LIT-2300 Intro to Literature - Exam 3 - Themes

Dr. Hodgin

The longing for inner peace and spiritual renewal through nature.

The Lake Isle of Innisfree

Loyalty and obedience can lead to tragic consequences when authority is misguided.

Sir Patrick Spence

Human life is fragile and the world remains indifferent to individual suffering.

Out, Out—

Love expressed through sacrifice and duty is often unrecognized until later.

Those Winter Sundays

The destructive consequences of jealousy, pride, and the desire to control others.

My Last Duchess

The complicated blend of affection and fear within family relationships.

My Papa’s Waltz

Creative work feels deeply personal and flawed, revealing the vulnerability of artists.

The Author to Her Book

Industrial progress is both powerful and beautiful, symbolizing the strength of modernity.

To a Locomotive in Winter

Technology’s presence in the natural world is awe-inspiring and transformative.

I like to see it lap the Miles

Hope, perseverance, and living in the present sustain us through adversity.

Speech to the Young, Speech to the Progress-Toward

Intense emotions can overwhelm logic, revealing the absurdity of exaggerated hatred.

Hate Poem

Social inequality allows the privileged to enjoy leisure while the vulnerable labor.

The Golf Links

Innocence is exploited by society, yet children cling to hope and faith

The Chimney Sweeper

True love is profound, spiritual, and enduring beyond death.

How Do I Love Thee?

Spiritual transformation requires surrender and divine intervention.

Batter my heart, three-person’d God

Life’s later seasons involve harvesting what is imperfect, mixed, and marked by decline.

Aftermath

Work done with devotion becomes an act of love that nourishes both body and spirit.

Bread

Time erases the signs of war, and humanity forgets its own violent history.

Grass

Oppression, corruption, and suffering are rooted in society’s institutions and human behavior

London

Aging, poverty, and memory shape a quiet but meaningful life.

The Bean Eaters

Nostalgia reveals both beauty and sorrow in remembering what is lost forever.

Tears, Idle Tears

Human life requires embracing earthly duties despite yearning for spiritual purity.

Love Calls Us to the Things of This World

Abortion leaves lasting emotional scars of guilt, love, and grief.

The Mother

Returning to one’s roots can bring healing, identity, and emotional restoration.

The House That Built Me

Power without autonomy can be both fulfilling and dangerous.

My Life had stood—A Loaded Gun

The death of a beloved leader transforms triumph into grief.

O Captain! My Captain!

Life’s success should be guided by integrity, kindness, and humility.

Humble and Kind

Beauty, sound, and memory echo endlessly, creating emotional resonance across time.

The Splendor Falls on Castle Walls

True forgiveness and renewal are found not in high places but through Christlike sacrifice.

Redemption

Our life choices define us, even when their meaning is shaped by later reflection.

The Road Not Taken