Perhaps Edgar Allen Poe’s most famous poem, the “Raven” is a macabre exploration of a man, his memories of Lenore, and the black bird that interrupts his studies on a dark December night, with tap-tap-tapping at his chamber door. (Summary by Hugh) [chương_files]
“I do not wish to treat friendships daintily but with roughest courage. When they are real, they are not glass beads or frost-work but the solidest thing we know….” is how Ralph Waldo Emerson saw the ties of friendship in one of his essays titled Friendship, more than a hundred years ago. This and other interesting essays are included in Essays First Series by Ralph Waldo Emerson, the distinguished American philosopher and writer. Apart from writing, he was also a very gifted and popular public speaker who toured the length and breadth of the country sharing his ideas with the larger public. A distinguishing feature of Emerson’s work in both lectures and writings was that he initially focused on religious and spiritual matters like many of his contemporaries, but in time, he moved away from such a narrow range and deepened and broadened the nature of his ideas. His friends included Thoreau, Oliver Wendell Holmes and through his works, he extended his influence to many thinkers, including those as widely different as Nietzsche and William James (who was also his godson.) His ideas were considered quite innovative and radical for the time. He was a staunch believer in individual freedom and equality of the races. As a strong supporter of abolitionism, he believed that slavery was a prime example of human injustice. Known as the “Concord Sage” Emerson’s thoughts influenced the politics and thinking of the age. His essays were almost all written for the lecture format initially and their […]
Effi Briest is a classic of Prussian Realism, relatively unknown in the English speaking world, but widely taught in German schools. This tragic tale tells the story of Effi, a young woman from an old and respectable family who, due to a sense of duty, marries Geert von Instetten, a much older Prussian official. The tragedy unfolds as a consequence of Instetten’s strict following of his duties in society in response to his wife’s indiscretions. Thomas Mann once wrote that if one’s library had to be reduced to six books, Effi Briest should be one of them. (Summary by Margaret ) [chương_files]
A satirical essay written by one of the most renowned satirists, Jonathan Swift, A Modest Proposal expresses the author’s exasperation with the ill treatment of impoverished Irish citizens as a result of English exploitation and social inertia. Furthermore, Swift ventilates the severity of Ireland’s political incompetence, the tyrannical English policies, the callous attitudes of the wealthy, and the destitution faced by the Irish people. Focusing on numerous aspects of society including government exploitation, reckless greed, hypocrisy, apathy, and prejudice, the essay successfully exemplifies Swift’s satirical skills. The essay opens with Swift’s recognition of the squalor and poverty in which the Irish people live, as they are reduced to beggary, forced to panhandle for food on the streets. He also addresses the issue of overpopulation, and the problems that arise due to large families with multiple mouths to feed. Concluding that the beggar children are a burden to society, Swift seeks to find a solution to the concerning issue. As a result, he suggests that children should contribute to the welfare of the nation, and be transformed into productive members of society. Coming up with what he believes to be the best possible solution for all parties, he proposes that parents should fatten their infants, and once they have passed the undemanding one-year period of infancy, they should be sold for the purpose of feeding the wealthy. Swift goes on to support his proposal, as he argues that infants before the age of one are quite economical, as they only require […]
At the age of nine, Elias Lossell becomes deaf and blind from an accident. Communication with him becomes difficult, and mentally, he never really grows up. Years later, circumstances make him the richest man in town as the heir of the wealthy firm of tea merchants, while his two younger twin half-brothers Hendrik and Hubert are left to do the actual work of management on his behalf. This causes a lot of resentment, especially with half-brother Hendrik, who loves money, and is also hampered by a headstrong, spendthrift wife. Hendrik tries to gain control of the firm and buy out Elias by any means, but things get out of hand. The novel is full of satirical comments and asides directed at the reader. It is set in the fictitious Dutch town of Koopstad (“Buying City”), where money, commercial success and social status are very important. It gives a satirical view of contemporary life at the end of the 19th century. The novel was a bestseller at the time of its appearance in 1892, though it is now all but forgotten. Maarten Maartens (1858-1915) was a Dutch writer who wrote all his principal literary work in English. (Summary by Anna Simon) [chương_files]
Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, given November 19, 1863 on the battlefield near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, USA Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation: conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war. . .testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated. . . can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that this nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate. . .we cannot consecrate. . . we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us. . .that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion. . . that we here […]
LibriVox’s Short Poetry Collection 023: a collection of 20 public-domain poems. [chương_files]
The Articles of Confederation: On November 15th, 1777 The Articles of Confederation became the first constitution of the United States, though not yet ratified by the thirteen original colonies. Ratification of the Articles took place almost three and a half years later on March 1st, 1781. The purpose of the articles was to create a confederation of sovereign states with a weak central government; thus allowing state governments to wield most of the power. It wasn’t long before the need for a stronger federal government was realized which led to the Articles being replaced by the United States Constitution. The Articles of Confederation is the common term for The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union. The U.S. Constitution: The United States Constitution is the legal backbone of the United States of America and comprises the basic laws of the United States Federal Government. Delegates from twelve of the thirteen original colonies put the Constitution’s frame work together in May 1787 in Philadelphia. The Constitution defines the three branches of government and their jurisdictions; they are the Executive Branch (President/Vice President), Legislative Branch (Congress comprised of the Senate & House of Representatives), and the Judicial Branch (the Supreme Court). The need for three branches of government was to create a separation of powers so that not one person or group has full responsibilities, but that they’re spread out and each branch must refer to the other by a means of checks and balances. The Declaration of Independence: The Declaration of Independence […]
LibriVox’s Long Poems Collection 004: a collection of 8 public-domain poems longer than 5 minutes in length. [chương_files]
Blind Love, also published under the titles Iris and The Lord Harry is Wilkie Collins’ last novel, completed after his death by Walter Besant. The blind love in the title refers to the love of Iris, a woman of virtue, for the morally corrupt Henry Norland. She loves him despite all his faults, but she also does not realize the full extent of them. As in many of Wilkie Collins’ novels, this book also tackles difficult social problems. In this case, the Irish Question and women’s rights bring another layer to the narrative. – Summary by Carolin. [chương_files]
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