Does When I heard the learn’d astronomer have a central theme or message? If so, how would you express that message and defend your thinking? Is it as simple as becoming bored with a lecture and leaving for some fresh air? Is the writer suggesting something about the differences between facts and feelings?
Does When I heard the learn’d astronomer have a central theme or message? If so, how would you express that message and defend your thinking? Is it as simple as becoming bored with a lecture and leaving for some fresh air? Is the writer suggesting something about the differences between facts and feelings?
The poem is about a lecture in which the speaker is sitting in on. The speaker must be listening and watching the lecture take place. The educational talk is given by an astronomer. An astronomer is defined as a scientist in the field of astronomy who concentrates their studies on a specific question or field outside of the scope of Earth. The astronomer goes into great detail including mathematics and charts. The speaker is left in disappointment to notice there is no awareness of the stars in this talk. He begins to then grow sick, but as he looks toward the skies he is aware that the stars are present and he admires their breathtaking beauty. The speaker transitions emotions through experience.
ReplyDelete"When I heard the learn'd astronomer" (line 1) this line pertains to what message the speaker took from the lecture. The speaker appeared to be disappointed with the astronomer's knowledgeable information that complimented the simplicity of the stars. The speaker was not all that interested in the knowledge, but rather he was interested in wisdom. Wisdom involves the characteristics of experience and judgment. The speaker was not about sitting there still and learning the facts. They were ready to become a hands on learner as they wanted to become active in the reality of action and experience. Facts are nice every once and awhile, but to really create an impacted experience there needs to be a way to hit the feelings and emotions of the audience.
Lauryn, I like how you gave straightforward answers at first, and then went on to explain them further in your article. Keep up the good work!
DeleteGreat job Lauryn! I really enjoyed reading your blog and I especially loved the last line. It was well said and a definitely agree on your interpretation of the poem.
DeleteI don't really like the straight forward ness of your explanation because it doesn't flow or really explain what you're trying to say. Maybe, I'm just confused. PS I love your photo!
DeleteWhen I read this poem, it feels like a reflection on the importance of creativity and how it appears to be lost. It seems like the author knows how facts are forced iPhoto people in schools, stressing their importance over everything, when in reality, creativity is what truly keeps the world moving and helps people develop into legitimate human beings as opposed to zombies who can spit out nonsense facts. The speaker is upset with how the astronomer perceives stars as simple celestial objects that exist in our universe. He utilizes charts and graphs in order to show basic facts. The astronomer removes every aspect of creativiand exploration that could be brought to the table with this topic, greatly upsetting the reader. The first four lines (the "When" lines) could serve as a depiction of what the astronomer perceives space to be, while the second half of the poem could serve as the speakers interpration. The speaker doesn't see a specified area of standby he has to focus on, he sees the potential for creativity and exploration. The speaker walks out of the lecture and looks up to see the stars his way. The poem provides a beautiful insight into the necessity of creativity and perspectives. One person sees a simple scientific study, while the other sees a beautiful landscape. On top of this, the bond between facts and feelings comes to mind. We often have facts and feelings misconstrued in our modern world. People constantly fight over what is factual and what is not. This poem summarizes what we should do perfectly. If it's harmless and allows us to see the world in a more beautiful fashion, it should be brought to the table. If it's one person lecturing about how something is fact and there is no other way, it should be suppressed. People in today's world are often told what and how to think by politicians, friends, religious groups, protestors, and even parents. It's time people stood together and looked at the world in their own beautiful and unique ways.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Nick. It's almost what I said in mine, or the other way around. You just showed how we see things differently while I just stated that we all see things differently. Either way the topic will be brought to the table as you said. It's just a matter of how.
DeleteNick, you did a good job when you incorporated an interpretation of the difference between the first four and last four lines of the poem. I noticed a similar separation of it myself. Keep it up!
DeleteI respect the way you interpreted this poem. It's much different than the way I interpreted it and I didn't think of it the way you pointed out. Good job!
DeleteYour blogs are always so interesting because you have such a different view of things. Keep up the good work, Nick!
DeleteI have found myself reading this over and over, constantly thinking about what's going on, putting myself into the speakers place. I imagine the astronomer in a science fair like place. I can picture him being at a table with his figures, charts, diagrams, and everything just as everyone else in the room. Tables lined up in rows and columns. Everyone seems to be interested in his work, but the speaker seems not interested. He leaves this science fair like place and walks along, thinking to himself about it until he notices the stars above and just stands and looks at them. Can you see it?
ReplyDeleteWe can take this whole story and turn it into a message. What the message may be for certain, no one may know for sure, but from what I take it is, everything has its beauty and mystery inside of it and not everyone sees it the same. We might one day look at something so wonderful and think it's pretty sweet until we actually see it's true self. This could be what happened to the man and the stars. He may be looking at everything and thinking that the mystery and beauty of the stars is ruined, but the rest of the people find it interesting and amusing and think that it is wonderful to finally figure out how the stars exist, or what they even are exactly. Everyone does this same thing. Not everyone needs to see everything the same way. That would just make this world so boring and unexciting. We always argue and fuss about everything and find a different view about things to make us smarter. The man and the stars is probably standing and looking at the stars thanking and contemplating on whether or not the astronomer is right or wrong. Either way, that's how it is. The message we see is that no matter what, we are always going to have someone who doesn't agree with us. It's just that time that we will need to prepare for to prove we are right.
I like your perspective on who we acquire knowledge from disagreements near the end. I agree with that completely.
DeleteI love that you remind people that to truly understand what was written you have to put yourself in the writers shoes! the end of your blog makes me think about the debate we have coming up this week in class..... so nervous. great blog!
DeleteHonestly, I had to read the poem a couple of times two. I like that you put that line in as your first sentence because I'm sure many people did the same. It made the blog real. Great job!
DeleteThe "When I heard the learn’d astronomer" is a poem centered around the ideas of beauty. The message is that to be astonished by the grandeur of nature, one would be better off to personally experience it, rather than to listen to scientific lectures explaining it. The man who attended the astronomer's lecture probably thought the wiseman was going to show the beauty that there is in stars rather than solely the mathematics associated with them. To the man, the applause and the lecture of the astronomer was not as valuable as the silence and the star's beauty. The writer is hinting at the difference between facts and feelings. Breaking down the grandness of the stars into unattractive facts, and also the people applauding the lecturer for it, made the man uneasy. He was not bored, but rather dismayed. To defend this, one can look at how the poem is structured. The starting 4 lines talk solely of science, which the man did not like, while the ending four lines talk of mysticism and perfection in nature, which he resorted to instead. The way the man feels is similar to how the poets feel in Edgar Allen Poe's "Sonnet-To Science." Poe's poem explains that the magic of imagination can be killed by the facts of science.
ReplyDeleteOnce again, I didnt think about the poem this way and it's interesting to see the different ways people see it. You should try to write a little more to explain your view better. But I still enjoyed your outlook.
DeleteThis was well written, Tim. I liked how you described the importance of the silence compared to the lecture. Nice job!
DeleteWhat is the central theme of "When I heard the Learn'd Astronomer?" I believe it can be many things depending on each persons outlook on life and how they perceive and process the information given to us in the poem. Some say beauty, some say it's the idea of someone going outside during a lecture for fresh air, and others say it is the loss of creativity. These are not wrong answers to any of it because the poem allows the reader to have all these perceptions and thoughts on the theme because really there is no set theme. However, when I read this I didn't feel free to think of all these different themes and ideas I felt trapped. I feel that the feeling of being trapped shows the way some ways of teaching can lead to the class being boring or even hated because it is only taught through one thing, the textbook. The words give of a feeling of being closed off like a locked door and now you are unable to leave. Like we are trapped in the confinement of Earth and cannot explore more beyond the stars and galaxies. Is this what a college lecture feels like? I know we are able to skip classes on our own and the teachers don't care, however what happens if we do show up? Is our creativity lost? Is there a strange beauty to the class? Lastly is there a feeling of having to leave for fresh air? Since we are all only juniors and seniors we do not know for certain of how a college lecture is. Someday we will know and maybe our perception will change of this poem when we look back again and possibly reread it. We can only know in due time, meanwhile let us not rush for college or adulthood because then we miss all the fun later on.
ReplyDeleteI really like the personal connections you drew from the poem. You gave a really good insight into growing up and creativity. Well done.
DeleteI always tell myself not to rush for college for the same reason you just wrote about! I also agree with nick about your personal connections to the poem. I am not very creative so it was interesting reading someone's blog who is!
DeleteI'm glad you pointed out that we may all see this differently, but related it it personally to your own life. I feel as though you grasped the theme very well, as you wouldn't be able to make the connections you made if you didn't.
DeleteI agree with Nichole on the creative part! I'm not creative AT ALL and your blog compared to my blog is much more creative! I enjoyed reading yours! Good work!
DeleteThe blog this week was a great precursor to my debate topic. The poem When I heard the learn’d astronomer's central theme could be interpreted as someone who was exposed to a new topic or experience way out of their comfort zone which this person could not handle, and as a result they fled back into their safe comfort zone. Like the people in Frankenstein's world, this person could have been living in a time of low technology or exploration. Not many people could accept something as technologically advanced as a human forming another human out of other human parts. The person in the poem seemed to be experiencing the same doubt the people had toward the monster. At the beginning of class, the astronomer began his lesson with "proofs, figures, charts and diagrams" organized in front of him. This leads me to believe he had plenty of information to support his lesson and was fairly confident on what he was about to teach. Victor had plenty of notebooks and calculations to explain how he created the monster, yet he knew most people would still refuse to believe the monster was possible. There were people in the astronomer's class that applauded him for his lesson, just as the philosophers Victor spoke to respected his work. The people in the class and the philosophers must have been previously exposed to something the regular person must not have seen. The main character in the poem must not have had that breakthrough moment and therefore couldn't comprehend what the astronomer was teaching. He was out of his comfort zone, just as the family in the cabin were when they saw the monster for the first time. They chased the monster out to make their lives go back to normal. They, just as the person in the poem, didn't take the time to listen or try to understand. The person who was 'bored with the lecture and went outside for fresh air" did the same thing as the people in the cabin, he escaped from what made him uncomfortable. Maybe we all "go outside for fresh air" when we are outside of our comfort zone. This situation also reminds me of my science and ethics topic of head transplants. Imagine seeing someone walk down the street and their head clearly doesn't look like it belongs with their body. You see the huge scar around their neck and maybe they aren't walking perfectly as a regular human body does. Would you treat this person as the people treated the monster? The writer of this poem must know that when the facts get to straight on something no one wants to admit is possible, our feelings freak out. The astonomwr and Victor clearly had enough evidence to support their topics, but there is always that group of people who cannot except something no matter how much you try to convince them
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your connection of the blog to your debate topic, it gave a greater understanding of your voice to your opinion. Good blog
DeleteBobbi, I liked the way you approached the topic by using "comfort zones" and then also transitioning into Frankenstein.
DeleteTo begin, I would like to give my input about the story. This poem is simply talking about facts and when you are learning to the facts, you might not like what you hear. What happens when you dig deeper into the text? Have you ever felt like the truth has betrayed you? When I analyzed this short story more closely, truth was the only thing I could think of. To describe what I mean by, "have you ever felt like the truth has betrayed you?", I would like to use a real world example. In my theology class, I have recently learned about the five stages of grief and I can easily relate all five stages to this weeks blog. The first stage is denial. When someone hears a fact that they don’t necessarily like or believe they choose to ignore that they ever even heard that specific fact. For example, when Galileo proved that the sun was the center and not the earth everyone chose to ignore his theories until a later time when they finally stopped denying the FACTS. "look'd up in perfect silence at the stars". They came to peace with what was true. The second step is anger. After someone discovers something and is finally done denying it, they may become angry. For example, when people break up the one who was dumped becomes angry after they have realized that they have just been dumped. This same example can be used for the third step, bargaining. Bargaining is not something that you want to get involve in. don’t change yourself to make other people happy. Don’t make a deal with the devil to later be heartbroken. The fourth step is depression. When the truth comes out it is very hard to be okay with it. Sometimes it is a truth that is helpful to someone but they might not always see it that way. When someone passes away you give your condolences to the family member but you don’t tell them that it will be okay because to them it wont be. They just suffered a loss of someone and it would seems as the whole world is falling down around them. The truth send them into a hiding place and they never want to come back out. "how soon unaccountable I became tired and sick". They are as low and they can get. The fifth and final step is acceptance. The grief is finally over. The truth has finally been accepted in 'perfect silence". In conclusion, the theme of this short story is the journey to accept the truth.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed how you started off your blog by giving your input. That was a good addition! Good work Nichole!
DeleteAfter a few attempts of reading and trying understand this poem, I had a breakthrough. I could feel myself agreeing with the author. I think he's central idea was that leaning is sparked not from graphs, and charts, and mathematical equations. Learning is found in nature, in the world itself, in the beauty of earth. Everything we know is from those who decide to step out of the box and u cover the mysteries still unknown to us. There is beauty in the unknown, much like our faith. If you really think about it, there is so much we don't know about God and His unlimited knowledge, yet I think that's what makes Him so attractive. Many times I've found more peace in what I don't know than what I do. From what the author is describing, he feels the same way. Towards the end of his poem, we notice he's standing in the middle of the wilderness looking up at the stars. He noticed the beauty and mystery locked in their secretiveness. One would think the astronomer would understand that the graphs, charts, and equations only offer a limited amount of knowledge, while seeking to find the unknown uncovers more knowledge than intended. While this makes sense, it's actually not as easy as it may seem. Sometimes we get so caught up in preforming correctly that going outside to discover what we don't know doesn't seem like an option or a possibility. In reality, this is actually crucial to understanding what we already know and enables us to unveil the mysteries before us.
ReplyDeleteI too had to read the poem over many times until I had a breakthrough. I really enjoyed your relation to the beauty in the unknown just like our faith! Thsres so much we don't know, just like what the essence of the blog gave. Good blog this week!
DeleteAbby, I loved your thought of "learning is found in nature". The beauty of learning is true. I also loved the way you wrapped God's knowledge as being so powerful.
DeleteI honestly love this poem! When I read this, I found a message that stuck out to me. The way I read this poem and the overall theme of this poem is something I can relate to at times. The theme that I interpreted is work. For example, when one who is not educated in a certain subject, such as singing or music, they see the beauty, peace, and perfection of it. This individual is like the narrator in the story. On the flip side, when the individual who is educated in their subject, such as music, they pick the subject to apart and somewhat become entrapped into their work. I know that I have done this many times with singing. I get caught up in the technical side of my art and try to achieve perfection, but I start to forget the beauty of my art.
ReplyDeleteThere is a huge difference between someone who is educated in a subject and one who is not. Once the individual who was not educated in the topic starts to learn more about the the subject, the beauty starts to turn into work. This poem can relate to pretty much he anything in life, such as school. The narrator loved the stars, but once he started to be lectured about space, it lost its beauty and became work. The narrator wanted to take a step back and look at why he was doing what he was doing, so he looked "in perfect silence at the starts."
This is exactly what we all need to do when we become stressed about school or even our after school activities. Yes, hard work can be boring and stressful at time, but we have to take a step back and be reminded about our passions and or goals.
I read this poem over and over again trying to comprehend the authors thoughts when I realized finally what I believe he was thinking. The author was getting bored with just learning facts and he felt it wasn't enough for him, so he went out to see it on his own. It's like me sitting in environmental science in school, I can sit and be taught about the importance of the environment and what's going on that is destroying it, but I can never fully grasp and understand it all until I experience it myself. I can learn about how much pollution is hurting the environment and the ozone layer but unless I see for myself, I won't know all of it and I'll only know what I'm taught. In the poem the author gets tired of being taught facts and needs to see it for himself and that can relate to, almost any school subject. Math for example, we get taught how to solve equations, add, subtract, many different things, but we never realize how it'll apply to the real world until we go out and figure that out ourselves. The writer is suggesting a difference between facts and feelings because the facts are boring to him but he feels as though the facts aren't enough and he needs to feel the beauty of the stars himself.
ReplyDeleteI read this poem about ten times and I found myself thinking about different aspects of each part of the poem every time I read it, some I did not catch the last time or did not grab my attention the third time. "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer" has a focused central message to its readers. With that, it also shares the voice of a common student and what she experiences through times of lecture and the presentation of information is something that shortly becomes a nuisance to the mind. Sometimes it is hard to discover the drive to stay with something for a long period of time, so in result, the "wandering off by myself" is quite relevant when applied directly and indirectly. Whether it's the lecturer or the student, each individual, not regarding background, has a moment of thought process where she takes something from it, or she is left dumbfounded and resorts to wander. How simple it is for us to do the same as she.
ReplyDelete"How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick" portrays the quickness of change in something as informational as the lecture. The feeling she had with the spoken quirks displays feeling over fact and her mood to it all. For this next proposition is heavy opinion based, but whether there is a difference between facts and feelings, we find ourselves believing (facts) something because our feelings are telling us that's what it is. We believe what we want, and feel what we feel, but we have to draw the line between the two because if refrained, the result will soon become a mixture of uncertainty in future lives. Our greatest intuition of the mind is our intuition of knowledge of creativity and imagination.
First, he heard the facts. Then, he was filled with a feeling of confusion, or sickness, over what he had heard, left, and contemplated these words on his own. We do the same thing in school each day: learn, gather emotions about the information, leave, and then go home or to practice each day either subconscious or consciously thinking about what we had learned. In the end, the man was pleased, and he was this way because he understood. He was sickened after learning because of his previous ignorance. I believe this poem, then, has an about message about education. When we try to just memorize the facts, rather than try to fully understand a problem, that's when we begin to fail. Wee J talks about this all the time. We are all so obsessed with getting the right answer, getting that 100%, but the author of this poem implies that ultimately we can never be pleased without trying to understanding. We can never get our best possible score on the SAT, we can never remember enough to help our kids one day, because if you listen to something with the only intention of remembering before the next test, that is exactly what will happen. I'm unsure about how I myself would get this message across because it is a concept I am just beginning to grasp. Personally, my obsession with just getting the right answer has left me having to relearn many topics, over and over again, such as the sides of a right triangle. It is something that continues to cause me grief each day because I just tried to memorize it one day in 7th grade. It may be as simple as leaving a lecture, but it wasn't that simple for me to figure out. It has taken almost the whole year of Wee J lectures and more than a few failing grades for me to realize. I don't see where the writer is suggesting differences between facts and our feelings, as much as he is relating them.
ReplyDeleteI also find myself having to read this over and over to better understand it. I think that "When I heard the learn’d astronomer" i think that it is mainly focused on the ideas of nature. I think that what he is trying to say is you have to understand nature not in a scientific way, but in a mystical way. I also feel that the writer can feel nature when he is in some type of experience with it. When he has to listen to people lecturing about him it makes him literally "sick and tired." As he is sitting there listen to the astronomer going on and on about the stars he realizes that he isn't actually talking about the stars. What he is really talking about is the numbers, graphs and charts that have nothing to do with the stars at all. Suddenly he gets sticks and has to exit his lecture, when he goes outside to get some air he notices that he is all alone, and that there really is such a thing as beautiful stars and that there are no possible words to capture what he was seeing.
ReplyDeleteI think that we sometimes get out facts and feelings mixed up. A fact is defined as a thing that is indisputably the case. A feeling as defined as an emotional state or reaction. I believe that during this lecture that the astronomer was giving the speaker just became very bored, he wanted to be able to see and feel what he was actually talking about, but he couldn't do that will all the facts that were just being given out you really need some feeling in a speech once and a while just to keep everyone interested sometimes