essay explication
Francesca Sciamanna
English 473: American Literature Since 1914
Dr. Leone S. Hankey
Midterm
1 May 2014 20th Century American Literature as a Representation of the Natural World
Perhaps because America began as pioneers in the wilderness, its literature has a strong tradition of “nature writing”- works grounded in ideals pertaining to the natural world. As witnessed through the work of Native American writers, the Transcendentalists, and in this case, the Modernists nature writers of the 20th century, it is clear that the natural environment and ecology have played a very significant role in the development of literary tradition. Two examples of this movement can be seen in the various works of poet Robert Frost and author Willa Cather’s, My Antonia.
Nature figures prominently in Frost’s poetry, and his poems usually include a moment of interaction or encounter between a human speaker and a natural subject or phenomenon. These encounters culminate in profound realizations or revelations, which have significant consequences for the speakers. Actively engaging with nature –whether through manual labor or exploration- has a variety of results, including self-knowledge, deeper understanding of the human condition, and increased insight into the metaphysical world. Frost’s earlier work focuses on the act of discovery and demonstrates how being engaged with nature leads to growth and knowledge. Mid-career, however, Frost used encounters in nature to comment on the human condition. In his later works, experiencing nature provided access to the universal, the supernatural, and the divine, even as the poems themselves became increasingly focused on again and mortality.
Throughout Frost’s work, speakers learn about themselves by exploring nature, but nature always stays indifferent to the human world. In other words, people learn from nature because nature allows people to gain knowledge about themselves and because nature requires people to reach for new insights,
English 473: American Literature Since 1914
Dr. Leone S. Hankey
Midterm
1 May 2014 20th Century American Literature as a Representation of the Natural World
Perhaps because America began as pioneers in the wilderness, its literature has a strong tradition of “nature writing”- works grounded in ideals pertaining to the natural world. As witnessed through the work of Native American writers, the Transcendentalists, and in this case, the Modernists nature writers of the 20th century, it is clear that the natural environment and ecology have played a very significant role in the development of literary tradition. Two examples of this movement can be seen in the various works of poet Robert Frost and author Willa Cather’s, My Antonia.
Nature figures prominently in Frost’s poetry, and his poems usually include a moment of interaction or encounter between a human speaker and a natural subject or phenomenon. These encounters culminate in profound realizations or revelations, which have significant consequences for the speakers. Actively engaging with nature –whether through manual labor or exploration- has a variety of results, including self-knowledge, deeper understanding of the human condition, and increased insight into the metaphysical world. Frost’s earlier work focuses on the act of discovery and demonstrates how being engaged with nature leads to growth and knowledge. Mid-career, however, Frost used encounters in nature to comment on the human condition. In his later works, experiencing nature provided access to the universal, the supernatural, and the divine, even as the poems themselves became increasingly focused on again and mortality.
Throughout Frost’s work, speakers learn about themselves by exploring nature, but nature always stays indifferent to the human world. In other words, people learn from nature because nature allows people to gain knowledge about themselves and because nature requires people to reach for new insights,