Reflection: "Emerson and the Work of Meloncolia"

This critical analysis takes a look at Emerson and his obsession with mourning. I say obsession because based on how the author views and has written about Emerson's works, it really does sound like an obsession. Emerson hated mourning and considered it a waste of time. I was really surprised to learn that he didn't mourn the death of his wife or brother. Most people would be devastated. Or, if they were more private people who didn't want to grieve openly, they would quietly mourn the loss of their loved ones in their own special way.
In a way, I kind of agree with Emerson. I don't necessarily believe that people should completely cut mourning out of their lives. I just think they shouldn't give it so much of their time. Grieving should be done quickly so that the person can move on with their lives. It seems so pointless to waste all of your time mourning a person who isn't around to appreciate the gesture anymore. All it does is hurt the people around you.
I loved how the author compared Emerson to Freud. I've been interested in Freud's works for a while now, but have never really had the chance to read any of them. The paragraph gave me some new insights into Freud's works and philosophies. The author of the article quoted another's thoughts on Freud that I found very interesting and helpful in understanding Emerson better:

From this pronouncement comes Philip Rieff 's formulation of the Freudian ethic: "The therapy of all therapies, the secret of all secrets, the interpretation of all interpretations, in Freud, is never to attach oneself exclusively or too passionately to any one particular meaning or object." The ethic is as characteristic of Emerson as it is of Freud (Emerson).

This whole thing seems pretty complicated to me. In his prose, Emerson appears to be saying the grieving is worthless and shouldn't be done, but everyone mourns some kind of loss at one point or another. Mark Edmundson even quotes a line that says "Alas! I chiefly grieve that I cannot grieve; that this fact takes no more deep hold than other facts, is as dreamlike as they; a lambent flame that will not burn playing on the surface of my river" (Emerson). I like Emerson's ideas about rebirth a lot better.
I think that Emerson stopped writing so much in the Romanticism style because, even though he might have denied it, he was mourning the loss of so many loved ones. I know from experience that it is extremely hard to write anything close to the Romanticism style when you've just lost someone close. I think he was disillusioned with the world. I also don't see why all these authors have chosen to write about his switch from Romanticism to Transcendentalism so much. Can't they just agree that it was his decision and leave it alone?
I understood some of the ideas presented in this article, and my favorite one was about the gulf and deciding whether to leap or be pushed into it. Emerson understood the difference, which makes me respect him a little bit more now.

"Emerson and the Work of Melancholia." Raritan (Spring 1987). Quoted as "Emerson and the Work of Melancholia" in Bloom, Harold, ed. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Updated Edition, Bloom's Modern Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=1&iPin=MCVRWE007&SingleRecord=True (accessed November 7, 2010).

Journal #21: Emerson vs. Franklin

Ralph Waldo Emerson's writing style is very different from Benjamin Franklin's writing style for several obvious reasons. The most obvious is that Emerson was a Romanticist, and Franklin was a Rationalist. Therefore, Emerson's writing is less structured than Frankin's systematic style. Emerson's theme's are also different, but that can be mostly explained by the different time periods of the two authors. Another aspect of the differences was the way the authors went about presenting their points. Emerson relies more on making his readers feel his points are what is right, where Franklin uses a systematic fact and support structure to make his readers see the logic of his arguements. In short, Emerson uses intuition and feelings in his writing, and Franklin uses facts and logic to make the readers agree with whatever topic he is presenting.
Despite the differences, there are also a few similarities between Emerson and Franklin. One of the similarities is the passion they put into their writing. No matter which author or which work you choose to read, you can see that the authors really care about their subject matter. Also, both authors are very eloquent in their writing. Both Emerson and Franklin show a mastery of the English language in all of their works, and they are easy to understand and have a good word flow.
As far as the authors themselves, I think that Emerson and Franklin were quite a bit alike. Both were writers, obviously. Both of them also wanted to make a difference in the world in their own unique ways and used their writing to try to accompllish that, though Franklin wanted political change and Emerson appears to have just wanted to create more beautiful things in the world.
I'm going to go with the obvious again and say that Emerson wrote more poetry than Franklin, who really only wrote his little aphorisms and essays and speeches. Emerson did not write very many political essays, especialy compared to Franklin. They were in different time periods, so it is understandalbe that they would be different.

Journal #20: Self-Reflection

It is important for me to break away from society and self-reflect often. If I don't get some time away from other people every so often, I get really depressed and angry. I need the time to recharge. People annoy me a lot, so breaking away from society is a good thing. Even if I can't literally break away from society, I have another place to retreat to. I always have a book with me, and use those to escape. When I read, I'm able to shut myself off completely from what is happening around me. I can become immersed in someone else's society for an hour or two.
I never really self-reflect. For one, I never really have time to take a good look at myself and the things that go on around me. Plus, I find self-reflection boring and often unnecessary. I want to forget the world, not ponder it.
To get away from society, I read like I mentioned above. I also ride my bike in the summer when it's hot outside. I live on a road with lots of hills, so it's a hard ride and really makes me focus on my bike instead of anything else around me. This doesn't really factor in the self-reflection part of this topic, but like I stated above, I really don't like to self-reflect. It's not that I'm afraid that I won't like what I see, I just know what I'll see-I don't change very often. I know myself, and I don't think I would need to look to see who I am very often.
As far as the part of self-reflection that involves thinking about the world and your place in it, I really don't do much of that either. If I do, it's mainly in the form of daydreams. I have a good imagination when it comes to my future. Other than the basics, I really don't think about those kinds of things at all.

Journal #19: In America

The ideal America obviously does not exist. It took some serious imagining on my part to come up with all the ideas that show up in this blog. In my ideal America, we obviously wouldn't be in an economic recession. Enough people would have enough jobs to have a home and keep the homeless shelters from overflowing. Also in my ideal America, people would be healthier. It's kind of embarrassing that America is one of the fattest countries, so in my America, obesity wouldn't be nearly as common as it is in the actual America. The government of America would also be different if I had my way. It wouldn't just be a popularity contest between two rich middle-aged men. I kind of like the idea of the "self-made man" rising to power like we're learning in history. It just seems like a more fair way of electing a president. In my ideal America, people would also be a lot more understanding of differences. I know that sounds totally cliche, but it would make things so much better if people would stop being stupid and hating other people without good reason. I really don't get why people are so prejudiced against groups like blacks, gays, foreigners, and other such groups. As long as they're not hurting anyone, I really don't see what the problem is. That brings me to another part of my ideal America. It would be so much better if people would just stop being stupid and doing stupid things. I know that's impossible, but the journal topic is about my ideal America, emphasis on ideal.
I think that my ideal America is different from others' because I think a lot of people would make their ideal Americas perfect and without any kind of pain of suffering. The only problem with that is that it's boring. Also, I wouldn't want to see my ideal America put into practice only to have it fall to ruin within the first year.
I have lots of ideas about my ideal world, too, but that's a story for another journal...

Whittier Reflection

For this reflection, I chose "A Sea Dream" by John Greenleaf Whittier. I thought this poem was amazing. The poem is broken down into three parts to help with cohesion. The first part describes the scenery that the speaker sees. It is apparent that he is closely familiar with it, as the words give several indicators that the speaker has watched time pass there. The scene he describes begins to feel like a small village on a cliff that overlooks the ocean because the poet mentions that a "rail car brought its daily crowds" and that he hears a song but it's hard to make out over the noise of children and other voices.

The second part is the song the speaker hears from afar. This is my favorite stanza in the whole poem: "The waves are glad in breeze and sun; the rocks are fringed with foam; I walk once more a haunted shore, a stranger, yet at home, a land of dreams I roam." (Whittier). I love the imagery in this stanza. This whole section of the poem was really beautiful in my opinion. Its flow and word usage really embody Romanticism as far as the style go. The message also goes with Romanticism because it features a young person observing nature while reflecting on how his love made him feel.

The third part goes back to focusing on the speaker and how it made him feel. This also hints rather heavily at Romanticism. My second favorite stanza was definitely the last one: "No word betrayed the mystery fine, That trembled on the singer's tongue; He came and went, and left no sign Behind him save the song he sung." (Whittier). I took this to mean that even though the people in the town can't really remember the man singing, the song he sings is still with them throughout their day. This poem was fantastic in my opinion.

Whittier, John G. "A Sea Dream by John Greenleaf Whittier." PoemHunter.Com - Thousands of Poems and Poets.. Poetry Search Engine. Web. 03 Nov. 2010. .

Journal #18: Romanticism Poem

One good friend for another,
A wilting rose in a vase.
My feelings threaten to smother
me with their tight embrace.
To get away from all the noise in my mind
(my thoughts, my family, and you)
I close my eyes and find
myself in a field of midnight blue.
I am among the stars, and what I see
calms the turmoil as I explore.
I awake from my soothing fantasy
and find myself at your door.
You know why I've come- it's in your eyes.
And as you walk away, it's myself I despise.

Thanatopsis Reflection

In true Romanticism style, I will start out this reflection by stating how this poem made me feel and the general impressions that I formed while reading it. I liked this poem. It made me feel kind of "Zen" while I read it because, to me, it was saying that everything and everyone must die at some point but that it's okay because its a natural occurrence in the grand scheme of things. Literally speaking, this poem was written for people who followed the Romanticism school of thought. It begins by stating "To him who in the love of Nature holds communion with her visible forms" (Bryant), so you know that he is addressing the Romantics who loved Nature. Then he goes on to say how noble it is to die when it's your time because he says that you return to the earth and help it grow even as your body decays. While that is kind of gruesome, he states it in such a way that the words themselves sound pretty, even if the literal meaning leaves something to be desired in that department. Bryant's use of imagery to evoke emotion in his readers is one of the most common poetic devices that he uses in "Thanatopsis". He uses it very often and effectively. My favorite use of imagery was when he was describing the celestial bodies and how they watch over the earth and the dead that lie in it. He also uses personification to make Nature posses human qualities. My favorite part of this poem was in the ending stanza. "The innumerable caravan which moves to that mysterious realm" (Bryant) sounded really cool to me, and I really liked how Bryant put together his words, not just in that part, but throughout the whole poem.


Bryant, William. "16. Thanatopsis. William Cullen Bryant. Yale Book of American Verse." Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and Hundreds More. Web. 01 Nov. 2010. .