Journal Entry (Please grade)

Charlotte Bronte

Info

- Jane Eyre

Analysis - Jane Eyre Ch. 6

While conversing with Helen Burns, Jane advocates the merits of being kind only to friends and of being harsh to disagreeable people.

If people were always kind and obedient to those who are cruel and unjust, the wicked people would have it all their own way: they would never feel afraid, and so they would never alter, but would grow worse and worse.  When we are struck at without a reason, we should strike back again very hard; I am sure we should--so hard as to teach the person who struck us never to do it again.  (Bronte 57)

Instead of treating others the way she would like to be treated, she treats others the way they treat her.  In this way, she is passive: her only actions are reactions.  By taking the matter into her own hands, and not allowing God to intervene on her behalf, she displays a humanistic, self-reliant approach to injustice.  Jane is the protagonist, yet the audience--if it assumes a Christian worldview--will recognize that her doctrine contradicts God's command to love one's enemies (Luke 6:31-35).  This blatant clash reinforces the doctrine of man's sinful nature.  She is young and seems as if she has not been exposed to Christianity (Bronte 82).  Thus, Bronte seemingly equates ignorance with youth or childhood.

Application

I meet with little confrontation on this little island.  Asian (Japanese) humility and respect permeates the aloha spirit throughout the State of Hawaii.  People are generally nice (or at least appear to be).  However, I am often completely oblivious to the strife and drama that do exist, and I try to obey authority and stay out of trouble.  Jane and I thus have opposite situations; the people in Jane's life constantly trample upon her, whereas I, again, try to stay out of trouble.  However, we both need to remember to treat others with love even when they try to hurt us.  I especially need to remember God's command since I have less, milder experience than Jane has.

Citation

Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. New York: Signet Classics, 2008.

Charlotte Bronte

Works
- Jane Eyre

John Keats Romantic

Info
- second only to Shakespeare in command of English language
- sees art as excape from earthly misery

Works
- The Eve of St. Agnes -
- "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer" - excitement of literary discovery
- Lamia, Isabella, The Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems - "the most brilliant collection of verse published in nineteenth century" (Horton 574)

Terms
- agnosticism - "questioning of certainty" (Horton 574)
- aestheticism - "religious regard for art" (Horton 574)

Citation
Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Journal Entry (Please grade)

Charles Lamb

Info

- "prince of English essayists" (Horton 554)

- romantic reverence for ordinary

- nostalgia

Analysis - Old China

Lamb begins by stating his "almost feminine partiality for old china" (Horton 556).  After capturing the audience's attention through this unexpected--almost odd--announcement, he smoothly transitions to the main bulk of the essay: his cousin's nostalgia for the simple life.

Lamb's mastery of the nature of the personal essay makes the audience feel as if it is sliding into a comfortable pool of memories, both his and its own, as it reminisces along with Bridget.  His style is clearly romantic, as evident in Bridget's description of their past life as rough, tumultuous, and uncomfortable at times, yet still exciting.  The length and thoroughness of her speech reflect the extent of her nostalgia.  However, at the end of the essay, Lamb appreciates her concerns, but still encourages her to live in the present; the past will never come again, so she should apply her experience to her future life.

Application

Sometimes you don't fully appreciate something until it's gone.  Lamb's nostalgia reminds me of not only fond memories but also of regrets.  I remember the frustration from being "behind" my classmates in math for two years; I had chosen not to take algebra in eighth grade at a public middle school because I limited myself (i.e. I was lazy).  However, I should not become stuck in the past.  The situation eventually worked out, and I now understand the value of taking every opportunity that God offers to me.  If I am constantly looking behind me, I won't see the opportunities coming toward me.  I know I need to face forward, plan ahead, and stop hesitating.

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

George Gordon, Lord Byron Romantic

Info

- most notable example of self-projected hero

Works

- Don Juan

- On This Day I Complete My Thirty-Sixth Year

- She Walks in Beauty

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Charles Lamb Romantic

Info

- "prince of English essayists" (Horton 554)

- romantic reverence for ordinary

- nostalgic

Works

- "Old China" - superiority of old days of youth and poverty

- circular form

- "I wish the old days would come again...when we were not quite so rich." (Horton 557).

Terms

- familiar essay - personal essay perfected by Lamb; distinct from more formal and public neoclassical periodical essay (Horton 719)

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Percy Bysshe Shelley Romantic

Info

- "most fervent rebel of the major English romantics" (Horton 565)

- descendent of conservative Sussex gentry

- bigotry - parent oppressing a female of unusual intellect and beauty

- vegetarian

- disciple - Robert Browning

Works

- "Ode to the West Wind" - refers to all four seasons; wind brings change

- "Ozymandias" - Ramses II statue; pride; sonnet

- "England in 1819" - evil will perish of its own corruption, but with it will come freedom

- Prometheus Unbound - closet drama

- Adonais - elegy

Terms

- closet drama - "a play intended only for reading" (Horton 718)

- elegy

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge Romantic

Info
- exalts imagination over reason (organic over mechanic)
- truth greatest
- immediate end is pleasure, but ultimate end is truth

Works
- The Rime of the Mariner - greatest poem; uncommon appears believable; geographically believable

Citation
Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

William Wordsworth Romantic

Info

- poetry should treat common subjects and use the language of ordinary people

- democratic in subject matter and style

- spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings

Works

- The Prelude - central literary document and most important poetic achievement of British romanticism

- "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" - common things in an uncommon light

- Lyrical Ballads and Other Poems

- "Expostulation and Reply"

- The Lucy Poems - probably fictional; Nature's step-child

- sonnets - contrasts the child's and the adult's experiences with Nature

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

William Blake Romantic

Info

- man, born free, is everywhere in chains, and he applied himself to the remedy

- eccentric mystic

- madman

- most thorough-going romantic

- Satanic counterfeit of Christian redemption

- human togetherness, as a goal, is central to the modern religious viewpoint

Works

- Songs of Innocence - "The Lamb"

- Songs of Experience - "The Tyger"; "The Clod and the Pebble"; "London"

- The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

Terms

- rationalism

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Journal Entry (Please grade)

Samuel Johnson

Info

- moral essayist second only to Addison

- monumental pronouncer of conservative common sense

- Dictionary of the English Language

- The Rambler

- Lives of the English Poets

- "Vice must always disgust."

Analysis - Rambler 4

Johnson begins by praising realism as the highest standard of achievement in art.  The main media he refers to is literature.  He values a genuine representation of life,  yet still discourages carelessness or irresponsibility in the portrayal of sin.  He observes that people most often imitate sin instead of learning from it.  This is in part due to the decisions of the audience, but the producers of the media encourage it.  This is especially true in today's entertainment industry, where violence and immorality are glorified.  No matter how noble or courageous its intentions, "vice...should always disgust."  Robin Hood stole from the rich to give to the poor, but his good intentions do not detract from his status as a thief.  Johnson does not give any specific examples, yet his general statements are sufficient and concise.

Application

"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things" (Phil 4:8, KJV).  This verse seems to be the underlying force behind Rambler 4.  The world--especially the media--will always try to force me and other people to look upon unnecessary, ungodly things, not for didactic purposes, but largely for profit-making.  Johnson warns against these practices.  I am not an author or a media producer, so I don't have many opportunities to heed his advice.  However, as an audience, I can analyze the movies I watch to stay alert and exercise discernment.  Which sin does the movie portray?  How does it view said sin?  As harmful?  Noble?  Dishonorable?  Necessary?  If its only purpose is to gain my attention, yet not teach me something, then it's a waste of my--and ultimately God's--time.

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

John Wesley Neoclassical

Charles Wesley

Info

- John - field preacher

- Charles - hymns

- tragic fact of how soon a great truth can be lost

- Whitefield broke w/them over Calvinism

- set out to evangelize English-speaking world

- hymns - major weapon of Wesleyan evangelism; instruments of persuasion within evangelical circles

- stress inclusiveness of gospel opportunity

Works

- John's journal - series of bulletins from the front by one of God's greatest warriors in the Church Militant

- Christian Library

- Hymns - "Jesus, Lover of my Soul"; "And Can It Be That I Should Gain"; "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing"

Terms

- (none)

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Isaac Watts Neoclassical

Info

- Father of the Modern Hymn

- secret of hymns' strength was fusion of discreet artistry with vital spirituality

- most important part of congregational worship was least inspiring

- replace stiff psalmody not only with more vigorous and lyrical paraphrases but also with independent poems on Biblical themes

Works

- "Heavenly Joy on Earth"

- Hymns and Spiritual Songs - beginning of modern hymn

- Logic; Knowledge of the Heavens and Earth; Philosophical Essays; Improvement of the Mind

- Horae Lyricae

- Psalms of David

- Divine Songs Attempted in Easy Language for the Use of Children

- "Heavenly Joy on Earth"; "The Christian Race"; Breathing After the Holy Spirit"; "Against Idleness and Mischief"; "The Day of Judgement"

Terms

- genre

- didacticism

- meter

- rhyme

- empiricism - the philosophical view that all knowledge originates in sensory experience

- common, short, and long meters

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

James Boswell Neoclassical

Info

- one of world's greatest biographers

- Scotsman

- feelings of relief

Works

- The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. - stands alone because of sheer mass of materials but also because of its artistry

- monument of scholarship as well as of literary artistry

- Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides

- journals - detective story of of modern scholarship; reveal complex, unstable personality of high principles but dissolute life

Terms

- (none)

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.

Samuel Johnson Neoclassical

Info

- dignified eloquence gave reputation as moral essayist second only to Addison

- friend of Wesley

- monumental pronouncer of conservative common sense

Works

- Dictionary of the English Language - authority on word meaning for more than a century

- The Rambler - representations of evil have place in literature, but only when they serve to reinforce virtue in the manner of negative examples

- "Vice must always disgust."

- Lives of the English Poets - greatest literary achievement

- London - heroic couplet in imitation of Juvenal

- Life of Mr. Richard Savage - first attempt at biography

- The Vanity of Human Wishes - finest poem; one of best of period; 2nd of his Juvenalian satires in heroic couplet

- Rasselas - oriental novel on theme of Ecclesiastes; illustrates terror of expecting happiness from worldly accomplishments and depicts man as creature of perpetual discontent

- Journey to the Western Islands - confirmed unromantic view of primitive life

Terms

- heroic couplet

Citation

Horton, Ronald A. British Literature for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1992.