WEEK TWO: Hopes and Fears of the Future

All students should prepare answers to these questions. They are meant to help you focus and structure your reading. You may, of course, find parts of the readings especially interesting, even if they don't form the answer to any of these questions. That would be great. Come to class prepared to discuss what you found interesting and/or confusing about these readings.

1. Adam Mickiewicz, "Books of the Polish Nation" (1832)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Mickiewicz (1798-1855) was born into a family of the lesser gentry ("landholding gentlemen") on the Russian-Lithuanian border. That part of the once great Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth had recently been annexed by the Russian Empire, and Mickiewicz grew up a Russian subject. (Overview of the partitions of Poland) A popular Romantic poet in the Moscow of the 1820s, Mickiewicz went into exile in Paris after the failed Polish uprisings of 1830-1831.
1a. What is the tone of this piece of writing? To what category of writing do you think the "Books of the Polish Nation" belongs? Please identify specific passages in the text that support your answers to the previous questions. (For instance, if you think the tone is "sarcastic," quote one bit that you find to be sarcastic and then explain why you found it sarcastic.)
1b. What role does Mickiewicz give Poland in world history? How might non-Poles feel about this?
1c. According to Mickiewicz, why are there different nations? Have there always been in the past? Will there be different nations in the future?

2. Prince Metternich, "Political Confession of Faith" (1820)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Metternich (1773-1859) was a central figure in European politics and diplomacy from the earliest years of the 1800s until the revolutions of 1848. He held many high government posts in the Austrian/Hapsburg Empire and is usually considered to be one of the architects of the 1815 peace settlement concluded at the Congress of Vienna. The period 1815-1848 in European history is sometimes called "the Age of Metternich."
2a. What is Metternich's attitude to "progress"? How does this relate to any of the readings you did in class last week?
2b. According to Metternich, how is peace and stability going to be maintained in Europe? Who is responsible for maintaining order and "saving society from total ruin"? (How does this perspective differ from Mickiewicz's?)
2c. According to Metternich, what are the greatest threats or dangers Europe faces? To what is he referring when he writes that "the revolutionary spirit... could hide itself under the veil of patriotism"?
2d. Metternich denounces "liberty of the press" and "secret societies"--do you agree with him that these are "scourges" of society? How do they relate to each other?

3. Heinrich von Gagern, "letter to his father" (1818)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: from an aristocratic Hessian family, von Gagern (1799-1880) attended the military academy in Munich (Bavaria), and fought under the Duke of Nassau against Napoleon at Waterloo. He then studied law at the universities of Heidelberg (from which he sent this letter) and Jena. A lawyer and writer, he was actively involved in the revolution of 1848.
3a. Does von Gagern's description of "university years" (his or that of others) seem familiar to you in any way? Why or why not?
3b. Von Gagern and Mickiewicz are both usually considered "nationalists." Do they write about the nation in the same way?

4. Mickiewicz, Metternich, and von Gagern offer three different accounts of the current state of Europe (or, part of it) and the direction in which society is moving. Write the first paragraph only of a paper in which you compare and contrast their attitudes to the present and the future. A well written introductory paragraph includes a clearly stated thesis statement. For guidance on formulating a thesis statement, see the Writing Tutorial Services website. You may also want to see Dr. Spang's paper-writing guidelines.