Integrating Your Knowledge

Find a quiet hour or two in which simply to think about what you have learned this semester. You may wish to have your book at hand and some note paper for jotting down ideas. A good way to integrate your knowledge is to review literary traits and relate them to works you have read. For your convenience, both Neoclassical and Romantic traits are briefly summarized below.

Traits of poetry of the Neoclassical Era:

Abundant allusion to classical literature

Satire and comedy aimed at correction

Didactic and expository poetry

Heroic verse

Respect for reason and a rational control of the passions

Distrust of fantasy and enthusiasm

Emphasis upon social standards and the status quo

Poets representative of middle and upper class society

Disesteem for medieval civilization

Traits of poetry from the Romantic Era:

Emphasis upon the individual, especially the gifted individual

Support of revolution and social reform

Revolt against the confinement of heroic verse and traditional poetic diction

Respect for ordinary people and the disadvantaged

Poets defined as geniuses alienated from respectable society

Veneration for and worship of nature

A sense that civilization, especially as expressed by city life, corrupts and depraves

Emphasis upon intuition, imagination, spontaneity, and impulse

Fascination with medieval culture

Preoccupation with death

Attraction to the visionary and the occult