Lauren Etheridge HUM 2249 Chapter 27 Homework Questions Factual (Answer All) 1. Nature is a key motif in romantic poetry.

How does Wordsworths Tintern Abbey (Reading 5.1) illustrate this fact? The idea of romanticisim is deeply entwined with the ideals of nature. A romantic lifestyle would be one of true simplicity, and the connection with nature makes that simplicity possible. This poem echoes many notes of nature. It opens by using the seasons to measure time that has passed by. The mentions of waterfalls, flowers, fields, and the quiet sky conjure up raw, natural, human emotion, which what romantic poetry is based on. 2. What does the wind represent in Shelleys Ode to the West Wind? The wind represents the idea of change. Shelley describes how the wind shapes and changes the earth. There are many metaphors that the author uses to illustrate how things change over time. These natral elements, such as flowers, the seasons, and rivers and streams are all characteristic of romantic poetry. 3. Who were the American transcendentalists? How did they regard the role of nature in human life? The most notable American transcendentalists are , Ralph Waldo Emmerson and Henery David Thoreau. Others include Margaret Fuller, Theodore Parker and Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, although many more abound. They found nature to be very linked with human life, and illustrated that idea in their works. Their view of human nature was realistic and within the chords of natural life on planet Earth. 4. What did Thoreau mean by the indescribable innocence of nature? Thoreau uses this phrase to describe how nature is truly all about the simplest of pleasures. In innocence, the world is simple and so are your joys. It is rather indescribable, for we have few words in the English language that we have assigned to this flavor of simplicity. I suppose it is because it is not something that would want to be advertised to society because it encourages no real advancement to our community, which the human race seems to strongly desire. 5. What is free verse? Cite an example from Chapter 27. Free verse is poetry written free of rhyme or meter. Not to say that it cant rhyme or have some sort of structure to it, but it is free-flowing and natural. Free verse poetry makes a great template for romantic poetry. Tintern Abbey is a great example of free verse. When read aloud, the poem is more of a long thought or steam of consiousness than a metered work of poetry. While lacking the structure of typical poetry, this work is still poetic. 6. How did Hegel explain the operation of nature? Did he believe that the dialectic operated in an absolute manner? The idea of absolouteness is a large part of what Hegel was all about. He believed that his new principle of philosophy equals the spirit. Within that ideal is of selfactualization and cognition of a higher being. His approach was indeed intellectual. Hegel used the dialectics in the positive sense that the dialectics is the scientific application of the universal law rooted in the nature of our thinking. To Hegel, the law of thinking is at the same time further the principle of reality. 7. Explain in your own words the phrase evolution by natural selection.

In nature and the natural workings of the Earth, organisims survive based on the effectiveness of their adaptation to their environment. Organisims will during the course of evolution devolop mutations that will either help or hinder their survival. If this mutation (whether it be plumage, a horn, a different color or pattern or a third leg) aids the organisms survival, then that creature lives on and has a greater chance of reproducing, therefore passing on its genes for that specific mutation. If this mutation is not in favor of the organisms survival, it will die, or be less desirable to mate with, excluding its genetics from the gene pool. As the generations progress, the favorable mutations will be passed on, and this is evolution. 8. What does survival of the fittest mean? Was Darwins primary meaning that fit individuals survive? As described in my last answer, nature favors certain physical traits. If this certain color or third leg that an organism has acquired is undesirable in survival or in mating rituals, it will not be allowed to reproduce. Only if an organism thrives in its environment will it be able to pass on its genes to the next generation. Only the fittest for the certain environment will be able to survive and reproduce. 9. How did American landscapes differ generally from those of European artists? The artwork of the romantic period was of great imagination and innocence. The landscapes were almost dream-like, rich with pastels and emotion. They appeared to be laced with a coat of dew, and the clouds look look as if they were about to roll across the sunlit sky. The art of these landscapes often featured large fields. America was largely uncharted and uncolonized at this time, so open fields would be highly inaccurate. However, this was part of the romantic voice, so it was still echoed in these works of art. 10. Can you see what Thoreau calls the indescribable innocence of nature in Shen Fus Six Chapters from a Floating Life (Reading 5.4)? Indescribable innocence is, well, indescribable. We can only understand the general feeling we get from being truly innocent a state of mind so pure, there are hardly any words to describe it. In the passage by Shen Fu, the story is laden with romanticism, human misfortune and tragedy, and magnificent mysticism. To the western reader, this is very much a tale of alien substance, exotic in many ways. By exhibiting this sort of mysteriousness, it is in tune with many of the romantic ideals that Thoreau has assigned to the phrase indescribable innocence. Challenge (Chose One to answer) 8. In what ways does Darwins theory of natural selection challenge traditional views? Is this theory compatible with a belief in a supreme being? If so, how so? Natural selection and evolution are not theory they are fact. By traditional views, I assume religious views, and by religious views, I assume Christianity. The Christian religion preaches overnight creation by a divine God, the creation of humans in the likeness of Himself. These two theories have butted heads for centuries, and each one is found blasphemous by the other. Evolution and natural selection challenge this traditional view of creationism by bringing logical science and physical evidence to the table, instead of blindly-followed faith. This theory (fact) of evolution is still possible with a divine and supreme being. As once was said in class The God of nature is not the God of revelations. This could not be truer. The God of nature has created life in such a way that it acclimates and adjusts to its own environment to become its own being, and create a broad spectrum of life, which is the beauty of evolution. In this way, every living being and every creature is an element of God.