Romantics 1

What I took away from the reading was that after the revolutions. Writers and critics believed that literature should be about individuals, their experiences, and imagination. This is very different from what was considered good lit a short time before. The emphasis there was moral values, connection with God and nature, and focus on be straight to the point.

In William Wordsworth's Poem This Lawn, A Carpet All Alive describes what Wordsworth thought while looking at the grass.

This Lawn, A Carpet All Alive
By William Wordsworth

This Lawn, a carpet all alive
With shadows flung from leaves -- to strive
In dance, amid a press
Of sunshine, an apt emblem yields
Of Worldlings revelling in the fields
Of strenuous idleness;

Less quick the stir when tide and breeze
Encounter, and to narrow seas
Forbid a moment's rest;
The medley less when boreal Lights
Glance to and fro, like aery Sprites
To feats of arms addrest!

Yet, spite of all this eager strife,
This ceaseless play, the genuine life
That serves the steadfast hours,
Is in the grass beneath, that grows
Unheeded, and the mute repose
Of sweetly-breathing flowers

Wordsworth describes how the grass grows continuously as the world around it changes. From shadows that dance in the sunlight to swaying with the rhythm of the wind. Things may change around the plot of grass but it continues on growing steadily. This could deal with the steadiness that humans have as individuals. Humans have the ability to deal with change around them and still hold onto the things that make them individuals, like the grass in the poem above.

I can become lost in work on my house. Sometimes I become so wrapped up in a project I will work at it until I am finished or can not go any further. I enjoy seeing my hard work become a reality. Some days I become wrapped up in my caoching life. I spend hours watching games, taking notes, and reading up on the game. I enjoy learning about basketball and taking what I have learned and teaching it to my players. I use music as a motivator to get me going. Once in a while I need a little boost to get me going. I have a few movies and novels that I can revisit time after time.

A few years ago I had the oppertunity to hear Jerry Krause speak at a clinic at NSU in Aberdeen. I was drawn in by his passion for the game and the art of coaching. I became absorbed in what Mr. Krause was saying taking note after note. While listening to Mr. Krause time seemed to fly by and a hour and a half was over very quickly.

Chapter 1 - Plato

I read the chapter and am lost. What I took from the reading is that poetry was harmful to civilization. Poetry corrupts man with false and unmoral ideals. The poets have made the Gods seem unjust and at times immoral. Plato thinks this will destroy the value common people will place on the leaders of the Republic. If Gods can be bribed and have lack of self-control then what keeps people from becoming corrupt. Basically Plato thinks poetry should be strictly sensored for the sake of the people.

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