Summative Entry – Nineteenth Century Literature
Reflective writing allows writers to assess their growth- or room for growth- within their pieces of writing. By documenting and reflecting on your writing, you assess you struggles and successes as a writer, your past and future goals. In saying this, it is fair to state that a reflection is a type of creative piece as it achieves the same purpose as literature. From my perspective, the purpose of literature is to explore the writer’s world in the hope that this encourage others to explore theirs. As such, I have chosen the summative entry as my best creative writing piece as I wish people to see how Romantic philosophy can have a profound effect on our lives if we choose to embrace it.
Question: Do the interests, concerns and experiences of writers in the 19th century still have relevance to human needs in the 21st century?
In year 12, I was fortunate enough to study We are Seven by William Wordsworth, which I very much recommend. Upon reading the poem, I was immediately immersed into the ideals of the Romantics, who valued nature, imagination and freedom. These values were ones which I was able to associate myself with, which needless to say, enhanced my experience of reading the poem. Yet at the time, I did not know that this great piece of literature was part of a bigger movement and as such, was given only a glimpse of Romanticism and everything it stood for. Nonetheless, this study set the foundation of my interest in Romantic literature, an interest of which is still strong as evident by this post and my decision to study Nineteenth Century Literature at university. Due to this decision, I am now able to study in depth Romantic philosophy and how this contrasted with the philosophy of the Enlightenment period. In saying this, I firmly believe that today’s society has somewhat moved towards the ideals of the Enlightenment period as nature and imagination has lost its value among members of our society. In doing so, many people end up having a negative outlook on life as for them; life is just a dull and monotonous affair. As such, the interests, concerns and experiences of Romantic writers still have relevance in our society as they teach us to enjoy life, a feeling of which I believe is necessary for human flourishing.
In today’s society, we often use science to a fault. Using our knowledge in science and our thirst for knowledge, we try to explain everything that happens in life. In no way, shape or form am I trying to undermine the value of science, in reality, I am very much appreciative of the power of science to advance civilisation. Despite this, must science really know everything that happens in the world, or correct every scientific detail, big or small, in movies or books, or just the arts in general. In doing so, society loses sight of the beauty of things as they are too busy trying to analyse it. Why not, like the Romantics, just enjoy the moment and appreciate its value in the world. If one were to engage life in this manner, day to day life would no longer a dull and monotonous affair as there is something to look forward to each day. As such, the concerns and interests of nineteenth century writers are of great importance in today’s society as they teach us to appreciate everything in the hope that we may have a fulfilling and joyful life.
In summation, the interests, concerns and experiences of 19th century writers are still relevant in the 21st century as they teach us to see the beauty of life every single day. This is of great importance as a fundamental human need is a sense of identity. By seeing the beauty of life, a “spontaneous overflow of feelings occur within us,” thus deepening our appreciation for life and our sense of belonging as each waking moment reminds us that we are part of something special.
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Jesse Ocsan 