April 25th Class Recap (Ben)

Just a couple of notes about the outline...
1.) It's now due Wednesday intsead of Monday.
2.) "Intro" and "Conclusion" are not valid headings for the introduction and conclusion sections of your outline because all outline components must be complete sentences that will eventually be tranferred to your rough draft.
3.) No two quotes can be placed in a row and all quotes must have anchors.

Thats enough about the outline, though, because the majority of our discussion was about Bryant's To A Waterfowl. One main idea of the poem was the idea that there was something guiding the waterfowl (duck). Bryant called this guide "a Power" in stanza four. It's interesting that Bryant chose "a Power" to describe what tought the waterfowl its way because it is open to so much interpretation. Was this "Power" god? Was it nature? Was it natural instinct? I don't think that Bryant would have thought it to be God because he was a Deist and Deists believe that God created the universe then stepped out, but then again, I don't think that even Bryant himself would've even had an opinion as to what "a Power" represented.
It is also interesting that he chose "a Power" because it is so broad yet so narrow at the same time. Bryant leaves the it up to the reader to determine what the Power is yet he specifically makes the arguement (that some might disagree with) that there is something larger than ourselves guiding this duck.
Bryant or the "universal narrator" of this poem also mention's that the duck's leader will lead him as well (He who from zone to zone, guides...will lead my steps aright.) It is also interesting that Bryant picked something so boring and ordinary like a duck to be the subject of his poem rather than something majestic like an eagle. I think by doing this he's recognizing that almost everything in nature is beautiful.