Reflections, thoughts, comments, questions that we didn't get to in class? Offer them up here.
Or, consider the following:
What does Leapor's poem add to your understanding of the later eighteenth century?
Or, reflect further on the challenges presented by later C18 literature. I gather from the attendance questions that a lot of people were initially baffled by this poem. As we discussed the poem in the class, what were the key points that opened it up for you and made it more accessible?
Deadline: Wednesday (2/1), 1pm.
3 comments:
As we read poems like "Epistle" and "Elegy," I am struck by how different our modern reading experience is versus what the reader expected to experience in the 18th century. We mentioned how Leapor included lines 63-72 in order to allow herself to talk about herself in the remainder of the poem, because an 18th century audience wouldn't be very interested in hearing her personal stories, whereas that may be the part that most modern readers find most interesting. I myself liked the latter half of the poem best, because, at least for me, its easier to understand her individual experience versus her allegorical examples in the beginning.
While I find the differences interesting, I'm not sure how or if it adds anything to my understanding of 18th century literature. I know we've talked about literature from this time saying exactly what it means to say, and in reading poetry like "Epistle" we must learn to adjust our reading strategies. One way of doing this may be learning to distance the author from their written material, and not look for an intrinsic meaning to the poem, which may be difficult to do at first, but seems like a key aspect of understanding the literature.
I was definitely one who was baffled when I first read the poem. I knew that she was talking about her writing but I couldn’t exactly grasp her point
or that she was talking about fame for the majority of the poem. What helped clarify the subject of the poem was when we discussed the personification of fame in the beginning of the poem. Also, when I initially read the poem I wasn’t clear on why she was talking to all those people in the second half of the poem. However, going through each one of them individually in class really helped me understand that she was looking for constructive criticism on her work.
I also found it interesting that she had to mention Artemisia in order for it to be okay for her to talk about herself for the rest of the poem. As mentioned in class, it wasn’t custom to talk about yourself or your own experiences in your work, which is very different from today. It’s fascinating to see that 18th century writers had to include what seem to be unnecessary lines in their work in order to make it acceptable to talk about themselves. I wonder why that was the case. Did the 18th century audience have no interest in who the writer behind the poem was or was it just thought of as haughty on the writers part to talk about themselves. Either way, I’m glad that is not the case today, because I too enjoyed the second part of her poem where she did talk about herself. I found her asking her acquaintances what they thought about her work more relatable than when she was mentioning a heroes struggle with fame.
Like many of the other students, I was oblivious to what this poem was about. I knew who Artemisia was from reading the intro/summary at the beginning, so going into the poem I already assumed that she was a key figure. The biggest problem I had was trying to figure out who these other people were that Mira was talking to, why she was talking to them, and what it was that they were trying to say.
Breaking everything down in class was a huge help because I know that I would have never come to that conclusion on my own. I thought that it was very interesting that Mira was looking for criticism and advice in order to make her writing better and get to that level of fame. Codrus, "A simple Tutor and saucy Friend" finally gives her what she has been asking for all along, "In shocking Rhimes a Nymph's Perfections tells, / Like the harsh Ting-Tong of some Village-Bells. / Then a rude Quarrel sings thro' either Ear, / And Mira's Levee once again is clear" (lines 139-142). Mira's hope for finding someone to critique her work follows through and she begins to feel as if she is worthy of fame but at the end around line 167 the reader sees that Mira is still questioning whether or not her writing is acceptable. I actually really enjoyed this poem once we discussed it in class and translated its meaning.
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