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(2017
midterm assignment) Sample Student Midterm Answers 2017 #2b: Short Essay (Favorite Term) |
LITR 4328 |
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Jessica Zepeda
The Gothic
Coming from British Romanticism my biggest grasp was
that of the nature aspect of romanticism, and how that, in turn, connects to the
sublime. All the happy thoughts and highs of nature
–
the sublime. But now having been exposed to the
American Renaissance era of romanticism I have learned so much more about the
gothic side of romanticism.
My original view of the gothic within romanticism was
that it was sad, dark, and dealt with some type of longing or loss. However, I
understand that the gothic is so much more than that. The gothic is the deep
contemplation of thought into the darkest parts of your soul; it is the
reflection of things avoided and unpleasantly thought of such as death, cruelty,
and loss. My understanding now of the gothic is that it is the contemplation and
revelation of the darker emotions of oneself
–
such as sorrow, loss, and longing.
Emily Dickinson's poem
I felt a funeral in my brain contemplates a great deal on the gothic side of
emotional revelation. The last stanza of Emily Dickinson’s poem that reads “And
then a Plank in Reason broke [5.1], And I dropped down, and down [5.2]
–
And hit a World, at every plunge, [5.3] And Finished
knowing
–
then
–” [5.4]. In this excerpt of the poem,
Dickinson is explaining the process of gothic contemplation. The first line of
the stanza “then the Plank in Reason broke,” here Dickinson is describing the
emotional weight of emotion breaking her as a person. It is my understanding
that Emily Dickinson is the plank she speaks of, and that she, in her right
mind, is located in the reasoning aspect of thought and mind. However, her
weight of emotion is so great that reason can no longer hold her, and so she
breaks. Once she is no longer in the mind space of reason, Dickinson is,
therefore “dropped down, and down.” I believe that the dropping down of
Dickinson within her own mind is the falling into the gothic emotion of the
mind. Here Dickinson will explore the dark parts of emotion, and see if she can
reach a revelation of understanding in the same way it is gained through the
sublime.
The next two lines of Emily Dickinson’s poem speaks of
hitting a world at every plunge. Here I believe Dickinson is describing the
different worlds of emotion within the gothic of the mind that are not explored
normally within emotion. When she speaks of every plunge she is also letting us
know that she keeps diving deeper within this emotion, she wants to get to the
bottom, to understand, to reach that revelation moment so often found in the
sublime. The finale in the last line of her stanza, Dickinson writes “finished
knowing’ as if she herself believed she had reached the pinnacle of
understanding of this emotion of the gothic, but “
–
then
– “
Dickinson realizes that there is still more to
follow.
Emily Dickinson at the end of her poem
I felt a funeral in my brain writes
“then” in between dashes. My impression on reading this is to interpret that
“then” to have an emphasis but also a pull. I believe that the deeps of the
gothic were still calling out for Dickinson to explore further into the gothic
of her emotion, and the solitude of the then between two dashes really
emphasizes that calling out and mystery of more.
