DOROTHY WORDSWORTH QUESTIONS

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From Alfoxden and Grasmere Journals

1.  William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge seemed to have been conversant with Dorothy’s journals as well as with her verbal observations.  Does this fact alter your view of their poetry or of romantic ideas about original composition?  Explain.

2.  Compare one of Dorothy’s descriptions with a corresponding one in the poetry of Wordsworth or Coleridge.  One example would be page 393, where Dorothy mentions the old man Wordsworth will call “the Leech Gatherer.”  Describe some similarities in the way Dorothy describes nature and the way William does in your example.  Are there differences as well?  Explain.

3.  Follow closely one of Dorothy’s passages in terms of style and structure—what does she notice and therefore make us notice first, middle, and last?  How “finished” are the journal entries in terms of style and grammar?

4.  What kind of life does Dorothy apparently lead?  What does she say about her brother William?  How does she deal with his marriage to Mary Hutchinson?

Edition: Abrams, M. H. et al, eds.  The Norton Anthology of English Literature.  8th ed.  Vol. D.  New York: Norton, 2006.  ISBN Package 2 (Vols. DEF) 0-393-92834-9.