Kubla Khan

1) The power of the imagination is often exalted in Romantic poetry. In your opinion, does “Kubla Khan” celebrate the imagination or caution against its indulgence? To whom might Coleridge be writing and for what purpose(s)?

I think that "Kubla Khan" was written to caution against the indulgences of the imagination. Coleridge shows in his poem that by giving into his imagination, the reader is taken on a wild ride, through a river and over the ground, beneath the moon,and through many other forms of nature. Coleridge also does something interesting when he writes his poem in a lyrical tone and with rhyme, though the actual words and the story he produces is choppy and jumps from subject to subject. THis is very interesting because dreams are often shown in a choppy manner, not exactly a story, just images running together.


2) Even in the brief space of a sonnet, Shelley suggests a number of narrative frames. How many speakers do you hear in "Ozymandias"? What does each of these voices seem to say to you (or to others) as listeners?

In this sonnet, the speakers appear to be a traveler and a sculptor. The traveler describes the ruins to the reader. The sculptor is spoken of because he was the one who created the art that the traveler is seeing. Ozymandias also makes an appearance in the sonnet, and it is ironic because on the worn down sculpture Ozymandias wrote very passionate piece of writing, but it is old and falling apart because of the sculptor.

"The Chimney Sweeper" Poetry and Social Change

1) Do you agree with the editors of your textbook that Blake's poetry had the power to enact social change by appealing to the imagination of the reader?

I do agree with the editors of the textbook that Blake's poetry, and the work of other romantic poets had the power to enact social change. Especially with a poem such as "The Chimney Sweeper"people were awakened to the harsh conditions and were made aware of the hardships that children were actually going through. After reading this poem in this time period, I at least got the impression that change did occur, that poverty was ended and proper working conditions were provided for children and adults alike.

2) Why might the editors have included the Parliament transcript as a primary source document? How did it affect your reading of Blake's work?

I think to editors included the Parliament transcript to show us, the modern day reader, actually how the change occurred. After reading Blake's poetry, everyone thinks that change happened immediately and everything was fine. However, the excerpt from Parliament shows that change actually took longer to come into place and in our society today we are still struggling with changing the negative and bringing more positive into our society.

Swift Student-Teacher Prep Work

Student-Teacher Prep Work
4 Questions regarding “Gulliver’s Travels”
1. To where exactly was Gulliver Traveling, and how did he end up in the land of the Lilliputians?
2. Is Gulliver a normal sized person and the Lilliputians are small? Or are the Lilliputians normal sized and is Gulliver a giant?
3. To become an elected official, what “contest” do the Lilliputians require the candidates to go through?
4. How did the war between Lilliput and Blefuscu begin?

Significant Points:
“….they shouted for joy, and danced upon my breast, repeating several times as they did at first, Hedinah degul. They made me a sign that I should throw down the two hogsheads, but first warned the people below to stand out of the way, crying aloud, Borach mivola, and when they saw the vessels in the air, there was a universal cry of Hekinah dugul.”
So far in the story, Swift has not used much dialog, explaining the events quickly and without many details. This is the first moment in the story where Lilliputian language is used. Why do you think that Swift has decided to use dialogue here, and what do you think these words mean?

Pg. 658: “Which two mighty powers have, as I was going to tell you, been engaged in a most obstinate war for six and thirty moons past. It began upon the following occasion. It is allowed on all hands, that the primitive way of breaking eggs before we eat them, was the lager end: But his present Majesty’s grandfather, while he was a boy, going to eat an egg, and breaking it according to the ancient practice, happened to cut one of his fingers. Whereupon the Emperor his father published an edict, commanding all his subject, upon great penalties, to break the smaller end of the their eggs. The people so highly resented this law, that our histories tell us there have been six rebellions raised on that account; wherein one Emperor lost his life, and another his crown.”
After reading this passage, could Swift be satirizing the very idea of war and how people try and justify going into war?

Predictions:
I predict that in this story students may have difficulties trying to decipher whether to take Swift’s language and tone figuratively or literally. Though he presents his story in a formal and informative tone, many of the adventures he describes between the Lilliputians could be considered satire.