1. This example asked students to integrate material from The In Memoriam Web into their reading of Tennyson's "Locksley Hall."
Question: Go into The In Memoriam Web. Double-click inside the "Political and Social Context" writing space to expose the other writing spaces inside it. Then double-click inside the "British Empire" writing space to expose the writing spaces within it. Read the text space associated with "British Empire." Does the speaker of "Locksley Hall" exhibit any of the attitudes towards the Orient described in this text space, even though the poem was written in the early years of active British expansionism around the world?
Response: The speaker of the "Locksley Hall" is trying to define his place in the world which he despises. From what I understood, he is somewhere, far away from his country and origins. His father died in a "Maharatta battle" and he was raised by his"selfish" uncle. All his life , however, he was raised not in the country of his origins but somwhere else. This had a big influence on the way he perceives the world aroun him. He is in one of the countries within the growing British Empire. He does not have any particular religion but worships and refers to MOther Age. HIs attitude toward Orient is definietly not the one that was justifing the expension okf the Britihs Empire and aqusition of new teritories. He does talk about the "savage woman" and a "barbarian child" being "lower than the Christian child" (l.174). But this "barberic" civilization seems to be a sort of escape for him from the world where "every door is barr'd with gold, and opens but to golden keys." (100).
Response: When I read the poem for the first time I thought that the husband he is reffering to in the beging of the poem is the husband of his beloved cousin with whom he was in some sort of dangerous, immoral engagement. I thought that the husband is one of those barberic people with money, and power, and that she married him to satisfy the social convention. THe speaker, realizing that is getting angry at the "social wants" and "social lies." Implicitly he is expressing his attitude about British imerialism as being harmful for the individual. THe more the world (britain" wants the more it affects the individual human being, "individual withers, and the world is more and more." (142). He wants to escape from this crazzsaines of aqusition to the world of nature, unqunqured by the greedy indivdual. He wants to find the place where "never floats an European flag" somwhere where he can find "summer isles of Eden". But all that is just a dream, because his culture tells him that it is not O'k to marry a "savage woman" and be less civilized than the better, European world. He does not know what to do, pretty soon he will not be able to find the place where he can escape, because "distance beacons" and world is changing "down ", meaning all it is going to be left is in a scoop of want.
2. This example asked students to integrate material from The In Memoriam Web into their readings of Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess" and "Andrea del Sarto."
Question: Go into The In Memoriam Web. Double-click inside the "Victorianism" writing space to expose the other writing spaces inside it. Read the text spaces associated with "Queen Victoria," "Victorianism," "Description of Victorianism," "Reality of Victorianism," "Tennyson and Victorianism." How do you think having a monarch who was a young woman and who married and started having babies very early in her reign, might have affected the depiction of women in English poetry during the 1830s and 40s--for example in a "Locksley Hall" or "Andrea del Sarto" or "My Last Duchess"?
Response: I thought that the Web texts were not very helpful in helping me decide how Victoria herself as a young, married, child-having queen influenced the poems at hand. One might assume that Victoria was viewed as a "strong woman," but the "strong" seems hardly the description of Browning's silent women -- who are talked about by others, but never given their own voices. They are objects: the objects of talk, of art (which is an object itself), and finally the objects of poetry. Perhaps it is the reverse of "Lady of Shalott" and society is peering at the reflection of the young woman while she turns her head away... while the male artists (both Andrea and Browning) define her for the world. Like Victoria, these women are romanticized figureheads.
Response: England having a young female monarch who had children early in her reign greatly affected the depiction of women in English poetry by strongly enforcing their "proper place in life." In both "My Last Duchess" and "Andrea del Sarto" the women played passive, quiet roles. The woman portrayed in "My Last Duchess" was one who had a heart "-too soon made glad, / Too easily impressed." (ll. 22-23). All she did was smile at anything that pleased her, all holding the same value. In "Andrea del Sarto" Lucrezia played the role of being Andrea's inspiration and motivation. She was his model in his paintings. Both these women did nothing independent for themselves. Queen Victoria although a monarch, seemed to enforce this, however unconscious, by marrying young and having children. By doing so, she enforced the sentiments that a woman can never abandon her "duty" toward being a wife and mother even if she strives towards power and independence.
Response: I think that a monarch such as Queen Victoria had a large influence on what was written and how women were portrayed during that time period (1830-40). In "My Last Duchess" it is apparent because of the way that the woman was talked about by her husband. He has no sense of remorse for her looking at her picture on the wall, explaining it to whomever sees it. Her husband refers to her having some sort of other pleasure other than his in lines 13-15: "Sir, twas not/Her husband's presence only, called that spot/Of joy into the Duchess' cheek..." Also when he refers to her heart that is "too soon made glad,/Too easily impressed; she liked whate'er/ She looked on, and her looks wen everywhere." (ln 22-24) He talks about her as if she deserved to die and now his shrine to her is on display. I don't think women at that time were seen as anything but property, as depicted in "My Last Duchess."
3. These responses to questions about Matthew Arnold's "The Function of Criticism" are typical of the fairly formal, self-contained replies of most student postings.
Question: What, according to Arnold, are the characteristics of criticism? What IS the "function of criticism at the present time"?
Response: I think Arnold gives a well-rounded answer to the question, "What IS the function of criticism at the present time?" On p. 430 and the end of the page, Arnold begins the paragraph with: "It is because criticism has so little kept in the pure intellectual sphere, has so little detached itself from practice, has been so directly polemical and controversial, that it has so ill accomplished, in this country, its best spiritual work; which is to keep man from a self-satisfaction which is retarding and vulgarising, to lead him towards perfection, by making his mind dwell upon what is excellent in itself, and the absolute beauty and fitness of things." When I read this, I felt like he answered the question. He addresses for what purposes criticism is intended, and how it should affect the author.
Response: According to Arnold, the characteristics of criticism are two main things. First, criticism must "see the object as in itself [what] it really is." The true essence of the object must first be determined in order for proper (true) criticism to be rendered. Secondly, criticism must "make the best ideas prevail." In other words, here, criticism must serve the purpose of stimulating great thought and make the artist strive for his/her best. To Arnold, the current force behind criticism was monetary. The critics were not aiming to stimulate thought or ideas, rather their concerns were with making money.
Question: What does Arnold mean by "culture"? How do criticism and culture provide a solution to the sense of alienation and lack of purpose described in Arnold's poetry?
Response: I had a hard time finding Arnold's answer to culture. I did, however, find on page 434 something that might shed some light on what he meant: "So immersed are they in practical life, so accustomed to take all their notions from this life and its processes, that they are apt to think that truth and culture themselves can be reached by the processes of this life, and that it is an impertinent singularity to think of reaching them in any other." I think that criticism and culture provide a solution to Arnold's alientation in his poetry by the fact that Arnold believes that criticism is good and that is apparent in his poetry, will all of its solemnity about the world at the present time. I thought it was a bit amusing when he spoke about Wordsworth and how great he was yet to think that he might be a different writer if someone had critiqued his work.
Response: Arnold's meaning of culture is abstract and encompassing. By "culture," Arnold means the study of perfection. By studying culture, societal ills may be noticed and corrected. Viewed in this sense, criticism and culture may fix the sense of alienation by helping those who are in need (such as the poor and the like) within society.
4. This series of responses to a question about J.S. Mill's "On Liberty" shows students referring to, but not fully engaging with, other students' postings.
Question: Mill says that human nature is not a machine but a tree (275). We have seen, in both Carlyle and Tennyson, the association of utilitarianism and laissez-faire economics with machines (esp the steam engine) as a criticism of the increasing mechanization of human life in Victorian society--as a signal of the lack of attention to spiritual, non-material aspects of life. What is Mill up to, rhetorically speaking, in relying on the organic metaphor of the tree? How does this fit into his larger point about Custom?
Response (Judy): Mill argues that preserving individuality is the most important aspect of development. The development relays on the "different opinions" and "different experiences of living." (273). Human being should be like a tree "which requires to grow and develop itself on all sides, according to the tendency of the inward forces which make it a living thing." He relays on this metaphor in order to prove his point that human just like a tree requires different sort of nourishment in order to grow and develop. The tree, in order to grow must undergo various processes of nature, cannot have just one set of ingridients, it needs complex of reactions to be a healthy species. Humans connot be like machines "to be built after the model"because when the human kind lacks variety it undergoes stagnation and is supcetable to death. (variety is a must to produce a better being. MIxing perfections with imperfections--the first can overcome the second and create smth. good, 285). He gives examples of nations that when they ceased to care about the individual,(eccentric individual, good or bad)they became the subject to regress. THe tree metaphor shows that the human kind needs variety of situation and variety of circumstances in order to grow and develop. In that sense the growth of an individual cannot be supressed by anything, just like the growth of a healthy tree cannot relay on just one factor. J.S.Milll talks a lot about the role of customs in the development of an individual. That is related to his believe that humans should relay on the experiences of others, and that sticking to the traditional customs is o'k, as long as an individual is able to make a choice. But there is a danger is asscenting to the customs, he gives 3 reasons for that: first, interpretation may not be right, second, cusoms are customary, and are made for a customary person, what if a person is not a customary?? Then, there is a danger is supressing the real peronality of an individual. THird, danger in ascenting to customs just for sake of doing it because others do it too. (275) If the person looks up to customs without using the reason, there is a danger in loosing this reason, just like there is a danger in loosing the power of muscles if they are not exercised. So the person cannot be deprived from customs because, when they are used within reason , they can be an important nourishment to the human development. Customs are based on different experiences and situations, therefore, they are neccesary just like the different nutrients are necesarry to the development of a tree.
Response (Colleen): Mill is opposed to the "despotism" (284) of custom & his reliance on the organic metaphor of the tree disassociates the individual from the more mechanized aspects of custom and places him/her in an environment more condusive to change. Just as different plants need different conditions to grow properly, Mill notes that each individual requires unique conditions for their "spiritual development" (282). Mill supports eccentricities, spontaneity and variety in individuals as well as in society. Individuality must be developed, not "clipped" or "cut" like trees (278). If uniformity is considered contrary to nature, then the metaphor of the tree serves as a symbol of natural, innate intelligence, something which must be cultivated by the individual and acknowledged and valued by society at large.
Response (Kathy): I think the tree is an act of nature and that no matter how much industry tries to alter the environment, each tree has different NEEDS. this is what a mechanic world is lacking. Give everyone the same thing and they will be satisfied, well not really. Colleen stated that ea.tree needed different conditions to grow as do humans, I agree. ker metaphor of clipping individuality hits it on the nose I think. Another idea could be that each tree may look similar but when looked at carefully they are totally different...
Colleen I think your answer is great---Mill wants to preserve individuality like Judy said in her answer."Indiv. cannot be supressed by anything", good observation I did not see that until
you mentioned it.