English 175 Lectures

module 14; drama

Overall, I think a literature class is more difficult to take online than in a traditional setting. I'm sure many of you agree. Perhaps the most difficult area to cover online is drama. On campus, we play out short dramas and discuss the dramatic elements and how the director, actors, set, etc. affect our interpretation of the drama. Online we lose that interactive element that is vital to drama. I have chosen the play "The Cuban Swimmer" this week because I think it is fairly dramatic and the stage directions are good...in other words, it is easy to see the play in your mind. We tend to think of drama as a modern phenomenon, but the truth is that drama has been around as long as people have been around. Our earliest ancestors used drama to teach about things like hunting. We tend to look back to Greek theater as the official beginning, however. A tragedy or comedy in 5th century BC Athens was a completely different experience from a play in the United States in the 21st century. For example, Greek plays were performed in an outdoor theater, used masks, and were almost always performed by a chorus and three actors (no matter how many characters in the play). Actors were always men. The chorus provided a link between the actors and the audience. They set the mood of the play, representing the audience, and sometimes warned characters or took sides. This was all part of the performance. Greek plays were performed as part of religious festivals in honor of the god Dionysus, and unless later revived, were performed only once. They were funded by the wealthy. Greek theaters were outdoor amphitheaters which seated thousands of spectators. The passion play began in the Middle Ages and originally showcased Christ's passion or crucifixion. It was performed from about the 13th century onward. As the "plots" developed, the staging of the plays grew and they could no longer be performed in the choir area of the church. They expanded out into the nave, but were still confined to the church, and always religious.Eventually, drama moved out of the church and this brought many changes. The focus grew to include all of religious history, from creation to judgment. When the plays moved outdoors, who controlled them also changed. Trade or craft guilds -- important in many ways to social and economic life in the Middle Ages-- took over sponsoring the plays, making them more secular. Plays were now donein English, performed in the open and separated from the church though still religious in subject matter. Such early plays are known as miracle or mystery plays.While the miracle plays were still going strong, another medieval dramatic form emerged in the 14th century and became popular in the 15th-16th centuries; this is a form which is more directly related to Elizabethan drama. The morality play, did not deal with a biblical stories. Instead, they were about virtues and vices who struggle for man's soul. Simply put, morality plays dealt with man's search for salvation.Later, themes shifted from salvation to education, and from religion to politics. Greek and Roman theater influenced both English comedy and English tragedy. Early English characters show traditional vices and virtues found in early theater. The Humanist interest in Latin and Greek classics helped produce a new kind of English tragedy as well. There were no tragedies among the miracle or morality plays; in fact, there was nothing that could be called tragedy in English drama before the classical influence began. As drama became more popular, professional traveling groups developed; other professional actors were attached to wealthy noblemen who funded productions. All of this led to what many tend to think of as the "first" drama, plays by Marlowe, Johnson, and of course, Shakespeare. We will spend some time exploring Shakespeare's drama next week This week we read "The Cuban Swimmer." Unless you speak Spanish, this play may have been frustrating to read at times. However, the bi-lingual element to the play can help us understand how frustrating and difficult it can be to understand a situation when we don't understand what's being said. Add to that the mystical realism element of the play—it's definitely not black and white as far as what happens—and I can see how that would cause confusion and even frustration. My on-campus class performed this play last semester, and I must say that seeing the play live makes it much easier to understand. Seeing the situation, the expressions, and the motions played out definitely helps with comprehension. There are a few attempts at this play on YouTube, and while they are mostly done by high school students, I think they can give you a sense of what this play might look like on stage. I encourage you to sample videos there. Let's take a few minutes to talk about the various aspects of performance. For example, do you think a director make or break a play? The short answer might be yes, but we might also argue that a good play is a good play regardless of who is in charge of the direction. What other elements might affect our enjoyment of a play? What other outside influences? Of course, dramas are written to be played not read. Having said that, what did you think of the play for this week? Did you enjoy it? Why or why not? What would be some of the difficulties in staging this production? What were the main themes that you took from this play? And, of course, we must ask the question: was Margarita really alive at the end of this play? Why or why not? As an undergraduate, I had the amazing opportunity to take two winter courses on the road... in London. One of those courses was theater, and our class met regularly at theaters to watch various productions. I have seen many good plays...and a few terrible ones. Most of the time, the plays that were well written were also executed very well, with a few exceptions. I am always amazed at how much the venue--the actual theater itself--as well as other minor elements like costumes, affect my enjoyment of a production. I remember seeing Jeremy Irons in The Rover and Maggie Smith in Lettuce and Lovage, but some of my clearest memories are of the theaters, especially The Old Vic and The Globe in Stratford Upon Avon. You can see from the pictures why I argue that drama is an experience rather than just a reading assignment.

module 15; drama

People's reactions to Shakespeare tend to be extreme...love or hate, and not much in between. And there's no denying that reading Shakespeare's plays on the page can be very difficult. I am sorry to say that, as an undergraduate, I had a painful semester of Shakespeare. We read mostly tragedies (Shakespeare's works fall into two categories--comedies and tragedies), and by the end of the semester, I was deeply miserable. A full semester of hubris (the tragic flaw in Shakespeare's main characters), combined with a professor that droned on and on without ever offering any live opportunities (no watching or reading aloud or acting out) made me and most of my classmates pretty miserable. I tell you this because I understand that reading this play might be pretty low on your bucket list. That's why I encourage you to find a version to watch and be sure to get that perspective. Even though I have asked you to find a film version of the play, I encourage you to read the whole play as well. It's a wonderful play, and certainly worth the time if you have it. Others, I know, struggle with the language and interpreting stage directions. To you folks, I say, watch the movie/play first. If you have the opportunity to watch first, you will be better able to understand the language AND the stage directions when you read. But be warned: the film and written version are never the same, so be sure to do both. As I mentioned, I spent a whole semester in college studying Shakespeare's plays, and to be honest, I don't think we got through more than 4 or 5. Obviously, we can't really "cover" Shakespeare in a week. My hope here is just to give you a sample, an idea, of what seeing a Shakespeare play might be like. The version of "Othello" with Lawrence Fishburne is available in segments on YouTube. And I have to say, I think they do a pretty good job with it. You will notice that they do a "flashback" in the movie to show us about the relationship between Othello and Desdimona, rather than telling. This, as well as many other subtle techniques, helps make Shakespeare more accessible than just reading him on the page. Think about how the movie version and the written version of the play are different. Why would a director make those changes from the text, particularly considering a modern audience? Do you think the changes are good? Why or why not? What is the message of "Othello"? Hubris is usually the downfall of the tragic hero. Did Othello have hubris? And what did you think of Iago? What happens to him at the end of the play? Is that justice? Why or why not? I understand you may be basing your assessment on different versions, so check out what other students have seen and said to help you make your comparisons. As we finish up the semester this week, I just want to thank you for your hard work this semester. I know that this course can be difficult, and I appreciate the time and effort you have put in. I hope you have come away with at least one author or style of writing or topic that you would like to follow up on after this class.

Module 4; point of view, style, tone, and language

The place or location of a story is called its setting. Setting affects our perceptions not just of the place itself, but also our perception of the characters as they interact in that place. A setting can be real (for example, Phoenix, AZ in the story we read this week) or imagined, historical or fictional. Note that different types of fiction utilize different types of settings. For example, historical fiction draws on real life and our prior knowledge of history and place, while fantasy relies on our ability to dismiss what we know to be true; in fantasy, we discover a new "place" as we read the story. Consider the following as you look closely at setting in each of the stories. Setting is place: where does the story happen? Setting is time: when does the story happen? Consider the year, but also the time of day, the season. Setting is also the social situation in the story. Now, think about the traditional associations we make when we think about a particular setting. For example, what associations do you make with midnight? With mid-winter? With springtime? Let's test our understanding of setting by looking at "The Story of an Hour." We must first consider the historical setting in this story; a woman's situation in the South during the era the story was written would have had restrictions placed upon her by society. In addition, consider what's happening outside while Mrs. Mallard is looking out the window. It's no coincidence that when she realizes she is "free, body and soul free" she is looking outside at the beautiful springtime. Think about the traditional associations we have with springtime—rebirth, new beginnings... Re-read that scene and you might be surprised at how you look at it differently. Now, we will consider this week's stories. Let's start with Sherman Alexie's short story, "This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, AZ." Alexie is somewhat of a "local." He was born and raised on a reservation in the Spokane area. This short story was published in his first book of short stories and was later made into a movie called Smoke Signals. You can find excerpts from the movie on YouTube. If you are interested in learning more about Alexie, do a quick search for the video "10 Questions for Sherman Alexie." Obviously, the setting of the reservation in this short story is vital to our understanding of the message and the characters. The setting helps us understand the lifestyle of the characters and even their relationships with each other. The city of Phoenix is also an important part of the setting. What role does it play? How would the story be different if the characters only remembered or talked about the trip to Phoenix? Be sure to check out Sherman Alexie's personal history. He is what many people consider a "local boy" and some of his pieces describe places that might sound familiar to you. I highly recommend the interview on YouTube titled "10 Questions for Sherman Alexie." As you read "I Stand Here Ironing," be very conscious of setting and the clues that the narrator gives us about the state of the economy at the time. The historical setting of this story is very important, as I will discuss in just a moment. First, let's take a look at Tillie Olsen, the writer of "I Stand Here Ironing." She lived from 1912 to 2007. She has a very interesting history that I will share with you briefly, as it can help us understand why she chose the setting she did and why it is so important. Olsen was the child of Jewish Russian immigrants who were never formally married. Her father escaped from a Czarist prison and fled to the US. The settled in Nebraska. He failed at farming, then became the state secretary of the Nebraska Socialist Party. This socialist upbringing affected her perceptions and attitudes throughout her life, and these beliefs show up throughout her writings. Olsen had her first child at the age of 19 and the baby's father did not stay and help support the child. The burden of being a single mother was familiar to Olsen. She tried leaving her daughter with her mother while pursuing her writing, but returned for her daughter shortly after. Some say that the mother in "I Stand Here Ironing" is based on Olsen's own mother, though we can see many elements from her own life that surface in the story. In any case, Olsen saw herself as working class. She identified with the common laborer, the working class, and that shows up over and over in her writing. Historical context [read quote]... Just a quick note about the WPA [read info]... "Mrs. Dutta Writes a Letter" uses two settings to show us the cultural differences Mrs. Dutta is facing. We can see how these feelings, these conflicts might be difficult for anyone trying to assimilate into a new culture. Here, though, the vivid descriptions of Mrs. Dutta's life in both India and in the United States really help us SEE the differences between the two places. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is an Indian-American writer who explores her heritage in her writing. She has written several similar pieces, as well as works set in India. It is interesting to note that Divakaruni has a sister called Mitali Dutta. Continue to think about the setting in each of the stories we read this week, and be sure to spend some time discussing setting in café.

module 3; setting

The place or location of a story is called its setting. Setting affects our perceptions not just of the place itself, but also our perception of the characters as they interact in that place. A setting can be real (for example, Phoenix, AZ in the story we read this week) or imagined, historical or fictional. Note that different types of fiction utilize different types of settings. For example, historical fiction draws on real life and our prior knowledge of history and place, while fantasy relies on our ability to dismiss what we know to be true; in fantasy, we discover a new "place" as we read the story. Consider the following as you look closely at setting in each of the stories. Setting is place: where does the story happen? Setting is time: when does the story happen? Consider the year, but also the time of day, the season. Setting is also the social situation in the story. Now, think about the traditional associations we make when we think about a particular setting. For example, what associations do you make with midnight? With mid-winter? With springtime? Let's test our understanding of setting by looking at "The Story of an Hour." We must first consider the historical setting in this story; a woman's situation in the South during the era the story was written would have had restrictions placed upon her by society. In addition, consider what's happening outside while Mrs. Mallard is looking out the window. It's no coincidence that when she realizes she is "free, body and soul free" she is looking outside at the beautiful springtime. Think about the traditional associations we have with springtime—rebirth, new beginnings... Re-read that scene and you might be surprised at how you look at it differently. Now, we will consider this week's stories. Let's start with Sherman Alexie's short story, "This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, AZ." Alexie is somewhat of a "local." He was born and raised on a reservation in the Spokane area. This short story was published in his first book of short stories and was later made into a movie called Smoke Signals. You can find excerpts from the movie on YouTube. If you are interested in learning more about Alexie, do a quick search for the video "10 Questions for Sherman Alexie." Obviously, the setting of the reservation in this short story is vital to our understanding of the message and the characters. The setting helps us understand the lifestyle of the characters and even their relationships with each other. The city of Phoenix is also an important part of the setting. What role does it play? How would the story be different if the characters only remembered or talked about the trip to Phoenix? Be sure to check out Sherman Alexie's personal history. He is what many people consider a "local boy" and some of his pieces describe places that might sound familiar to you. I highly recommend the interview on YouTube titled "10 Questions for Sherman Alexie." As you read "I Stand Here Ironing," be very conscious of setting and the clues that the narrator gives us about the state of the economy at the time. The historical setting of this story is very important, as I will discuss in just a moment. First, let's take a look at Tillie Olsen, the writer of "I Stand Here Ironing." She lived from 1912 to 2007. She has a very interesting history that I will share with you briefly, as it can help us understand why she chose the setting she did and why it is so important. Olsen was the child of Jewish Russian immigrants who were never formally married. Her father escaped from a Czarist prison and fled to the US. The settled in Nebraska. He failed at farming, then became the state secretary of the Nebraska Socialist Party. This socialist upbringing affected her perceptions and attitudes throughout her life, and these beliefs show up throughout her writings. Olsen had her first child at the age of 19 and the baby's father did not stay and help support the child. The burden of being a single mother was familiar to Olsen. She tried leaving her daughter with her mother while pursuing her writing, but returned for her daughter shortly after. Some say that the mother in "I Stand Here Ironing" is based on Olsen's own mother, though we can see many elements from her own life that surface in the story. In any case, Olsen saw herself as working class. She identified with the common laborer, the working class, and that shows up over and over in her writing. Historical context [read quote]... Just a quick note about the WPA [read info]... "Mrs. Dutta Writes a Letter" uses two settings to show us the cultural differences Mrs. Dutta is facing. We can see how these feelings, these conflicts might be difficult for anyone trying to assimilate into a new culture. Here, though, the vivid descriptions of Mrs. Dutta's life in both India and in the United States really help us SEE the differences between the two places. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is an Indian-American writer who explores her heritage in her writing. She has written several similar pieces, as well as works set in India. It is interesting to note that Divakaruni has a sister called Mitali Dutta. Continue to think about the setting in each of the stories we read this week, and be sure to spend some time discussing setting in café.

Module 2, Part 1; plot & character

The plot is the structure or the organization of a story. Typical plots contain the following: exposition, complication, crisis (climax), falling action and resolution. What this means in simple terms is that the story begins with some pre-existing situation, and a brief explanation which starts the story. (Sometimes there is no explanation.) Next comes some complication, a problem or problems that the characters have to deal with. The climax or crisis of the story is the highest point of tension. What follows is a "follow up" with less excitement, and some kind of resolution (solving the problem, happily ever after, or...). Some stories have no resolution. While this explanation of structure is helpful when reading some stories, many (most?) don't follow this plan exactly. In fact, you will find some of the above elements in most stories you read, but you will find all of them in few. Plot is what makes a story a story. Hemmingway wrote a short story with only six words: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn." He is said to have called it his best work. What makes this a short story? There is meaning in the questions, the uncertainties, the pain that lies beneath what is said. Why were they never worn? What happened to the baby? In only six words, Hemmingway has created a short story with a plot. Here is another example. Compare: The king died. TO The king died, and then the queen died of grief. The first has no plot, the second does. The second brings up many questions, many possibilities, interest, excitement, while the first is just a statement of fact. I've provided you with a few other examples of "very short stories" mostly for entertainment, but also to demonstrate the simple fact that plot can be, well, simple. Understanding the various elements of plot can help us in a few ways. First, if we are having trouble understanding a story, it may be helpful to go back through and map the plot. If the story does not follow time order (as in the short story "A Rose for Emily,"), mapping the plot can help with comprehension. In addition, identifying the climax in the story might help us, in turn, to reveal the theme or message of the story. Let's consider the plots of the stories we read for this week. In the short story, "The Story of an Hour," where is the climax? Is it when Mr. Mallard comes through the door? Is it when Mrs. Mallard dies? Or is it when Mrs. Mallard is sitting in her room looking out of her window and realizes that she is free? The truth is that an argument can be made for all three. We will discuss this topic in café—which is the climax? And why? As a side note, I hope that you won't be too hard on Mrs. Mallard. I know that it is awful for her to be happy that her husband dies, but we also have to consider the story in context. Try taking the fieldtrip on Chopin, and think about how women in the South lived during her lifetime. A woman of her strong religious convictions did not just get a divorce... What were Mrs. Mallard's options? Does it say in the story that she didn't love her husband?... Also, be sure to talk about why she died in the end. The doctor said it was the "joy that kills." Why is this important? Is it ironic? Consider the organization of "A Rose for Emily." It does not follow linear time, and that can be confusing. That is, of course, part of Faulkner's strategy. The mystery that he creates by jumping around in time brings out the detective in us. We want to piece the story together. In addition, it makes us all the more horrified when we get to the ending of the story. If the story followed linear time, we would know about Homer's death half way through the story... How can you analyze the plot? Does it follow the pattern presented earlier in this lecture? If not, why not? How would our reading of this story change if it had followed linear time? The Swing" is often frustrating to students because it ends in a very open-ended way. What happened? What are we supposed to think? These are questions that you can discuss in the café. As you talk about them, consider where the climax of the story is. Is there a resolution? If so, where? Gavell was not published until after her death, and you won't find a lot of information on her. Still, her story is an interesting one, and the circumstances of her writing and her death are fascinating. I encourage you to try this fieldtrip. If you like this story, you might check out the collection, called I Cannot Tell a Lie, Exactly. "Two Kinds" is more than just a short story; it is a chapter in a novel called The Joy Luck Club. This novel was also made into a relatively well-known movie (pictured in these three photos). Even though this story is part of a novel, it stands alone well and follows typical plot structure. The novel tells the stories of several young women and their experiences as first generation Americans. If you enjoyed this story, I highly recommend the novel and/or the movie. Let's move on to character in short fiction. If you think about it, often the primary elements that engage us in a short story are the characters. We care about the characters, or identify with them, or both, and this caring makes us more involved in the reading. The characters, in a sense, are alive. Of course, we can look at the physical descriptions of the characters as a starting point. But don't stop there. Consider each of the character's actions...consider what they say and how they say it. Think about how the characters interact with each other and how that helps us understand each of them individually. Also, think about each character's name. (why would a character be named Faith, for example?). Also, notice physical description of the characters. Sometimes the character's appearance can be an indication of his inner qualities. You will notice that most characters in fiction are human. This is not absolutely necessary (think Charlotte's Web or Animal Farm), but characters will have human characteristics. For example, the characters in Charlotte's Web talk to each other and have a multitude of human emotions. Characters are usually classified as dynamic or static, round or flat, major or minor. A major character is often called the protagonist. Another character, called the antagonist, may have some type of conflict with the protagonist. Other minor characters usually exist in the story. Minor characters are typically static, which means they don't change from the beginning of the story to the end. Dynamic characters do change in some way. Their change can be inner change, in their feelings or attitudes, or outer change in behavior or even appearance. While major characters are often dynamic, they can be static. Your readings do give some examples of dynamic yet static characters. Round characters are complex, and usually the major characters. They are complex with depth, and difficult to summarize. Flat characters are typically minor characters, one-dimensional, and easy to summarize. To summarize, characters are: round or flat, dynamic or static, major or minor. Let's consider Mrs. Mallard. What does she look like? We know that she is young, but that she has a heart condition, so we suspect that she might be frail, wan, thin... We know that they break the news of her husband's death gently so as not to upset her. We know that she has a sister who is there for her. We know that she is married to her husband, and while we know secretly that she feels release when she hears of his passing, those around her suspect that she will be very upset when she hears the news. Those around her see a marriage between a loving husband and wife...and, in fact, that may very well be the case. Consider her name: Mrs. Mallard. A duck. What does that mean, if anything? What do you know about male and female Mallards? Do we know her first name? Why does the narrator most often refer to her by her surname? Also, as I mentioned earlier, we must consider this character in her historical context. When was she living and where? How does that affect her values, desires, position in society? How about Miss Emily? As I mentioned earlier, she is round...a well-developed character. But do we see her change throughout the story? Is she a dynamic character? This is definitely a point for discussion in café. In addition, in this story we see an unusual use of character: the townspeople are a character in the story. In fact, the story is narrated by the townspeople. If you re-read the first few paragraphs, you can see the evidence of this. Consider the townspeople in terms of character development (what do we know about this character? Appearance, values, conversations, etc) and major/minor, dynamic/static, flat/round.

module 10; figures of speech and sound

This week we are looking at figures of speech, rhyme and meter. There's a lot to cover here, so you might want to watch this lecture more than once. In addition, I won't cover every poem individually, so you will need to go back and apply what you learned this week to the readings. Here are the figures of speech that we will cover this week. SimileMetaphorPersonificationHyperboleUnderstatementMetonymApostropheOnomatopoeiaLiteral languageFigurative languageAlliterationAssonance Simile: Comparison of two things which are fundamentally unlike. Uses "like" or "as." Example: His voice stung like the harsh winds of winter. Metaphor: An implied comparison between two things which are fundamentally unlike. Does NOT use "like" or "as." Example: His face was a trophy she brought with her everywhere. Personification: A type of metaphor which gives human characteristics to non-human things (including animals, objects, etc.) Example: My motorcycled purred as I revved the engine. Hyperbole: A bold, deliberate overstatement used to emphasize the truth of what is being said. Example: I would give my right arm for a cold beverage. Understatement: The opposite of hyperbole; deliberately making something seem less than it is. Example: I'm having a minor surgery for a tiny tumor in my brain. Metonym: A thing is not called by its own name, but by a word closely associated with it. Example: a soldier might be called a "gun." A monarchy might be called "the crown." A language might be called someone's "tongue." Apostrophe: The poet addresses an abstract person or personification that is not physically present. Example: "Death, be not proud." Onomatopoeia: The use of words for the sounds they represent when spoken. Examples: buzz, click, rattle, grunt. Literal and figurative language: Literal language says things that are real or factual. Example: I gained six pounds last month. Figurative language goes beyond the normal use of words to achieve a special meaning or effect. Example: I grew fatter than a cow last month. Alliteration and Assonance: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds near each other in poetry. Example: The big blue bucket of berries burst with beauty. Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds near each other in poetry. Example: The bird grew and flew away before I knew what had happened. This website offers a quiz on parts of speech to check your comprehension: http://www.quia.com/hm/80390.html (Links to an external site.) The only figure of speech it mentions that we don't cover is idiom, which is a group of words that, when said together, mean something entirely different. For example, that test was a piece of cake. Rhyme and meter: Rhyme: repetition of sounds at the ends of lines. Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date. As I mentioned in an earlier lecture, when you determine the rhyme pattern, you use letters of the alphabet. The rhyme scheme of this poem would be abab. Because the next stanza does not rhyme with this one, the pattern continues cdcd. Try to determine the rhyme scheme of any of the poems that you read this week which rhyme. Practicing identifying the pattern will make it easier. Meter is the pattern of emphasis of the words in a line. Each unit is referred to as a foot, and a foot might contain two or three syllables. Look at these two lines. Shall I comPARE thee TO a SUMmer's DAY? Thou ART more LOVEly AND more TEMperATE. As you read, notice that the parts that are capitalized are the parts that are emphasized. This is an example of iambic pentameter, which is the meter characteristic of a sonnet. When you read iambic pentameter, you will feel the rhythm: la LA la LA la LA la LA la LA in each line. The emphasis is on the second, fourth, sixth, eighth and tenth word. The individual foot contains two syllables, one unstressed and one stressed, so there are 5 feet in each line of iambic pentameter. This meter is one of the characteristics of a sonnet, so you might want to look at a sonnet and see if you can identify the meter as explained above. Let's look at the entire sonnet, "Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day." Not that a this sonnet has 14 lines of iambic pentameter (how strict the iambic pentameter is depends on the poet and the era in which the poem was written). The rhyme is ababcdcdefefgg. The sonnet ends with a couplet, which usually provides some type of resolution. These are all characteristics of the English, or Shakespearean, sonnet. Take another look at "Love is not All" from our first week of poetry and see if it fits into this same pattern. Let's look at the rhyme and meter of "Stopping by Woods" to check your comprehension of the concepts. "Pied Beauty" is a great place to look for examples of figures of speech. Which ones can you find here? Simile or metaphor? Alliteration or assonance? Before you attempt to understand the poem, it is important that you know the definition of the word dappled. Also, look for specific imagery in this poem. Finally, take a look at the rhyme scheme. Is there a regular meter? Look at the other poems this week for figures of speech, rhyme and meter, and we'll discuss them in more detail in the café. I'll talk to you there!

module 11; poetic form

This week we are looking at poetic form, which means the way the poem is put together, or the form that it takes. The most familiar form is probably the sonnet. Most of us have read Shakespeare, and many of you may have already read the Shakespearean sonnets on the reading list this week. Shakespearean sonnets, or English sonnets, follow a particular form. They are written in iambic pentameter (which means five feet, unstressed/ stressed, syllables). When you read iambic pentameter, you will feel the rhythm: la LA la LA la LA la LA la LA in each line. English sonnets are often referred to as Shakespearean because he was the first to write them and provided the standard. Their rhyme pattern is three quatrains (or four-line sections), with the rhyme pattern abab cdcd efef followed by a couplet (or pair of rhyming lines). The couplet usually provides some resolution or turn to the sonnet. Another form of sonnet is called the Italian or Petrarchan sonnet (named after Petrarch, an Italian). This sonnet is also written in iambic pentameter, but is made up of an octave (8 lines, rhyming abba abba) and a sestet (rhyming cde cde or ced ced or cdcdcd. The turn it the Italian sonnet is after the octave. Let's look at Claude McKay's piece "If We Must Die." Analyze the rhyme. Can you identify the type of sonnet? While we are looking at this poem, let's talk about meaning briefly. McKay wrote these famous lines after riots in the summer of 1919 left dozens dead and thousands homeless. In Chicago at the end of July, when a black boy drifted toward a whites-only beach, white youths stoned him to death. The violence snowballed. Ten bloody days later, 38 people were dead and more than 500 wounded. Riots in Nebraska, Texas, and across the South continued to take lives. "If We Must Die" marked the rise of a new American cultural movement. Jazz musicians experimented with new rhythms and writers celebrated the black experience in a new style of writing. This was the beginning of an era, where stereotypes were rejected. Now we will take a look at "London, 1802" by William Wordsworth. Don't worry, this was not among your reading assignments. I only bring it in here as an example. Milton! Thou shouldst be living at this hour:England hath need of thee: she is a fenOf stagnant waters: altar, sword, and pen,Fireside, the heroic wealth of hall and bower,Have forfeited their ancient English dowerOf inward Happiness. We are selfish men;Oh! Raise us up, return to us again;And give us manners, virtue, freedom, power.Thy soul was like a Star, and dwelt apart;Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea:Pure as the naked heavens, majestic, free,So didst thou travel on life's common way,In cheerful godliness; and yet thy heartThe lowliest duties on herself did lay. This, if you haven't already guessed it, is an Italian sonnet. The turn, which is the turning point of the poem, and possibly the most important part, occurs not at the couplet, but mid-way through the poem, after the second quatrain. Here the octave develops the idea of the decline of London and the English people, while the sestet talks about Milton's qualities which, now lost, the English so desperately need. Check the rhyme, the meter and the form before moving on. Another form to discuss is the villanelle. The poem "Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night" is a villanelle. This poem consists of 5 tercets (3 line stanzas) and one final quatrain (4 lines). The interesting thing about the villanelle is the way the lines repeat. Notice the pattern. The 1st and 3rd lines from the first stanza are repeated: the 1st line becomes the last line in the second stanza, and the 3rd line becomes the last line in the third stanza. The last two lines of the poem are lines 1 and 3 respectively, making a rhymed couplet. The rhyme scheme is aba aba aba aba aba abaa "Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night" Thomas wrote this poem to his dying father, encouraging him to fight for his life. This is a well-known poem, and probably the best known of all villanelles. A brief look on the internet will show you how famous this work has become, popping up on t-shirts, in cartoons, and a variety of other venues. Ironically, Thomas died only two years after writing this poem for his father, possibly from causes related to alcohol. The sestina also follows a regular pattern: Six 6-line stanzas (sestets) followed by one tercet (3-lines). The interesting thing about a sestina is the regular repetition of end words. It is usually unrhymed.. The end words of the first stanza are repeated in a different order as end words in each of the subsequent five stanzas; the closing envoy contains all six words, two per line, placed in the middle and at the end of the three lines. The patterns of word repetition are as follows, with each number representing the final word of a line, and each row of numbers representing a stanza: 1 2 3 4 5 6 6 1 5 2 4 3 3 6 4 1 2 5 5 3 2 6 1 4 4 5 1 3 6 2 2 4 6 5 3 1 (6 2) (1 4) (5 3) One other form we look at this week is the haiku. I've provided a website which offers multiple examples, as well as one linked directly to the week 11 folder. Haiku is a poetic form from Japan. It combines form, content, and language in a meaningful, yet compact form. They are about everyday things. Many themes include nature, feelings, or experiences. Usually they use simple words and grammar. The first line contains 5 syllables, the second line 7, and the third line 5. They do not rhyme. They attempt to paint a mental image in the reader's mind. by Richard Brautigan: "Widow's Lament" It's not quite cold enough To go borrow some firewood From the neighbors. While this doesn't exactly follow the 5/7/5 format, it certainly conveys a mental picture in a few short words. The Colonel was written by Carolyn Forche. It is based on her travels to El Salvador in 1978. Here's what she had to say about the experience: "A young writer, politically unaffiliated, ideologically vague, I was to be blessed with the rarity of a moral and political education—what at times would seem an unbearable immersion, what eventually would become a focussed obsession. It would change my life and work, propel me toward engagement, test my endurance and find it wanting, and prevent me from ever viewing myself or my country again through precisely the same fog of unwitting connivance." Let's look at one more poem before we finish for today: Robert Frost's "Acquainted with the Night." First of all, I encourage you to try a paraphrase of this poem. If you haven't been practicing that skill every week, now is a good time to try it again. In addition, identify the rhyme scheme. What symbols are included in this poem? This poem is relatively simple to read and understand, yet at the same time full of poetic tools. See what you can find. Lots to think about this week. I look forward to visiting with you in café.

module 6; theme

This week we take a look at theme in short stories. Many students like to look for themes first; they consider the theme a "puzzle" to be solved. I like to wait until the end of the short fiction section to discuss theme, because it is easier to examine theme if we are able to look at all of the other elements first. In fact, looking at various elements like character, setting and plot can help us extract theme from the reading. Put simply, the theme is the story's main idea. It is different from plot: plot is what happens in the story; theme deals with values and ideas in the story. Many stories have more than one theme, and many different stories have the same theme (for example, loss of innocence is a common theme). As with other elements of literature, what we bring to the story in part determines what we take from it. This is true with theme. In other words, our own experiences affect what themes we see in the literature. As long as a reader can support his ideas of theme with specific examples from the story itself, the reading is valid. Some hints in finding themes.... Look at the title. Does it carry any special meaning? Perhaps that meaning is related to the theme. What about the characters? Consider what the characters do and say. The characters' own comments may give us an indication of the theme. The order of events may give us insight to the theme, as might the conflict in the story. As you read, consider point of view, symbols and character changes as well. Any or all of these elements may give us insight as to the theme of the story. "The Rocking-Horse Winner" is a great story to help us use all of the skills we have been working on so far. The plot is one that we can diagram relatively easily; we can also identify major and minor characters and point of view without too much trouble. In addition, there is plenty of symbolism. The whispers of the house are symbolic, for example. Of what? And Paul's riding on the rocking horse is symbolic. After considering all of these elements, think about theme. What is the overall message? Be careful not to talk in clichés—consider the message carefully and specifically: what is this story telling the reader? By the way, there's a 1949 movie of this short story (black and white), and you can see excerpts from it on YouTube. It's interesting to see the director's take on the story and to see how they use music to create drama. "Where are You Going, Where Have You Been?" is a haunting story of a girl's loss of innocence. The dedication to Bob Dylan is interesting. I encourage you to listen to the song on YouTube (do an easy search by typing in the title of the song "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue." In the 1960s, when Oates wrote "Where Are You Going . . . ," a social revolution was happening. American women were creating a new identity and independence, and they were claiming their own sexuality in a way they had never done before. Adolescence and the anxieties that many young girls endured as they lost their innocence and became women was a common topic of discussion. Feeling undervalued in their homes and relationships with men, women began questioning their role in society and the role that sex and gender played in their lives. We tend to scoff at "women's lib" or "feminism," but this was a time that truly changed women's lives. In "Where Are You Going . . . ," Oates explores this social upheaval in miniature: Connie, one young woman out of a country of young women, must confront her own questions and anxieties as she transitions into adulthood. Her separation from her home and family is violent, and Arnold Friend is by no means a savior. But the sense of sweeping, dramatic change taking place in 1960's America is evident in this story, from the period details to Connie's psychological terror at what lies ahead. According to Oates, the story was inspired by a Life magazine story about the serial killer Charles Schmid, who, like the story's villain, was an older man who preyed on adolescent girls. Oates was most interested in "the disturbing fact that a number of teenagers - from 'good' families - aided and abetted his crimes." It wasn't the psychology of serial killers that intrigued Oates, but the abnormal actions of "normal" teenagers who helped Schmid either carry out or conceal his murders. Again, we can see this behavior come to life in Connie. Like "The Rocking Horse Winner," "The Lesson provides good practice on using the tools we have learned about so far. For example, we can examine each of the main characters and their roles in the story. In addition, the point of view is important in this story. How does hearing this story through Sylvia's eyes, with her saucy, non-conformist attitude, make the story effective? Would it be different if told in third person? Also, look for symbolism in this story. Is the microscope a symbol? What about the boat? What could these items symbolize? Finally, we must decide what "The Lesson" is, and the answer to that question should bring us quickly to the theme of the story. The lesson is relatively obvious, but delivered by Sylvia, we can understand and appreciate its truth and gravity. Invariably, the first question that students ask when we begin the story "A Worn Path" is "was the grandson dead?" That seems to be the most important question on students' minds, so we will deal with that one first. Welty actually addressed this question herself, as students and teachers alike wrote to her to pose this question. Here is an excerpt from her reply: "I had not meant to mystify readers by withholding any fact; it is not a writer's business to tease. The story is told through Phoenix's mind as she undertakes her errand. As the author at one wit the chracter as I tell it, I must assume that the boy is alive. As the reader, you are free to think as you like, of course: the story invites you to believe that no matter what happens, Phoenix, for as long as she is able to walk and can hold to her purpose, will make her journey. The possibility that she would keep on even if he were dead is there in her devotion and its sing-minded, single-track errand. Certainly the artistic truth, which should be good enough for the fact, lies in Phoenix's own answer to that question. When the nurse asks, "He isn't dead, is he?" she speaks for herself: "He still the same. He going to last." The grandchild is the incentive. But it is the journey, the going of the errand, that is the story, and the question is not whether the grandchild is in reality alive or dead. It doesn't affect the outcome of the story or its meaning from start to finish. But it is not the quesiton itself that has struch me as much as the idea, almost without exception implied in the asking, that for Phoenix's grandson to be dead would somehow make the story "better." ...Like Phoenix, you work all of your life to find your way, through all the obstructions and the false appearances and the upsets you may have brought on yourself, to reach a meaning—using inventions of your imagination, perhaps helped out by your dreams and bits of good luck. And finally, too, like Phoenix, you have to assume that what you are working in aid of is life, not death. But you would make the trip anyway, wouldn't you—just on hope." Consider each of the characters and his or her role in the story. What biases does the hunter reveal? Notice that he lies to Phoenix, and is unable to look beyond Phoenix's age and see her as an individual. What about Phoenix? Think about her name. Her conscience. Her pride and humility. Her commitment to family and her self-sacrificing nature. Finally, take a look at the nurse. How does she represent society's general attitudes? What are the themes that run through this piece? Here are some ideas to get you started: race and racismduty and responsibilityguiltresurrection Consider the point of view and how it affects your reading and understanding of the story. Does this story use humor? How? And is it effective?

module 13; poet focus-- emily dicksinson

This week's assignment gives you the opportunity to read several works by the same poet. I often think that reading a second work by a poet helps us understand the first, and reading a third helps us understand the second... so that the more poems we read by that person, the better we understand the poems individually and as a whole. The information about Dickinson is helpful in understanding her work, though we want to be careful not to over-simplify or catagorize her poems because of the way they fit into her life. Like most of the other poets, she has something to say about life, about death, about religion... The poems in the reading assignment represent these themes. I will provide you will some general information about Dickinson's life; please complete the fieldtrip as well to see what you can find out on your own. Dickinson loved baking and gardening, particularly growing flowers. Nature is a common theme in her poetry. Dickinson attended Amherst from 1840-1847. As a student, she was recognized for her clever compositions. Under the influence of geologist Edward Hitchcock, her scientific vocabulary—which is prominent in her writing—was developed here. At 16, Dickinson went to Mount Holyoke Female Academy. Mary Lyon (pictured) was the principal and founder of the school. The school believed in establishing a strong religious and moral base, and Dickinson may have struggled with this. Dickinson did not return to the seminary after her first year, and there is much speculation among scholars as to why. Some believe that she wasn't challenged; others believe she felt too much religious pressure. Some believe she was just too homesick. In practice, most women did not return to seminary for a second or third year, so this wasn't unusual. It was believed that women didn't need more education than this because their duties were domestic. Whatever the case, there is no doubt that the school and teachers left an impression on Dickinson and taught her that women were capable of working with their minds. The next period of Dickinson's life is known as her intense writing period. She moved back to her parents' home and shortly after, her brother married and built a home next door known as The Evergreens. The family added a conservatory where Emily could do her gardening year-round. By the time Dickinson was 35, she written more than 1100 poems that talked about pain, grief, joy, love, nature, and art. Wrote about 800 of these poems into small handmade booklets (now called "fascicles"), private publications which she shared with no one. Some events in Dickinson's life are difficult to tell. There are drafts of three letters which survive from late 1858 and early 1861. They suggest a serious and troubled romantic attachment which may have been the topic of some of Dickinson's poems. We do not know who that romantic attachment may have been. During this time Dickinson also referred to a trauma that she described in a letter: "I had a terror -- since September -- I could tell to none" (L261). The cause of the terror is unknown. After 1865, Dickinson rarely left the homestead. Dickinson lived on with her family as a recluse. Her later life was filled with her mother's illness and then the death of her nephew, as well as others close to her. After her nephew's death, she was in poor health until she died at 55. It is rumored that Dickinson always wore white. We know that she was buried in white and her surviving dress is white, but Dickinson never made reference to this preference in any of her writing. A few of Dickinson's poems were published in newspapers and other small publications (some without her knowledge, or without being attributed to her), but nearly all of her work was not published until after she died. Her comments about publication were generally negative, and she may not have wanted to be published because she wanted to remain a recluse. None of Dickinson's works were titled. They are generally referred to by the first line or by number. Apparently with no surprise,To any happy flower,The frost beheads it at its play,In accidental power.The blond assassin passes on.The sun proceeds unmoved,To measure off another day,For an approving God. Hymn meter (alternating 4,3 feet of iambic pentameter). Word choice (beheads, assassin) Cruelty? Flower has feelings. "I heard a fly buzz—when I died" What does the fly represent? What connotations come with a fly? What is the King? Is there more than one interpretation? "And then the windows failed." What does that mean? And how does it fit with the following line? "My life had stood—a loaded Gun" Speaker=gun Some speculation about the use of Master in this poem. May refer to a man. What does "And every time I speak for Him--/The Mountains straight reply--" mean? Many people see this poem as very angry. What evidence can you find in the poem to prove this? Themes of religion, death, faith, nature. Poetry is dark, often depressing. Uses dashes, unusual capitalization. No titles. Uses hymn meter. Symbolism (eye and I together for double meaning. Death symbolized by darkness. Considers role of women in society. Thought a lot about what happens after death. Discussed the power of faith. Please feel free to explore Dickinson further and try out some of her other works. My kids have a book of Emily Dickinson poems that they enjoy--it was actually marketed for kids. It includes the poem "A narrow fellow in the grass" (about a snake) among others. You can read it here: http://www.online-literature.com/dickinson/824/

module 8; voice

This week, we are focusing on voice in poetry. Just as fiction has a voice through a narrator, poetry has a voice through a speaker. The speaker in the poem may be close to the poet, or may be someone entirely apart from the poet. Keep in mind that the person speaking in a poem is NOT called the narrator. PersonaA dramatic character, separate from the poet, who tells the entire poem. The expression derives from the Greek word "persona" meaning mask. When the poet creates a character to be the speaker, that character is called the persona and the poet imagines what it is like to enter someone else's personality. Dramatic MonologueThe speech of an individual character; it compresses a story into a single scene about the speaker's history and gives psychological insight into his character. The subject of the monologue is usually much less interesting than what is inadvertently revealed about the speaker himself. "My Last Duchess" provides an example of both persona and dramatic monologue. This poem is possibly the most famous dramatic monologue of the Victorian era. It is the story of a man, The Duke of Ferrara, who decided that his wife did not meet his standards and did not offer him enough respect. In a show of power and domestic abuse, he has her murdered. The Duke is authoritarian, to say the least. He expected complete obedience from the Duchess. When he was disappointed by her, he had her murdered. The auditor, who is "listening" to the monologue, does not respond. We don't know his reaction. He may be intimidated, or he may be consenting to the situation. In any case, we see that the Duke is definitely in a position of power. In this poem, the painting is the subject of the monologue, but what we learn about the speaker and what happened to his wife is much more interesting than two men looking at a painting. So in this poem: Dramatic monologueSpeaker is distinct from poet.Audience is suggested but not a part of poem.Browning's speakers are often aggressive and threatening.Inspired by Duke Alphonso II of Ferra (his wife died in suspicious circumstances). "Suicide Note" Quote from Mirikitani "I found that my wounds begin to heal when the voices of those endangered by silence are given power. The silence of hopelessness, of despair buried in the depths of poverty, violence, racism are more deadly than bullets. The gift of light, in our compassion, our listening, our works of love is the gift of life to ourselves." Janice Mirikitani A few questions as you consider the poem: • Can you identify any imagery in this poem? • Why does she repeat certain phrases? • What do we know about the speaker? Why is she disappointed in herself? • Is the voice in this poem the voice of the author? "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time" If you've seen the movie Dead Poet's Society, this poem might sound a little familiar to you. In a pivotal scene in the movie, Robin Williams has a student read this poem, and they talk about the theme of carpe diem. If you haven't seen it, you can watch just that scene on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQtmGcdSDAI • This poem was written a VERY long time ago. Is it still relevant today? Why or why not? • Is the voice in this poem of someone older or younger? • What is the message of this poem? • What imagery can you find in this poem? • Does this poem rhyme? What is the rhyme pattern? I want to take a minute to talk about rhyme scheme before we move on this week. Identifying rhyme may be something you are already familiar with, but just in case you haven't done it yet, we'll talk about it. Rhyme is the repeating pattern of sounds at the end of lines of poetry, and when we identify those lines, we use an alphabetical system. For example, if I have a poem with pairs of lines that rhyme (referred to as couplets), I would label them aabbcc, etc. This helps us identify the rhyme in a system that everyone can understand and use. Let's look at rhyme in "To the Virgins." In the first stanza, end words are may, flying, day, dying. This rhyme pattern is abab. Now when we look at the next stanza, we have to check and see if the rhyme repeats from the first stanza. If it does, we would go back to that letter, but if the rhyme is new we would use the next letter in the alphabet: sun, getting, run, setting. They rhyme does not repeat, so we would label these lines cdcd. It is interesting to note that while the rhyme does not repeat, the pattern of the word does. Notice that the rhyming words may and day are one syllable, just like the words sun and run. And the words flying and dying resemble getting and setting. We'll see if that pattern continues. Stanza three: first, warmer, worst and former. Our rhyme is efef, and notice that are one syllable, two syllable pattern continues. Finally, in the last stanza, time, marry, prime tarry gives us ghgh with the same pattern of one syllable then two. Of course, all poems won't rhyme, but if they do, it's a good idea to practice identifying the rhyme scheme as you read. The more you do it, the easier it gets. The poem "The Unknown Citizen" is written in the voice of an anonymous government bureaucrat who knows everything and nothing about people. He knows everything about the unknown citizen except, of course, the things that actually matter. What are the things that matter, according to this poem? "The Unknown Citizen" is the ideal citizen: he never thinks about whether or not a war is just. He spends money on taxable items, and he never voices an opinion different from the government's or different from the majority those around him. He is the kind of person who says, "My country, right or wrong." But Auden questions this attitude. How do we know? "How to Write the Great American Indian Novel" Alexie points out the impossibility of making one writer or book "representative" of American Indian cultures. This poem points out all of the stereotypes that whites have of American Indians, stereotypes from literature, but also from television and movies. • Identify the rhyme in this poem. • Is the speaker being sarcastic? How do you know? • This interview is a little long, but very interesting and rich. It includes a clip from the movie Smoke Signals, which you will remember is based on the short story we read earlier in the semester. http://billmoyers.com/segment/sherman-alexie-on-living-outside-borders/

module 12; symbolism, allegory, and allusion

This week, we are looking at symbolism, allegory and allusion in poetry. Symbolism in poetry is much the same as in the short fiction. As you think about what various elements in the poetry might symbolize, remember terms like conventional symbols and universal symbols that we discussed in regard to the fiction. For example, in "We Wear the Mask," we could say that a mask is a universal symbol for hiding identity. But the mask might also symbolize other elements--a person might be hiding emotion, judgment, fear, or values. In the case of this poem, as with so many others, there are multiple interpretations of the symbolism in the poem. Multiple interpretations can be valid as long as we can justify the reading with evidence from the poem itself. An allegory, as discussed previously, is a poem or story that conveys a specific message. Unlike symbols, allegory is not open for interpretation: the physical elements in an allegory represent a specific message or lesson. The allegory has two levels: one is the literal level and the other is the figurative level. Very few poems can be classified as an allegory. The most famous is probably Edmund Spenser's "The Fairie Queen." This poem is long and made up of several books (you'll be happy I didn't make you read this one...) The characters of "Faerie Land" have a symbolic meaning in the real world. In Books I and III, the speaker follows two knights, Redcrosse and Britomart, examining the two virtues he believes most important to Christian life--Holiness and Chastity. These two levels of meaning—and only two—for the characters, is what makes this an allegory. "Leda and the Swan" contains allusion because the speaker does not explain the connections. Luckily, your textbook does. In case you missed it, Leda and the Swan is a story and subject in art from Greek mythology in which the god Zeus, in the form of a swan, seduces, or rapes, Leda. Some allusions are very difficult to pick up on, others are quite obvious. In "We Wear the Mask," the "we" of the poem is the African American race; however, the poem works on several levels so that all of us, of any race can relate to the message here. Dunbar was commenting on being black in the late nineteenth century and early 20th century. Considering the time and social climate, it was a brave move for Dunbar. He was saying that while blacks often seemed content with their social situation, they were far from it. Look back and think about what, specifically, in this poem might make us think it is about race. "Traveling through the Dark" Look for imagery and symbolism in this poem. What does the car represent? What is the conflict here? This poem has personification. What is personified? Check the rhyme and meter of this poem. Many students focus on the baby deer, and feel it is cruel of the speaker to push the mother over the side without trying to save the deer. But that is not really the point of the poem. In the speaker's mind at least, the baby and mother are both lost, and the emphasis is not on whether or not he could have or should have saved them but the fact that their lives were taken by man's inventions, by man's intervention into their world. "Uphill" Notice that this is a conversation between two voices. Who do you think those voices are? Where does the road lead? How do you know? What does the passing of the day represent? Is this a religious poem? Why or why not? "Barbie Doll" Look at the images in this poem. How does Piercy make it powerful without being ridiculous? What imagery can you find in this poem? What does the Barbie doll symbolize?

module 5; symbolism, allegory, myth

Well, I wouldn't be surprised if you found this week's readings a little strange. You've gotten some experience reading short stories, and this week's readings put that experience to the test. Today we will start by discussing symbol, allegory and myth, and then I will give you a few things to look for in the readings. A symbol is a person, object, place or event with a meaning in addition to its literal one. For example, consider this poem: The Sick Rose by William Blake O Rose thou art sick.The invisible worm,That flies in the nightIn the howling storm: Has found out thy bedOf crimson joy:And his dark secret loveDoes thy life destroy. I bring up this poem because it uses the rose--which we have recently seen as a symbol in a short story—and uses it as a symbol. But for what? This is an interesting example, because we could say the rose is a symbol for love, and we would be correct. We can support that with information from the poem. But we can also say the rose is a symbol for how all of nature is being destroyed...and we would be correct. A symbol can have multiple meanings in the same poem. Universal or archetypal symbols mean the same thing to most people. For example, the idea of the Earth Mother (or Mother Earth) is a universal symbol. Even if we speak different languages, we can all understand and agree upon that symbol. Another example is the heart representing love. Conventional symbols mean the same thing to most people with a common culture or social structure. For example, the American flag is a conventional symbol in the United States. Other examples include the Statue of Liberty, or the Confederate flag, A literary symbol is simply the application of these various symbolic qualities in works of literature. That is, writers rely on these universal and conventional symbols as they write. They know that you, as a reader, bring certain knowledge and associations to the work you are reading. They use these associations to add meaning to their work without having to explain them. How do you decide whether something is a symbol? Look for certain clues. For example, if something is mentioned often, or if the narrator spends a long time describing it, it might be a symbol. If it is contained in the title or the opening or closing paragraph, it may be a symbol. Look for emphasis, repetition, and position of the symbol. For example, the rose in "A Rose for Emily" is a symbol. Think of all the meanings a rose has to you. Love, of course. But perhaps that's not quite appropriate here. A rose can be given as a tribute, as a last goodbye at a funeral. In this case, that seems more fitting. So perhaps the rose in this story is a last tribute to Emily. A symbol can have more than one meaning and it CAN mean two different things to two different people. We sometimes call these different readings of a story. In other words, a story can have more than one reading. A symbol CAN have more than one meaning or interpretation. Two people can read the same story and find two different meanings from the same symbol. HOWEVER, the text of the story must SUPPORT your interpretation of the symbol. If you read "A Rose for Emily" and you find that the rose represents Emily's virginity, you would have a hard time proving that with the text of the story. It's just not there. An allegory is a story in which characters relay a message or a moral. Unlike symbol, characters in an allegory cannot have multiple interpretations. Characters have only two levels: 1 )the physical character they represent, and 2 )the element they symbolize. The allegory we are reading this week is called "Young Goodman Brown." The main character (Brown) is a man but also a young, good, Christian man. His wife, Faith, represents his wife and, of course, his faith in God. Other characters in the story follow the same pattern. Myth is a story that is central to a culture; a myth represents the values of its culture. Many religious stories are referred to as myths (for example, the "creation myth"). Studying myths can help us learn more about our culture. Let's talk about "The Lottery" for a moment. As you might suspect, The New Yorker received a record amount of mail when this story was published. People were shocked, disgusted, even angry. Since then, it has become one of the most widely anthologized short stories to date. What was your reaction? What are some symbols that you can find in this short story? For example, look at the black box, the black dot, the apron, the weather, the rocks, even the people's names. This author grew up in Yakima, WA. He was the father of two by 20, and died in 1988 at 50 years old. He had a good sense of the working class. He was influenced by financial difficulties experienced by his parents. He was an alcoholic. Compare the relationships in this story: Terri and Ed compared to Mel and his ex-wife. Think about the role of alcohol in this story. Is it a symbol? Consider the setting. What happens as the sun goes down? It is interesting to examine the conversation and how it changes as the alcohol takes effect and as the sun sets. Is there symbolism here? Consider the historical events on Hawthorne's mind as he was writing this story: the Salem Witch Trials (he uses the names of "real" witches, women who were persecuted for being witches), the Puritans who had persecuted the Quakers, and King Phillips War. For more information on these events, try a YouTube search. The Puritans believed Quakers were heretics. In fact, anyone who was not an Anglican was a heretic, including Catholics, Lutherans, , Quakers, anyone who was not Anglican. But those Quakers were not meek and mild innocents who just wanted to talk. They were as righteous as most Puritans, and when they came into a Massachusetts town, they tried to wreak as much havoc as possible: they burst into church services, yelled in the streets, banged pots and pans, and even took off their clothes to show that they were not attached to worldly things. The Puritans were furious and told Quakers to leave and never return. They punished them mercilessly, including boring holes through their tongues. King Phillip's War (also known as Metacom's Rebellion) was the Native American's last attempt to drive out the English settlers. The Native Americans were massacred in the process, and the Puritans saw their victory as a sign from God that they were meant to take over the land. The Indians there were left faced disease, loss of their lands, and servitude. Hawthorne attempts to show man's faults through his writing. What faults is he focusing on in this story? This story is an allegory. What do each of the characters represent? Does Young Goodman Brown still have Faith at the end of the story? Finally, let's look at "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings." This type of story is referred to as "magical realism" because it combines very human, earthly things like the chicken coop, illness, and poverty with fantastic elements like the winged man and the spider lady. Here are some things to think about as you discuss this story this week. Consider the symbols in this story: what do the wings symbolize? Think about what we traditionally associate with winged creatures compared to what we see with the winged man. Also, what does the spider lady represent? What is the role of religion in this story? Is Marquez making a statement? Why is this called "a tale for children"? Understanding and finding symbolism in works is a still that you will develop over the course of the semester. Don't be disappointed if you don't know all of the answers right away. The more symbols you start to recognize, the easier it will become to find them.

module 9; word choice & imagery

Word choice, word order and imagery. In reading poetry, we tend to concentrate more on words than anything ... and for good reason. Poems, typically, have so few words compared to drama or short fiction, that each word must have a special meaning or purpose. Poets choose words for a variety of reasons. They might choose words for their sounds (think rhyme and meter), and even for how the words look on the page. Most of the time, though, they choose the words for their meaning (concrete or abstract, general or specific). A poet might also choose a word because of its connotation. The connotation is what the word suggests. Denotation is what the word means without the associations we bring to our readings (think dictionary definitions). Consider a word like "winter." The denotation would be related to the season. The connotations are more diverse: we might also think of a cold and barren landscape or even of someone in the winter of his life. A word can have a positive, neutral, or negative connotation. When choosing words, poets have to consider both denotations and connotations. A related tool is diction. Poets use various levels of diction—from formal to informal, or somewhere in between. On one hand, if a poet uses slang or colloquialisms, a poem may be said to have low or informal diction, while a very formal poem (grammatically correct, broad vocabulary) is considered high or formal diction. Formal: use of large vocabulary, correct grammar, dignified words. Informal: conversational, everyday language, imprecise grammar. Compare: My father is a prolific writer who specializes in the documentation of undernourishment in third world countries. to My dad writes about hunger in poor countries. Finally, word order is important to meaning. If poets vary from the traditional word order (subject—verb—object), we tend to notice and wonder about the placement. Poets may change word order to emphasize a word in a poem, to change the meter of a line of poetry, to make a word rhyme, or to place words that are related (or unrelated) next to each other in a line. In addition to looking at word choices and order this week, I would like for you to notice imagery. Imagery is language that calls on the senses: sight, taste, touch, smell, and hearing. The connotations that various words have can help create a picture in our heads as we read a poem. This imagery helps the poet establish an atmosphere or mood in the poem. "I Knew a Woman" We start with this poem because word choice here seems genius to me. At first glance, this looks like a poem in which a man is really appreciating, paying tribute to a woman. But a closer look reveals much more. I'll defer to Karl Malkoff and his comments on this poem, "I'm quoting here..." The first of the purely sensual poems, "I Knew a Woman,' seems, at first glance, completely innocent; but closer examination reveals that the poem's words, like its lady, move "more ways than one." Double meanings dominate the poem: the lady teaches "Turn, and Counter-turn, and Stand"; the protagonist comes "behind her for her pretty sake"; and love, which likes a gander, "adores a goose." Even lines easily passed over have hidden sexual connotations: ". . .what prodigious mowing we did make." "To mow," in Scots dialect, means to have sexual intercourse. And should there be any doubt as to Roethke's knowledge of this meaning, the reader need only turn to "Reply to a Lady Editor," the poet's tongue-in-cheek response to the editor of a woman's magazine who had clearly missed the poem's suggestiveness; Roethke there calls Dan Cupid a "braw laddie-buck," and advises the editor just to lean herself back if he should arrive. Double meaning of words in the poem. Elaborate syntax (word order) which causes us to slow as we read. Images of dancing, harvesting, images of the woman. • Roethke reading the poem: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcjk6jrPZnA "O sweet spontaneous" Arrangement of words on the page: An experimental effort to present his theme. To rebuff poetic conventions. Gives us a dramatic sense of the poem's meaning—notice the placement of the word "spring." E.E. Cummings often did not follow traditional rules and guidelines for poetry, or even for typical English sentences. This poem helps us re-define boundaries we had previously thought set; for example, he puts words together in unusual orderings, he adds punctuation where it wouldn't normally go...basically, he forces us to take another look at the "rules" as we know them. Many of Cummings' poems have intentional misspellings, and several incorporate phonetic spellings intended to represent particular dialects. Many of Cummings's poems are satirical and address social issues but have an equal or even stronger bias toward romanticism. "To an Athlete Dying Young" This poem provides us with another opportunity for analyzing the rhyme. I've written the body of the poem here. Let's read it first. Now take a look...which words rhyme? If you decided that this was rhyming couplets (aabbcc etc), you are correct. Let's take it one step farther. Do you see any other kind of rhythm in this poem? Are certain words emphasized? Do you find a sing-song quality to the poem? If so, you are noticing the meter. Meter is something we will talk about in detail later, but I want to point it out to you here. Determining the meter is called "scanning." In this particular case, the emphasis is on every other word, like this: the TIME you WON your TOWN the RACE... can you hear it? More on that in later weeks.. "Nothing Gold Can Stay" This poem is an excellent example of using very few words to convey a vast meaning. Here are a few questions to help you get started with your analysis of the poem. • What does gold represent in this poem? • What things are being compared here? (3 things) • What is the rhyme pattern? Dulce et Decorum Est" Notice the imagery in this poem. Owen uses very vivid language to paint a picture. Be sure that you understand all of the language—some of it is specific to a different era. Check out the notes here: http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/owen1.html (Links to an external site.) Bombardment of trenches Soon after arriving at the Western Front, Owen began searching for words to describe the slaughter taking place in the trenches. On 16 January 1917 he wrote to his mother describing a deeply disturbing baptism of fire on the Western Front: My Own Sweet Mother,I can see no excuse deceiving you about these last 4 days...I have not been at the front.I have been in front of it.I held an advanced post, that is, a "dug-out" in the middle of No Man's Land...the ground was not mud... but an octopus of sucking clay, relieved only by craters full of water. Men had been known to drown in it.The Germans knew we were staying there and decided we shouldn't.Those fifty hours were the agony of my happy life. I nearly broke down and let myself drown in the water that was now slowly rising over my knees. Your very own W.E.O. x Wilfred Owen died in the last weeks of the war. He was 25 years old. His works were published posthumously. "A Poison Tree" Once again, we hear from William Blake, the poet who wrote "The Tyger" from our first week's readings. As I mentioned before, he was a painter as well as a poet. The illustration on this page is his own. This poem was also included in Songs of Experience. • What are some of the symbols in this poem? The tree itself? The apple? • Who is the speaker in this poem? the enemy...anger • What does the apple refer to (this is called an allusion)? book of Genesis, Adam and Eve and the apple • Who is to blame for the death in this poem? • Identify the rhyme scheme in this poem. • aabbccdd • Meter? where are the emphasized words?

module 7

intro to poetry