Nature, Romanticism, and Doubt
Brief Quiz on “I Wandered
Lonely…” and “Dover Beach”
1. In “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud,” the sight that
inspires the speaker to write the poem is…
A.
B.
C.
D.
Wild swans on a lake
A snow-covered forest near his home
A field of daffodils
A mountain during a rainstorm
2. In “Dover Beach,” the speaker is looking out over a
rough, storm-tossed ocean and worrying about a boat
that he can see struggling toward the shore.
A. True
B. False
Romanticism in "I Wandered Lonely
as a Cloud" p. 653
In this view…
• Nature is sublime. (Awe-inspiring.)
• Nature is a source of inspiration and comfort.
(Wordsworth wrote in his preface to Lyrical
Ballads that his definition of poetry was "the
spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it
takes its origin from emotion recollected in
tranquility.")
• What else can you say about Wordsworth's view
of nature after reading this poem?
Faith and Doubt in "Dover Beach" on
p. 677
In this poem…
• The sea is a metaphor for faith. What do
you think this tells us about Arnold’s
attitude towards faith/religion?
• Do you think that this poem is ultimately
pessimistic? Why or why not?
• Why does Arnold allude to Sophocles in
lines 15-20?
• What else can we say about Arnold's use
of nature?
"Greasy Lake" p. 396
• How would you describe this author's use of
nature? Point to specific places that support
your ideas.
• How would you compare this author's use of
nature to the others we have looked at during
our unit on nature? What did you think of
these differences?
• Does the narrator's view of nature stay
consistent throughout the story, or does it
shift?
“Greasy Lake” Group Work
• Get into groups and find (at least)
three uses of natural imagery that are
startling or surprising. Tell me why
they are unusual. You might also
want to bring in comparisons to other
literature about nature we’ve read this
week.
In-Class Writing #5
• We have encountered several
different attitudes toward nature in
the literature we have read these past
few classes. What is your personal
attitude towards nature? Which of
the works we have read most closely
matches your philosophy/experience?