understanding literature

UNDERSTANDING LITERARY WORKS

Most, but not all of the content in this lecture is either derived from, or inspired by, Writing Analytically by Rossenwasser and Stephen

How we can use analysis to really understand a piece and to form interesting ideas about it.

First, some things to avoid doing

04/13/2023Powerpoint derived from Rossenwasser and Stephen's excellent text, "Writing Analytically"

Avoid• jumping reflexively to judgments

• spouting opinions rather than sprouting ideas

• relying on generalizations and clichés

details to follow

2

Avoid the Judgment Reflex


3

The first thing to do is to avoid the Judgment Reflex: the hasty inclination to share your evaluative opinion without taking time to really look at a topic or idea. We are seeking to understand and to generate ideas, not to offer our opinions.

“Judgments

usually say more about the person doing the judging than they do about the subject” (R&S p 43).

Avoid Spouting Opinions


4

• Opinions• Often categorize• Are usually not

informative• Usually do not

welcome discussion• Often involve the

word “should” and its kin

• Revolve around our own personal preferences and inclinations

• Are usually judgments

Opinion? Idea? What’s the difference?

• Ideas • Notice connections

• Respond to puzzlements

• Explain anomalies

• Invite discussion

• Often start as questions

• Uncover layers of significance and meaning

Opinion? Idea? examples

Did you see the movie, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe? As I exited the theater, I overheard these remarks:

And I overheard these remarks:

04/13/2023

5

Powerpoint derived from Rossenwasser and Stephen's excellent text, "Writing Analytically"

• They should do the other movies soon before the kids grow up.• They didn’t develop the relationships deeply enough.• The animation wasn’t as good as I expected.• It was a great movie.

• Do Lucy and Susan at the Stone Table symbolize Mary and Martha at the grave?• What is the significance of the redeemed traitor’s sword being the tool that broke the Witch’s wand, -- and from there -- her power?

The first set are Opinions; they close down exploration as they are a stopping place, not a starting place. The second set are Ideas; they invite conversation, exploration, and discovery.

Avoid Generalizations & Clichés


6

The interesting ideas in The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe example all occurred because someone was paying attention to details.

Do Lucy and Susan at the Stone Table symbolize Mary and Martha at the grave?

This person noticed that it was two females attending the executed pivotal character and then recalled another narrative with the same pattern: Mary and Martha at the tomb of Christ.

What is the significance of the redeemed traitor’s sword being the tool that broke the Witch’s wand – and from there – her power?

This person was paying attention to who did what to whom. The Witch wronged Edmund with deception and he was – ultimately – her un-doing. I, on the other hand, merely said, ‘Yippee the witch is dead’, whilst this person looked at who killed her and what his previous connection with her had been.

“[. . . ] we respond to our experience with a limited range of generalizations, and more often than not, these are shared generalizations – that is, cliches” (R&S 5th ed p 19).

Most of us are in the habit of not-seeing. Unless we make an effort, we tend to notice only a few broad details and overlook the small details that can make a big difference.

It’s a rather long lecture and the next part is foundational to parts of our course. Go fill your coffee cup, let the dog out, and come back ready to focus on this.

Coffee Break

04/13/2023

7

What then, shall we do?


Now that we know what not to do, I’ll teach you what to do. We’ll analyze. What’s that you ask?

“To analyze something is to ask what that something means. It asks how something does what it does or why it is as it is. Analysis is a form of detective work that begins not with the views you already have, but with something you are seeking to understand” (R&S p 41).

8

And how then, shall we do it?


9

We’ll take it step-by-step and we’ll use The Method:

What is the Method, you ask?

The method is a five-step process that helps you to see what an article or story is really about. This process helps you see patterns or other interesting things in the text that you might not see just by reading it. The method can help you write a good essay. The nice thing about the method is that it is easy to do, and you can take it with you to any of your college classes.

Step 1: Find words or details that repeat.

Step 2: Find “idea families” that repeat.

Step 3: Find words or ideas that are opposites.

Step 4: Find the two most important repetitions, idea families, and opposites.

Step 5: Write a paragraph. examples in next slides



10

Poems and Short Stories and Short Plays Simply go through the piece and underline or circle words that repeat and then count how many times you see them. Keep a list.

Got a copy of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men laying about? Grab it and read the first few sentences of each chapter. Notice how each one starts with a ray of light and a few details about what the light is shining upon. This simple description sets the tone for each chapter’s action. I would have never ever noticed this had I not used The Method while my class was reading this book.

Essays and Novels and Longer Plays If you are reading something long like a novel, you don’t have to go through and circle every word that repeats, but do keep an eye out for repetitions. st.



11

An idea family is a group of words or similar words that are repeated in the text. For example, polite, courteous, and nice all mean similar things, so these would all be in the same idea family. Similar details can also be idea families. Accuse, defense, justice, and witness are all part of an idea family about law.

Keep a list. We’ll do some example together



This step is a little more difficult. Some opposites will be specific words in the text (big/small, black/white), but some will not.

For example, if the author describes rocks near a flowing river this may be showing the idea of permanence and impermanence.

Keep a list.FYI: In literary analysis, two words or ideas that are opposite are called binaries.

12



13

Look at each list and the notes you have made from steps 1-3.

For each step choose the two that you think are the most important and copy them into a new list. You should have 6 items listed. Feel free to jot down any reasons why you think these are important, but don’t get caught up in explaining yourself. Just make a few brief notes.

Now walk away and mull over these for awhile.

Step 5: Write a paragraph.


14

Now look at your list from step 4, choose one item, and write a sturdy paragraph (about a half page) in which you why this is the most important idea to the understanding the poem, essay, story or play. Tell what you think this says about the author and the story.

This paragraph will become the beginning of your essay!

You can start with the words, “The most important detail for understanding xyz is ____________.”

Let’s Practice: Analyzing “Metaphors”

04/13/2023

15

MetaphorsI'm a riddle in nine syllables,An elephant, a ponderous house,A melon strolling on two tendrils.O red fruit, ivory, fine timbers!This loaf's big with its yeasty

rising.Money's new-minted in this fat

purse.I'm a means, a stage, a cow in

calf.I've eaten a bag of green apples, Boarded the train there's no

getting off.– Sylvia Plath

The Collected Poems, 1959.

04/13/2023

16








Simply go through the piece and underline or circle words that repeat and then count how many times you see them.

It’s a short poem and I don’t see many exact repetitions.

The word “a” appears 7 times and “an” appears once. The word “I” and its kin, “I’m” and “I’ve” show up 3 times.

Well, that was painless. Not very fruitful, but not that tough. Let’s do step 2.

Step 1 Practice: Analyzing “Metaphors”

04/13/2023


An idea family is a group of words or similar words that are repeated in the text. For example, polite, courteous, and nice all mean similar things, so these would all be in the same idea family. Similar details can also be idea families. Accuse, defense, justice, and witness are all part of an idea family about law.

This will be a longer list

Bigness: elephant, ponderous, melon, big, fat, cow-in-calf,

Nines: ‘nine syllables’, nine lines, nine syllables in each line

A container: house, purse, Discomfort: bag-of-green-apples, no-

getting-off Potential: yeasty, new-minted money, cow-

in-calf, train Food: melon, fruit, loaf, yeasty, apples Roundness: melon, loaf, fat purse, apples


17







04/13/2023

18


Some opposites will be specific words in the text (big/small, black/white), but some will not.

house (sturdy)/ melon (fragile)fruit (transitory)/timbers (lasting) ponderous/ tendrils things that are constructed or made (house, timbers, money, purse, stage, trains)/things that grow (elephant, melon, fruit, cow-in-calf, apples) things we have control over/ things we can’t control (same items as above)








04/13/2023


From list 1: (there were only two items on the list, )1. I/I’m/I’ve2. a/anSo I guess we can conclude that this poem is one of self-description. Hmm. That’s not too helpful. (Or maybe it is . . . )

From list 2: 1.Nines: ‘nine syllables’, nine lines, nine syllables in each line2.Potential: yeasty, new-minted money, cow-in-calf, train

From list 3: 1. fruit (transitory)/timbers (lasting) 2. things over which we have control/ things we can’t control (same items as above)


19



purse.I'm a means, a stage, a cow in calf.I've eaten a bag of green apples, Boarded the train there's no



04/13/2023

20

Step 5: Write a paragraph.


The most important detail for understanding Sylvia Plath’s poem, “Metaphors” is the pattern of nines. She has declared herself to be “a riddle in nine syllables” and provides details of the riddle nine lines of nine syllables each, suggesting pregnancy.

orThe most important detail for understanding Sylvia Plath’s poem, “Metaphors” is the idea of potential. Over and over again, we see images of future goodness: yeasty bread dough which swells up and sustains life, new-minted money which provides that which we need, cow-in-calf which delivers a brand new being, and finally a train from which she can not disembark. The train is carrying her to a new life, that of motherhood.

These paragraphs are very brief, as it is such a short poem, and once the riddle is solved there is not much left to say. But it did a nice job of providing an example for our lesson.







That’s it for today. We’ll do another example together and then start using The Method in some assignments. These assignments may be directly linked to your next quiz or to an In-Class essay later in the quarter. That’s a freebie tip for those of you who made it through the lecture.

That’s all folks.

04/13/2023

21

21

As I mentioned in the first slide, most, but not all of the content in this lecture is either derived from, or inspired by, Writing Analytically by Rossenwasser and Stephen.

Credits

04/13/2023

22

understanding literature

Education

stephens excellent text

opinions ideas

step process

thansprouting ideas

writing analytically9182012

stephen interesting

understandrs p

interesting things