American Literature / Unit 6 AML 0504 short lesson, about 20 seconds
The Sublime and the Picturesque
Captions available
The idea
The sublime names a landscape so vast or violent it overwhelms: a cataract, a storm, a mountain. The picturesque names one composed like a painting, irregular and pleasing. Romantic writers use the pair to measure a scene's effect on a mind.
In practice
Overwhelming, or composed like a painting.
Where people slip
The terms describe an effect on the observer.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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