Friday, March 20, 2009

Blake's Poetry

1) I agree with the editors of the textbook that Blake's poetry had the power to enact social change by appealing to the imagination of the reader. As readers, we tend to look at the physical aspects of child labor. When you think about it people feelbad for the children because of the harsh labor conditions. The children are extremely tired and their health is begins to fail. They work long hours in unsanitary environments and are often very hungry. People tend to feel bad because of the physical affects of child labor. These thoughts appeal to the emotion but Blake takes it a step further when he makes the reader think about the Physiological aspect of child labor. He wants the reader to put him/herself in the childrens shoes. He has the readers to think beyond having compassion for the children but what if they had to have compassioin for themselves becuase thay are one of the children. Could you imagine being a child forced to perform hard unfair labor and knowing that your parents are behind it all? Could you imagine constantly feeling hungry, tired , and sick for hours every day for years so that your parents could get a tiny sum of money? The people that pray for you, your parents, are the same ones that sold you into the life of hard labor. This is Blake's way of making the tex more personal. This is how Blake's peotry had the power to enact social change. He not only struct emotion but he gives the reader a sense of imagination.

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