|
(2018
midterm assignment) Sample Student Midterm Answers 2018 #2b: Short Essay (Term) (Index) |
LITR 4328 |
 |
Alexis Gomez
Favorite Term: Correspondence
Before taking this literature class, I
always thought that Romantic texts or movies were just comedic love stories that
ended with a happily ever after, and this class has allowed me to view this
genre of literature in a completely different light. Under the umbrella of
Romanticism is the term “correspondence.” When this word was first mentioned in
class I was taken back because up until that point the only definition of
correspondence I was aware of was an exchange of papers or ideas. However, in
this literature class, I learned that correspondence is used by some authors as
a way to connect the individual mind of a person and how it interacts with its
surroundings. After reading the description, it was not until I read it in our
texts that I understood the true sense of the word. The two texts that I will
focus on to showcase correspondence are “Nature” by Ralph Waldo Emerson and “The
Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving. Each of these stories use
correspondence to mirror the narrators’ feelings and emotions to their
surroundings.
Reading “Nature” by Ralph Waldo Emerson
put into perspective the epitome of what the word correspondence means. The
first example that is given by Emerson is located in the first chapter, as
one-line states, “The flowers, the animals, the mountains, reflect the wisdom of
my best hour, as much as they had delighted the simplicity of his childhood”
(8). This line is an example of correspondence as outside-in, as the nature that
the person is surrounded by matches their wisdom the person holds internally.
Another example of correspondence that Emerson used is located in paragraph 11,
which states, “every hour and change corresponds to and authorizes a different
state of mind, from breathless noon to grimmest midnight.” In this line, Emerson
suggests that a person’s mind not only interacts with its surroundings, but
changes depending on their surroundings. It could be said that Emerson’s use of
correspondence might suggest that nature plays a big role in the mindset of a
person, insinuating it may be possible that a rainy day can cause someone to
feel sad or depressed.
The next story that contains the use of
correspondence by its author is “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington
Irving. In this story, the author also uses correspondence to show the
character’s inner feelings and how they mirror his outside surroundings. The
first instance that displays the character’s emotions being mirrored by nature
is in the line, “the very witching time of night that Ichabod, heavy hearted and
crest-fallen, pursed his travels homewards” (55).
In the line mentioned, Ichabod, the main character, feels depressed and
thus the “witching night” mirrors his inner feelings. The next line that is
another example of a Ichabod’s mood depends on the details of the nature that
surrounds him as the narrator says, “the night grew darker and darker; the stars
seemed to sink deeper in the sky, and driving the clouds occasionally hid them
from his sight. He never felt so lonely and dismal” (56). All of the examples
shown previously when read in the context of the story give the reader a better
understanding of the feelings of the narrator along with their surroundings,
thus painting a better picture for the reader. As a result, these examples of
correspondence can give the reader a better sense of the atmosphere while
reading the text.
Although the previous two stories I
mentioned focus more on outside-in correspondence, which is when the characters’
inner feelings match their surroundings, there is also another type of
correspondence named inside-out, which states that the characters’ inner
feelings do not match their surroundings. An example of this would be feeling
happy and in love but when going outside the weather is gloomy and stormy; thus,
the inner feelings do not match one’s outer surroundings. This class has taught
me about the true definition of Romanticism and terms that are associated with
it like correspondence.
