Moral Lessons Understandable?

I think we can all agree that Beatrix Potter's childrens books all seem to teach some moral lesson.  Whether it's the Tale of Peter the Rabbit or The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck there seems to be a moral lesson taught to the young children reading, or being read these tales.  As I sit here reading these short tales Potter creates, I can't help but wonder, are these moral lessons reaching the children that they are intended to?  Are young children able to understand these important moral lessons that Potter maps out for them?
To find the answer, I dug deeper into the two tales I mentioned before.  They both seem to teach a common lesson that parents try to teach their children.  Peter the Rabbit teaches children to not wander off on their own.  In fact, in the end, because Peter goes off on his own, he is taught a lesson by not being able to enjoy in the food his other siblings are able to enjoy in.  Instead, he is fed tea to sooth his sickness from being out.  This tale shows children how important it is to obey their parents.  The consequence in this story is a bit extreme, compared to what I believe it would be to a human.  Although I doubt a human child, by not listening to his or her parents would face death, that is the consequence that Potter used.  Possibly to instill in children the extent to which doing this could harm themselves. 
Another moral lesson is told in the tale of Jemina.  Here the classic story of  "Little red Riding Hood" is told in the story of a poor unwanted duck.  Obviously the moral lesson taught here is children should not trust just anyone, especially strangers.  Through this tale children are shown the consequences of trusting strangers.  For Jemina, this once again, nearly ends in death.  Why does Potter use death as the consequence for these young reader's books?   I believe, as I stated before, possibly to instill in them how dangerous their quick choices could really affect them.
Now back to my make question.  Are these moral lessons that Potter depicts, reaching the children reading them?  I believe they are reaching the children, but this isn't just because of the text.  They are being reached because of the mixture of illustration and text.  Through both of these items, children are not only able to hear the story, but see it as well.  That combination brings learning to a whole new level, especially for children.  Because Potter used both text and illustration in her childrens books, she was able to relay the moral lessons she conveyed to her audience, children.

The Impact of the Heath

After reading The Return of the Native, by Thomas Hardy I was left with the impact of feeling miserable for the characters, especially Clym.  I felt as though all Clym wanted was to be happy, and for him this came with doing what he pleased which was as what some may say, "sinking down in class".  He enjoyed the work of manual labor and resided in doing that, while all his greedy wife Eustacia wanted was to move to Paris.  Because of his love for being humble, their love dwindled under his wife's self-centeredness.  Throughout reading the book I seemed to get a sense of many love triangles and relationship confusions.  This just seemed to enhance the fact of the failure of this relationship.  Where did all this confusion start?  What caused all these messed up relationships and jealousy issues?
After analyzing a couple of the pieces of "Modern Criticism" at the end of Hardy's book I found my answer.  In D. H. Lawrence's, "Study of Thomas Hardy", it all became clear to me.  The originator of all this confusion, jealousy, and what some may even call hatred or depression came from the Heath!  I should have known right from the beginning since such an emphasis was put on the Heath.  For everything in this book is "born" by the Heath.  As Lawrence said, "For out of the Heath, it was the reality that worked the tragedy.  Out of the body of this crude earth are born Eustacia, Wildeve, Mistress Yeobright, Clym, and all the others."  It suddenly all made sense! For so long I was solely focusing on the characters,the way they acted, and their personalities, that it never dawned on me that it wasn't the characters that portrayed this tragic theme, but the Heath itself.  The Heath is personified in such a way, that I believe it to be a character.  Lawrence refers to the characters as one year's accidental crop by the Heath.  It's true when he says, "What does it matter that some (characters) are dead, drowned, or unhappy for the Heath will bear many more crops."  The Heath will never stop creating no matter what the past outcome was. 
This leads me to think, what will be the future of this Heath? Will the future be completely opposite or will it once again produce a tragedy?  After finding out that the Heath completely creates the tone in this book, I am led to believe that many other books follow this idea.  Many times I do not consider the setting when trying to understand characters and the tone.  This philosophy that Lawrence reinstates, that the setting can create the plot, reinforces in me the power that setting has.  I look forward to my future readings and the possibility that the setting will have the same power that the Heath had in, Return of the Native.

Sound Patterns

After reading a poem that I feel completely moved by, I ponder to myself about what it really was that moved me in that particular writing.  In my past blogs, you have seen me take a closer look at items that have emotionally affected me in writings.  I have emphasized imagery and personal interpretation through depiction and tone.  But while reading John Keats, "Ode on a Grecian Urn", I find myself focusing more on the sound patterns more than anything else.  Keats is able to execute numbers of diverse sound patterns from alliteration to consonance.  By using these precise sound patterns Keats creates an ode of praise to this beloved Grecian urn he depicts.

I was captured right from the beginning of my reading in this ode by the sound patterns.  Alliteration struck me as I read "silence and slow" as soon as the second line.  Keats continues this "S" sound right into the third line with the word "Sylvan" creating an easy flow for his readers.  This alliteration does not stop in the first stanza; it continues into the second as well when Keats mentions the words though, thou, and thy, near the end of the stanza, giving it an almost a romantic feel.  I believe this portrays his praise on the subject of this Grecian urn.   From here, the third stanza has the constant "H" sound which is found in the words happy (which shows up numerous times), human, and high.  Keats does not over do this repetition though, for in the fourth stanza it only appears in the subtle "S" sounds like in the words sea shore, streets, silent, and soul.  Finally, in the last stanza, Keats uses a unique phrase to express alliteration when he writes, "marble men and maidens". 

Not only does Keats execute alliteration well, but he is able to do it also with consonance.  The one area that stands out to me, he inscribes in the final stanza when he uses the two words, attic and attitude in the same line.  The "T" here really pops out to the eye.  In addition to consonance, I also find assonance in this ode.  It appears right away in the first stanza with the "ou" sound that Keats uses in the words, thou and our.  Also, in the first stanza, I kept hearing a long "I" sound.  This resonated from the words quietness, silence, time, pipes, and wild.  He brings back consonance in the third stanza when we see the "ea" in leaves and unwearied. 

Keats does not stop here with his sound patterns.  Repetition is the pattern of the third stanza.  Although repetition isn't exactly a sound pattern, it is a great way to accentuate the words that he wanted to emphasize.  The word "happy" is consistently seen reappearing throughout the entire stanza.  It is used to described items that Keats wants emphasized like the boughs, the melodist, love, and love again!  He is able to create this tone of happy bliss and encouraging love.

Throughout his ode, Keats utilizes many diverse sound patterns.  Even though he seems to use many and switch them up often, they do not get confusing for the reader.  Instead, I believe, they enhance his words and create imagery that would be lost without these patterns. 

Your "Ode" Interpretations

I keep finding myself becoming more and more immersed in odes.  Odes, as some of you may know, are formal longer poems that address its object by praising it.  But they are really more than that.  They make you feel as if you are there gazing at the object being illustrated.  It is as if you are feeling the emotion that the author felt as they looked upon it.  Odes are able to put you in that tranquil peace of mind, making it feel as though you are sometimes in a whole different world or place as you are reading it.  I believe that odes let you picture your own understanding of the objects being portrayed even if the author was looking at or describing something completely different.  That is the best part!  How you interpret them is up to you.

For example, Percy Shelley does an exceptional job of fully describing what he is praising while still letting you interpret the object yourself.  To do this he uses admirable descriptive words to give you the sense of awe he is in.  This helps instill this awe in his readers as well.  With the five sections in his ode, "Ode to the West Wind", Shelley is able to keep you anticipating what is to come next.  He uses each stanza to depict what he calls the “West Wind”.  I believe that this is what is outstanding with odes.  Shelley has an idea of what he considers the “West Wind” to be and he portrays is to you as he feels, but he also leaves some aspects up to your imagination.  Overall, he finds this “West Wind” to be a higher, creative power.  In addition to his descriptive words, Shelley is able to convey this “West Wind” to his readers by using a serious tone.  From his tone, you can tell Shelley is genuine about his thoughts and writings.  He wants his readers to respect the “West Wind” as he does.  Even as he presents his serious tone, he lets further interpreting up to his readers.  We, as readers, are allowed to construct our own meanings from his words and imagery. 

Through odes we are able to experience items that we may never be able to view or experience in real life.  Poets, like Percy Shelley share their knowledge and understandings to help us create our own personal images.  They make it seem so easy to do.  It seems as if we just have to find an item that we admire, pick up a pen and paper, and put it into some sophisticated writing.  It cannot be that hard right?  Well, for those of you where that is true, you enjoy yourselves; but for others like me, I think I will just keep on being absorbed in other’s odes, like Shelley’s, which are really able to speak to me.  

Wordsworth's Tool of Imagery

Not only does William Wordsworth's poem, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, flow the perfect way that any poem should, but it also give me that "happy" feeling inside. I could read this poem over and over and never get tired of the iridescent feeling it gives me. But, as I sit here reveling in my happy state I cannot help but wonder what exactly it is that Wordsworth does to give me this feeling. Is it the abstraction he uses? Or maybe it is the personification? Wait, possibly it is the similes or the onomatopoeia, the alliteration, assonance, or maybe the consonance? Can you now understand my problem?
At first I thought is was the personification and abstraction Wordsworth used. He immediately starts the poem by abstracting himself as a cloud that is wandering. This gave me a feeling of being peaceful for when I think of clouds I think of being tranquil. In addition to the abstraction, Wordsworth then personifies different items. Although he is using both abstraction and personification, it does not get confusing. I believe his use of both of these tools to make the poem blend together and show that he is at one with the nature he is describing. Although, these are both great tools of poetry, I found that they still did not answer my question on why I felt so "happy" while reading this poem.
After weeding out similes, onomatopoeia, alliteration, assonance, and consonance I was left with one item: imagery. I knew this was my answer because it used every tool I have mentioned to enhance itself. The way that Wordsworth exhibits imagery is in such a natural way. He is constantly using imagery throughout this poem. He first gives his readers the image of a cloud floating over the hills and valleys and then spotting what he calls "a crowd of daffodils". Wordsworth is able to create a strikingly realistic image of these daffodils. He makes this image real by showing their beauty by comparing them to the stars. He then enhances this image by personifying them by saying they dance. He claims that they outshine the sparkling waves and bring him wealth.
Through his personification, abstraction, similes, onomatopoeia, alliteration, assonance, and consonance Wordsworth creates unbelievable imagery. He expressed his obsession of daffodils and the tranquility they give him in an unimaginable way. William Wordsworth is a man that was able to execute many tools of literature and writing to create imagery in an incredible way.

Welcome to Rather Lovely Literature

I am still a little new to this whole "blogging" idea; this being only my second attempt at it.  This blog I am starting is for a British Literature class I am enrolled in.  This course focuses specifically from the year 1798 to the present.  I took an Early British Literature class my last semester, so I have a little idea of what I am getting into and that is some literature that I will have to definitely be re-reading multiple times just to be able to understand it. After finishing one already called The Icarus Girl, I can say already that I am liking the more present side of British Literature.  Since reading this, I am excited to get into the other novels like Aurora Floyd, The Return of the Native, and Virginia Woolf to see what else is in store for me to explore and learn in this course.