Exploring the Text

1. What do you notice first in this painting? Is it pleasing? Why or why not?

   Question

   Exploring the Text: - What do you notice first in this painting? Is it pleasing? Why or why not?
2. What might the painter be suggesting with the overarching tree limb?

   Question

   Exploring the Text: - What might the painter be suggesting with the overarching tree limb?
3. The phrase kindred spirits is taken from “Sonnet to Solitude,” a poem about the healing power of nature by English romantic poet John Keats. It expresses a theme dear to both Cole and Bryant, and may be meant to refer to the two figures in the painting. Might nature be a third kindred spirit? Why or why not?

   Question

   Exploring the Text: - The phrase kindred spirits is taken from “Sonnet to Solitude,” a poem about the healing power of nature by English romantic poet John Keats. It expresses a theme dear to both Cole and Bryant, and may be meant to refer to the two figures in the painting. Might nature be a third kindred spirit? Why or why not?
4. What is Asher B. Durand’s attitude toward the human figures he depicts? What is his attitude toward the scene as a whole?

   Question

   Exploring the Text: - What is Asher B. Durand’s attitude toward the human figures he depicts? What is his attitude toward the scene as a whole?