Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
English Literature
John Dryden, English poet and critics who was is well-known for his political and religious poetry, explicates on the nature of good writing in his essay, "An essay of dramatic poesy." In this discourse, Dryden looks into the qualities that best defines good writing in literature as a literary work created through three important elements: the work must have a purpose, has a well-conveyed message comprehensible to the reader, and is expressed with wit and intelligence in the simplest and easiest language to understand. And ... ought to be punished for his action ... " The strong influence of the good writer's work is readily compared with the uninspiring work of the bad writer, who is characterized as one who " ... affects plainless, to cover his want of imagination ... The highest flight of his fancy is some miserable antithesis ... " It is also important that the message of the poem becomes clear, yet thought-provoking for the reader, and this can be achieved by using what Dryden terms as "easy language." These qualities are reflected in his discussion of the comprehensibility and thought-provoking nature of good literary works written by good writers: "A thing well said will be wit in all languages; and though it may lose something in the translation, yet to him who reads it in the original, 'tis still the same: he has an idea of excellency ... though it cannot be rendered in our language, yet leaves an impression on our souls ... " In sum, the universality of the writer's literary work…
For Dryden, works of literature must be created for a purpose, an honest purpose with strong effectiveness, not a literary works written for the writer's benefit only. This kind of writer, which Dryden identifies as the 'first sort of poetry' -- that is, good poetry -- is synonymous with the writer who is "...so much a well-willer to the
...
Bibliography
Abrams, M. (Ed.). (2000). The Norton anthology of English Literature, Vol. 1. NY W.W. Norton.
Ralph Waldo Emerson's Influence on the Poetry of W. Whitman and E. Dickinson During 19th century American literature, orthodox teachings and values are evident in most literary works, which is an evidence of the strong influence religion has over the American society. It is noted that during this period, a new form of religion is emerging as one of the dominant religious organizations in the West, particularly the Protestant religion. Ralph
Unlike Bowles, who marvels at the sameness of the water, Smith marvels at the change in the greenness of the world around her. But this "season of delight" as she calls it, exists in marked contrast to the melancholy residing in the poet Smith's own breast. Despite the fact that an unnamed (presumably romantic, although this is not stated) sorrow rankles in her breast, the rebirth of the world,
This oil painting is 8 feet tall by 10 feet wide (Fiero 51). Each of these artists glorified in enormous paintings a hero, theatrically presented, that the common man might identify with. The "Corsican Upstart" that was Napoleon, is shown in propagandistic, larger-than-life style by Gros and David, who first met in 1796 in Italy. These two painters influenced each other and became huge successes through their depictions of the
But even as the memory of the terrors that inspired the work have come and gone, the figures in Goya's painting, to a contemporary viewer, come to represent all innocent persons who suffer at the hands of soldiers in wartime. In the face of the haunted, hunted man at the center of the work the viewer of today no longer sees a Spaniard of Goya's time but the face
Letters of Richard Steele to his beloved Mary Scurlock, who would become his wife during the course of these correspondences from August 9 through October 22, 1707, illustrate the transformation of a genuinely romantic relationship from infatuation through marriage. While the style of Steele's letters seems shallow and almost comical at times, the author nevertheless betrays his deep adoration for Mary, an adoration which subsumes his love of anything else
18th Century What makes the 18th century such a vast plethora of diverse opinions, creations and philosophies is the fact that the world was changing in a variety of ways. The Industrial Revolution and rationalism were having profound effects upon previously held religious and esthetic ideals. While some passionately pursued new directions of thought, science and art, others held desperately to old philosophies. Furthermore the different countries of the globe