3. Interpretation of Literary Texts

A New Genre Takes Off

Romanticism of the nineteenth century influenced the direction novelists took the new literary genre. Americans joined in on the act during this time, as did writers from other parts of Europe. During the first half of the nineteenth century, writers from both sides of the ocean published novels of all varieties, as indicated by the following table. Early Nineteenth Century Novels Jane Austen England Pride and Prejudice 1813 Charlotte Brontë England Jane Eyre 1847 Emily Brontë England Wuthering Heights 1847 James Fenimore Cooper United States The Last of the Mohicans 1826 Nathaniel Hawthorne United States The Scarlet Letter 1850 Sir Walter Scott England Ivanhoe 1819 Mary Shelley England Frankenstein 1818 During the romantic age, gothic novels, such as Frankenstein, were particularly popular. In gothic novels, supernatural elements and a foreboding setting, such as an abandoned house or a dark, spooky castle, take center stage. In the case of Shelley's novel, the gothic elements revolve around a monster created by Dr. Frankenstein, its quest for sympathy, and, finally, its eventual death. A sustained interest in romanticism led Sir Walter Scott to set his novels in historic England. For example, Ivanhoe takes place in the period following the Norman Conquest, with characters such as Robin Hood, Richard the Lionheart, and numerous knights and fair ladies. Unlike her colleagues, Jane Austen disdained romanticism. In fact, her novel Northanger Abbey parodies popular gothic novels. The plots of Austen's novels, such as Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, focus on domestic situations, such as betrothals, where manners and fashion are of utmost importance. Her novels exhibit satirical wit, insightful views of human nature, and stylish dialogue, which moves the story along much like a play. The first two sentences of Pride and Prejudice indicate the story's direction. American writers were greatly influenced by their European counterparts. Romantic ideals, like individualism and love of nature, inspired them to add their own ideals and create a truly American literary voice. Leading the way was James Fenimore Cooper whose novel The Last of the Mohicans contrasts the Native American way of life with the settlers' desire to build farms and towns. Cooper's adventure novel sets a fast pace with thrilling attacks, captures, escapes, and heroic rescues. Rounding out the first half of the century was Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter, which delves into the hearts and minds of characters to reveal their moral dilemmas. Hawthorne's psychological romance laced with gothic elements proved to be a sensation when it was published, and it remains a classic example of great American literature. During the second half of the nineteenth century, events on both sides of the Atlantic influenced writers. In England, Queen Victoria reigned over a time of progress and prosperity. Railroads became the chosen method of travel, education was expanded, sanitation was improved, and middle-class values, such as hard work, solid morals, and practicality, became the standards of the time. In the United States, the Civil War broke out in 1861 and did not end until 1865, the same year President Lincoln was assassinated. American ingenuity was in full swing at this time with the inventions of the typewriter, the telephone, and the light bulb. Novels published during the latter half of the nineteenth century are indicated in the following table. Late Nineteenth-Century Novels Author Origin Novel Year Louisa May Alcott United States Little Women 1868-69 Lewis Carroll England Alice's Adventures in Wonderland 1865 Stephen Crane United States The Red Badge of Courage 1895 Charles Dickens England Great Expectations 1860 Fyodor Dostoyevsky Russia Crime and Punishment 1866 Gustave Flaubert France Madame Bovary 1856 Thomas Hardy England Tess of the D'Ubervilles 1891 Henry James United States Washington Square 1881 Leo Tolstoy Russia Anna Karenina 1873-77 Mark Twain United States The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 1885 H.G. Wells England The Island of Dr. Moreau 1896 The most popular Victorian novelist was Charles Dickens. His work combines social criticism with humor in a world of characters that range from the malicious to the suffering. Characters such as Miss Havisham, Pip, Ebenezer Scrooge, and Tiny Tim remain ingrained in the memories of readers. In his novels, Dickens often criticized British prisons and schools, which led to reforms that were badly needed. Just as Dickens's novels rely heavily on memorable characters, so do the novels of Mark Twain. Huckleberry Finn first appeared as a character in Twain's popular book The Adventures of Tom Sawyer before Twain wrote a novel solely about the runaway orphan and his travels. The story fluctuates between funny, satirical episodes and touching descriptions of the relationship between Huck and Jim. One of Twain's most important contributions to the continuing evolution of the novel is the introduction of slang-laden, colloquial dialect, which proved influential to future writers, such as Ernest Hemingway. In contrast to Dickens's Victorian novels are the realistic novels by writers such as Flaubert, Dostoyevsky, and Tolstoy. A realistic novel attempts to give the effect of realism through a work of fiction. Characters in realistic novels have normal daily experiences and interact with other characters within a structured social system. For example, in Madame Bovary, Flaubert describes the dismal everyday life of an ordinary woman using precise details and realism, as in the following passage from the novel. Madame Bovary Flaubert describes every unpleasant detail of Emma Bovary's existence, which provides the reader an understanding of her life and her frustrations. Toward the end of the century, science-fiction novels evolved as a distinct category from the gothic novels of the earlier part of the century. Futuristic scientific developments serve to move the plots of these science-fiction novels. French writer Jules Verne wrote Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and Around the World in Eighty Days in the 1870s; H. G. Wells followed with Time Machine, The Invisible Man, and The Island of Dr. Moreau. The nineteenth century produced a wide variety of novels from all parts of the world, with each one making an important contribution to the development of the modern novel. Out with the Old, In with the New The years immediately following the turn of the century brought many changes. World War I began and Queen Victoria, who symbolized the strict moral code and prosperity of nineteenth-century England, died. Novelists around the world sought to shake off the old ways of writing and to usher in the new century with new styles, new subject matters, and new narrative techniques. Thus, Modernism was born. The following table provides a list of some Modernist authors and their novels. Modernist Novels Albert Camus The Stranger 1942 William Faulkner The Sound and the Fury 1929 E. M. Forster A Passage to India 1924 Ernest Hemingway The Sun Also Rises 1926 Aldous Huxley Brave New World 1932 James Joyce A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man 1916 D. H. Lawrence Sons and Lovers 1913 Virginia Woolf To the Lighthouse 1927 James Joyce is renowned for his literary innovations, including stream of consciousness. Stream of consciousness is a revolutionary narrative technique used to imitate the inner workings of the human mind by providing a continuous stream of thoughts, feelings, and memories. Joyce's literature broke new ground and established him as one of the greatest talents of the twentieth century. Joyce used stream of consciousness in his largely autobiographical novel, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Using the technique for which he is famous, Joyce delves into the mind of Stephen Dedalus to illustrate the development of Stephen as an artist. Like James Joyce, Virginia Woolf often used stream of consciousness in her novels. Woolf emphasized the psychological workings of her characters, rather than the story's plot. In To the Lighthouse, for example, plot, dialogue, and action are secondary to the descriptions of character's impressions and thoughts. The novels of D. H. Lawrence explore issues related to psychological health, sexuality, and human relationships. One of the most controversial writers of the twentieth century, Lawrence saw his books banned as obscene, and during World War I he was persecuted for his alleged pro-German sympathies. Lawrence's novel Sons and Lovers tells the story of a young, flourishing artist who is the son of an English coal miner. Attacked upon publication for its frank treatment of sex, the novel has since earned praise and recognition as an example of modern literature. Although modernist literature varies from author to author, the notion of breaking with tradition links them together.

Elements of Plot

The basis for any good story or drama is an interesting, well-developed plot. Plot is an author's arrangement of events in a story or drama. The order in which events are presented varies from author to author. Some authors may tell their story in chronological order from beginning to end. For example, Elie Weisel's Night begins when Eliezer and his family are taken to a concentration camp, and the story ends when the American army liberates the camp. Other stories might open with the last event of a story, and then the author will explain what led up to that point. For example, Willa Cather's novel My Antoniá opens with Jim Burden, an attorney, speaking to an old friend about Antoniá , and then passing along his memoirs of their childhood experiences in Nebraska. Another technique is to begin in medias res, which is Latin for "in the midst of things." Homer's Odyssey tells the story of the wanderings of Odysseus, although the story opens just before the hero's arrival home. The plot of a fictional work revolves around a conflict; otherwise the story would not be very interesting or suspenseful. Conflict is the struggle between two opposing forces in a fictional work. Usually, the character involved in the conflict is the protagonist, or the chief character of the story. Conflict may take a number of forms, as the following table indicates. Conflict Person vs. Nature A struggle against the forces of nature. In Stephen Crane's short story "The Open Boat," four men in a rowboat fight to survive in the ocean after a shipwreck. Person vs. Man A struggle against another person, usually the antagonist, or rival of the protagonist. In Shakespeare's tragedy Othello, a jealous Iago, the antagonist, sabotages Othello's happiness with Desdemona. Person vs. Society A struggle between the protagonist and society as a whole. In Lorraine Hansberry's drama A Raisin in the Sun, the Youngers, an African-American family, face racial prejudice when they decide to move into a predominantly white neighborhood. Person vs. Self The protagonist has an inner struggle over conflicting actions or emotions. In Daniel Defoe's novel Robinson Crusoe, Crusoe struggles with the loneliness he feels on a deserted island. Rarely is there only one conflict in a story, instead a fictional work may have major and minor conflicts that are interrelated. For example, in "The Open Boat" four men battle the waves, the cold, their hunger, and their tired, worn-out bodies, but they also have inner conflicts. The captain feels responsible for the situation the men face, as noted in the following excerpt. Similarly, in Daniel Defoe's story, the character of Robinson Crusoe deals with loneliness, which is an internal conflict, and nature, which is an external conflict. Crusoe fights to survive on an island, much like Crane's characters battle the forces of nature on the ocean. The conflict of a story is not immediately apparent because writers develop their plots in stages. The following diagram illustrates the stages of plot, although some authors opt not to follow this format. Plot Stages A story begins with an exposition, in which the author introduces characters, creates the tone, establishes the setting, and explains what happened before the story began. The conflict develops during the rising action stage, and a series of events occur related to the complication. The climax is the high point of the story where the protagonist reaches a turning point. The events following the climax are the falling action. The resolution is the outcome or conclusion of the story, also known as the dénouement. As an example, let's analyze the plot of Albert Camus' novel The Stranger. Exposition —Meursault attends his mother's funeral where he exhibits no grief or emotion. Rising action —Meursault has an affair with Marie, helps his friend Raymond seek revenge against a woman, and later takes Raymond's gun. Climax —Meursault senselessly shoots an Arab on an Algerian beach. Falling action —Meursault is arrested and jailed for murder. During the trial, the prosecution focuses on Meursault's atheism and lack of remorse over his mother's death, rather than the crime itself. Meursault can provide no reason for his actions, so he is deemed a danger to society, convicted, and sentenced to death. Resolution —Prior to his execution, Meursault no longer feels like a stranger in the world. Meursault finds peace with humanity when he realizes that life is meaningless, just as he always suspected. As noted previously, plots do not always follow this five-stage format, and modern writers may find the structure too confining. For instance, Franz Kafka broke away from standard plot development with The Metamorphosis. The very first sentence of the story describes the protagonist, Gregor Samsa, waking up in the morning to discover he has turned into a large cockroach. Kafka opens with what would typically be considered the climax, and the rest of the story delves into Gregor's deteriorating life, the problems his family incurs, and his eventual death. Great works of fiction compel a reader to continue reading the story because of a well-developed plot that creates a feeling of suspense and anticipation. Character development, setting, and theme are elements of great literary works that will be discussed in the sections to follow.

Historical Development of Drama The Renaissance

The period from the mid-fourteenth century to the end of the sixteenth century is recognized as the Renaissance, a period of learning, discovery, and culture that swept across Western Europe and England. The English Renaissance, during which drama flourished, occurred during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, (1553-1603). Playwrights such as Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare wrote some of the most well-known and popular plays of Western society in the Elizabethan era. English drama during the early part of the sixteenth century developed slowly, but during Shakespeare's youth the theatre scene exploded with vitality. Throughout the Middle Ages, religion was the subject matter of drama, but Marlowe, and later Shakespeare, found inspiration for their plays in Greek tragedies, morality plays, and English history. Blank verse was the preferred form of Elizabethan playwrights. Blank verse is unrhymed poetry that still contains a rhythm and meter. Shakespeare's thirty-seven plays can be divided into three categories: histories, tragedies, and comedies. Types of Shakespearean Plays History The histories illustrate moral lessons to be learned from the ambitions and treachery of state leaders. Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI, Richard II, Richard III Tragedy The tragedies depict a character's self-destruction through passion and ambition and show how breaking a moral law certainly leads to ruin. King Lear, Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet Comedy The comedies amuse audiences with romantic fantasies, mistaken identities, and satire. A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It, The Tempest Most of Shakespeare's plays were originally performed at the famous Globe Theater across the Thames River from London. Wealthy theater patrons watched plays from seats in the gallery. Those who could afford a penny for a play stood in the yard. Shakespearean costumes were colorful and elaborate versions of the dress of the time. Scenery was simple, nearly nonexistent, but the audiences who filled the playhouses came for the excellent entertainment—not the backdrops.

Character Development

The unfolding of a story's plot would not occur without characters, and the difference between a great work of literature and other stories is often an author's ability to fully develop a character, a person in a fictional work. Characterization is how an author reveals aspects of a character's personality through action, dialogue, thought, or commentary by the author or another character. By paying close attention to the details an author provides about a character, a reader can better understand and enjoy a literary work. Characters come in all shapes and sizes, and the following table indicates some of the different types of characters often found in literature. Character Type Protagonist The main character around which the central conflict revolves. Usually, the reader is intended to sympathize with the protagonist. Antagonist The person or thing in opposition to the main character, although not all stories have an antagonist Round A fully developed character with both good and bad features that are exposed in the story. Round characters have the complexities of real people. Flat An undeveloped character with only a few outstanding features. Character Foil A character whose traits help illuminate the protagonist, like metal foil reflects light. For example, Sancho is a foil to Don Quixote in Cervantes' novel. Dynamic A character who experiences internal changes Static A character who does not change. Characters can fit into more than one category, and more often than not that is what occurs. For example, the character of Elka in Isaac Bashevis Singer's short story "Gimpel the Fool" is an antagonist to Gimpel, her husband, and she is also a round character. Through the use of actions, dialogue, and commentary from other characters, Singer develops a deceitful, physical, and sharp-tongued character. The characters created by Charles Dickens tend to be round and dynamic, as well. For example, Ebenezer Scrooge is a round character; his many unpleasant attributes are exposed and developed through the author's descriptions, attitudes of other characters, and Scrooge's cruel actions. The following passage describes Scrooge before the ghosts visit him. scrooge before change passage Scrooge is also a dynamic character because by the end of the story he has a change of heart due to his experiences with the ghosts, as shown by the following passage. scrooge change passage In contrast to Scrooge, who changes dramatically from the beginning of the story to the end, Bob Cratchit, Scrooge's nephew, and Tiny Tim maintain consistent attitudes throughout the story, so they are flat and static. Since the story focuses on Scrooge, Dickens gives little space to the development of minor characters, whose purpose in the story is to highlight Scrooge's bitterness and cruelty. In the case of Scrooge, the actions of the ghosts instigate a change in attitude virtually overnight. However, with some characters, change results over time as a character matures and faces different experiences. The character of Scout, from Harper Lee's novel To Kill A Mockingbird , is a round dynamic character that changes gradually over the years. Early in the novel it becomes apparent that Scout is a remarkable young girl because of her intelligence, confidence, and kindness. When the story begins, Scout is a typical five-year-old oblivious to the evils of the world. As the story unfolds, Scout witnesses the evils of racial prejudice in the world around her. Scout learns from her father that sympathy and understanding can offset some of the pain in the world. At the story's close, Scout has become a character of great depth, an eight-year-old girl full of wisdom and compassion. Paying close attention to the details an author provides about characters in a fictional work allows the reader better insight into the character's motivations and actions.

Consonance and Assonance

Two sound devices that are similar to alliteration are consonance and assonance. Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds anywhere in a line or stanza. See the following quotation from Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book. Notice which sound is repeated and the overall effect it has on the passage. "They will not move till I order them. Stay you sssso!" Kaa hissed, and the city was silent once more. . . . So this is the manling," said Kaa. "Very soft is his skin, and he is not so unlike the Bandar-log." The s sound is repeated throughout the lines. The effect is to make the snake's words sound like the hissing of a real snake. Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in lines and stanzas without rhyme. Assonance has a soothing effect. Consider the first four lines of Shakespeare's Twelfth Sonnet. Look for the nonrhyming long i sound in each line. When I do count the clock that tells the time And see the brave day sunk in hideous night; When I behold the violet past prime, And sable curls all silver'd o'er with white; Poe uses alliteration, consonance, and assonance to heighten the sense of madness in his poem "The Bells." Read the next few stanzas and see if you can find examples of all three of these sound devices. Reading it aloud will help you hear the sounds. Remember, they are easy to confuse. What is important is that you recognize that Poe is playing with sound for a specific effect. Hear the loud alarum bells- Brazen bells! What a tale of terror, now, their turbulency tells! In the startled ear of night How they scream out their affright! Too much horrified to speak, They can only shriek, shriek, Out of tune, In a clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire, In a mad expostulation with the deaf and frantic fire, Leaping higher, higher, higher, With a desperate desire, And a resolute endeavor, Now-now to sit or never, By the side of the pale-faced moon. Oh, the bells, bells, bells! What a tale their terror tells Of Despair! How they clang, and clash, and roar! What a horror they outpour On the bosom of the palpitating air! Yet the ear it fully knows, By the twanging, And the clanging, How the danger ebbs and flows: Yet the ear distinctly tells, In the jangling, And the wrangling, How the danger sinks and swells, By the sinking or the swelling in the anger of the bells- Of the bells- Of the bells, bells, bells, bells, Bells, bells, bells- In the clamor and the clangor of the bells! Below are a few lines and how they may be labeled as assonance, consonance and alliteration. Alliteration, Consonance, and Assonance Device Alliteration "What a tale of terror, now, their turbulency tells!" Notice how the t sound is the initial sound of tale, terror, turbulency, and tells. Consonance "Hear the loud alarum bells-" Here the l sound is in the initial and secondary sounds of the words loud, alarum, and bells. Assonance "In the jangling, And the wrangling, How the danger sinks and swells," Here the long a sound is in the rhyming words jangling and wrangling, but lines contain assonance when paired with the word danger. "The Bells" is an example of alliteration almost gone awry but, remember with Poe, there is always a method to his madness! He uses all the sound devices to build a sense of impending death and insanity. Another sound device is onomatopoeia. This is a word or group of words that imitate the object being described. Words like buzz and hiss are obvious examples. Less obvious though no less effective ones can be found in the following lines taken from Lord Alfred Tennyson's "Come Down, O Maid:" The moan of doves in immemorial elms, And murmuring of innumerable bees. While these lines contain consonance, the consonance serves as onomatopoeia. We can almost hear the murmur of the bees in this last line. Finally, poets often use repetition to convey emotion in their poems. Repetition might also be used to change the meaning of a word or idea. Read Robert Frost's "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening" and take note of his use of repetition. Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow. My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farmhouse near Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year. He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake. The only other sound's the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake. The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep. When Frost repeats the last line, he intends the reader to see beyond the literal meaning of needing to go a distance before going to sleep. The repetition forces the reader to look to a figurative as opposed to a literal meaning of the word sleep.

Narrative Poetry—Ballads and Epics

A narrative tells a story, usually in chronological order, and can take many forms including short stories, novels, narrative poems, and narrative essays. Narrative poetry may take the form of a ballad or an epic. Ballad Narrative poem that may or may not includ music Simple structure with four-line stanzas. Rhythmically recounts past events related to love, heroism, adventure or catastrophe. Action developed through dialogue. Events occur to common people, rather than nobility. Repetition of phrases and lines to enhance meaning. Ernest Thayer's "Casey at the Bat" is an example of a ballad. The first two stanzas follow: The outlook wasn't brilliant for the Mudville nine that day; The score stood four to two with but one inning more to play. And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same, A sickly silence fell upon the patrons of the game. A straggling few got up to go in deep despair. The rest Clung to that hope which springs eternal in the human breast; They thought if only Casey could but get a whack at that— We'd put up even money now with Casey at the bat. Study the points below for information regarding the epic. Epic 1. Very long narrative poem 2. The hero, either from history or legend, is well-known and larger than life. 3. Setting covers many nations, the world or even the universe. 4. Action involves superhuman courages and valiant deeds. 5. Supernatural forces, such as gods, demons and angels, may intervene. 6. Author invokes a muse to inspire and instruct him. 7. Author begins his epic in medias res, or in the middle of the story. Homer' Iliad and Odyssey and Dante's Divine Comedy are legendary examples of epic poetry.

Shared Themes in Major Texts

A novel or play may contain several themes, but a few universal themes are present in major literary works spanning several centuries and countless cultures. Here is a brief list of major themes followed by the texts that include them: Fate - Fate is a common theme in novels , especially in classic literature. It toys with the idea that who you are and who you are meant to be might already be predestined. Two works that use the theme are Moby Dick (written by Herman Melville) and Macbeth (written by William Shakespeare). While the two works were written in different eras, the theme still rings true. Moby Dick: Fate plays an important role in the novel, as Captain Ahab uses the sailors' staunch belief in fate to make them believe that their destiny is to catch Moby Dick. The question raised in the novel is of whether the sailors chose their fate or if catching Moby Dick was truly their destiny. Macbeth: In this play, fate is an example of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Three witches predict Macbeth 's future. When the witches' first sign comes true, he believes the rest of their prediction — to be king — must be his fate. He chooses to follow the fate set before him as his destiny. Again the play questions whether the character chooses his fate or does it choose him? Love is one of the most common themes used in literature. It can be life-giving but also lethal; Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice exemplify this dichotomy. Romeo and Juliet — Romeo and Juliet experience an all-consuming love for each other, but because of their feuding families they are prohibited from expressing it. Eventually, the two decide they cannot live apart, and death seems the only answer. The all-consuming love does, indeed, end up consuming them. Pride and Prejudice —Elizabeth and Darcy prohibit themselves from loving one another. Darcy is blinded by his superior social standing and doesn't see Elizabeth's virtues. Elizabeth is turned off by his snobbery and refuses to look past this superficial trait. With time and coincidence, Elizabeth and Darcy begin to see each other in a new light and begin to live a life they didn't previously think possible. Power - The lure of power and how it is wielded has been the motivating theme behind many great novels. For our purposes, we will examine two novels dealing with power in government: Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and George Orwell's 1984. While both novels feature governments that maintain total control over their citizens, the manner of presentation is vastly different. Individuality/Alienation - The feeling of being part of humanity yet isolated or alienated from it is also a universal theme. Two texts that bring this theme to the foreground are Kate Chopin's The Awakening and Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment. In The Awakening, the main character, Edna Pontellier, realizes the consequences of going against the norms of society. When she "awakens" to her own identity as a woman, her individuality causes her to be alienated. Her "awakening " leads to total isolation from both society and her family. Unlike Edna, Crime and Punishment's Rasknikov is already aware of his identity as a citizen of Russia. However, he feels superior to the rest of society and feels he must separate himself from those of lesser quality . He voluntarily alienates himself, only to find in the end that he wishes for the company of those he previously disdained.

Indentify and Describe the Poetic Conventions of Verse Form

Before one can fully understand the various forms that poems take, it is necessary to look at its many different parts. Just as novels are broken into paragraphs and chapters, poetry utilizes specific terminology to define different sections of each poem. Each line of poetry can be divided into words, syllables, and feet. The word feet (or foot) describes a unit of poetry. Each unit, or foot, is composed of a particular order of accented or unaccented syllables. How the feet are arranged determines the meter (or measured rhythm) of a poem. Scanning a line of poetry to determine its foot and meter is called scansion. Scansion is one way of approaching a poem and gives people a common language with which to discuss poetry. Let us first look at the elements of scansion before taking a moment to practice it. One part of scansion is identifying the type of feet used in a poem. There are six major types of regular feet. The Flash segment below will help you to practice recognizing them. For a concise review of poetic feet, use the table below. Types of Regular Feet IAMB Commonly used in English poetry Two syllables: first unstressed, second stressed Shall I / compare / thee to / a Sum / mer's day? TROCHEE Rarely used in English poetry; might be mixed with iambs for a harsh effect Two syllables: first stressed, second unstressed Tyger, / Tyger,/ burning / bright In the / forests / of the / night DACTYL Poems composed entirely of dactyls are rare. Three syllables: first stressed, second and third unstressed This is the / forest pri / meval. The / murmuring / pines and the / hemlocks (Notice the iamb at the end of the line) ANAPEST Allows for strong rhymes Three syllables: first and second unstressed, third stressed 'Twas the night / before Christ / mas and all / through the house SPONDEE This is a rarely used, very restrictive meter. Usually found as an anomaly within another meter. Two syllables: both stressed Soon it will / break down / unaware. "Break down" is the spondee in the middle of the line. PYRRHIC Another restrictive meter Two syllables: both unstressed In a / minute "In a" is the pyrrhic foot. Once you understand how a foot of poetry is put together, you need to know how those feet are put together to form meter. All of these feet can be put together in groups of one (monometer), two (dimeter), three (trimeter), four (tetrameter), five (pentameter), or more syllables. So, if a poem is written in iambic pentameter, it has five iambs for a total of ten syllables. A poem written in anapest tetrameter has four anapests for a total of twelve syllables. Let's try a little scansion now, shall we? Remember to count the syllables in a typical line first. Then read that line and mark the stressed and unstressed syllables. Use a ( ˘ ) symbol to mark an unstressed syllable and a ( ` ) to mark a stressed syllable. It's important to note that stresses often fall on important words such as nouns and verbs. Next you'll want to notice whether the pattern matches a known foot or not. Finally, count the feet and name the meter. Let's try it with a verse from William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun! Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, Who is already sick and pale with grief, That thou her maid art far more fair than she: Be not her maid, since she is envious; Her vestal livery is but sick and green, And none but fools do wear it; cast it off. It is my lady; O! it is my love: O! that she knew she were. Note that the typical line has ten syllables. (In the second line, Juliet must be said with two syllables to make the ten syllables.) After marking the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables, you'll find that this is an iamb. You should count a total of five iambs, which means this soliloquy is written in iambic pentameter. It's interesting to note that iambic pentameter is the most widely used meter due to the fact that it so closely resembles natural speech. This fact helps explains why Shakespeare's plays are so timeless. The rhythm of the lines sounds like talking. Iambic pentameter is also called blank verse, which we'll discuss next.

Movements and Their Descendents The Pilgrims and Their Descendents

Much of American literature parallels the nation's historical events. In keeping with that fact, it makes sense that colonial literature was the first major literary period in America. The atmosphere of the time was serious and religious. Much of the writing reflects the trials and experiences of the settlers and what the founders encountered in the New World. Life was hard for them, and they often depended on their faith in God to pull them through. Due to religious persecution, the Puritans left England to settle in America. This accounts for the heavy Puritan influence that permeated much of colonial literature. Here are some key principles of colonial literature for you to know. The following are the major writers and their works you should know: Major Colonial Writers Writer Work Background Jonathan Edwards "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" Edwards was a Puritan preacher. His writing reflects his fire and brimstone attitude. This sermon is typical of the Puritan outlook on life and faith. Anne Bradstreet "Here Follows Some Verses Upon the Burning of Our House" Bradstreet took the burning of her house as a sign that she was too focused on material goods. John Smith "The General History of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles" John Smith was an important literary figure because of his historical contribution. He was the first leader of Jamestown. The book explains how difficult life was for the settlers and their descendents. American Romantics and Transcendentalists 1820-1865 The Romantic movement originated in continental Europe, spread to England, and finally landed in the United States. This period occurred during a time of great change in America. The country was looking inward and focusing on itself. This focus can be seen in the key principles of Romanticism: It is a celebration of the individual, the human psychological state, and the sublime. Romantic writers often studied the idea of death and the macabre. Characters were often out of the ordinary, meaning they had unusual personalities, lived alternative lifestyles, or experienced life circumstances outside the norm. Some of the key writers and their works include: Some key notes on these major works: Major Romantic Works to Know Work Summary "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe A psychological thriller in short story format, it tells the story of one man's experience of plotting and killing another. "Rip Van Winkle" by Washington Irving This light-hearted short story explores how one man was removed from society for many years only to come back to a changed world a completely unchanged person. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne The main character is a woman who has been ostracized from her Puritan community for having an affair, and giving birth to a daughter while refusing to divulge the identity of the father, despite the fact that her husband had been missing for many years. Moby Dick by Herman Melville In this novel, a sea captain tells of his journey to capture Moby Dick, the elusive and legendary whale. The romantic movement encouraged many writers to document their ideas using the medium of poetry. This group of poets was called the Fireside poets. They were household names, famous and widely read while they were alive. Here are a couple of key principles to know about them: Aside from knowing about the Fireside poets, it is important to know some of their works: William Cullen Bryant: "Thanatopsis" "To a Waterfowl" Oliver Wendell Holmes: "Old Ironsides" "The Chambered Nautilus" Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" The Song of Hiawatha Evangeline James Russell Lowell: "To the Dandelion" "The Changeling" John Greenleaf Whittier: "Snow-Bound: A Winter Idyl" "Ichabod" In some ways the Romantics bred the Transcendentalists, as the two share similar themes in their work. The major difference is that the Transcendentalists focused more on nature and the individual's relationship with it. A key term tied to this group is self-reliance. Self-reliance conveys the ideal of living without the niceties of society and materialism. Transcendentalists believed that an ideal spiritual state existed once one transcended the physical and empirical world. They celebrated the self and considered the individual an integral part of nature. Three major American writers came from this movement. Let's stop here for a moment and review. The next part of American literature indicates a great shift in thinking so this is a good place to break and look at what we have covered.

Historical Development of Poetry Poetry in the Age of Reason

Poetry from the eighteenth century's Age of Reason and Age of Classicism reflected traditional ideas within structured poetic forms. Alexander Pope, a literary leader and satirist, expressed neoclassical thinking in his famous mock epic, The Rape of the Lock. A mock epic imitates an epic in structure and features a mundane event that is made to appear ridiculous through the use of elevated, lofty language. Humor results from the elevated treatment of a trivial subject. In the following lines (Canto IV, lines 171-176) from The Rape of the Lock, Pope describes the young woman's horror at her hair being cut by the Baron: The sister-lock now sits uncouth, alone, And in its fellow's fate foresees its own; Uncurl'd it hangs, the fatal shears demands And tempts once more thy sacrilegious hands. Oh hadst thou, cruel: been content to seize Hairs less in sight, or any hairs but these! Based on a real incident that happened to Pope's friends, Pope parodies Greek epics using the events that transpired when Lord Petrie cut off a lock of Annabella Fermor's hair as the subject matter.

Historical Development of Drama Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries

A wide array of playwrights from around the world offered their work to theatergoers during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The problem play, which addresses a social problem, originated with playwrights Henrik Ibsen and George Bernard Shaw. The following table describes the contributions of some of the modern playwrights. Modern Playwrights Henrik Ibsen Norway Wrote A Doll's House, a social drama on the institution of marriage, in 1879. Considered the father of modern drama by many critics. Oscar Wilde England Wrote several witty plays, including his most noted, The Importance of Being Earnest in 1895. The play satirizes British nobility and clergy. Anton Chekhov Russia Wrote The Cherry Orchard between early 1901 and late 1903. The play depicts the life of a landowning family about to lose its precious cherry orchard. George Bernard Shaw Ireland Wrote the problem play Major Barbara, which uses comedy and interesting characters to address the issues of money and ethics. Written in 1913, Pygmalion, one of Shaw's most popular plays, was later made into the musical My Fair Lady. That play satirizes male-female relationships and class divisions in England. Eugene O'Neill United States Received the Pulitzer Prize in 1920 for Beyond the Horizon and later received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1936. He was the first American dramatist to win the prize. Before O'Neill, American theater consisted of mostly romantic melodrama, but O'Neill changed that. His plays, such as The Iceman Cometh and Long Day's Journey into Night, introduced serious, psychological drama to American audiences. Thornton Wilder United States His most famous play, Our Town, uses no scenery and very few props, yet it earned a Pulitzer Prize in 1938. It remains a classic of American theatre to this day. Arthur Miller United States His Death of a Salesman won a Pulitzer in 1949. The play, widely regarded as the first great American tragedy, rocketed Miller to national stardom. The Roman Catholic Church greatly influenced the following three types of dramas during the Middle Ages: Miracle plays —Dramas based on the life of a saint or a Bible story. Passion plays —Dramas depicting the crucifixion of Christ. Morality plays —Allegoric dramatizations of the human search for salvation. A comedy of manners is a witty and risqué satire of upper-class etiquette and immoral behavior. A sentimental comedy lacks dramatic reality in its presentation of middle-class emotions and tenderness. A problem play addresses a social problem or issue.

Reality Sets In

After 1865 the United States experienced a significant amount of growth and expansion. Things were settling down after the Civil War, and the nation was advancing toward World War I. Writers and citizens began to lose their romantic notions and were moving toward a more realistic worldview. As a result, the next literary period to influence American writing was aptly dubbed realism. As we progress through the lesson, keep in mind the fact that realism was a reaction to romanticism.

Setting

Another important element in a piece of literature is the setting, or the time and place that the fictional work occurs. The setting of a story can cause characters to act in particular ways, and it can push the plot in a certain direction. Setting is more than a physical surrounding; it also includes the ideas, customs, and beliefs of a certain period of time. Setting is made up of the following elements: Geographical location —What makes up the scenery? What is the topography of the area? What is the physical location of furniture, windows, and doors? Daily life —How do the characters conduct their lives on a day-to-day basis? Are they poor, rich, average? What are the occupations of the characters? Where do they work? Time —What is the historical period? What is the season of the year? General environment —What makes up the characters' religious, social, and moral environment? What is the mental and emotional environment of the story? Setting plays a crucial role in Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter by establishing a dark and unforgiving atmosphere. The events of the story occur in a Puritan community of Boston in the early seventeenth century, where adultery and an illegitimate child bring scorn and consternation. After being escorted out of the prison to be publicly condemned, Hester briefly remembers the life she had in England. The following quote from the novel is when she realizes again where she is. Quote from the Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Letter would not be relevant in any other setting because the religious environment and the historical period drive the plot of the novel and influence the actions of the characters. This type of integral setting, which is essential to the plot of a story, occurs in the adventure stories of Jack London, as well. Call of the Wild takes place during the 1890s when gold is discovered in the Klondike region of Canada. Buck is stolen from a comfortable home in California because strong dogs are in demand for pulling sleds in the Canadian wilderness. The story follows Buck's progression from a domestic dog into a more wild one, and without the wilderness as the setting, the plot would have nowhere to go. The following boxes indicate literary works with integral settings. table of various literary settings The literary works listed above have settings that are integral to plot and character development, but in some literature, setting is almost irrelevant. A backdrop setting provides a place and time for a story to develop, but the setting itself is of little importance to plot development. For example, in Guy de Maupassant's short story "The Necklace," a young woman loses a friend's necklace and spends many years of her life paying for her mistake. The setting is irrelevant because the jewelry could have been lost in any city at any time. Another example of backdrop setting is in Flannery O'Connor's short story "A Good Man Is Hard to Find." In the story, a family traveling to Florida has an accident on a deserted road and is unfortunately discovered by an escaped convict. The only requirement for setting in this story is a deserted location, which could be a desert or a dark alley just as well as a dirt road. In some literary genres, such as science fiction and gothic stories, setting plays an important role in directing plot and characters. Paying close attention to setting details leads to an improved appreciation and understanding of a literary work. It is important to understand that the theme of a literary work is subjective. Every reader connects with literature differently because everyone has distinct perspectives. Therefore, more than one theme can be derived from a single literary work, as shown with Melville's short story. In literature, a major theme may be apparent to most readers, while a deeper theme awaits readers willing to analyze a story. If a theme is too obvious, then it might be perceived as childish or too simplistic. However, if a theme is too obscure, readers may find the work confusing or lacking significant meaning. Modern art, for example, is often accused of having meaning that is too ambiguous. obvious theme obscure theme For example, C. S. Lewis's children's novel The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe appears at first glance to be a fantasy story about the adventures of four children who visit the magical land of Narnia. From that level, an obvious theme might be that forgiving others is an important part of life. Aslan, the lion, forgives Edmund for aligning with the White Witch and endangering the inhabitants of Narnia. However, a closer examination reveals that the theme of the story is humanity's redemption. Aslan, a Christ figure in the story, sacrifices his own life in order to save Edmund's, which is a common theme found in literature, as well as popular movies. Understanding and appreciating literature involves analyzing plot, setting, characters, and theme; readers willing to go beyond the obvious and delve into the more abstract qualities of a literary work will be greatly rewarded.

Elements of Poetry Poetic Devices

Apostrophe A person or personified object is addressed as if it is present. From Lord Byron's " Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" "Roll on thou dark and deep blue ocean." Conceit An extended metaphor In John Donne's "The Flea," the poet compares a flea bite to the act of lovemaking, thus urging his lover to give in to his advances. Hyperbole An obvious exaggeration that serves to emphasize a point or add humor to a poem From Mark Twain's "Celebrated Jumpin' Frog of Calaveras County" "If he even seen a straddle-bug start to go anywheres, he would bet you how long it would take him to get wherever he was going to, and if you took him up, he would foller that straddle-bug to Mexico but what he would find out where he was bound for and how long he was on the road." Metaphor Comparing two unlike things by calling one thing another; a staple of all poetry From William Cullen Bryant's "A Forest Hymn" "The groves were God's first temple." Metonymy Referring to something or someone by naming one of its attributes or correlatives Using "the White House" to mean the president and his advisors Personification Giving human characteristics to an inanimate object From John Donne's "Death be not Proud" "Death be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not so, For, those, whom thou think'st, thou dost overthrow, Die not, poore death, nor yet canst thou kill me." Pun A play on words with similar meanings; Shakespeare is a master at puns From Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet after Mercutio has been stabbed No, 'tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church-door; but 'tis enough,'twill serve: ask for me to-morrow, and you shall find me a grave man. I am peppered, I warrant, for this world. Simile Comparing two seemingly unlike things using "like" or "as"; the simile is less powerful than the metaphor From Robert Burns's "A Red, Red Rose" "My love is like a red, red rose That's newly sprung in June: My love is like the melody That's sweetly played in tune." Synecdoche A part of a thing that replaces the whole Saying "the crown" when referring to the king

Modernism

As the Harlem Renaissance was winding down, the Modernist movement was gathering momentum in the United States. Modernism in America took hold in the period between World War I and World War II (1917-1945). During this time, the United States was experiencing a great economic and artistic shift. The Great Depression was a huge influence as was the somber mood of war. Following are some key principles to remember about this brief but powerful time in literature: Major Modernist prose writers include: F. Scott Fitzgerald This Side of Paradise The Great Gatsby Ernest Hemingway The Old Man and the Sea For Whom the Bell Tolls A Farewell to Arms) William Faulkner (A Light in August, The Sound and the Fury) Major Modernist poets include: Ezra Pound The Cantos of Ezra Pound T.S. Eliot Love Song of Alfred J. Prufrock William Carlos Williams Tract Major Modern dramatist: Eugene O'Neill Long Day's Journey Into Night The following is a quick reference chart that illustrates the history of American literature:

Historical Development of Poetry Romanticism and Transcendentalism

Because all things must end, Neoclassicism gave way to Romanticism at the end of the eighteenth century. Literature of the Romantic age emphasized emotions and creativity in opposition to the reason and intellect of Neoclassicism. The following list contrasts elements and attitudes of eighteenth-century Neoclassicism with the Romanticism of the early nineteenth century. Elements of Neoclassicism and Romanticism Neoclassicism Romanticism tradition innovation urban rural conformist independent intellect/reason imagination/emotion control spontaneity English Romantic poetry bloomed in the hands of William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. They were closely followed by Percy Bysshe Shelley, George Gordon Byron, and John Keats. The following passage comes from Wordsworth's "Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey": As is a landscape to a blind man's eye: But oft, in lonely rooms, and 'mid the din Of towns and cities, I have owed to them In hours of weariness, sensations sweet, Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart; And passing even into my purer mind, With tranquil restoration. Wordsworth's poems, all of which are very much like the one above, embody the rural, emotional, and creative elements that mark the poetry of the Romantic age. Although his poetry does not best represent the romantic age, Lord Byron is associated with Romantic poets because of the Byronic hero, which could be found in both his work and his life. Readers often assumed that the heroes of Byron's poems were self-portraits, although they most likely were not. The following characteristics describe a typical Byronic hero: defiant talented self-destructive brooding handsome adventurous Some well-known literary examples of characters modeled on the Byronic hero include Heathcliff in Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights and the mysterious Mr. Rochester from Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre. Romanticism developed later in the United States, but the characteristics of Romanticism suited a young America—innovative, rural, and independent. The work of Wordsworth and Coleridge influenced American writers such as William Cullen Bryant, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Edgar Allan Poe. Transcendentalism, the American philosophic and literary movement of the nineteenth century, stemmed from the Romantic movement. Transcendentalists, of which Emerson was the leader, believed that the ideal spiritual state goes beyond ordinary experience. Moreover, they believed that every person was divine and that trusting one's self was like trusting God, who spoke within one's self. Fresh Voices Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson redefined American poetry in the nineteenth century, but their personalities and poetry could not be more different. Outgoing and outspoken, Whitman published poems that celebrated the energy, growth, and turmoil of American life. Whitman's poetry was revolutionary because it celebrated common America and captured the colorful speech and spirit of a young nation. Whitman frequently used long, unmetered lines called free verse to echo the sound of everyday speech. The following lines are from Whitman's poem "Song of Myself": A child said What is the grass? fetching it to me with full hands; How could I answer the child? I do not know what it is any more than he. I guess it must be the flag of my disposition, out of hopeful green stuff woven. Or I guess it is the handkerchief of the Lord, A scented gift and remembrancer designedly dropt, Bearing the owner's name someway in the corners, that we may see and remark, and say Whose? On the other hand, the reclusive Dickinson, who rarely left her family home, wrote almost 1,800 poems, publishing only seven during her lifetime. Dickinson wrote passionate poetry with a distinctive and original style. Dashes and unconventional capitalization characterize her poems, as in "Much Madness is Divinest Sense." Much Madness is divinest Sense— To a discerning Eye— Much Sense -- the starkest Madness— 'Tis the Majority In this, as All, prevail— Assent—and you are sane— Demur—you're straightway dangerous— And handled with a Chain— The innovative and unique styles of Dickinson and Whitman influenced up-and-coming writers and set the stage for twentieth-century poetry.

Indentify and Describe the Poetic Conventions of Verse More Elements of Poetic Conventions

Blank verse is a line with five stressed and five unstressed syllables for a total of ten syllables. It is called iambic pentameter because it has five (penta) iambs (iambic). The famous Elizabethan dramatist Christopher Marlowe was the first to master blank verse, but Shakespeare is the one who made it famous. "A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse." is an example of blank verse (iambic pentameter) from Shakespeare. If you mark the syllables, you can see the pattern. "A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse." It is worth noting that Shakespeare sometimes changes from iambic pentameter to prose in his plays. This transition often allows the reader insight into the nature of a character. Often the idiots or commoners in his play speak in prose as opposed to blank verse. A stanza is a group of lines that constitute a unit within a longer poem. Stanzas are the paragraphs of poetry. Stanzas were originally intended to assist the poet when the poem was put to music. The stanza change indicated some shift in the music, perhaps from verse to refrain. Now the stanza change represents a pause for the reader. It might also represent a shift, however subtle or sudden, in ideas. Not all works of poetry have more than one stanza. Ballads and quatrains are such examples and will be discussed later in this lesson. A couplet is a pair of lines that usually rhyme. In a closed couplet, the entire thought is contained within that one couplet. In an open couplet, the idea may run into the next couplet. Some couplets may have caesuras, or pauses, to break up whatever sing-song quality the line presents. Like chapters in a novel, cantos are shorter sections of a poetic work. Cantos may be divided by action or theme. Lord Byron and Alexander Pope divided their poems into cantos, but the most famous work in cantos is Dante's Divine Comedy. Its three cantiche (or canticas or "parts") titled Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradisio are made up of thirty-three cantos each. Inferno actually has thirty-four cantos, but the first canto serves an introduction to the entire piece. Now that we've discussed the basic elements or building blocks of poetic form, we should take a moment and consider the bigger picture. How does a poet decide which form a new poem will take, for instance? Which format will best convey his or her emotions? Let's examine the most common forms of poetry and see if we can't shed some light on the reasons behind why poets make the decisions they do. Just as in abstract art, abstract poetry does not subscribe to normal poetic conventions. The words are the thing. In fact, the meaning of the poem is secondary to the sound of the words. See how the whimsicality of the words that comprise Lewis Carroll's "The Jabberwocky" makes more of an impression than the implied meaning of the words? 'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe. "Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun The frumious Bandersnatch!" A totally different kind of poem is the ballad. It's a poem meant to be sung that often deals with fatal relationships. The ballad allows the writer to communicate deep emotions or to tell a story of love or common courage. The ballad might also have a refrain. The traditional British ballad stanza has four lines and an abab rhyme scheme whose first and third lines have four stressed syllables and second and fourth lines have three accented syllables. The following stanza is from "The Unquiet Grave." It possibly dates from 1400 but was collected by Francis James Child much later, in 1868. It conforms to the structure described above. The wind doth blow today, my love, And a few small drops of rain; I never had but one true-love, In cold grave Bible was lain. Very much unlike the ballad, the cinquain, or "grouping of five," is a five-line stanza or a poem in five lines. It usually does not rhyme, and it sometimes moves in iambs. The cinquain was a reaction to Japanese haiku poetry. Carl Sandburg made cinquain famous in his anthology Cornhuskers. The syllable structure of a cinquain poem typically looks like this: Line 1: two syllables Line 2: four syllables Line 3: six syllables Line 4: eight syllables Line 5: two syllables Adelaide Crapsey conceived of the cinquain, though Sandburg made the type widely known. From Crapsey's posthumously published Verse (1915), here's "Triad." These be Three silent things: The falling snow . . . the hour Before the dawn . . . the mouth of one Just dead. Standing in sharp contrast to the cinquain is dramatic poetry. This poetic form is actually a long, reflective speech given by a narrator that typically addresses another character. Most dramatic poetry is written in monologue form and traces its roots back to ancient Greece. Another of the oldest forms of poetry is the elegy, a poem of mourning that focuses specifically on the death of someone or generally on some sort of sorrow. The word eulogy is derived from it, and its original source came from the Greek elegos. The elegy has no particular form. One of the most famous elegies, Thomas Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard," begins: The curfew tolls the knell of parting day, The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea, The plowman homeward plods his weary way, And leaves the world to darkness and to me. Now fades the glimm'ring landscape on the sight, And all the air a solemn stillness holds, Save where the beetle wheels his droning flight, And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds; An epigram is usually thought of as a short, terse witticism. The following is a perfect example: "I can resist everything except temptation." -Oscar Wilde Epigrams, though, are also a poetic form. Tracing its roots to Greece, the epigram was originally a brief inscription written on a grave or monument (epigram comes from the Greek words that signify "to write on"). It evolved into its current form: a short, witty poem ending with a clever twist. Most poetic epigrams are written as couplets, unlike the one-line zingers characterized by the Wilde example. The following epigram by John Dryden illustrates the poetic form most clearly: Here lies my wife; here let her lie! Now she's at rest and so am I! Haiku is both a form and a genre. Haiku poems do not use complicated grammar or words and are often about everyday objects and experiences. Haikus do not usually include similes and metaphors. The traditional haiku is comprised of three short lines with the second being a little longer than the first and third. The lines are, consecutively, five, seven, and five syllables in length. One of the most famous haiku authors is Matsuo Basho. An example of his mastery of the form can be seen in the following poem: Listen! a frog Jumping into the silence Of an ancient pond Unlike the haiku, the heroic couplet is longer and combines lines of iambic pentameter that rhyme in pairs. The rhyme scheme is aabbcc, and so on. Alexander Pope's "The Rape of the Lock" is written in heroic couplets to make the silly subject of the poem, a haircut, seem more intense and epic, thus creating delicious irony. What dire offence from amorous causes springs, What mighty contests rise from trivial things, I sing--This verse to CARYLL, Muse! is due: This, ev'n Belinda may vouchsafe to view: Light verse is a type of poetry, not necessarily a form of poetry. It includes less serious forms such as limericks epigrams nursery rhymes parodies We've discussed the epigram. Parodies and nursery rhymes are understood, but the limerick needs to be defined. This particular kind of poem is constructed in a rigid five lines with an aabba rhyme scheme. The first, second, and fifth lines are written in anapestic tetrameter with the others in dimeter. The last line of a limerick often packs a comedic punch. Many limericks are bawdy; in fact, most are too risqué to print here. Here is a tamer version of the form, a limerick by the famous artist, illustrator, nonsense poet, and limerick writer Edward Lear: There was an Old Lady whose folly Induced her to sit in a holly: Whereupon by a thorn Her dress being torn, She quickly became melancholy. Less nonsensical and rigid is the ode. Odes are lyric poems that celebrate a person or object. There are three types of odes. Pindaric odes are named after the inventor of the ode, Pindar or Pindarus, the great Greek lyric poet. These odes.are written in complicated meters and elaborate stanzas. They have a formal introduction, a middle, and an end. The Horatian ode, exemplified by Andrew Marvell's "An Horation Ode upon Cromwell's Return from Ireland" only has one stanza pattern : aabb with two four-foot lines followed by two three-foot lines. The final ode type is the irregular ode, which has no metrical or stanzaic rules. The defining character of an ode then is not its structure but its content. Odes are marked by their lyrical verse and the emotion they evoke about a singular subject. John Keats's "Ode to a Nightingale" and "Ode on a Grecian Urn" are two of the most widely studied odes. A sonnet, meaning "little song," is a widely loved form of poetry. It is a fourteen-line lyric poem written in iambic pentameter. There are two types of sonnets: Italian (Petrachan) and English (Shakespearean). The Italian sonnet has two stanzas. The first is eight lines with an abbaabba rhyme scheme and introduces the topic of the poem. The second is six lines with either a cdecde or cdcdcd rhyme scheme and brings the poem to its resolution. The English sonnet consists of three quatrains and a rhyming couplet. The quatrains may present more than one situation that reaches resolution in the final couplet.

Modes of Writing Drama

Comedies are dramatic works that are light and humorous with happy endings. A comedy that is based on a humorous situation is called a farce. The distinction between the two is sometimes unclear. The same play may be viewed by one person as a farce and another as a comedy. Shakespeare's comedies include A Midsummer Night's Dream and As You Like It, while The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy with farcical elements. Although differentiating between a comedy and a farce may not be easy, the identifying characteristics of a tragedy are readily apparent. In drama, a tragedy is a serious play that involves the downfall of a hero or heroine. Beowulf, Shakespeare's tragedies, and Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman share common characteristics despite their many differences.

A New Generation

Demand for short fiction grew toward the end of the nineteenth century due in part to inexpensive printing and the creation of more literary magazines and journals. The trend continued for the first half of the twentieth century as magazines such as the Atlantic Monthly and the Saturday Evening Post published short stories in every issue. This move increased the demand for short stories and the money that was paid for them. In 1906, American short story writer O. Henry published The Four Million, a collection of short stories that includes his best-known story, "The Gift of the Magi." A popular and prolific writer, O. Henry wrote sentimental stories about the lives of ordinary people trying to make it in the world. Many of his stories take place in New York, whose population was four million at the time of his collection's publication. O. Henry's stories are known for their surprise endings. In "The Gift of the Magi," a struggling couple wants to buy each other Christmas gifts. The wife sells her long hair to buy her husband a watch fob, while the husband sells his watch to buy his wife a pretty comb for her hair. American authors Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner lived during the same time period. Both made a great impact on the literary world, and both earned Nobel Prizes. Although short stories are not published in commercial magazines as widely as they once were, the short story genre remains a popular form of prose writing.

Historical Development of Drama Greeks

Drama and theater developed in ancient Greece between the late sixth and early fourth centuries BCE. Its influence was so profound that theater is widely enjoyed to this day. Some of the earliest tragedies and comedies were written by the gifted intellectuals, artists, and politicians living in the great city of Athens. The origins of Greek comedy and tragedy can be traced to the elaborate Greek worship rituals that were enacted in the name of Dionysus, god of fertility and wine. Over time, these dramatic ceremonies began to include other gods and human heroes. Fifth-century master playwrights Sophocles, Euripides, and Aeschylus produced tragedies that focused on humanity's struggle with good and evil. In contrast, Aristophanes, also from the fifth century, wrote comedies full of satire and absurdity. The Middle Ages The medieval period began in 1066 when the Normans, led by William the Conqueror, defeated the Anglo-Saxons. The Middle Ages were a time of feudalism, the Magna Carta, chivalry, knights, and the Crusades. In England, medieval drama served as public entertainment. The following table provides an overview of the different types of plays performed during the Middle Ages in England. Types of Plays Performed in the Middle Ages Miracle Play A play based on the life of a saint or a martyr. Later versions would include Bible stories. Also known as a mystery play, this type of drama was developed by the Roman Catholic Church to teach the illiterate about Christianity. Passion Play A play depicting Christ's crucifixion. Such plays were performed from the thirteenth century onward but dwindled in popularity in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Morality Play Theaters offered these plays during the latter part of the Middle Ages. The morality play was a dramatized allegory in which the actors played the roles of virtues and vices, such as Mercy, Conscience, Shame, Patience, and Greed. The good and the bad struggled for the soul of a single hero.

Historical Development of Poetry The Headliners—Shakespeare and Milton

During the Elizabethan Age (1558-1603), writers focused their attention on poetry and drama. Some Elizabethan writers only wrote lyric poetry, but others, such as playwright William Shakespeare, wrote in blank verse. During this time in Italy, an important development occurred; the sonnet was created. Petrarch, a great Italian lyric poet, created the fourteen-line lyric poem, now known as the Petrarchan sonnet. Shakespeare and Sir Philip Sidney followed Petrarch's lead by writing their own sonnets, although the English poets altered the form somewhat to what is now recognized as the Shakespearean sonnet. Shakespeare, the best known author in the English language, wrote much of the important poetry and drama during the sixteenth century. Between 1593 and 1601, Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets exploring themes of life, love, beauty, and friendship in addition to his numerous plays. The close connection between poetry and drama in English literature during the Renaissance was magical but brief; modern playwrights do not write in verse as Shakespeare and his cohorts did. Poetry continued to dominate the literary world in the seventeeth century. John Donne wrote Metaphysical poetry, which expresses highly philosophical ideas. Ben Jonson introduced Neoclassicism, a revival of the style and attitude of ancient Greece. John Milton, one of the most important poets of the seventeenth century, wrote Paradise Lost, an epic poem in twelve books. The opening lines explain the storyline: 1. Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit 2. Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste 3. Brought death into the world, and all our woe, 4. With loss of Eden, till one greater Man 5. Restore us, and regain the blissful seat. This great epic of the English language contains more than ten thousand lines.

Historical Development of Poetry

Early Poetry Greek Epics Drama and poetry have gone hand in hand since ancient Greece. One source for Greek drama was epic poetry, long narrative poems recounting the courageous deeds of a hero. Originally, these long poems were recited orally for special occasions and improvisation was sometimes a necessity. The earliest examples of Greek epic poetry are Homer's Iliad and the Odyssey, most likely written around 750 BCE. The Iliad' s plot follows the attempt by the Greeks to rescue Helen, a Greek queen captured by the Trojans during the Trojan War, while the Odyssey tells the story of Odysseus as he travels home to Ithaca after the Trojan War. Although written in verse, the Odyssey contains early elements of the novel, such as exciting narrative and flashbacks that add to the dramatic effect of the story. Anglo-Saxon Epics Old English, also known as Anglo-Saxon, was introduced to Britain when the country was invaded by the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, who came from the European mainland. The different tribes brought oral hero legends that would later become the subjects of the earliest English literature and poetry. Early poetry in all cultures had to be memorable, since the printing press had yet to be invented. Across Europe and England, poetry survived as an oral tradition, passing by word of mouth from generation to generation. In Anglo-Saxon civilization, traveling minstrels known as scops composed, memorized, and presented songs and poems. The minstrels recited epics about great battles and brave heroes. Beowulf, an epic composed in Old English, dates from between 700 and 1000 A.D. The storyline combines Norse legend with historical Danish events from the early sixth century. Danish invaders carried the oral tradition to England in the mid-sixth century, where the story absorbed hints of Christianity. It was finally written down by one unknown poet around 1000 A.D. Add Some Music In addition to epics, the Anglo-Saxons and Greeks composed lyric poems. Much like modern song lyrics, lyric poems were shorter than epics and communicated thoughts and feelings instead of telling a story. Poets were often accompanied by musical instrumentation when they recited the lyrics. The people of ancient Greece used a lyre, a harp-like instrument, to accompany the lyrics, while the minstrels in England often played harps as they recited poetry. Most of the Anglo-Saxon lyric poetry that survived the ages express belief in the Christian faith. The secular poems that still exist are elegies, or poems of lament and mourning.

Review of poetic terms

Epic poetry A long, narrative poem about the courageous feats of a hero Lyric poetry A brief poem emphasizing sound and expressing the personal feelings of the poet Elegy A mournful poem, usually about death Ballad A narrative poem in short stanzas originally meant to be sung Narrative poem A poem that tells a story Sonnet A fourteen-line poem usually in iambic pentameter and in one of two rhyme schemes: Italian/Petrarchan or Shakespearean Mock epic A parody of an epic poem that treats a trivial subject with epic grandeur Literary Movements Poetry from the time of Neoclassicism emphasizes traditional classic elements, such as restraint, balance, reason, and a sense of form. Metaphysical poetry expresses highly philosophical ideas. Romanticism emphasized imagination and emotions instead of reason and intelligence. Transcendentalism was an American literary movement that relied on intuition to comprehend the realities of the world. Imagism was a theory in poetry that emphasized precise presentations of images rather than descriptions.

Extrinsically Speaking: New Historicism and Historical and Political Influences

Extrinsically Speaking: New Historicism and Historical and Political Influences Now that we have covered the intrinsic portion of the critical approaches, we can move on to everything else. First, what does extrinsic mean in the case of literary interpretation? Great question! It means that the analysis of a literary text is not limited only to what is in the text but can and does include outside influences. This is not to say that it only considers outside influences; instead it combines both the value of the text itself and the value of its background, author, audience, or history. Notice the use of the word or. This is because the following approaches focus on one or two outside influences. For example, the new historicist critics focus on the historical and social implications of a text. Many literary works have been born out of political and social unrest. This approach was a direct reaction against the formalist and new criticism approaches. It's time again for those key principles! The basic difference between formalism and new historicism is that new historicism does separate the influences of social and historical systems on the novel from the text itself. These influences go hand in hand. New historicist critics would argue that one cannot study To Kill a Mockingbird without first understanding the importance of the social and political thought in the Deep South during the 1930s. The reader must know that extreme prejudice existed at the time. According to new historicism analysis, To Kill a Mockingbird is a great example of how literature can reflect the social interest and belief system of a time period. Finally, let's take a look at the fourth principle. Simply put, it expresses the idea that with so many societies, systems of belief, social interests, histories, and conditions of daily life, it is impossible for critics to reach the same conclusions about a literary work. This is why no interpretation of a text is definitive, at least in the minds of those who belong to the school of new historicism.

Feminist Analysis

Feminist analysis has many facets and is broadly based on the politics of feminism. This approach focuses on issues relevant to women in their many relationships to literature—as authors, as readers, and as fictional characters. The approach wants to answer the questions, "How are women viewed as writers?" and "How do women react to the roles female characters play in literature?" It also deals with how women are viewed in the literary world (i.e., the canon). As with all of the critical approaches, readers will disagree on certain points within an approach. However, there are certain—you guessed it—key principles that guide the general idea of this critical approach. When looking at a text through the eyes of a feminist critic, ask yourself the following questions: How does being a woman affect the reading of the text? How does being a female author affect the text? What is the effect of a patriarchal culture/society/mindset? Foundational works for contemporary feminist critics include: Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman; the gender-conscious essays of Virginia Woolf; Christine de Pisan's fourteenth-century Book of the City of Ladies; Simone de Beauvoir's protest against the second-class treatment of women, The Second Sex; and Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar's Madwoman in the Attic, a groundbreaking work of literary criticism. Feminist critical principles are compatible with a range of other critical disciplines, including all of the extrinsic approaches that we have already discussed, as well as materialism, post-structuralism, and the study of race and ethnicity. It looks like it's time for a review of all the critical approaches. Use the following chart to help keep the different approaches clear in your mind! Major Critical Approaches

A New Genre

Given the numerous contributions made to the development of the short story, it is difficult to pinpoint one specific creator of the form. In this case, it took a group effort. Of the group, Irving was the earliest to use the form, but Hawthorne and Poe stand out as exceptional writers in the short story genre. Washington Irving's best-known book, The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., contained his most famous short stories, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle." The publication of the book in 1820 marked the beginning of the American short story. Irving popularized short fiction by making it purely entertaining. Americans and Europeans enjoyed his work, and Irving became an international success. Irving's combination of folklore, humor, sympathetic characters, and detailed setting descriptions made his work popular. Famed writer Nathaniel Hawthorne took the short story genre to a new level by exploring sin, morality, guilt, and their effects on the human heart and conscience. Hawthorne set many of his stories in Puritan New England, which provided him with ample opportunities for weaving moral principles into his work. Edgar Allan Poe highly regarded the literature of Nathaniel Hawthorne, and, in turn, such notable writers as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Ray Bradbury, and H. G. Wells credited Poe for influencing their own work. Poe's short stories, such as "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Cask of Amontillado," illustrate his fascination with death, insanity, revenge, and the human conscience. Poe's immense talent reached in a number of directions. In addition to his numerous horror and suspense tales, Poe wrote poetry and is credited for inventing the detective story.

Approaching Literature: Critically

In this section the following major critical approaches will be covered: formalism, new historicism, feminism, psychoanalytic theory, and reader-response theory. Classroom Demonstration Video In order to view this video, you must have RealPlayer installed on your computer. If you do not, you may download it for free from this site. Click on the links below for a video demonstration of a close reading of e. e. cummings' sonnet "the Cambridge ladies." To watch with a dial-up connection click here. To watch with a high-speed connection click here. A text is a text is a text! Before tackling each of these approaches individually, note that the above schools of thought can be lumped into two groups: intrinsic and extrinsic. 1) Intrinsic: This group includes the formalists and all of their subgroups. 2) Extrinsic: Everyone else! We'll begin with the intrinsic group. This approach considers only the intrinsic value of a text. This approach does not consider any outside influences, such as historical, social, political, or even personal events or trends. A text should be valued, or not valued as the case may be, based on what is written. There are three main subgroups within the formalist approach: 1) Russian Formalism 2) New Criticism 3) Neo-Aristotelianism It is not necessary to know specifics about the three subgroups. Simply know that of the three, New Criticism is the approach that is used most widely.

Key principles of Realism:

Literary characters are ordinary people representative of the time and region in which the authors were writing. Writers use the vernacular (common language, slang) to give a more realistic feel. Writers aim to "tell it like it is" and resist the urge to follow their imaginations. Major Realists include Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), whose Adventures of Huckleberry Finn uses the vernacular to tell the tale of a boy born poor and unhappy. The book concerns itself with the important issues of the day: racism and slavery. Another Realist to remember is Henry James. His Daisy Miller, in true Realist fashion, provides detailed and realistic character descriptions and presents characters that are lifelike. William Dean Howells, Edith Wharton, and Sarah Orne Jewett are also notable major American writers of this period.

The Middle Ages: Ballads, Chaucer, and the Printing Press

Most people in Great Britain were illiterate for centuries after the Norman Conquest. They continued the oral traditions of their ancestors—ballads, narrative poems in short stanzas that were often sung. The ballad originated as a folk song relaying exciting stories about love, adventure, disasters, and daring feats of courage. Toward the end of the Middle Ages, Johannes Gutenberg invented a printing press with wooden or metal moveable type which changed literature forever. Prior to Gutenberg's printing press, literature was available to few people because it had to be copied by hand. With the printing press, the written word could reach a larger audience. For example, William Caxton, who the first English printer, was able to print works such as Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and Sir Thomas Malory's Morte d'Arthur. Chaucer, considered one of the greatest poets of the English language, wrote his greatest achievement, The Canterbury Tales sometime between 1386 and 1395. The Canterbury Tales is a long, narrative poem written as a collection of stories. The tales are contained inside a frame tale and are told by a group of pilgrims on their way to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas a Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. The poem is written in Middle English, which visually resembles modern English. The language is unlike the Old English of Beowulf , which requires an English translation.

The Myth

Our initial discussion will cover universal mythical themes such as creation, quest, and naming. The following are some things you should know about myths in general: Myth originally meant "fable," "tale," or "talk" but has come to mean a fiction that conveys a psychological truth. Although myths are no longer taken literally, scholars and teachers often look to them for hidden meanings or lessons. Myths explain how something came into existence and many concern themselves with primitive explanations of the natural order. . Creation Myths There are three major types of creation myths: Quest Myths Quest myths usually involve a young person who must make a journey of some kind. As the youth attempts to make a path for himself or herself, obstacles and tests litter the path as he or she seeks some kind of personal or spiritual development. The most difficult journey of all is the one to the land of the dead. We will focus on three major quests in the mythological world: Naming Myths In many myths, the name can be very symbolic or integral to the story. The following is an example of the naming process in myths and how those names can be influential: Echo: The goddess Hera, jealous that Zeus had paid attention to Echo, punished her. Echo's punishment was that she could only repeat the last words anybody said. Echo fell in love with Narcissus but could only repeat his words. Aphrodite made him see his reflection in the pond where he promptly fell in love with himself. He eventually died and turned into a flower so Echo could have him near always. This is also where we get the flower, Narcissus, and the term, narcissistic.

Modes of Writing Poetry

Pastorals, Lyrics, Sonnets, and Odes A pastoral is a literary work that depicts the simple pleasures of rustic life. Pastorals exaggerate the peace and simplicity of rural life and the shepherds who live in such a setting. Christopher Marlowe wrote "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love," which is an invitation to live the idyllic pastoral life of country shepherds. The following is an excerpt from the poem. Come live with me and be my love, And we will all the pleasures prove That valleys, groves, hills, and fields, Woods, or steepy mountain yields. And we will sit upon the rocks, Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks, By shallow rivers to whose falls Melodious birds sing madrigals. Besides being an example of pastoral poetry, "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" is also a lyric poem. The word lyric derives from the word lyre, an ancient Greek musical instrument. The sonnet, a well-known verse form, is believed to have been created around 1200 A.D. The word sonnet comes from the Italian word sonetto, which means "a little sound or song." The form was rediscovered in the fourteenth century, and Italian poet Petrarch established the conventions of what is now known as the Petrarchan or Italian sonnet. English poets made modifications to the Italian sonnet, which resulted in the English or Shakespearean sonnet, since Shakespeare was the master of the form. Another form that lyric poems can take is the ode. The word ode comes from the Greek word aeidein which means "to sing," since the form was originally set to music. Odes have the following characteristics. John Keats composed many well-known odes full of imagery and emotion, as the following passage from "Ode to a Nightingale" shows. My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk, Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk: 'Tis not through envy of thy happy lot, But being too happy in thine happiness -- That thou, light-wingèd Dryad of the trees, In some melodious plot Of beechen green, and shadows numberless, Singest of summer in full-throated ease.

Elements of Poetry Graphic Elements

Poets often play with grammatical structure, word position, line length, and punctuation to manipulate language. E. E. Cummings is a poet who is well known for his manipulation of words, letters, and page space. Poets must make decisions about which words to capitalize (or not) and when to end a line. Capitalization imparts significance and urgency while a lowercase letter may indicate subordination. Missing spaces in between words indicate a rush. Repetition of letters may indicate a stutter. As poetry is concerned with conveying an emotional message in few words, these decisions are crucial. Decisions about line length can help a turn an ordinary poem into a picture poem. "The Altar" by George Herbert is a perfect example of this. A broken A L T A R, Lord, thy servant reares, Made of a heart, and cemented with teares: Whose parts are as thy hand did frame; No workmans tool hath touch'd the same. A H E A R T alone Is such a stone, As nothing but Thy pow'r doth cut. Wherefore each part Of my hard heart Meets in this frame, To praise thy Name; That, if I chance to hold my peace, These stones to praise thee may not cease. O let thy blessed S A C R I F I C E be mine, And sanctifie this A L T A R to be thine. Notice the words that are printed in all capital letters. Also, notice how his spacing and line length create the picture poem. The subject of the poem is an altar that mimics the shape of the poem. He also divides the lines meaningfully. Notice that "a HEART alone" is on a line all by itself, further emphasizing the feeling of aloneness the poet wishes to convey. We will conclude our poetry lesson with a brief discussion of poetic devices. See the following chart for device names, their definitions, and brief examples of how they are used in actual poems.

Sound Elements of Sound

Rhythm is all around us. It is in the beating of our hearts; it is in the music we listen to; it is in the tapping of a pencil as we sit pondering things. Rhythm has the effect of making emotions palpable. For this reason, rhythm is employed in dance, music, and poetry. So what exactly is rhythm? It is the repetition of accents and beats. Rhythm in poetry is established by stressed and unstressed syllables and the length of lines. Rhyme is the matching end sounds of words. For words to rhyme, their vowel sounds and ending consonants must sound the same or must be very close (as in near rhyme). From a young age, we are led to believe that all poetry must rhyme. But breaking the chains of a rhyme scheme sometimes results in a great work of poetry. Sound Devices Aside from the basic sound structure of poems, poets include several sound devices in their poetry to deepen the meaning of the work. Following are some of the most important sound devices in poetry. Alliteration comes from the Latin and means "letters next to each other." Alliteration is achieved when successive words or stressed syllables begin with the same letter or consonant sound. This stylistic device is commonly used in poetry and prose and adds a certain quality of richness to rhyming lines. See if you can find the alliterative phrases in the following passage taken from Beowulf. Now Beowulf bode in the burg of the Scyldings, leader beloved, and long he ruled in fame with all folk, since his father had gone away from the world, till awoke an heir, haughty Healfdene, who held through life, sage and sturdy, the Scyldings glad.

Art Forms—Satire and Parody

Satire is a literary method that mixes a critical attitude with humor, wit, or ridicule for the purpose of correcting human behavior or improving a situation. It differs from comedy in that the sole purpose of comedy is to make people laugh. Satire existed during ancient Greece and has been used by writers ever since. During the eighteenth century, authors such as Alexander Pope, Henry Fielding, and John Dryden included satire regularly in their writings. Used in virtually every genre, satire is still found today in movies, advertising, and political cartoons. Parody is a mode of writing that shares characteristics with satire. A writer of parody imitates and makes fun of another, usually more serious, piece of work. Parody can have two purposes: comedy and criticism. When a parody is intended for comic relief, the artist will exaggerate or distort the work's content and style. Cervantes' Don Quixote parodies the chivalric romances that were popular during the 1600s. When parody is used as criticism, the author mimics the the work being parodied and borrows words and phrases from it. This type of parody may still be humorous, but it has an underlying element of criticism. The success of this type of parody relies on a literate audience familiar with the original work and appreciative of the comical commentary. An allegory is a story in which the characters, objects, and actions have another meaning. Both poets and prose writers use allegories to explain beliefs about good and evil or to address moral or religious principles. Another characteristic of an allegory is that the characters actually become what they stand for. John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, written during the seventeenth century, is a classic allegory about Christian salvation. The main character, Christian, is warned by Evangelist to leave the City of Destruction and head for the Celestial City. On the way, Christian meets characters named Faithful, Hopeful, Mr. Worldly Wiseman, and Mr. Cruelty. Bunyan's book, which is written in the form of a dream, is strictly allegorical, but other works may have allegorical tendencies. The following works are either written entirely as allegories or have episodic allegories. Dante' s Inferno Spenser's "The Faerie Queene" John Dryden's "Absalom and Achitophel" John Milton's Paradise Lost, Book II William Golding's Lord of the Flies George Orwell's Animal Farm James Joyce's Ulysses Goethe's Faust

Movements in American Literature The Harlem Renaissance

Starting in 1920, a truly unique outburst of creative works by African-Americans sprung forth in music and the literary and visual arts. This cultural movement was first known as "the New Negro Movement" which evolved into "The Harlem Renaissance." This movement exalted the talents of African-Americans and served to redefine the culture's mode of creative expression. Spurred by the great African-American migration northward to cities such as Washington D.C., Chicago, Greenwich Village and Harlem in Manhattan, between the years 1920 and 1940, this richly dynamic mix of radical black intellectuals, writers, painters, and gave birth to an unprecedented time of success for black artists of all kinds. Important works of the time include: Major Works of the Harlem Renaissance "Their Eyes Were Watching God" Zore Neale Hurston This novel depicts a woman's return to the South and her attempt to define herself as a woman and an African American. "America" Claude McKay This poem describes the treatment of African Americans and the prejudice they experience. "Theme for English B" and "Dream Deferred" Langston Hughes These two poems explore the idea of identity and what it's like to be an African American in a nation that discriminates against that particular identity.

The Reader Matters! Reader-Response and Psychoanalytic Theories

The Reader Matters! Reader-Response and Psychoanalytic Theories In past approaches, form, language, and historical, social, and political implications have had a great influence on the meaning or discussion of a text. But where does this leave the reader? Both reader-response and psychoanalytic theories place great emphasis on the reader as a vital tool in the interpretation of any given literary text. However, this is where the similarity between the two schools of criticism ends. Let's first discuss the reader-response approach. Reader-response theory is a combination of what the reader infers from the text and the text's intrinsic value. Remember, extrinsic approaches do not ignore the intrinsic value; they place value on both. In the case of reader-response criticism, more value is placed on the reader than on any other facet of the text. Psychoanalytic theory places an emphasis on the unconscious of both the reader and the author. This theory examines the psychology of the reader, author, or character and what that particular aspect brings to the text. Let's take a look at the key principles. Reader-Response Key Principles The reading of a text may be intensely private or subjective, with widely various responses and interpretations. Psychoanalytic Theory Key Principles Certain psychoanalytical ideas like the Oedipus complex, the id, and the ego can be used to analyze the characters. Reader-Response Key Principles Each reader has his or her own background, expectations, and strategies for interpretation that he or she brings to the text. Psychoanalytic Theory Key Principles In analyzing the characters, one must look to the reader. They can analyze only as far as their conscious mind will permit. The psychology of the reader must be understood in order for the interpretation to be understood. Reader-Response Key Principles Once the reader has reached his or her conclusions, a reader-response critic must also examine the reader's belief system, history, and psychology. Psychoanalytic Theory Key Principles Literary and cultural texts may have a psychological impact on the reader or meet a psychological need. Psychoanalytic Theory Key Principles The author's psyche also plays an integral role in the analyzation of the text. It is the author's psychological state that can influence the attitudes, personalities, and subconscious of the text's characters. How do you know which of these approaches to use? Another great question! Let's use, for example, Shakespeare's Hamlet. Of the two approaches, which would be the most appropriate method to apply to this particular text? The correct response is psychoanalytic theory. In order to use this approach, one must be familiar with the terminology such as the aforementioned id, ego, and Oedipus complex and with the text at hand. In analyzing the text, the reader could identify an Oedipus complex in the relationship between Hamlet and his mother. This desire between a child and his parent of the opposite sex is manifested during the scene in which Hamlet confronts his mother, accusing her of plotting with his uncle to kill his father. Written with sexual undertones, the scene takes place in the bedroom where Hamlet forcibly pushes his mother onto the bed. The idea is that Hamlet is attracted to his mother, either consciously or unconsciously.

Familiarity with the Literary Cannon What is the Literary Canon?

The canon is a list of literary works deemed by widespread consensus to be of the highest aesthetic quality. Since the 1960s, there has been a consistent debate over the Western canon, largely due to the fact that most authors included in it are dead, white males. Opponents to the canon make the point that the canon, as it stands, does not reflect global, contemporary culture and should be updated. The literary canon mentioned in this section refers to the ABCTE Recommended Literature List for English/Language Arts Candidates. Critics, scholars, and teachers have deemed the literary works in the canon classics, and they are the basis for the ABCTE English/Language Arts Test. Included on the list is literature of all genres from 600 BCE to the present. Memorizing the plots and details of every literary work is not necessary, but having a working familiarity would be beneficial for the test and for teaching literature to middle school and high school students. Being familiar with a work means knowing the basic plot, characters, setting, and theme. The following sections will define plot, character, setting, and theme. Examples from short stories and novels will be discussed in relation to these literary elements.

Development & Tradition of the Essay

The essay, a term first coined in the sixteenth century, is a brief prose composition that presents ideas and opinions about a single topic. The word essay comes from the French word essai, which means "an attempt." The following table describes different types of essays. Types of Essays Expository An essay that presents information and explains ideas Descriptive An essay describing actual people, places, or things Familiar An essay that deals lightly, perhaps humorously, with personal matters or opinions Formal An essay that addresses a subject seriously and with formal diction and logical organization Informal A loosely organized essay with informal diction and a less serious tone or purpose than a formal essay Narrative An essay that tells a story with great attention to ideas Periodical A brief essay written for publication that uses humor and satire and follows an informal style Personal An informal essay usually about the writer's life or another personal subject Persuasive An essay which attempts to persuade the reader that a particular point of view is correct In 1580, French philosopher Michel de Montaigne originated the essay genre when he published his multivolume work titled Essays. Montaigne wrote familiar essays on topics such as death, friendship, virtue, education, politics, friendship, and human nature. The importance of Essays rests with Montaigne's originality; he focused on human nature rather than academic learning and theories. In 1597, Francis Bacon, an English philosopher and statesman, published Essays and Counsels, a collection of brief formal essays. The publication was so popular that larger editions were issued in 1612 and 1625. Bacon was the first English writer to use the essay genre developed by Montaigne, but Bacon shaped the literary form to suit his own style. While Montaigne's essays are personal, Bacons essays are logical, brief, and practical. Eighteenth-century readers enjoyed periodical essays in publications such as the Tatler and the Spectator, which were England's first major literary magazines. These journals included formal essays, but it was the satiric humor of the periodical essays that proved especially popular with the masses. Colonial Americans read persuasive essays such as Thomas Paine's Common Sense, which helped spark the American Revolution. Romantic writers of the nineteenth century found the essay genre appealing because they expressed personal feelings. Prominent essayists of this time included William Hazlitt and Charles Lamb. Known and respected for offering a subjective opinion in his essays, Hazlitt wrote about economics, politics, painting, the theater, and literature. During the 1820s, Hazlitt's close friend Charles Lamb wrote familiar essays, which he submitted to the newly created London Magazine. Master of the familiar essay, Lamb entertained his readers and established himself as a great nineteenth-century essayist. American Ralph Waldo Emerson's formal essay Nature, written in 1836, presents the principle ideas of transcendentalism. Within the next ten years, Emerson published two collections of essays, including the well-known Self-Reliance, an essay instructing readers to trust their own judgment above that of all others. Noted novelists and short story writers such as Ralph Ellison, George Orwell, James Thurber, Aldous Huxley, and E. B. White all contributed essays during the twentieth century.

Theme

The final element of fiction to be addressed in this section is theme. The theme of a literary work is the central idea or universal truth about society, human nature, or life. Writers rarely make a direct statement about theme; instead they rely on an implied theme to relay their message. The reader, through the actions, dialogue, and descriptions provided in the literary work, must infer implied themes. The theme of a literary work differs from the subject. The subject of a fictional work is the topic about which the author has chosen to write, such as nature. The theme expresses the author's opinion about that topic, such as "man should respect the power of nature." An author's theme can be inferred by asking the following questions: What does the main character learn throughout the story? What feelings does the main character express? What thoughts repeatedly go through the minds of the characters? What does the dialogue between characters suggest about the theme? What actions and events occur in the stories that suggest the theme? What does the title suggest about the theme? Does the author make any remarks about life or human nature, either directly or through a character? Are there any symbols that may suggest a central theme? More than one theme exists in most great literary works, such as Herman Melville's short story "Bartleby the Scrivener." The narrator, a lawyer, hires Bartleby to copy and proofread legal documents. Eventually, Bartleby refuses to do the chores related to his job by responding, "I would prefer not to." The lawyer's curiosity about his strange scrivener leads him to ask Bartleby about his life and background, to which Bartleby responds, "I would prefer not to." After refusing to work or to leave the building, Bartleby is imprisoned and later dies of starvation. The only information the lawyer discovers about Bartleby is that he once opened and sorted the letters of dead people in the Dead Letters Office. Consider the questions listed above in order to ascertain the theme of Melville's story. At first pass, the reader may feel sorry for Bartleby, just as the lawyer felt sorry for him. Thus, a possible theme might be that society should treat people with compassion. However, Bartleby's repeated statement, "I would prefer not to," suggests that Bartleby for the first time, and perhaps too late in his life, decides to take control of his situation. Possibly, Bartleby realizes that if he had taken control of his life instead of isolating himself in unfulfilling jobs, his life might have been more rewarding. Bartleby's repeated response of "I would prefer not to" is his final, desperate attempt at control. Thus, another possible theme for this story might be "don't wait until it is too late to control your life and your destiny." The lawyer's final statement about the scrivener seems to support the theme that it is a tragedy when lives, like dead letters, lead nowhere. Bartleby A positive spin on the theme from the story might be that all lives can be meaningful if people connect with others just as the lawyer attempted to connect with Bartleby.

Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries

The period known as the Restoration began in 1660 when Charles II became king of England. Drama reached its height in sixteenth-century England; Shakespeare and his contemporaries entertained audiences from all walks of life. Theater of the seventeenth century included satiric comedies and tragicomedies. Comedy grew more sophisticated and less dependent on mistaken identity situations and sight gags. The comedy of manners was first written during the Restoration period as a reaction against the severity of Puritanism. A comedy of manners is characterized by the following features: 1. realism, satire, and cynicism 2. focus on the manners, attitudes, and immorality of an upper-class society 3. witty, polished dialogue 4. plot frequently involving an illicit affair In 1642, plays had to go underground when the Puritans, deeming them frivolous, made theater illegal. When the law was reversed in 1660, drama got back on track. For the first time, female actresses regularly played the female roles, as opposed to male actors. Sentimental comedy grew in popularity during the eighteenth century. This type of theater came about as a reaction to the risqué nature of the comedies of manners. The sentimental comedy or drama is characterized by the following features: 1. Man portrayed as basically good. 2. The few characters who are evil repent quickly. 3. The writing has very little wit but lots of sentimentality. 4. Characters are drawn from the middle class. 5. Characters weep at the slightest distress to indicate their virtue.

Historical Development of the Short Story

What is a Short Story? Before addressing how the short story developed, it is important to establish what constitutes a short story. Short stories generally exhibit the following characteristics: brief narrative prose fiction shorter than a novel, it can be read in one sitting fewer characters than a novel focus on a particular moment in a character's life Although the establishment of the short story as a literary genre did not occur until the nineteenth century, short narratives in both verse and prose date back many years and contributed to the development of the short story. development of the short story The short story emerged as its own genre during the nineteenth century, aided in part by the rise of a literate middle class and the expansion of printing. The popularity of satirical essays published in literary magazines during the eighteenth century helped point the way, but the form finally took hold and flowered during the nineteenth century.

Historical development of the Novel

Where to Begin? A novel is a fictional prose narrative of extensive length. The word derives from the Italian word novella, which means "little new thing." Longer and more complex than short stories, a novel is not restricted by structure and form as poetry and drama are. The length of a novel allows for a variety of characters, a complicated plot, and character development, unlike the short story. Literary input from a variety of sources led to the creation of the first modern novel. development of novel chart One of the biggest influences on the development of the novel came from Spain in 1604—Cervantes' Don Quixote. Cervantes' romantic parody offers the reader a view of seventeenth-century Spanish society through the presentation of a wide assortment of characters. The plot follows the adventures of Alonso Quijano, who has spent far too much time reading stories about chivalry. Alonso, who is considered crazy by friends and family, takes the name Don Quixote and transforms himself into a knight-errant on a mission to redress the wrongs of the world. English authors in the eighteenth century used Don Quixote as a springboard for the novel as we know it. In 1719, Daniel Defoe published Robinson Crusoe, considered the first modern novel. Robinson Crusoe tells the tale of a traveler shipwrecked on an uninhabited tropical island, as indicated by its full title, which follows. full title of robinson crusoe Defoe's dramatic realism combined with a convincing central character, pirates, and cannibals, virtually guaranteed the novel's popularity. Following in Defoe's footsteps were Jonathan Swift with Gulliver's Travels, Henry Fielding with Joseph Andrews and Tom Jones, and Oliver Goldsmith with Vicar of Wakefield. The modern novel began taking shape during the eighteenth century, and during the next century, it continued to evolve into the most popular literary form.

Modern Poetry

Whitman and Dickinson paved the way for innovation, and changes continued at the beginning of the twentieth century. A new group of poets, the Imagists, formed in rebellion against traditional poetic forms and sentimental subjects of love and beauty. Imagist poets such as Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot, William Carlos Williams, Carl Sandburg, and Wallace Stevens believed in the following principles: the use of common language the creation of visual images with vivid detail and concise language the belief that the whole world is potential subject matter—no topic is unsuitable for a poem Ezra Pound, leader of the Imagist movement, writes of a vision he had in a subway station in the poem "In a Station of the Metro." Pound's original poem contained thirty lines, but after cutting words and using more precise images, the poet's final outcome was a striking and powerful poem of only two lines and fourteen words. Innovations in style continued with E.E. Cummings, whose poetry can be easily recognized merely by its lack of capitalization and punctuation. Cummings also experimented with language and grammar to encourage readers to view the world in a new way. English writer W. H. Auden established himself as a leader in modern poetry when he published his first poetry collection in 1928. Auden incorporated modern culture and current events into his poetry, which was written in almost every type of verse form. The poetry of Robert Frost bears few similarities to that of the imagists and Auden, although the influence of Wordsworth, Emerson, and Dickinson is noticeable. Frost's poetry follows traditional verse forms and draws inspiration from the New England countryside. Modern influences, such as the use of colloquial speech, add freshness to Frost's poetry and helped maintain his status as one of America's most beloved poets.