For instance, Victor used his knowledge in a destructive way because he created a monster that was hurting the community. In contrast, new technology such as the telephone can be seen as beneficial because it allows for a better form of communication. Another concern of Shelly is the fact that technology is invading modern life. One of the main problems with this invasion is the fact that humans will become dependent on technology. The fact that Victor was very passionate about using science to bring the dead back resulted into his presence as a human being to crumble. He was more concerned about his new creation than anything. To conclude, the power of science and technology can either lead to a positive or negative outcome.        

The Hidden Voice

The title of this post is called “The Hidden Voice” because women artists in this century didn’t really have a voice. The two women that we have decided to write about are women who made a significant attempt to making their voices heard. In my opinion, the best way to do so is by using art because it can be intreperated in any way.    

            Louise Jopling was a leading female artist in Victorian London who was part of the most advanced artistic circles of her time. She was born in Manchester in 1843 and later moved to Paris where she studied art under the romantic portrait and landscape painter—Charles Chaplin. She exhibited most of her artwork at the Royal Academy and the Paris Salon. She was also a teacher of art at her school and her students photographed her to learn.

Jopling was a versatile artist of wide artistic, literary, and social interests. She exhibited her work alongside male professional artists. She was the first women to be admitted to the Royal Society of British Artists in 1901. Even though Jopling faced many problems because of her status as a women, she still managed to lead achieve a status beyond genteel amateurism. One of Louise Joplings’ goals was to define what it meant to be a proffesional women artist. She was inspired because of her many attempts to establish a career and belief. She thought that women should be educated on equal terms with men. Jopling joined an elite group of femal artists who achieved public success at mainstream art institutions. An interesting thing that Jopling did was that she spoke the male language of professional art practice with the awareness that her gender set her apart. 

           Another woman who never received recognition for her paintings of landscapes is Susie M. Barstow. She, like most recognized male artists, attended Hudson River School. Barstow painted still-life images and landscapes of nature in and near New York.  Unlike many other female artists, Barstow was not related and of no connection to any male artists; she alone managed to paint as beautifully as she did and able to attend the school on her own. The reason I find Barstow so interesting and important to the literature of 19^th century literature of America is due to her ability to paint Nature in a picturesque and sublime manner.

            One example of her oil paintings would be Mountain View with Breaking Sun. When analyzing the painting it is difficult to ignore how the clouds disperse, letting rays of sunlight hit the water and an island.  In modern media, clouds dispersing and rays of sunlight are symbols of a divine entity—God and heaven.  Her paintings also have many levels of depth. There are taller trees that seem almost as tall as the shy-high mountains in the background; the distance of those trees being closer creates this illusion. The mountains also seem to be touching the heavens due to the clouds shadowing their midsections. One final aspect of the painting is the water. The lake appears to be claiming as much land as possible. It does not look like there are any shores at the base of the mountain or at the island; it seems like land is barely keeping its head above water. This feeling of sublime is then tendered by the connection water has to purity; baptisms.

            As a female myself, I found it inspiring how women, during such an oppressive time, managed to travel and paint Nature and natures beauties. Not only does she paint the magnificent beauty of earth but also seems to paint the influence of Christianity on art; whether this was her intention or not.