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(2017
midterm assignment) Sample Student Midterm Answers 2017 #3: Web Highlights (Index) |
LITR 4328 |
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Timothy Morrow
11
Oct. 2017
Web Highlights: Learning the Sublime from the Past
Although I am sure I’ve interacted and heard of the word
Sublime throughout my life, it wasn’t
really until I took the course Literature of the Future that I saw it as an
innovative literary tool used in literature. The image of the hurricane on the
“terms and themes” page for the Sublime, provided by Dr. White really gave me
context as to how an observer can view something so large and destructive with
awe, while acknowledging its beauty by its own natural definition. When our Fall
semester was accompanied by hurricane Harvey, I was reminded of how defenseless
mankind is when a natural force that powerful approaches. Since I plan on
writing my Long essay partially on the Sublime,
I decided to use my Model Assignment to research what people have said in the
past over this literary term to better acquaint myself with it. By looking at
Kimberly Hall’s 2016 essay, Adrian Russell’s essay from the same year, and Kat
Henderson’s essay from 2010, I can understand that among other things, one
defining element of the Sublime is fear and the beautiful anxiety of interacting
with that which scares humanity.
One element of the
Sublime is the grand scale of it. Many times in the Romantic and Gothic tales of
the American Renaissance, the protagonist or author is presented with something
bigger than themselves, leaving them in awe and for the most part, fear.
Kimberly Hall quotes a passage from Emerson’s
Nature, demonstrating not only the
conceptual weight of the Sublime, but its effect on the author. She quotes,
‘“Crossing a bare common, in snow puddles, at twilight under a clouded sky,
without having in my thoughts any occurrence of special good fortune, I have
enjoyed a perfect exhilaration. I am glad to the brink of fear.”’ Hall, through
Emerson, is expressing and recognizing the Sublime. For the author, he is
presented with a sight of nature that is so large, so beautiful, that he is
filled with unmeasurable joy. While most people feel joy, unless you are Poe,
there is something haunting and otherworldly in the idea of “perfect
exhilaration.” While one might imagine such happiness would be embraced warmly,
Emerson addresses that he being in this state of feeling, was at “the brink of
fear.” This perfectly shows the effect people get when interacting with the
Sublime. To observe of feel something normally unattainable, like perfect
happiness, can cause a person to bask in fear, afraid of the unknown, perhaps
behind this phenomenon. Kimberly Hall’s essay helps give me one definition or
scope to look for the sublime in literature, and its overall grand effect on the
individual.
Additionally, the Sublime not only omits fear, but from observing
something so marvelous, it can add a sense of terror. Although terror and fear
may be viewed as one and the same, that is not the case. Fear is the anxiety of
something and the unknown possibility of it harming oneself. Terror is the
higher intensity of fear itself, like the next stage of fear, where someone is
beginning to become aware of the gravity of fears and having the realization of
the reality of what may happen. Terror is a byproduct of the Sublime. Kat
Henderson mentions this in her essay while remarking on the Sublime in Edgar
Allan Poe’s Ligeia. Henderson
mentions that once the protagonist sees his lover coming back to life, there is
a moment of the Sublime. Kat writes, “While the speaker feels astonishment that
Rowena is returning to life, this joy is quickly turning dark and terrifying.”
Henderson makes a great point here, that much like Emerson being in a state of
happiness progressively turns to fear, Poe’s protagonist is presented with a
similar situation, where although he was happy to see his lover return from the
grave, he felt a grave feeling of terror about the unexplained nature of her
resurrection. This unknown factor is used in the equation which equation known
as the Sublime. Poe’s protagonist is not only afraid and fearful of the unknown,
but becomes terrified as he gets closer to the realization of what that unknown
could possibly do to him. This element of the Sublime engages the reader, who
observes the protagonists fear, and sees it rise to another level, and that
itself can be seen as Sublime. Kat Henderson’s essay helped me recognize that
sometimes, the element of the Sublime can transcend the page, while interacting
with the reader, making them a willing participant in the narrative through the
use of terror.
Recognizing the Sublime in literature is important, in an English class,
but how is it important and applicable for the real world? From studying the
Sublime, I can demonstrate its relevance in the literary world, but how will I
engage my readers of its importance to the mundane life they live? Not many
people interact with nature so profoundly as Emerson, or watch the dead rise
from the grave like Poe’s protagonist, throughout their daily lives, so where
does this concept go past the books and into reality? My question was answered
when I discovered Adrian Russell’s essay. What Russel does well in his essay is
applies what Henderson speaks about in her essay about the Sublime, and adapts
it to the daily life. He speaks of how people interact with the wonderful
unknown all the time, from the wonders of childbirth, to speaking the words of
infatuation for the first time.
These moments are profoundly important yet produce anxiety to those faced with
it. They must either overcome the fear of the Sublime, or flee from it. Adrian
speaks of this by stating, “For a moment, life is beautiful. The moment owns
us……If we refuse to rise to the challenge of interacting with sublime beauty in
our life, maybe we think we can preserve that moment of perfection before the
potential fall.” Russell claims that in these moments, mankind is introduced to
the Sublime, and must decide how to deal with it.
I can completely agree with Russell
here. This perspective of the Sublime on the daily level is very important to
recognize. This is one view or way to look at the Sublime that can reveal the
connection between the text and real life.
Learning new concepts and adapting them to your repertoire is not
instantaneous. It not only takes time to process, but that process is only
activated when one continues to interact with that literary device till it’s
common sense. The Sublime is an important element to analyze in the American
Romantic period of literature. With the help of my fellow students from the
past, I am able to better identify the Sublime in the works of Edgar Allan Poe
and Ralph Waldo Emerson as well as in my daily life. Between the awe of
discovery of the unknown, to battling between both fear and terror, the Sublime
acts as the in-between, showing the anxiety mankind has towards the
unexplainable.
