Andy's Class Summary

Today’s class began with a phrase of the day, “titular focal point.” Dr. Foss told us that we would be starting a new titular focal point, society and the political economy. Next class our primary focal point –in our titular focal point unit– would be Anna More, more Anna More, and RRRRobert Burns! At the end of the French Revolution/ Rights of Man section intro there was writing of unrest in Ireland and England coming from the French Revolution. This unrest in Europe would be the focal point for the day. As we were in the process of being told that we would be looking at Robert Burns in large group, Dr. Foss stopped to tell us about his daughter’s two-hour delay. The delay had forced him to bring his daughter to the (inferior) BVL class wearing—what Sarah agreed—was a “very cute” strawberry flowery hat made by her grand mother. Getting back on track, we were reminded that we would be discussing Robert Burns in large group, as well as discussing the three Napoleon poems by three of the big six poets. Finally we would come back in large group to talk about Owenson to deal with the reverberations of the French Revolution.

Dr. Foss gave us background information about Burns as a means to segue into discussing his two poems. As we learned, Burns was a poet who embodied the project William Wordsworth set forth for himself in the preface of “Lyrical Ballads” despite being dead before it was written. At the time he was writing there was a considerable amount of interest in native genius and poets coming from the worker class. Burns recognizes this interest and was able to monopolize the peoples’ interests, as he became one of the most successful and famous poets of his time. To better understand Burns one must recognize his strong Scottish loyalties. Some believed he led a movement in Dumfries of disaffected Scots. His sympathies became a source of tension, as there was a growing fear of unrest and trouble in Scotland and Ireland. As very proud independent countries England believed that there would be armed struggles. Lastly, before diving into the poems we were told to keep in mind that Burns was highly interested French Revolution and was writing to a wealthy patron.

We talked briefly about Braveheart and how at the Battle of Bannockburn although the Scottish were outnumbered 3:1 they still managed victory. Dr. Foss asked someone in the class to read in a Groundskeeper Willy Scottish accent, but no one rose to the task. Dr. Foss dramatically read this poem. Dr. Foss also read us “Such a Parcel of Rogues in a Nation” stopping to explain the boundary line between England and Scotland, pointing out that it was the source of lots of conflict. In these poems Burns brings up a central nationalist ideal that they are not like us. Scotland stands for liberty and freedom, while England at the time (14th century) was associated with tyranny. The French Revolution having grown out of similar sentiments raised concern. After these points were made we transitioned back to the French Revolution and the three poems we were to look at in small group.

The French Revolution was spinning out of control when these poems were written and as a result there is a different response to Napoleon in each poem. We were told to think about the subtle and not so subtle differences between the poems, and think about what Napoleon represented for the future of monarchy in Europe and England.

Looking first at Byron’s poem someone in our group felt that the end of the poem seemed almost bitchy. It was likened to a Southern Belle saying, “Bless your heart.” Though not overtly mean she sensed that it was patronizing. Looking at stanza 13 we thought Byron attacks Napoleon’s character. We saw a distinction between marshal and domestic conquest. We thought Shelley’s poem elicited more dislike for Napoleon than the other two poems. However, we recognized Shelley’s unsure sentiments for the future. Even though Napoleon was gone from France didn’t mean that this was the end of things. There would be an attempt to move back to royal power just as it occurred with Cromwell in England. Looking at the opening word of Shelley’s poem, “I hated thee” we can see detest for Napoleon, however when put in the larger context of the poem we can sense Shelley’s lesser sentiments for the past and future regimes. Moving to Wordsworth’s poem we were posed with the question of “what if?” Wordsworth’s poem made us think of Napoleon in the movie Night at the Museum 2 and we briefly discussed our enjoyment for the film. Refocusing our attention to the poem we saw that Napoleon’s downfall (like any other militaristic leader) was inevitable. While Napoleon spent too much time on the battlefield we can’t help but wonder what he would’ve been like if he had been less militaristic. Maybe Napoleon would be an even more revered figure.

Returning back to large group, time was not on our side. We looked at “Guinness Time” and then jumped back into small group to discuss “Eighteen Hundred and Eleven.” My group decided that we didn’t like this poem as much as the others and we wouldn’t take the time to analyze its titular focal points, class then ended and we left satisfied with our work for the day.

Word Count: 908