I started to travel at a very young age. I was only 11 years old when I went on my trip throughout Europe. I have been to Poland, Germany, Paris and Czech Republic. All of those countries are absolutely beautiful and unique in their own way. I still plan on visiting more countries such as Italy and Spain. My love for travels influenced me to create my blog about Robert Frost who has traveled to Europe and throughout United States to seek inspiration for his writings.
I was born in a small town in Poland. I moved here when I was about 13 years old, I haven't visited my mother country since, until last Christmas. Poland during the winter is beautiful even though there is a lot of snow and low temperatues. It was deffinitenly worth the 10 hour flight :)
I went to Paris when I was around 12 years old. It was a wonderful experience! Paris is one of the most beautiful cities one can travel to. I loved the atmosphere, the people and of course the food. I have visited the Eiffel Tower, Cathedral of Notre Dame and Disney Land.
The next country I visited during my trip to Europe was Germany. I vistied the capital, Berlin. It was a full of energy town with many different people. I've only stayed there for a day and walked around the "town center". The builidings were rather old but had a interesting architecture and history. Like this castle, which was built between 11th and 14th century.
The last place I have vistied was the capital of Czech Republic, Prague. It is a rather small city but with a long history and ancient bulidings. My favorite thing about this city was "town gatherings", were the locals would set up small shops and sell homemade accesories such as jewelery or purses, as well as homemade alcohol or honey, and many other cool, different items. It was nice walking around the town center and hear local music and see people dancing. It was very peaceful there, unlike Paris or Germany.
Throughout the course of the semester I have learned many important things. Every lesson was different and always taught me something new. The very first lesson I have found interesting was the lesson about Edgar Alan Poe. We went over his life, his writings and one of my favorite readings, The Cask of Amontillado. During that lesson we also learned about different types of irony such as verbal and dramatic. I never knew there were various types of irony until that lesson. I really liked that we learned about Edgar Alan Poe because I was always intrigued by his writings. During that lesson we also learned about Gothic literature and how he fits that genre. Over all this lesson taught me how to analyze a story and find the meaning behind everything that the writer is including in his text. Every single detail is important for the reader to understand the story as well as formulate a conclusion and an important life lesson.
Another lesson that I found very educational and interesting was the lesson about Romanticism and writers of that particular time period. We learned that Romanticism deals with many aspects such as emotion over reason, appreciation of nature, sense of intellect, spiritual truth, human personalities and moods. Two poets we have learned about were Wordsworth and Keats. We learned about their similarities and differences. Both of them wrote about inspiration of beauty of nature and life as well as finding joy and relief the nature itself can bring. The difference between the two was that Wordsworth wanted to educate the reader, play a role of a teacher, where Keats was the opposite, Keats simply expressed his views. I personally liked Keats better because of his poem, "Ode on a Grecian Urn". It became one of my favorite poems because it simply shows the difference between the "dream world" and the "real world". Thanks to him I learned to appreciate the little things in life, such as blooming flowers or a sun shining on a beautiful day. He taught to simply slow down, look around and admire the beauty of this world.
The last lesson I found really interesting and full of information was the lesson about Greek tragedy and theater. During that lesson we went over characteristics of a tragic hero according to Aristotle. We used an example of Oedipus the King who fit the description perfectly. We also learned about parts of a Greek tragedy writings such as prologue, parados and exodus. I thought it was really cool that we did that web quest, it helped me understand the Greek theater better. Using such method of teaching was entertaining and educational at the same time. I also liked the play Oedipus the King. Thanks to the group works we've done in class it made me understand it better. It was a very unique and interesting story, I've never heard anything like it. I am a big fan of Greek mythology and stories, and this one definitely joined the list of my favorites. We also went over the difference between Aristotle's plot triangle and Freytag's pyramid. We've learned that Aristotle used only three points such as exposition, climax and resolution, where Freytag focused on more elements including rising and falling action. Filling out the pyramid in class really gave me a clear understanding of the story. It is an easy and fast way to summarize the story, I will be definitely using it while reading other stories in the future.
Over all this English 102 class has been very educational and fun to attend. I really liked the idea of using the internet and creating this blog. I think it is a unique way to teach the class and it makes it not as boring as just sitting in a classroom and reading countless books. Throughout this course I came upon many interesting and inspiring writers and poets. Their works were one of a kind and taught many important life lessons. This class has really taught me how to appreciate literature more and reminded me why I used to read a lot when I was younger. Thanks to this class my passion for reading came back and I sure will start to read again.
Robert Lee Frost was born in March 26th, 1874 in San Francisco, California to journalist William Prescott Frost, Jr., and Isabelle Moodie. He moved to Lawrence, Massachusetts after his father death in 1885. Frost was interesting in writing because his father was a writer as well, for the San Francisco Evening Bulletin. He published his first poem in his high school's magazine. During his high school years he went to Dartmouth College and later attended Harvard University in Boston. He never earned a college degree. He tried different occupations such as teacher, cobbler, and editor of the Lawrence Sentinel. No matter what he tried to do with his life, his real passion was writing poetry. His first published poem, "My Butterfly" appeared on November 8th, 1894 in the New York newspaper, The Independent.
Thine emulous fond flowers are dead, too, And the daft sun-assaulter, he That frighted thee so oft, is fled or dead: Save only me (Nor is it sad to thee!) Save only me There is none left to mourn thee in the fields. The gray grass is not dappled with the snow; Its two banks have not shut upon the river; But it is long ago-- It seems forever-- Since first I saw thee glance, With all the dazzling other ones, In airy dalliance, Precipitate in love, Tossed, tangled, whirled and whirled above, Like a limp rose-wreath in a fairy dance. When that was, the soft mist Of my regret hung not on all the land, And I was glad for thee, And glad for me, I wist. Thou didst not know, who tottered, wandering on high, That fate had made thee for the pleasure of the wind, With those great careless wings, Nor yet did I. And there were other things: It seemed God let thee flutter from his gentle clasp: Then fearful he had let thee win Too far beyond him to be gathered in, Snatched thee, o'er eager, with ungentle grasp. Ah! I remember me How once conspiracy was rife Against my life-- The languor of it and the dreaming fond; Surging, the grasses dizzied me of thought, The breeze three odors brought, And a gem-flower waved in a wand! Then when I was distraught And could not speak, Sidelong, full on my cheek, What should that reckless zephyr fling But the wild touch of thy dye-dusty wing! I found that wing broken to-day! For thou are dead, I said, And the strange birds say. I found it with the withered leaves Under the eaves.
Robert Frost married Elinor Miriam White in 1895 who was a major inspiration for his writings. After marriage, the couple tried living a farming life in New Hampshire. Not satisfied with such life, Robert Frost along with his wife and family moved to England. It was there where Frost met and was influenced by such contemporary British poets as Edward Thomas, Rupert Brooke, and Robert Graves. While in England, Frost also established a friendship with the poet Ezra Pound, who helped to promote and publish his work. His wife was major inspiration for his poems until her death in 1938. They had six children together, but only two of them outlived their father.
Robert Frost was given the honor to speak at John F. Kennedy's Inauguration. As inauguration day approached, Frost surprised himself by composing a new poem, "Dedication", which he planned to read as a preface to the poem Kennedy requested. However, on the drive to the Capitol on January 20, 1961, Frost worried that the piece, typed on one of the hotel typewriters the night before, was difficult to read even in good light. When he stood to recite the poem, the wind and the bright reflection of sunlight made reading the poem impossible. He was able, however, to recite "The Gift Outright" from memory.
Robert Frost wrote many poems, about many different aspects of life. He maintained that a poem is "never a put-up job.... It begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a loneliness. It is never a thought to begin with. It is at its best when it is a tantalizing vagueness." This is statement to me is a powerful one and perfectly explains how a poetry should be written. It should be written through emotions one is feeling at a perticular moment not through over thinking one's feelings, simply from the heart and not from the mind...
My Favorite poem by Robert Frost is The Road Not Taken. The poem is about standing at the "cross roads" of life. There are two paths a person can take, the choice is absolutely up to that person. No matter which road one takes, there is no turning back to take that other road. That is why most of the time we ask ourselves the question "what if?"...What if we made different choices about the life we're living, where would we be, where would've we end up, we might never know. Like in the poem, even though both of the roads were equal distance, he picked the one "traveled less". There is no right or wrong path, what matters is what choices we make walking on that path, choices that we should not regret and decission we should not doubt.
