I am writing this letter because I believe that galileo’s heliocentric model is correct. And I am asking you to pardon galileo for his scientific writing on the heliocentric model of the solar system. I believe that the geocentric model is not right because the earth is not the center of the universe, but the heliocentric is because the sun is the center of the universe and I know that because I have been collecting shreds of evidence. Those pieces of evidence are the Copernican Revolution, Galileo’s evidence and that the sunspots the moon craters.…
In the poem “When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer”, by Walt Whitman, the speaker “[becomes] tired and sick” of the learned astronomer's “proofs, [and] figures” used to observe the stars. While the others attending the lecture applaud the astronomer for his approach to the stars, the speaker, however, exits the lecture hall to enjoy the stars in his preferred method of going outside in the “perfect silence”. These contrasting scenes expose the dichotomous relationship of the speaker’s and the astronomer's approach to observing the stars. The use of structure, diction, and imagery reveal how the astronomer’s approach of observing the stars is far too mechanical and structured to truly see their beauty.…
found the poem “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer” by Walt Whitman interesting. The poem was straightforward for the most part so I found it easier to read than many of the other poems. First, I found the use of the word gliding in the poem very strange. The speaker was in an astronomy lecture hall and he stood up and left in the middle of the lecture. When I imagine an individual standing up in the middle of a hall, I think of it being disturbing, loud and annoying. The choice of the words rising and gliding made it sound like the writer stood up smoothly and gracefully which I found strange in the context. Also, the line that says “How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick.” I understood unaccountable as in the author wasn’t feeling…
John Muir uses lots of profound connotation and diction to portray his connection with nature. An example of this is in the sentence, “The rarest and most beautiful of the flowering plants I discovered on this first grand excursion was Calypso borealis (the Hider of the North).” He describes his trip as a “grand excursion” even when he earlier called it lonely and difficult. However seeing this single plant after all of his struggles has made up for everything. Another sentence the proves this is, “How long I sat beside Calypso I don't know. Hunger and weariness vanished,” even though he has been there for hours and had previously been hungry and tired, he no longer is, that is how much seeing that one plant affected him.…
“Astronomer’s Wife, by Kay Boyle, is an enlightening story of a woman, Mrs. Katharine Ames, who is very much alone in the world she exists in. Her husband, an astronomer, is a man who is not fulfilling her emotional needs, due to the love and devotion he has for his profession. Due to her state of vulnerability and emotional distress, a plumber who visits the villa of Mrs. Ames and Mr. Ames demonstrates characteristics which cause Mrs. Ames to think of how little her husband is connected to her. She ultimately leads herself to believe men are either of the mind or of the body. “Astronomer’s Wife” demonstrates the distinctions of humans between their physical nature and the need to stimulate their intellectual desires through…
One of Thoreau's most prominent natural learned lessons is his deeply rooted sense of himself and his connection with the natural world. He relates nature, and his experiences within it, to his personal self rather than society as a whole. Many times in the novel, Thoreau urges his readers to break away from their societal expectations and to discover for themselves a path that is not necessarily the one most trodden.…
This impression is carried on later in the poem when the writer describes the setting as…
Walt Whitman entails a man questioning his own existence, only to answer himself with a simple answer. It begins as a list of the negative parts of life. For example, he feels as if he is “forever reproaching [him]self” (3); this means that no matter what happens in his life, the speaker still disapproves, and he can never feel truly content in his actions. When Whitman is spelling out “the struggle ever renew’d” (5) in life, he uses a repetitive device to emphasize the multitude of hardships people face in their lifetimes. At the beginning of each idea, he uses the word “of.” For example, Whitman states “of eyes that vainly crave the light” (4) to state that one negative art of life is that some people desperately crave attention and praise…
In Longfellow’s poem, he grasps the reader’s attention by using repetition through imagery and the title to explain the traveler’s life. Sara Constantkis states, “Longfellow uses repetition to complement the images of the waves on the beach and provide the poem with a traditional and familiar structure, Longfellow also uses…
“I sit and look out…I hear secret…I see in low life…” Whitman, “I Sit and Look Out”…
Whitman used repetition of words and phrases and his word choice portrayed a seemingly optimistic way of life in America. Using words like “singing,” “partying,” and “strong melodious songs” all have a positive air about them, which helps develop the writer’s perspective of America. The numerous occupations named in the poem additionally give a sense of appreciation for the possibilities in America, and gratitude for the ability to work and support a family, and in a sense, accomplish the American dream.…
A second image that portrays this theme is the fourth stanza of the poem. “Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, and learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, do not go gentle into that good night.” Here the image of the sun represents the passing of life. And the men, who were too late in catching the sun and grieved it on its way, are giving us the image that the sun is setting. Or, as it could be interpreted, the sun for that day is dying.…
Walt Whitman Author(s): HENRY NEUMANN Reviewed work(s): Source: The American Scholar, Vol. 2, No. 3 (July 1933), pp. 260-268 Published by: The Phi Beta Kappa Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41203967 . Accessed: 05/02/2013 12:59…
Many of Henry D. Thoreau’s ideas are clearly seen in his piece of writing ‘Where I Lived and What I Lived For’. Through his work, not only do we learn about his experience in the woods at Walden Pond, but also about his values and the way he sees life, which he shares with his readers all throughout the chapter. In my opinion, of the most significant topics this chapter deals with is ‘the beauty of nature’. As said by Thoreau, "The morning wind forever blows, the poem of creation is uninterrupted; but few are the ears that hear it". Different ideas are present in this quote. On the one hand, the author is trying to show us how he feels the morning wind is like a beautiful poem, which gives us a hint of how he feels about nature, for in the simplicity of nature he finds the beauty of life. On the other hand, Thoreau’s intention may be to criticize human materialism and skepticism, since he says that “….few are the ears that hear it”, making reference to the “poem of creation”. What he may intend to transmit to us is that, since we live our lives so busily and always worried about the most trivial things, we forget to enjoy the simple and little beautiful things in life. The following words, in my opinion, reflect this idea in a very concise way: “why should we live with such hurry and waste of life?”. Through his words, and the use of rhetorical questions, he makes us readers think and reflect upon our lifestyles in a very subtle, yet clear way. In another instance of the chapter, the author lets us know the reason why he decided to move to the woods: “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived”. This quote reflects two things; the first of them is the value of life, how important life is, and how the “essential facts of life” can be…
Robert Frost portrayed his love for nature and separation from society in his poem, The Vantage Point. In the octave when the narrator goes back to “mankind” he just looks at the houses and graves. For Frost being part of the world was just observing society from the outskirts. His separation from society may have been a result of continuously being rejected. In the sestet when Frost is in the world of nature he seems to be more connected with it. He sees the details and is involved in them. These descriptions imply not only observation but a relationship (Maxson, 32). Robert Frost was influenced by Henry Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, which explains his high regard for nature (Fagan, 346). Since Frost saw nature as an equal not below him he was able to find comfort in its many gorgeous aspects.…