Intro to Analysis Sumer Reading 2014

K ELLY J ACKSON
READING
LITERATURE
Intro to Analysis ☀ Sumer Reading 2014
WELCOME TO LITERATURE STUDIES
First, I’d like to congratulate you for choosing to take Literature Studies. It is a challenging course, but by no means
impossible. The rewards are great: you will end this year with analytic reading and writing skills that will serve you well as you
enter the world.
I could spend pages telling you about the benefits of being able to read complex texts and being able to articulate and support
an argument, but instead I’ll just tell you this: people haven’t appreciably changed in...well...hmmm. It seems that people have
been arguing, loving, displaying ambition, displaying pride, and jockeying for power since recorded history began. Literature
is one record of those efforts and a way for others to try to understand what makes people tick. This course is part sociology,
psychology, history, rhetoric, art, and critical thinking. We encourage individualism, self-direction, and out-of-the-box
musings.
Some resources that may be of value:
The College Board AP Website:
https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/home?affiliateId=stdlp&bannerId=apstd7
Bedford Exercise Central (grammar reviews):
http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/exercisecentral/
Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL):
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/
Mrs. Jackson: [email protected]
Finally, this book is your go-to source for Lit Studies. Write in it. Ask it questions. Tell it your ideas. Refer back to it. Let it
help you when you’re confused and I’m not around. Keep it handy during class.
See you in August!
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READING
LITERATURE
How do we determine what
literature is?
SECTION 1
What is Literature?
VOCABULARY
Literature, as a descriptor, is used often to mean any type of written text.
Unfortunately for our purposes as literary scholars, that definition isn’t going to
work. What we need to do, then, is figure out what texts are really “literature” and
what texts fall into other categories. In order to do this, we need to address not only
broad genres of writing, but the idea of literary merit, as well. I want you to
imagine that you’ve just walked into Barnes and Noble, the library, or any place
with a large collection of books. Where are you going to find this elusive
“literature”? We’ll start with the easy part: literature refers to a work of fiction.
Okay, that takes out half of the store. What next? Look up—there are signs
directing us to the Children’s section, the Young Adult section, Mystery, Romance,
Fantasy/Science Fiction, and Literature. Okay! Grab a book off of one of the
shelves under the literature sign, and we’re done, right? No, you’re right. That was
a little too easy. The very first thing I told you was that the title “literature” is
broadly applied, and what it looks like here is that anything that doesn’t fit into one
of the other categories is, by default, considered literature. To make it trickier, there
are books shelved in the other categories that may have literary merit. So, there are
two concepts that we need to address before we go any further: literary merit, and
the literary canon.
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•
Literature
•
Literary Merit
•
Genre
•
Close Reading
•
Analysis
•
Evaluation
•
Literary Canon
The word literary is defined as relating to literature, and merit is defined as
excellence. So, literary merit is the idea that a text demonstrates the very best
qualities of literature. For literary scholars, this is demonstrated in two basic ways:
that the text speaks to a universal human experience, and that the text remains
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relevant over time. There is a minor caveat that is not always
addressed, because it is often assumed: the text must be
written for an adult audience. Let’s consider some examples:
Macbeth, by William Shakespeare. Published c. 1623. This is
a play about ambition, pride, guilt and a few other basic
human characteristics. It fulfills the first part of the test: no
matter when, where, or what culture, humans have exhibited
these characteristics in both positive and negative ways.
Obviously we have the time element here as well, as this play
is working on its fourth century of production.
All the Pretty Horses, by Cormac McCarthy. Published 1992.
This is a novel about cultural naiveté, choosing one’s moral
stance, ambition, pride, guilt; basically the whole concept of
coming of age and deciding what type of person you’re going
to be. Again, something that is relevant to humans,
regardless of culture or society. This book is on year 20, so
not as time-tested as Shakespeare, but a pretty good run so
far.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, by JK Rowling. Published
1997. This one is going to be a little contentious. First,
popularity doesn’t equal literary merit. Having said that, it’s a
coming of age story, like the McCarthy book, and it’s about
the same age. But, remember that little caveat about
audience? This is classified as a young adult book. Did adults
read it? Sure. Is it enjoyable? Sure. Does it have literary
merit? No. And just for clarifications sake, I’m not basing
this judgment on the fantasy elements of the story. Macbeth
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has a number of ghosts, including a phantom dagger, and
three of the most famous witches ever written.
Yep, you heard that right: I made a judgment about the
relative literary merit of a particular text. I’ll ask you to do
the same throughout the year. Experience plays a large part
in making the determination as to whether or not a text has
literary merit. So does breadth of reading: being able to
compare a text to others you’ve read in the past—especially
to those you know are considered “literature”—makes it a
little easier to decide. There are a lot of books that I like, and
have read multiple times, but that don’t have literary merit…
at least, not at the level of the texts I’m going to ask you to
read. So, as a beginning literary scholar, is there any way you
can get a baseline to help you make these decisions? Why,
yes, yes there is. It’s called the literary cannon.
As much as I would love to tell you that the literary
cannon is a large cannon from which poorly written texts are
fired into a deep, dark hole, that is not the case. It’s just a list
of books which make the cut; those having been determined
to have literary merit. Determined by whom? By generations
of scholars whose careers have been dedicated to teaching
and learning from the best writers of the centuries. Prior to
the 1960s, the cannon was primarily populated by writers of
European descent, which was the source of the phrase “dead
white guys,” since that was who you’d be studying in class.
In the mid-twentieth century, there was a definite movement
to include ethnic and contemporary writers as well. There
are different lists: the American cannon, the British cannon,
and so on. The lists vary slightly depending on who you ask.
If you Google “literary cannon”, you’re likely to get a
hundred (if not more) different lists. However, there will be
quite a bit of overlap among the lists, and you’ll see certain
trends and levels of quality.
movies, either. They’re another kind of text, and once you get
in the habit of close reading, it’s hard to break. So: close
reading. Mindful reading. Most readers (or viewers) have
some sort of affective response to their text. At the most basic
level, this can be a like/dislike response. When you’re reading
closely, you delve into this response to understand the story
at a deeper level. The basic questions that literary scholars
ask are: Why? How? and Where have I seen this before?
Whether you ask these questions as you’re reading, or
whether you read once and then go back to consider the text,
your job is not just to comprehend the text, but to look for
the hidden messages. Let’s consider Mark Twain’s
Huckleberry Finn. It was banned within weeks of
publication and continues to make the American Library
Association’s top ten list of banned and challenged books
each year. The primary reason? Twain’s use of a derogatory
word throughout the text. We could excuse Twain on
historical grounds, because it was a word in use in the late
1800s, but as literary scholars, we have to ask, “why?”. Not
every character in the book uses the word. One of the worst
offenders is Huck’s dad—who is an abusive, greedy, racist,
drunk. In short, not someone that we as readers feel
sympathetic for. Maybe Twain is using derogatory language
as a shortcut for characterizing a man that we think is a jerk,
anyway. But Huck, who we are sympathetic toward, also
uses the word. Looking closely, though, we see his use of the
word decrease as he comes closer to resolving his internal
conflict. His dad’s influence, society’s influence, lessen and
At some point, though, you’re going to need to make
some determinations for yourself. The next step in your
journey as a literary scholar is being able to analyze and
evaluate the texts that you’re reading. At the very basic level,
this is to determine what the text is about beyond the plot.
Remember that literature always has something going on in
the background; something that isn’t going to be covered by
a summary of the plot. Think about how I described
Macbeth earlier: I used abstract nouns instead of a series of
events. It wouldn’t be wrong to describe Macbeth using the
plot, but it wouldn’t be complete, either. In your schooling so
far, you’ve undergone a progression: making meaning of
letters and words, comprehending ideas, understanding
various types of writing, and analyzing text for both meaning
and how an author expresses meaning. The culmination of
scholarship—in any field, but particularly in the study of
literature, is evaluation, which brings us right back to the “is
it or isn’t it” question.
But first things first: Analysis. You no longer have the
luxury of mindless reading. I’ll apologize in advance if, after
this course, you’re no longer able to mindlessly watch TV or
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Huck makes his own decisions. After that, he doesn’t use the
derogatory language. Because we asked why, we found
Twain’s negative comment on social norms and social
acceptability—obviously not something that he overtly
argued in the text. If you didn’t catch this, the book would
still be entertaining. But understanding this facet of the book
offers a deeper understanding of the text and the society that
Twain lived in. Over the next few weeks, we’ll address the
multiple techniques that authors use to create meaning. Very
often they work in tandem with each other, and to
understand one is to start a domino-like chain of cause (how)
and effect (why).
establishing. It’s a fine line, to be sure: you make meaning
based on your experiences, which includes your beliefs about
right and wrong. Just keep in mind that in order to develop
complexity in a text, that text has to address positive and
negative aspects of human nature. When you see something
you don’t like or don’t approve of, your first question should
be, why? Why is this included? What purpose might it
serve? How are my beliefs influencing my reading?
So, back to Barnes and Noble and our search for literature.
Wander around the store (library, whatever) and look for a
work of fiction that interests you. Stay away from the Young
Adult section. Look for something that has won awards, or
that has comments from authors who have. The older it is,
the easier your job is going to be—because of course,
Shakespeare wasn’t the only one writing in his time period,
but he’s one of only a few that are remembered or still read,
let alone published—but beyond that point, it’s going to be
trial and error, read and analyze. Of course, I won’t leave
you adrift; and you have a specific reading list for this class.
We’re going to practice—a lot. You won’t have a doctorate in
literary studies at the end of this class, but no longer will you
be a novice, either.
Typically speaking, the more complex a text is, the more
likely it is that you have something of literary merit on your
hands. Thus, your analysis of a particular text will provide
you with a basis for evaluating the text’s place as “literature.”
Finally, I want to speak to one mistake that novice
literary scholars are prone to: judging the acts of a character
on the basis of your own morals and ethics—and even laws.
While you don’t have to excuse bad behavior/language/etc.
strictly on the basis of historical setting, you do have to be
extremely cautious about the criteria you’re using to make
judgment calls. If your family abstains from alcoholic drinks,
and you can’t find any sympathy for the hero because he has
a beer after work every day, then you’ve run into a situation
where you need to suspend your own beliefs in order to
understand the characterization that the author is
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SECTION 2
Literary Movements
WHY DO I CARE?
Literary movements are periods of time in which the style and type of literature is
marked by common characteristics. Just like generational categories (Baby
boomers, Gen X, the millennials) we seen attitudes and social concerns change in
response to what is going on in the world. And like generational categories, there is
some overlap in dates and styles. This list speaks to the American literary
movements, but the European movements were similar in timing; world-wide
movements depended on issues of colonization, industrialization, civil war, and so
on.
∏
•
Ok--so you’ve read some story,
and now you’re being asked to
identify the author’s argument.
The problem is, you have no
idea what this book is about,
beyond the subject. You know
that your AP Lit instructor
wouldn’t have assigned a love
story unless it was about
something more, but you’re
stuck.
•
No Worries.
•
If you can identify the literary
movement, you can get a
broad idea of what people
were worried about at that
time--then you can start
questioning the text to see if
any of those ideas show up.
You have a 95% chance of
figuring our the argument!
Enlightenment (1750-1800) Heavily influenced by science and logic, this period is
characterized mainly by political writings and speeches. There is a lack of emphasis
and dependence on the Bible and more use of common sense (logic) and science.
There was not a divorce from the Bible but an adding to or expanding of the truths
found there.
Romanticism (1830-1865) This style of writing tends to see the individual at the
center of all life; thus, at the center of art, making literature valuable as an
expression of individual feelings and experiences. Sees in nature a revelation of
truth; sees industrialization and scientific inquiry as a corrupting force. It is not
uncommon to have fanciful or idealized characters, situations, or solutions. A
subcategory of romanticism is the gothic movement, which focuses on the wild,
irregular, and grotesque elements of humans and human nature.
Realism (1865-1900) Attempts to recreate real life in that there are no purely
heroic characters, but instead flawed people trying to do the best they can. Bad
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things happen to good people, bad guys get away, and simple good or bad doesn’t exist. Realism, then, tends to avoid plot in
favor of ethical dilemmas and complex characterizations; it is often satiric in nature. Naturalism (1900-1930) These texts are typified by an unbiased portrayal of the human driven by fundamental urges—fear,
hunger, greed, ambition, etc. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs inspires many of the behaviors and reactions of these characters.
Again, the line between hero and villain is hazy, and internal conflicts often take center stage. Modernism (1914-1965) Texts are marked by a strong and conscious break with traditional writing—both patterns and
topics. The writing and characters may appear confused and broken—which mirrored what was happening socially during this
time. Authors elevate the individual and the “inward” over society and the “outward”. They posed philosophical questions
about surviving in a changing world, although they rarely offered answers to those questions.
Post-Modernism/Contemporary (1965-Present) Like Modernist writing, post-modernists tend to focus on alienation, asocial
individualism, and existentialism, but prefer a much less ordered format. Traditional forms are denied, and often literally
broken apart.
There are more movements than these, but these are the major transitions in thought and style.
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The Reading List
SECTION 3
∏
•
•
ABOUT THE READING
LIST:
For the summer:
“The Garden Party” Katherine Mansfield
I will provide copies of all of
the necessary texts, however, if
you wish to have a copy of
your own to annotate, you may
certainly buy or use your own
copy.
“To Build A Fire”
Jack London
“The Waltz”
Dorothy Parker
“An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge”
Ambrose Bierce
“For The Union Dead”
Robert Lowell
Please do not try to read all of
this before class starts. I
expect the summer work only
for the first day of school; the
rest is so that you can plan
ahead.
“Penelope”
Dorothy Parker
Collected Poems
Robert Frost
For the school year:
The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Wuthering Heights
Emily Bronte
The Importance of Being Earnest
Oscar Wilde
Hamlet
William Shakespeare
Candide
Voltaire
Chronicle of a Death Foretold
G. Garcia-Marquez
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CHAPTER 2
∏
THE COMPONENTS OF THE
TEXT
How do authors achieve their
goals?
How can a reader figure out what
those goals are?
SECTION 1
∏
VOCABULARY
Protagonist
• Antagonist
• Static
• Dynamic
• Stock
• Foil
• Anthropomorphism
• Stereotype
• Archetype
• Hero
• Heroine
• Tragic Hero
• Antihero
• Fool
• Outcast
• Deceiver
• Tempter
• Learned Advisor
•
Characterization
As far as I’m concerned, there
are three foundational elements
needed to create a story, and plot
isn’t one of them. Before you can
ever get to plot, you need to have
a setting. Star Trek
notwithstanding, very little
happens in a vacuum. So, a place
and a time. Next, we need to have
characters. Whether we’re dealing
with people, anthropomorphism—
giving animals the power of
human thought and behavior—or
space aliens, there is someone doing something. Finally, there has to be some
conflict. Seven people standing on stage, all agreeing with each other and showing
no particular ambition, doesn’t make very interesting or entertaining literature.
Let’s start with the people. Characterization is, of course, the process of crafting
and developing the characters in the story. Analysis of characterization is
recognizing the levels of development and effects that various choices in
development have on the story. What is the character, how is the development, and
why is the effect. The basic terms of characterization should be familiar to you from
your earlier years of literary studies. I’m going to address them again, however,
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because any time there is a group of people discussing an
idea, there are certain terms that need to be put into context
—we all need to be working off of the same definitions.
Toward that end, I offer the following working definitions for
the basic terms of characterization:
recognizable as dynamic characters because they are still
forming their ideas about the world around them. Adult
characters very often reach this new realization through the
resolution of a conflict—but not always their own conflict.
•
Foils are character pairings. There are a significant
number of similarities between the two characters which
serves to underscore the differences. For example, in To Kill
a Mockingbird, Mr. Cunningham is a poor farmer, he has
young children, and he is a widower. Bob Ewell is also a
poor farmer, has young children, and is a widower. Mr.
Cunningham would no more take charity than he would fly;
he insists on paying in some way for any services rendered.
Bob Ewell, on the other hand, expects the county to take
care of him. Their similar situations only serve to highlight
the differences in their characterization.
•
Protagonist: the person in the play who resolves the
major conflicts, either internal or external. Most of the time,
the action will be driven by this character’s internal conflict,
and the resolution of that conflict is very often the climax of
the plot. I don’t want you to simplify this definition to be the
hero—you’ll see why in a minute.
•
Antagonist: the person who creates or drives conflict in
the story. Occasionally, this will be an entity such as society
or nature, but most often there is a person who embodies
whatever problems the author wishes to address. Again,
please don’t oversimplify this as the villain of the story—
some stories don’t have a “bad guy” per se.
That should take care of the basics. At the next level of
analysis is the idea of stereotypes and archetypes. A
stereotype can be defined as a widely held but fixed and
oversimplified image or idea of a particular person or thing.
The key here is that the figure is fixed—so you’ll find little
variation or development. Stock characters may fall into this
category—that is, the characters that are so ingrained into
our social/cultural conscience that we don’t need a lot of
description to know who and what that character is, and the
author doesn’t need to waste words on him/her. Think of
some example of stock characters: what does it mean that a
character wears glasses? What does it mean that a
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Static, or flat characters are those characters whose
personalities—notably their morals and ethics—are fully
formed at the beginning of the story. This is not necessarily
mean that these characters are bad, or that they’re minor
characters. Elizabeth Proctor is a notable example of a static
character. Think about why.
•
Dynamic, or round characters are those characters that
undergo some type of notable change in beliefs, ethics,
morals and the like throughout the story. Children are often
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character’s pants are too short? What does it mean that a
character is surrounded by an adoring crowd—popularity,
sure, but what else? How is the grouchy old man supposed
to act and look? How is the benevolent, kindly old man
supposed to act/look? Which grandma figure will yell at you
to get off the lawn, and which one will give you a cookie?
You have a number of these images fixed in your memory—
the trick is to recognize that such a character is being
presented and to understand that character’s purpose in the
text as a whole.
character functions as a hero according to the standards of
the time he or she is living in. Mostly, this means that they’re
excellent warriors, very often conceited about their own
abilities, and view the world (and the people in it) as theirs
for the taking. But remember that an archetype is a pattern,
so there are variations, especially as civilizations become
more, well, civil. You might have someone acting heroically
on the behalf of an underrepresented section of society; you
might have a soldier (warrior) who is humble. Your job as a
reader is to consider why these deviations from the pattern
exist and what effect they have on the character and
ultimately the story. A hero refers to a male heroic figure;
heroine refers to a female heroic figure.
A second type of cultural characterization is the archetype.
An archetype is defined as an original model or type after
which other similar people, events and so on are patterned.
So, this isn’t a fixed image, but rather a variation on a theme.
Again, this is a figure that is familiar to us, but less obviously
recognizable and open to usage in ironic ways. There are
scores of archetypal characters, situations, symbols, and so
on, but I’m going to give you a few of the basics. This is by
no means an exhaustive list.
•
Tragic Hero: A tragic hero is a character that functions
or attempts to function heroically throughout the text but is
ultimately brought down by a fatal flaw of some sort: thirst
for knowledge, conceit, devotion to duty, ignorance (of any
number of things) and so on. In Oedipus Rex, the main
character attempts to find the cause of a plague that is
causing his people to go hungry, children to die, and
generally causing the city to waste away. Several people tell
him to abandon his search for the criminal that he’s told is
being unintentionally harbored in his city—he refuses. It
turns out that he is the (unintentional) criminal, and his
quest for knowledge and justice end up causing his downfall.
•
Hero/heroine: First, get the idea of a superhero out of
your head. In literature, there are very rarely characters
whose motivation is solely to help save society from
evildoers. There are unlikely heroes, who function more like
that guy who rushes into a burning building to save a child,
but not a person who goes around looking for such
opportunities. When there is a character identified as a hero
—Achilles, King Arthur, Sir Lancelot, Beowulf—that
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Antihero: the antihero is a character that is not seen as
heroic by the people—either physically matching the
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standard, or matching in behavior. Generally, this character
sets himself apart from society for some reason. The key
here, though, is that this character has an extremely rigid
personal code of morals and ethics. Maybe it doesn’t match
what society says is right, but the antihero is after justice
based on his code, not that of the prevailing laws. Think
Zorro, Wolverine, Batman.
•
Deceiver: This character lies; generally for personal
gain. That makes him or her generally the bad guy. As
readers, we have to figure out what this personal gain is, and
how that affects the story. What makes the deceiver’s
ambition different from the hero’s ambition? Obviously,
Abigail, from The Crucible.
•
Tempter: This character serves to challenge the hero in
some way. Think about Odysseus’ travels back home: he was
tempted by wealth, lust, power, and simple survival. How he
overcomes these temptations, and that he chooses to,
illuminates his character for the readers.
•
The fool serves a number of purposes. Simple comic
relief is one; even in Shakespeare’s darkest tragedies there
are a couple of scenes that lighten things up. Very often the
fool will utilize double meanings and double entendres,
which may cause an epiphany of sorts in the character
listening. The fool himself is completely oblivious to this,
which is often what allows him to continue living, as
questioning the king often had a deleterious effect on one’s
head. In The Crucible, Giles Corey serves as the fool—
although his character deviates from the pattern, and
completely earns our respect, in the way that he dies.
•
Learned Advisor: This figure guides the hero’s journey
in some way. It might be practical advice (Stay away from
poison ivy) or something more specific to the situation (hey,
kid—maybe you should try to pull that sword from the stone,
huh?). It might be encouragement or training (think any
martial arts master or even Alfred to Batman). Going back
to The Crucible, Hale is supposed to be the learned one, but
he realizes that he isn’t, and that his hubris causes some of
the deaths in Salem. This makes him dynamic; what effect
does it have on the overall story that his learning fails the
people?
•
Outcast: (Also known as the stranger)This figure is not
accepted by society because of some real or perceived
difference that makes him/her unable to interact with the rest
of the group. Very often, especially in literature that is
pre-1920s or so, this is due to race. Illness, crime, theology,
class and income are other reasons for the exclusion of
individuals from a group or space. Unlike the antihero, the
outcast is not trying to help others, or only incidentally doing
so—mostly, this character is just trying to survive.
Okay. Just a couple more thoughts, and then I’ll let you off
the hook for the moment. I’ve cautioned you before about the
dangers of applying your standards for ethics and morals to
characters from other places, times, cultures, and belief
systems. While I personally think Achilles is a jerk, I do
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recognize that he was considered a hero in his own time, and
why—civilization and survival was a different thing in BCE
Athens than in 21st Century America. So, you need to gauge
a character’s morality or immorality based on the standards
of the time—not that you have to let anyone off the hook.
Just be cautious that you don’t let your personal views on
feasting, smoking, drug use and so on overly color the
argument that the author presents. Remember too, that the
presentation of some of these vices as normal can be done in
an ironic way, so that the argument becomes “even though
it’s accepted, it’s not okay.” Lastly, consider that there is such
a thing as being amoral—not good, not bad, just being.
Snowstorms can be beautiful or deadly, depending on which
side of the window you’re standing. They’re not intrinsically
evil or good, they just are. There are characters, especially
some of the mythological archetypes, that fit into this
category.
That should get you started on character analysis, and
thinking about how the characterization relates to the text as
a whole. We will, of course, practice with and extend this
knowledge as we go.
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Point of View
Conflict
SECTION 2
∏
The importance of Point of
View (POV) goes beyond
knowing whether or not the
narrator is involved in the story:
understanding the point of view
of a story is important because
that understanding gives us (the
readers) information about the
reliability of what we’re being
told, the bias that the author
inserts, the beliefs and
understandings of the characters,
and the motives that drive the
characters. Manipulating point
of view also gives the author a
means of manipulating the
reader; for instance, if the
narrator is sympathetic to a
character, the odds are that the
reader will be more sympathetic
as well. There are three
commonly used points of view:
VOCABULARY
•
1st person
•
3rd limited
•
3rd omniscient
•
internal
•
external
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world-changing events—like war—on people, and how the
conflict created, creates change.
•
First person: the easiest to identify, the narrator speaks
as “I” and is involved in the story. The reader understands all
the events of the novel through this person’s understanding,
which may include biases, ignorance, or likes and dislikes.
Readers should always consider the reliability of the firstperson narrator; although a narrator who is concealing
something will provide clues about what is being hidden or
disseminated.
Of the three foundational pieces, conflict is probably the
most straightforward. That being said, you’ll almost never
have just one conflict happening; usually there’s an internal
and at least one external. The longer the work, the more
conflicts there are and they become tightly interwoven.
Internal conflict means that the character is debating an
issue within him- or herself. Although the question of
whether to sneak out on Saturday night seems pretty
mundane, how the character eventually resolves that
question is going to cause some change—in maturity,
morality, respect, and so on. When the questions get bigger,
like whether or not doing something illegal is okay if it means
you get the love of your life, then the impact on the
individual is going to be correspondingly greater. In Huck
Finn, Huck has a conflict between how he thinks people
should be treated versus how society tells him that slaves
should be treated. When he resolves that issue, he matures
(despite his physical age) and removes himself from a
hypocritical society.
•
Third-person limited: this narrator speaks of the others
characters as “he,” “she,” or “them” and doesn’t participate
directly in the story. The narrator is limited to seeing the
actions, thoughts and feelings of one character. To be clear,
as that character interacts with others, we’ll see and hear
what those others are doing, but we as readers follow only
one character.
•
The third-person omniscient narrator is not part of the
story but reveals the words, actions, and thoughts of many, if
not all, of the characters within the story. These narrators are
generally considered reliable because their information
comes from multiple sources, eliminating the biases present
in first-person narration.
You know from your past studies that there are, depending
on how they’re defined, three or four types of external
conflict. Man v Man, Man v Society (possibly Man v
Technology), and Man v Nature.
Beyond plot events, though, we can learn about values and
ethics, how these are developed, and how they might alter
from generation to generation. We can see the effects of
18
•
Man versus man is the easiest: one person who has a
direct argument with another person. This can also cover
family versus family (the Hatfields and McCoys) or even two
countries at war. The defining factor is that each side can be
grouped into one entity of approximately the same size.
•
Man versus society is when one individual (entity) is
seeking to change or gain retribution from the society at
large. Archetypically, social rules are determined by majority
vote regardless of relative fairness or equality. When one
person goes up against the practices, laws, traditions or
norms of society, there is always some tension and resistance
to change—regardless of how good an idea that change is.
By definition, the character seeking the change slips into the
outsider archetype, regardless of his/her status when the
story begins.
•
I’ll discuss hospitable settings at more length, but a man
versus nature conflict generally has little to do with human
interaction. This is the shipwreck, the sudden blizzard, the
flood that tests the abilities of those trapped to survive.
Remember that nature is amoral—not good, not bad, and
certainly without sentience: this is a test of the mental and
physical abilities of the central character. It is very often an
acknowledgement that as advanced as our society may be,
there’s something out there that is infinitely stronger.
19
SECTION 3
Setting
VOCABULARY
The third cornerstone, or
foundational, part of any
literary text, is the setting.
On the surface, this seems
pretty simple—a place and a
time for the events to take
place. Sometimes, it is that
simple. Sometimes, the
setting takes a much more
significant role. In Jack
London’s short story “To
Build a Fire,” there is only
one (human) character—the
other major driving force in
the story is the Alaskan backcountry in the winter. The story would not have the
same effect on the reader—or on the character—in a milder climate. Time can also
play a significant role.
∏
•
Mood
•
Futuristic
•
Historical
•
Pastoral
•
Hospitable
•
Inhospitable
•
Social Environment
The most significant job of the setting is to establish the mood. In describing
the weather, the environment, the time of day or night, the prominence of light or
shadow, the level of comfort and welcome that a house or building exudes, the
author is able to manipulate the reader’s mindset. This makes the author’s job
easier: the reader is already in a place to be comforted, nervous, angered, or
20
shocked. Authors use archetypes—archetypes of setting—to
help them establish the mood as well. If the story is set in a
country town with sunny skies and smiling people, we as
readers don’t really expect anything bad to happen. Mostly,
nothing bad happens. Sometimes, authors use this
expectation to shock the reader and challenge a belief.
about 30 years earlier—during the depression instead of at
the beginning of the Civil Rights movement. Why?
•
Futuristic settings are, unsurprisingly, in the future. The
author is predicting what might happen if a particular course
of action continues to play out. Examples of this are
Fahrenheit 451 and 1984.
If this makes the study of literature seem more like sociology,
then you’re on the right track. Much of the literature that we
read is in some way challenging a social norm or practice.
Sometimes this is done in a very subtle way as a means of
subverting the censors and others who would disregard the
argument before understanding it—perhaps before reading
it.
•
Urban settings use cities, social events, and other large
gatherings. There are some archetypal implications to this
type of setting; namely a two sided coin with sophistication,
education, and progress on one side and corruption, disease,
pollution, and poverty on the other. Although not all stories
address this dichotomy, keep in mind that there is no Utopia.
•
Let’s try a little word association: Pastoral and pasture
share the same root. What do you think of when you think of
pasture? Big open green space? Couple of horses grazing?
Birds twittering, maybe a little creek running over rocks?
Deer instead of horses? The general idea is that it is a bucolic
place; a place where the pace of life is slower and one can
retreat from the demands of city life. Even in the country,
thought, there is that dichotomy: peaceful, unpretentious,
unexplored, simple; versus isolated, xenophobic, and
superstitious.
Common setting archetypes are historical, futuristic, urban,
and pastoral.
Historical settings are those that are in the past relative to
the time of publication, not to the time of reading. So Things
Fall Apart is considered to have been written at about the
time of its publication, whereas Shakespeare went back in
time to write Julius Caesar. Twain set Huckleberry Finn
approximately 30 years earlier than the time of its
publication. It is significant that this move places the story
before the Civil War instead of after it; it is our job as readers
to ask why Twain made this decision. How does the
placement of the story in time help Twain to critique his
current society? Harper Lee also set To Kill A Mockingbird
•
Hospitable settings are those that encourage the
prosperity of the characters. This might mean a temperate
climate, adequate shelter and food, a positive social
environment, or a combination of the three. An inhospitable
21
climate, then, doesn’t encourage the prosperity of the
characters. Many of Jack London’s works are set in Alaska
during the gold rush. Very few of the people who went
looking for gold were prepared for the climate they found,
and many froze to death because of inadequate clothing or
starved because the winter was two months longer than they
were used to. The ocean is often used as both: it provides
food, a space for exploration, and is the basis of many dreams
of a pastoral life. It can, however, be deadly: not just the
storms, but for those stranded by shipwreck, etcetera, who
may slowly dehydrate in the middle of millions of gallons of
water.
.
Very often, once the mood is established, the author uses the
setting to prove the mettle of a character or to demonstrate
the folly of humanity. That’s why characterization, conflict,
and setting have to work together: because even though
archetypes and patterns exist, writers constantly find new
ways to explore the human psyche. We still read
Shakespeare because we still haven’t figured out how to
avoid jealousy, where the line is between good ambition and
bad ambition, and how to keep from screwing up a
relationship. We continue to write and explore because we
use literature as a means of understanding experiences,
emotions, and memories; both our own and those of the
people around us.
22
Symbolism
Allusions
SECTION 4
∏
VOCABULARY
•
symbol
•
archetype
•
allusion
I want to tell you a story: In ancient times, the city of Thebes angered the
Sphinx. She was a merciless monster, and she settled at the entrance to the city,
asking a riddle of anyone who tried to enter. Anyone who got the riddle wrong was
eaten—which was everybody. As you can imagine, travel to Thebes dropped off
drastically, and the Thebians were pretty desperate for trade goods. They offered a
reward: anyone who could solve the Sphinx’s riddle would be rewarded with
marriage to the queen (the king having been killed some years before). One day, a
young man name Oedipus came to the gates, and the Sphinx asked her riddle:
“What creature walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and
23
three legs in the evening?” Oedipus replied that it was man,
who crawled on all fours as a baby, walked on two legs
through adulthood, and used a cane in old age. The sphinx
was banished, and Oedipus was crowned king of Thebes and
married Jocasta, the queen.
We’ll start with colors—because you know these already.
What words/feelings/or traits do you associate with: yellow,
blue, green, red, white, black, and purple? Well, for starters,
each has a positive connotation and a negative connotation.
•
Yellow is typically associated with sunshine and
brightness. It is generally seen as a cheerful color. Gold and
yellow are close cousins, so this can represent money and
wealth also. On the negative side, yellow symbolizes
cowardice (think yellow-bellied)
What does this have to do with symbolism? The connection
between the stages of life and the time of day, or the stages of
life and seasons, has been around since at least the time of
the ancient Greeks. I’m sure most of you have heard this
story, but you might not connect this riddle to William
Blake’s poem, “Nurse’s Song.” As literary scholars and close
readers, though, we have to constantly ask the question,
where have I seen this (in this case, this pattern) before?
Symbolism is about reading between the lines and
recognizing when inanimate objects are representing more
than themselves. Sometimes it is obvious—the woman
haunted by a ghostly dagger is seeing a manifestation of her
guilt. Sometimes it is more subtle—running water
symbolizing the maturation of a character.
•
Blue is calm and calm water. It can also be unhappiness
or depression—there’s a reason that the music genre is called
the blues.
•
Green is growth, freshness, naiveté. Its flip side is envy
and jealousy.
•
Red is passion, power or blood—which can be a positive
or negative trait—and anger.
•
White is innocence, purity, and general goodness.
Naiveté can go either direction.
While symbols are generally inanimate objects, the door
remains open to any number of objects that may take on
symbolic properties. Colors, status symbols, emblems,
seasons, water (or lack of), names, disease, the weather…the
list could go on and on. We’re going to talk about some of the
basic symbol archetypes, but like the list of character
archetypes, understand that this is by no means an
exhaustive or even complete list.
•
Black is evil or death; but it can also be privacy
(especially versus a public persona) or opposition to the
status quo.
•
Purple symbolizes royalty or monarch. It also represents
bravery—such as the purple heart.
24
Light/Dark: These are very often seen together, and work in
opposition to each other. Whatever the light shines on is
visible—so this is the public face, the exposition of secrets,
positive growth, truth, knowledge, and so on. Darkness
hides, so this is the private self, the keeping of secrets,
corruption, ignorance. In an urban setting, there are streets
bathed in sunshine and alleys shrouded in darkness: be
aware of what actions happen in each place and how those
changes affect characterization and conflict. In the country,
the forests are often shadowed and can be a place of fear
(what monsters be here?) or a place where one can drop the
public pretenses. When dealing with a multi-racial work, this
symbolism may transfer over to the people involved in the
story and their relative sophistication, corruption, education,
beliefs, and treatment of others.
The archetype of Disease stays pretty stable, but of course
there are exceptions. Someone with physical deformities or a
disease which causes ugliness—scars, loss of skin, etc—tends
to represent an internal beauty. The Hunchback of Notre
Dame is a prime example of this. He is shunned because of
his physical abnormality, his deafness, and his lack of
socialization, but he’s really not evil. I’m not going to go so
far as to say he’s the misunderstood voice of kindness from
the Disney film, but his faults can be attributed to ignorance
rather than willful, antagonistic behavior. The opposite is
also true: characters who are the epitome of beauty are often
broken, twisted, and damaged on the inside. Heart disease is
almost never about cardiac problem, but about lost love, lost
freedom, guilt, cruelty, selfishness, or faithlessness. When
you’re reading about someone who is suffering from a
disease, you’ll almost certainly have to suspend disbelief.
Medical prognosis, as we know it, has really developed in the
last 150 years. In the Victorian time period, it was hit or miss,
and the cure was often as bad as the disease. If a character
has a “wasting disease,” it doesn’t really matter what the
disease is, but rather what this illness does for
characterization, how it can be read metaphorically, and
what it symbolizes. (Metaphor: Malaria=bad air=gossip)
(Scarlet Ibis)
Water is a frequently seen symbol, but it can have a variety
of meanings, depending on whether it’s running or still,
storm-tossed or kind currents. The act of falling in the water
also has symbolic properties. Rebirth—a change in
perception, status, identity, is frequently seen in characters
who get wet in some way but do not drown. This might
include being rained on, bathing, swimming purposefully, or
falling into a pond, lake, or ocean. Occasionally, of course,
someone who falls into water drowns. In this case, we’re
generally looking at character revelation, thematic
development of violence, failure, or guilt, or some type of
plot complication.
Food and eating: The sharing of a meal is the traditional
means of recognizing your allies. Watching other people
eating lacks a lot of zing, as far as entertainment goes, so if
25
there’s a meal written into your text, the chances are good
that it means something. It can go toward characterization—
which people are allied—and toward conflict—these two are
sharing a meal but he doesn’t think she’s much of a cook. It
can reveal the two-faced enemy who toasts your health with
poisoned wine.
anything that sticks in the reader’s mind. I read an allusion to
“having the endurance of the old battery bunny” the other
day; we’re not limited to classical works. That being said,
however, the two largest sources of allusions are The Bible
and Greek mythology, with Shakespeare running a close
third. I’ll tell you right now: there are some Biblical and
mythological allusions that I miss. There are some that you’ll
miss. It’s okay, and it doesn’t mean that you’ll miss the
meaning of the whole story
The irony of it all is that like all archetypes, symbols can be
turned on themselves and used in the opposite way. So, how
are you going to know when something is a symbol, whether
it symbolizes good or bad, or is being used ironically?
Practice. Not what you wanted to hear, I know.
Typically, a symbol will show up more than once, and more
emphasis will be placed on its description than on, say, table
linen. Think about the rapture that Daisy showed when she
was going through Gatsby’s shirts: something about this
scene is significant in a way that the general descriptions of
the party scenes are not.
Allusions
To allude to something is to reference it—perhaps not
directly, but a specific mention. Hamlet, in Shakespeare’s
play of the same name, describes his father as being like
Hercules: strong, a good warrior, honorable, brave. So
because we as readers recognized the allusion, and we know
something about Greek mythology, we have an idea of what
Hamlet’s father was like. Allusions can be drawn from
literature, film, art, music, TV, advertising…just about
26
SECTION 5
∏
Literary Terms (Prose)
to be familiar with
TECHNIQUES
FORMS
Antithesis
Diction: Low (slang)/medium (conversational)/high (formal)
Dialect
Dialogue
Genre
Litotes
Parallelism
Point of View: 1st Person/ 3rd Person limited/ 3rd Person Omniscient
Pun
Satire
Syntax
Allegory
Allusion
Analogy
Archetype
Anthropomorphism
Characterization, including Static/Dynamic; Antagonist/
Protagonist
Foil
Conflict: Internal/ External: v. man; v. society; v. nature
Figurative Language
Flashback/ Foreshadowing
Imagery
Irony
Metaphor
Metonymy
Mood
Setting: Pastoral, Futuristic, Historic
Symbol/ Motif
Theme
Tone
27
Poetry Terms
imagery
irony
Italian sonnet aka Petrarchan sonnet
litotes
metaphor
metonymy
ode
onomatopoeia
oxymoron
paradox
parallelism
personification
repetition rhetorical question
rhyme scheme
sestet
simile
sonnet
speaker
stanza synecdoche
theme
tone
villanelle
volta
zeugma
alliteration
allusion
ambiguity antithesis
assonance
aubade
audience
ballad
blank verse
cacophony
conceit
connotation
consonance
couplet
denotation
elegy
English sonnet aka Shakespearean enjambment
epithet
euphony
extended metaphor
free verse
hyperbole
28
CHAPTER 3
∏
THEORY INTO
PRACTICE
Now we come to the actual graded
part of your summer work. The
tasks are slightly different for each
text, so make sure you read the
directions carefully. Your responses
to these questions must be typed.
Please be aware: even though there
is a right and wrong answer for
each of these, I’m looking at your
critical thinking as much as your
ultimate answer. Identifying the
connections between devices and
arguments will serve you well as we
move on.
SECTION 1
“The Garden Party”
KATHERINE
You can find this story online at www.americanliterature.com. Read the story
carefully, then answer the following questions. Each answer should be 25-50 words.
Total time for this exercise: 75 minutes
∏
MANSFIELD
•
1888-1923
•
Born in New Zealand but
lived much of her life in
bohemian London
•
Her brother was killed in
action during WWI
•
Wrote short stories about
“ordinary people” which reveal
significant lessons about life
and society
•
Her stories tended to be
sympathetic to the
marginalized members of
society
1. Who is the protagonist of this story? Explain your response. Remember that the
protagonist must a, seek to resolve conflict; b. demonstrate growth (maturation)
as a result of resolving an internal conflict; and c. serve as a guide to other
characters in the story.
2. What two settings are contrasted in the story? Identify specific imagery
Mansfield uses to make these comparisons (at least three pairs of images), your
reaction to this imagery, and what effect the imagery has on the story as a whole.
You may consider these questions as you look at overall effect:
a. How does the move from the garden to the street change the story from an
airy recounting to a rite of passage?
b. How does the move from the garden to the street literally change Laura’s
perspective?
3. Identify three color-based symbols. Explain what the symbolism of each is and
the effect of each on the story as a whole. Remember that a symbol has a literal
meaning and an inferred meaning, and I’m interested in both.
4. Into which literary movement does this story best fit? Explain how this helps
readers to identify Mansfield’s argument about society.
30
SECTION 2
“To Build A Fire”
JACK LONDON
You can find this story online at www.americanliterature.com. Read the story
carefully, then answer the following questions. Each answer should be 25-50 words.
Total time for this exercise: 60 minutes.
∏
•
1876-1916
•
London pursued a number of
interests, including journalism,
mining, commercial sailing,
and social activism
•
•
He wrote novels, plays, short
stories and poetry, but his
short stories are his best
works.
London’s works are
considered part of the
Naturalism literary movement,
which is part of the larger
Realism movement.
1. Trace the main character’s development. Identify four specific characteristics and
why these are important to the overall story. You might consider:
a. very few of London’s readers would have experienced this extreme type of
weather. How does this severity build toward a social criticism?
b. The dog, like the storm, is amoral. How does this affect the reader’s judgement
of the man?
c. The third-person POV means that we don’t know what the man thinks and
can only judge him on his actions.
2. Take a few minutes (seriously, 10 minutes, tops) and research the symptoms of
hypothermia. At what point does the character develop hypothermia? As London
traces the worsening effects of hypothermia, anticipation builds. What is the
effect of this anticipation on the story as a whole?
3. In most stories, the plot is driven by conflict between individuals. What conflicts
exist in this story? Why can’t we clearly define a “good guy” or a “bad guy”?
4. How is London using this specific event in this specific place to speak to a larger
social problem? Identify the problem he’s looking at and his opinion on that
problem.
31
SECTION 3
“The Waltz”
DOROTHY PARKER
You can find this story online at www.americanliterature.com. Read the story
carefully, then answer the following questions. Each answer should be 25-50 words.
Total time for this exercise: 60 minutes.
∏
•
1893-1967
•
Humorist, poet, satirist,
theatre critic, and social
activist
•
•
Blacklisted during the
McCarthy trials
Her work is characterized by
its wit. She often plays words
off of each other and uses
multiple meanings of a single
word to create puns. Her work
is reminiscent of Hemingway’s
in that she uses description
sparingly.
1. How does point of view affect the story as a whole? Consider:
a. What is the irony between the words in regular print and the words in italics?
b. What is the difference in tone between these sets of words?
2. How is each of the major figures characterized? Is the characterization of the
man reliable? Why or why not? How about the female figure? What stands out/
seems out of sync about her characterization?
3. With a double voice present, many reader’s thoughts turn to double standards. Is
Parker making an argument about double standards? If so, what is her opinion?
If not, then what part of society is this story critiquing?
32
SECTION 4
“An Occurrence at Owl Creek
Bridge”
AMBROSE BIERCE
You can find this story online at www.americanliterature.com. Read the story
carefully, then answer the following questions. Each answer should be 25-50 words.
Total time for this exercise: 75 minutes.
∏
•
1876-c. 1914. Bierce
disappeared during the
Mexican-American War and
no definitive proof of his place
or cause of death exist.
•
Journalist, satirist and critic
•
Served as a lieutenant in the
Union Army during the Civil
War
1. Farquhar has a strong reaction to his watch--why is this significant? Consider
the use of past and present tense verbs to indicate flashback and present time;
also consider how time affects the structure of the story.
2. At what point do you realize that Farquhar is an unreliable narrator? How does
this affect the story as a whole?
3. Many young men of this period joined either the Union or Confederate armies
because of a romanticized ideal of honor and courage. What argument does
Bierce make about the realities of war? Why does he go into such detail about
military protocol?
4. Which literary movement does this text belong to? Explain your answer.
33
SECTION 5
Poetry
THE TEXTS
The basics of reading literature--that is, prose--also work for drama and poetry. We
will talk at length about how to identify poetry versus verse or doggerel as well as
more nuanced ways of reading poetry. In the meantime, however, I want you to
analyze the ten poems on the left using this process (apply to each poem).
∏
•
“For the Union Dead” by
Robert Lowell
•
“Penelope” by Dorothy Parker
•
“Water, is Taught By Thirst” by
Emily Dickenson
•
“The Soul Selects Her Own
Society” by Emily Dickenson
•
“Tell all the Truth but Tell it
Slant” by Emily Dickenson
2. Clarify any terms that you’re unfamiliar with, including references to people,
places, or events.
•
“Success is Counted Sweetest”
by Emily Dickenson
3. You need to identify a minimum of two devices and explain how they are used to
make the implied theme clear.
•
“The Tyger” by William Blake
•
“Introduction to the Songs of
Experience” by Wm. Blake
4. For each poem, find an illustration, photograph, sculpture, meme, or other visual
means of conveying the theme (which is implied--it won’t be the same as the
subject of the poem). Warning: a pretty landscape isn’t going to cut it here.
•
“Introduction to the Songs of
Innocence” by Wm. Blake
5. You should have a ~50 word explanation of how the illustration speaks to the
implied theme of the poem.
•
“To The Muses” by Wm. Blake
You can find these poems at www.poetryfoundation.org
1. Paraphrase the poem. This does not mean “pull out the thesaurus and change the
words.” Take the poem, sentence by sentence--not line by line, figure out what
each sentence says, and state that in your own words. Your paraphrase must
maintain the main idea and context of the original. Your paraphrase should not
be in verse form. It should look like a paragraph.
Total time for this exercise: 2.5 hours.
34