1.
Give significant
background information about the author or the literary piece
Answer:
William Wordsworth was born in 1770 at
Cockermouth in the heart of the Lake District. His early childhood was
therefore spent in one of England's great wild places, playing in the hills
around the lakes. This memory would be immortalized within his many poems. His
mother died when he was eight, and his father when he was 13. Although he was
left almost destitute, his uncles helped the family through the crisis. Wordsworth
himself would be sent to school at Hawkshead, a small market town where the
young boy would further his love of the countryside. What's more, the little
country school which he attended encouraged him to develop his poetic talent. Upon
leaving school, Wordsworth attended Cambridge University to study law but,
although he obtained his degree, the poet had little interest in legal matters.
His heart was in the wild places which became the centre for his poetry. He was
eventually able to settle in the country where he became close friends with the
great poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The two would collaborate for many years. Wordsworth
himself became a prolific writer of nature poems. Indeed, so great did his
reputation become that he was made Poet Laureate in 1843. Wordsworth eventually
died in 1850 at the age of 80.
2.
Write the
synopsis or summary of the literary text
Answer:
The speaker
complains that "the world" is too overwhelming for us to appreciate
it. We're so concerned about time and money that we use up all our energy.
People want to accumulate stuff, so they see nothing in Nature that they can
"own." According to the speaker, we've sold our souls. We should be
able to appreciate beautiful events like the moon shining over the ocean and
the blowing of strong winds, but it's like we're on a different wavelength from
Nature. We're kind of like, "Eh." The speaker would rather be a pagan
who worships an outdated religion so that when he gazes out on the ocean (as
he's doing now), he might feel less sad. If he were a pagan, he'd see wild
mythological gods like Proteus, who can take many shapes, and Triton, who looks
like a mer-man..
3.
Jot down three
questions that come to mind while reading the text, then choose one explore it
more fully
Answer:
1.
What does the
poet mean when he says "The World is too much with us"?
2.
What does the
poet mean when he says "We lay waste our powers"?
3.
Why does the poet
use an upper-case N when he refers to "Nature"?
I will explain the first question about the meaning of “The World
is Too Much With Us”. In my opinion The poet is referring to the materialism
which was growing in England as a result of the industrial revolution. More and
more people were moving into the rapidly expanding cities, and were chasing
after money and luxury. The role of the country, on the other hand, was rapidly
diminishing.
4.
Explain the
emotion that literary text work in you or which you felt while or after reading
the peace.
Answer:
The emotion
speaker is not happy about the way things are, and he makes no secret of it. He
thinks we have given our hearts away and eventually exclaims, "Great
God!" The tone of the poem is elegiac (it's like a poem mourning the dead)
and near the end the speaker tells us he is "forlorn" – depressed at
what he sees – and would rather be a pagan so that he wouldn't feel so sad..
5.
Copy a part of
literary text (sentence, paragraph, dialogue) which struck you most something
you find beautiful, enlightening and discuss why?
Answer:
"This
Sea that bares her bosom to the moon,
The meaning of the part in my opinion is Notice
the upper-case S for "Sea". Wordsworth is definitely /personifying/ the sea, turning it
into a woman who is lying with her naked breasts exposed for the moon to
admire. One could argue, of course, that the poet sees all of Nature as a goddess. The
sea is therefore a part of her -- which on this occasion bares her breasts to
the moon, who is also a goddess.
6.
Identify the
theme of literary piece and discuss it in the light of drama or poem
Answer:
The theme that
Wordsworth was trying to present to his readers was that the materialistic
mindset threw society out of harmony with nature, or the universe. It wasn’t
right or normal. He called it a “sordid boon.” Sordid, by definition can mean
morally ignoble. So, throughout this simple poem on the topic of the sins of
society, deeper meanings are planted by the context of the poem. Wordsworth
says “we lay waste to our powers,” powers meaning our ability to see, feel,
sense, be, imagine, and even appreciate. Instead of partaking what Wordsworth
believes to be the right thing to do, we waste our time on possessions that
will not be with us in people’s memories or in our pocket books when we’ve
passed on. He suggests that we should spend more time respecting nature because
nature is no longer important to anyone: “It moves us not.” He also says that
“Little we see in nature that is ours.” The reason people have left nature at
the wayside is that you cannot possess nature. It belongs to no one, to
everyone. You cannot buy the earth, the sea, the trees, or the flowers or the
sky. Because of this, it had no dollar value which is what people at that time
and even now put all their focus on. This age of Materialism and Industrialism
is what puts everyone out of tune, “For this, for everything, we are out of
tune.” People no longer see nature for what they should see it as. The
environment suffered because of the industrial Revolution but no one really
stopped it because “the ends justified the means.” This, I believe is the root
of his anger. In his anger, Wordsworth makes a slightly defamatory exclamation:
“Great God! I’d rather be/ A pagan…” in this line, Wordsworth declares he would
rather have been raised a pagan. He says that being a pagan is better than
knowing a life where God, or spirituality, has been eradicated, discounted,
disrespected, or even laughed at. This statement is very emphatic especially
for his time..
7.
Write the
critique of the works using an appropriate literary approach or theory
Answer:
There
are some of the literary approaches to criticize this poem, and I will discuss
it from psycological approach. The most outstanding problem suggested in this
poem is, unsurprisingly, materialism and its vices coupled with God’s apparent
fall from favor. With the socio-economic movement called the Industrial
Revolution came a psychological to accompany it: Materialism. Goods were being
made faster and cheaper and more affordable. Now that more people could have
more, that’s exactly what they wanted. As a slightly indirect consequence,
people slowly turned away from God and spirituality in general. Praying didn’t
put food on the table nor did it pay the rent. Work, entrepreneurship, and
business did. Before long, spirituality went out the door. People didn’t have
time for it or they blamed God for their troubles. Ironically, it wasn’t God society
clung to in tough times, it was material things. The Bible tells us to
relinquish our earthly possessions and to follow Christ by serving others.
Well, people are selfish and serving others before oneself seems like a silly
thing to do
