Literary Unit 3- Interpretation of Literary Texts

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 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 - 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 Raskolnikov 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.

Historical Development of the Novel

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.

Synecdoche

A part of a thing that replaces the wholeSaying "the crown" when referring to the king

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."

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.

Descriptive

An essay describing actual people, places, or things

Simile

Comparing two seemingly unlike things using "like" or "as"; the simile is less powerful than the metaphorFrom Robert Burns's "A Red, Red Rose" "My love is like a red, red roseThat's newly sprung in June:My love is like the melodyThat's sweetly played in tune."

Metaphor

Comparing two unlike things by calling one thing another; a staple of all poetryFrom William Cullen Bryant's "A Forest Hymn" "The groves were God's first temple."

Consonance

Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds anywhere in a line or stanza.

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.

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.

Extrinsically Speaking: New Historicism and Historical and Political Influences

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. Key Principles of New Historicism: Literary and Cultural texts are connected to the time period in which they were written No reading of a cultural or literary text is definitive Texts can reflect the past and advance social interest Activities described in texts can tell the reader a lot about the belief systems of the time period

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.

Foot-Meter

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.

psychoanalytic theory

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. Key Principles- Certain psychoanalytical ideas like the Oedipus complex, the id, and the ego can be used to analyze the characters. 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. Literary and cultural texts may have a psychological impact on the reader or meet a psychological need. 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.

Metonymy

Referring to something or someone by naming one of its attributes or correlativesUsing "the White House" to mean the president and his advisors

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 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.

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."

ANAPEST

Three syllables: first and second unstressed, third stressed 'Twas the night / before Christ / mas and all / through the house

DACTYL

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)

PYRRHIC

Two syllables: both unstressed In a / minute "In a" is the pyrrhic foot.

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.

Haiku

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.

Cantos

chapters

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

Movements in American Literature: Colonial Literature

1- Colonial Literature- 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. Early American Literature: Literature was often based on faith. The writing reflected a harsh and strict life. Much of the literature in the very early period was historical. The sermon was a common form of literature. Major Colonial Writers- Jonathan Edwards, "Sinners in the Hands of an angry God" Anne Bradstreet- "Here follows some verses Upon the Burning of our House" John Smith, "The General History of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles"

Periodical

A brief essay written for publication that uses humor and satire and follows an informal style

Informal

A loosely organized essay with informal diction and a less serious tone or purpose than a formal essay

Personification

A play on words with similar meanings; Shakespeare is a master at punsFrom 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.

Realism

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. 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.

Formal

An essay that addresses a subject seriously and with formal diction and logical organization

Familiar

An essay that deals lightly, perhaps humorously, with personal matters or opinions

Expository

An essay that presents information and explains ideas

Narrative

An essay that tells a story with great attention to ideas

Persuasive

An essay which attempts to persuade the reader that a particular point of view is correct

Personal

An informal essay usually about the writer's life or another personal subject

Hyperbole

An obvious exaggeration that serves to emphasize a point or add humor to a poemFrom 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."

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.

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: Key Principles-Drama became accepted in mainstream America, inter-war period 1914-1945, European Movement impacted by the effects of WW1, reflected a time loss (structures of society and daily life lost in the war), writers used suggestion not assertion, reflected search for new meaning and purpose. 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)

Assonance

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;

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. 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 whom 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.

Historical Development of the 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. 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.

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.

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 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.

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 book

Review of poetic terms

Epic poetry A long, narrative poem about the courageous feats of a heroLyric poetry A brief poem emphasizing sound and expressing the personal feelings of the poetElegy A mournful poem, usually about deathBallad A narrative poem in short stanzas originally meant to be sungNarrative poem A poem that tells a storySonnet A fourteen-line poem usually in iambic pentameter and in one of two rhymeschemes: Italian/Petrarchan or ShakespeareanMock epic A parody of an epic poem that treats a trivial subject with epic grandeur

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. Key Principles: Women have resisted and subverted patriarchal oppression in a variety of ways The resistance of patriarchal suppression is evident in many texts There are various approaches within the feminist approach- materialists, structuralists, and those concerned with race and ethnicity 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.

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.

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.

Transcendentalism

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. Ralph Waldo Emerson- Self Reliance Henry David Thoreau- Walden Walt Whitman- Song of Myself

Schools of Thought

Intrinsic & Extrinsic ) 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

Don Quixote

Miguel de Cervantes. 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. 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.

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 was the first English printer, was able to print works such as Geoffrey Chaucer's The 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 Talessometime 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.

Creation Myths

Myths that tell of how the world and human beings came to exist. Three Main Types- Egyptian Myths- High being creates world just by thinking of it Native American/Asian Myth- God starts new world by sending an animal into the ocean to retrieve a part of earth Greek Myth- World created by division of unified chaos

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.

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.

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.

Poetic Devices

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.

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: Imposed Quest- Jason and the Argonauts Quest for Immortality- Gilgamesh Quest for Inner Spirit- Siddhartha

Reader- Response

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. Key Principles- The reading of a text may be intensely private or subjective, with widely various responses and interpretations. Each reader has his or her own background, expectations, and strategies for interpretation that he or she brings to the text. Once the reader has reached his or her conclusions, a reader-response critic must also examine the reader's belief system, history, and psychology.

Characteristics of Modes of Writing

Review Satire is a method of combining ridicule with a critical attitude in order to correct behavior. A parody is a mode of writing that imitates a serious work for humorous or critical purposes. An allegory is an extended metaphor in which the objects, characters, and actions have another meaning. Comedies are light and humorous dramatic works with happy endings. A farce is a short comedy based on an improbable situation. A tragedy is a serious drama that usually ends disastrously for the main character. A pastoral is a literary work about nature and rural life. Lyric poems express the personal thoughts of the poet. They can take the form of sonnets, fourteen-line poems, and odes, which are dignified, serious poems. Narrative writing tells a story. A ballad is a narrative poem with a simple structure, while an epic is a very long narrative poem about a hero. Plot is an author's arrangement of events in a story. Plot usually consists of five stages of development: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. Conflict , which occurs during the rising action, is the struggle between two opposing forces. The protagonist of a story faces the conflict, and if the conflict is with another character, that character is the antagonist. There are four types of conflict: person vs. person, person vs. nature, person vs. society, and person vs. self.Plot is an author's arrangement of events in a story. Plot usually consists of five stages of development: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.

Rhythm

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).

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. Key Writers: Zora Neale Hurston, " Their Eyes Were Watching God" Langston Hughes, "Dream Deferred: Claude McKay, "America"

Major Literary Themes & Archetypes

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.

Fireside Poets

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"

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. ome of the key Romantic writers and their works include: Edgar Allen Poe"The Raven""The Tell-Tale Heart" Washington Irving"Rip Van Winkle" Nathaniel HawthorneThe Scarlet Letter Herman MelvilleMoby Dick Emily Dickinson"Because I could not stop for Death""I heard a fly buzz"

Formalism Vs New Historicism

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.

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. Miracle Play- 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.

Late Nineteenth Century Novels

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. 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.

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. Histories- The histories illustrate moral lessons to be learned from the ambitions and treachery of state leaders. Tragedy- The tragedies depict a character's self-destruction through passion and ambition and show how breaking a moral law certainly leads to ruin. Comedy- The comedies amuse audiences with romantic fantasies, mistaken identities, and satire. 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.

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: realism, satire, and cynicism focus on the manners, attitudes, and immorality of an upper-class society witty, polished dialogue 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: Man portrayed as basically good. The few characters who are evil repent quickly. The writing has very little wit but lots of sentimentality. Characters are drawn from the middle class. Characters weep at the slightest distress to indicate their virtue.

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. 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.

Intrinsic/ Formalist

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: close attention to form, language, and detail is needed for discussion of literature Literature has meaning within the text Literature has it's own specific terminology and and focuses

TROCHEE

Two syllables: first stressed, second unstressed Tyger, / Tyger,/ burning / bright In the / forests / of the / night

IAMB

Two syllables: first unstressed, second stressed Shall I / compare / thee to / a Sum / mer's day?

Fresh Voices

Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson redefined American poetry in the nineteenth century, but their personalities and poetry could not have been 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. On the other hand, the reclusive Dickinson, who rarely left her family home, wrote almost 1,800 poems, publishingonly seven during her lifetime. Dickinson wrote passionate poetry with a distinctive and original style. Dashes and unconventional capitalizationcharacterize her poems, as in "Much Madness is Divinest Sense."

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.

Stanza

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. .

Couplet

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.

Epigram

a witty saying expressing a single thought or observation. 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!

Conceit

an extended metaphorIn 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.

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.

Limerick

his 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

Heroic Couplet

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.

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.

Ode

odes are lyric poems that celebrate a person or object. he 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.

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

Ballad

t'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

SPONDEE

two syllables: both stressed Soon it will / break down / unaware. "Break down" is the spondee in the middle of the line.

onomotopoiea

words that mimic the sound it reprsents