How are the concepts of the journey expressed through the context, values and structure of the texts chosen for the 'Area of Study'?

Essay by smoking_alcoHigh School, 11th gradeA-, August 2004

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Journeys enatil numerous concepts, from which the notions of a physical journey may

also be superimposed with the journey of intellectual discovery, self awareness,

and global understanding (which are the basic concepts of the imaginative journey).

In Coleridge's 'This Lime-Tree Bower, My Prison' the imaginative journey is used as a

stimulus for the reponder's transportation of time and place thoughout the poem

until a human experience of spiritual awakening is reached and a link has been created

to the physical realm. Coleridge, through 'Kubla Khan' also manages to portray a non-

picturesque metaphysical message concerning the power of an artistic mind with the

use of the unifying force of the imagination. This can also be seen in Margeret Atwood's

poem 'Journeying to the Interior,' where the dark interior of mental breakdown has

become the focus, and the imaginary journey is used to unify the persona's attributes

in the physical realm and her other attributes beyond the physical.

'The Wind in the

Willows' (extract) from Kenneth Grahames novel, potrays several imaginative journey

concepts, from which the focal point of the extract is emphasied on the journey itself

rather than the destination; taking the responder to a world of imagination, speculation

and inspiration through the use of his characters; Toad, Mole and Rat. The notion of a

journey of self awareness is also prominant throughout the lyrics of Buffy the Vampire

Slayer's 'Walk Through the Fire' from which the 'fire' is used as a metaphorical

motivation for the persona's awareness of self.

Concepts of the imaginative journey can be evidently identified in Coleride's 'Lime-Tree

Bower, My Prison.' The contrast of "that branchless ash, unsunn'd and damp" to

"With lively joy the joys we cannot share" is the result of the persona's journey to a

different time and place,