UNIT 2: Thinking about Literature
Key Literary Elements:
Theme, Characterization, Setting, Point of View, Symbol, Plot
Recognition of Stylistic Elements:
Diction, Syntax, Figurative Language
Why Is Storytelling So Vital to Our Lives?
STORYTELLING IN CAVE ART
Analyzing Literature
Discrepancies with TWO key issues with Literature:
1. The study of literature can seem like a hunt for a bunch of hidden symbols and meanings in order to get a good grade...or is it?
Point One: This is explained in Chapter One: there is an analytical process of making observations, finding patters, and drawing conclusions that is used for almost everything in the world; so, why should Literature be exempt? To not do so proves a person is not prepared to be analytical.
2. Authors don't really mean to do whatever English teachers say they do. It's all made up.
Point Two: This could be half right. We know this because Language and storytelling are rich, complex things that even the author, at times, cannot fully control. But, nevertheless, the meaning of these things exists.
Where this point is half wrong: is there are absolutely times when the authors intend to develop an idea abstractly--through implication, metaphor, or symbol--and in doing so present the idea in a more interesting, powerful, or nuanced way than they would if they were "blunt" or "straightforward."
1. The study of literature can seem like a hunt for a bunch of hidden symbols and meanings in order to get a good grade...or is it?
Point One: This is explained in Chapter One: there is an analytical process of making observations, finding patters, and drawing conclusions that is used for almost everything in the world; so, why should Literature be exempt? To not do so proves a person is not prepared to be analytical.
2. Authors don't really mean to do whatever English teachers say they do. It's all made up.
Point Two: This could be half right. We know this because Language and storytelling are rich, complex things that even the author, at times, cannot fully control. But, nevertheless, the meaning of these things exists.
Where this point is half wrong: is there are absolutely times when the authors intend to develop an idea abstractly--through implication, metaphor, or symbol--and in doing so present the idea in a more interesting, powerful, or nuanced way than they would if they were "blunt" or "straightforward."
The example: Edward Scissorhands (1990)
This is how a metaphor is built: why scissors? Because they can be useful AND dangerous, which is the implication from the movie, as it is a mirror of the reactions Edward gets from those around him, and how he must then work to protect others, often from himself.
We must SEE this in our minds when we read!
THINKING ABSTRACTLY (Dali painting, 1931)
medium.com/everything-art/the-story-behind-salvador-dalis-the-persistence-of-memory-acb11f1766a6
Theme in Literature
Too often, students can write things that are not Thematic in nature, but rather Plot Summaries. This is what we need to avoid.
Example:
Romeo and Juliet--to say that the theme is "The two children of feuding households fall in love with disastrous results."
This is NOT a theme, but rather a plot summary.
A Theme would be: Romeo and Juliet suggests that love is a powerful force that, once unleashed, cannot be controlled.
Example:
Romeo and Juliet--to say that the theme is "The two children of feuding households fall in love with disastrous results."
This is NOT a theme, but rather a plot summary.
A Theme would be: Romeo and Juliet suggests that love is a powerful force that, once unleashed, cannot be controlled.
Analyzing Theme
How to determine this?
Careful Observation...looking for patterns...
Consider: curiosities...repetitions...opposites...links
Careful Observation...looking for patterns...
Consider: curiosities...repetitions...opposites...links
Naomi Shihab Nye
(Arabic: نعومي شهاب ناي; born March 12, 1952) is a poet, songwriter, and novelist. Born to a Palestinian father and an American mother, she began composing her first poem at the age of six. In total, she has published or contributed to over 30 volumes of poetry. Her works include poetry, young-adult fiction, picture books, and novels. Nye received the 2013 NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature in honor of her entire body of work as a writer, and in 2019 the Poetry Foundation designated her the Young People's Poet Laureate for the 2019–21 term.Nye characterizes herself as a "wandering poet," and says that much of her poetry is inspired by her childhood memories and her travels. She considers San Antonio her current home, "San Antonio feels most like home as I have lived here the longest. But everywhere can be home the moment you unpack, make a tiny space that feels agreeable". San Antonio is the inspiration behind many of her poems. Both roots and sense of place are major themes in her body of work. Her poems are frank and accessible, often making use of ordinary images in startling ways. Her ability to enter into foreign experiences and chronicle them from the inside is reminiscent of Elizabeth Bishop, while her simple and direct "voice" is akin to that of her mentor William Stafford.
Her first collection of poems, Different Ways to Pray, explored the theme of similarities and differences between cultures, which would become one of her lifelong areas of focus. Her other books include poetry collections 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East, Red Suitcase, and Fuel; a collection of essays entitled Never in a Hurry; a young-adult novel called Habibi (the autobiographical story of an Arab-American teenager who moves to Jerusalem in the 1970s) and picture book Lullaby Raft, which is also the title of one of her two albums of music. (The other is called Rutabaga-Roo; both were limited-edition.)
Nye's first two chapter books, Tattooed Feet (1977) and Eye-to-Eye (1978), are written in free verse and possess themes of questing. Nye's first full-length collection, Different Ways to Pray (1980), explores the differences between and shared experiences of cultures from California to Texas and from South America to Mexico. Hugging the Jukebox (1982), a full-length collection that won the Voertman Poetry Prize, focuses on the connections between diverse peoples and on the perspectives of those in other lands. Yellow Glove (1986) presents poems with more tragic and sorrowful themes. According to the Poetry Foundation, Fuel (1998) may be Nye's most acclaimed volume and ranges over a variety of subjects, scenes and settings.
Nye's poem Famous was referenced and quoted in full by Judge Andre Davis in his concurring opinion on the case G. G. v. Gloucester County School Board.
Her poem So much happiness was included in the 'Happiness' edition of Parabola.
Her first collection of poems, Different Ways to Pray, explored the theme of similarities and differences between cultures, which would become one of her lifelong areas of focus. Her other books include poetry collections 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East, Red Suitcase, and Fuel; a collection of essays entitled Never in a Hurry; a young-adult novel called Habibi (the autobiographical story of an Arab-American teenager who moves to Jerusalem in the 1970s) and picture book Lullaby Raft, which is also the title of one of her two albums of music. (The other is called Rutabaga-Roo; both were limited-edition.)
Nye's first two chapter books, Tattooed Feet (1977) and Eye-to-Eye (1978), are written in free verse and possess themes of questing. Nye's first full-length collection, Different Ways to Pray (1980), explores the differences between and shared experiences of cultures from California to Texas and from South America to Mexico. Hugging the Jukebox (1982), a full-length collection that won the Voertman Poetry Prize, focuses on the connections between diverse peoples and on the perspectives of those in other lands. Yellow Glove (1986) presents poems with more tragic and sorrowful themes. According to the Poetry Foundation, Fuel (1998) may be Nye's most acclaimed volume and ranges over a variety of subjects, scenes and settings.
Nye's poem Famous was referenced and quoted in full by Judge Andre Davis in his concurring opinion on the case G. G. v. Gloucester County School Board.
Her poem So much happiness was included in the 'Happiness' edition of Parabola.
Famous (poem)
Literary Elements
Point of View (1st, 3rd person), Characterization (Direct/Indirect), Plot, Conflict (man vs. man, man vs. nature, man vs. self, man vs. society), Setting, Symbol
Analyzing Literary Elements and Theme
Make Observations: Point of View, Characterization, Plot and Conflict, Setting, Symbol
Identify Patterns: Curiosities, Repetitions, Opposites, Links
Draw Conclusions: What is a Theme and how did the author develop it?
Identify Patterns: Curiosities, Repetitions, Opposites, Links
Draw Conclusions: What is a Theme and how did the author develop it?
Raymond Carver: "Popular Mechanics"
(May 25, 1938 – August 2, 1988) was an American short story writer and poet. He is considered to be amongst America's greatest writers.
He became interested in writing while attending Chico State College, and enrolled in a creative writing course taught by the novelist John Gardner, then a recent doctoral graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, who became a mentor and had a major influence on Carver's life and career. In 1961, Carver's first published story, "The Furious Seasons", appeared. More florid than his later work, the story strongly bore the influence of William Faulkner. "Furious Seasons" was later used as a title for a collection of stories published by Capra Press, and is part of the collection, No Heroics, Please and Call If You Need Me.Carver continued his studies[when?] under the short story writer Richard Cortez Day (like Gardner, a recent Ph.D. alumnus of the Iowa program) at Humboldt State College in Arcata, California. He chose not to take the foreign language courses required by the English program and received a B.A. in general studies in 1963. During this period he was first published and served as editor for Toyon, the college's literary magazine, in which he published several of his own pieces under his own name as well as the pseudonym John Vale.
According to biographer Carol Sklenicka, Carver falsely claimed to have received an M.F.A. from Iowa in 1966 on later curricula vitae. Maryann, who postponed completing her education to support her husband's educational and literary endeavors, eventually graduated from San Jose State College in 1970 and taught English at Los Altos High School until 1977. After completing graduate work at Stanford, she briefly enrolled in the University of California, Santa Barbara's English doctoral program when Carver taught at the institution as a visiting lecturer in 1974.
In the mid-1960s, Carver and his family resided in Sacramento, California, where he briefly worked at a bookstore before taking a position as a night custodian at Mercy Hospital.[citation needed] He did all of the janitorial work in the first hour and then wrote through the rest of his shift. He audited classes at what was then Sacramento State College, including workshops with poet Dennis Schmitz. Carver and Schmitz soon became friends, and Carver wrote and published his first book of poems, Near Klamath, under Schmitz's guidance.
1967 was a landmark year for Carver with the appearance of "Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?" in Martha Foley's annual Best American Short Stories anthology and the impending publication of Near Klamath by the English Club of Sacramento State College. He briefly enrolled in the library science graduate program at the University of Iowa that summer but returned to California following the death of his father. Shortly thereafter, the Carvers relocated to Palo Alto, California, so he could take his first white-collar job at Science Research Associates (a subsidiary of IBM in nearby Menlo Park, California), where he worked intermittently as a textbook editor and public relations director through 1970.
After the publication of "Neighbors" in the June 1971 issue of Esquire at the instigation of Lish (by now ensconced as the magazine's fiction editor), Carver began to teach at the University of California, Santa Cruz at the behest of provost James B. Hall, an Iowa alumnus and early mentor to Ken Kesey at the University of Oregon, commuting from his new home in Sunnyvale, California.
Having endured a succession of failed applications to the Stegner Fellowship, Carver was admitted to the prestigious non-degree Stanford University graduate creative writing program for the 1972–1973 term, where he cultivated friendships with Kesey-era luminaries Ed McClanahan and Gurney Norman in addition to contemporaneous fellows Chuck Kinder, Max Crawford, and William Kittredge. The $4,000 stipend enabled the Carvers to buy a house in Cupertino, California. He also took on another teaching job at the University of California, Berkeley that year and briefly rented a pied-à-terre in the city; this development was precipitated by his initiation of an extramarital affair with Diane Cecily, a University of Montana administrator and mutual friend of Kittredge who would subsequently marry Kinder.
During his years of working at miscellaneous jobs, rearing children, and trying to write, Carver started abusing alcohol. By his own admission, he gave up writing and took to full-time drinking. In the fall semester of 1973, Carver was a visiting lecturer in the Iowa Writers' Workshop with John Cheever, but Carver stated that they did less teaching than drinking and almost no writing. With the assistance of Kinder and Kittredge, he attempted to simultaneously commute to Berkeley and maintain his lectureship at Santa Cruz; after missing all but a handful of classes due to the inherent logistical hurdles of this arrangement and various alcohol-related illnesses, Hall gently enjoined Carver to resign his position. The next year, after leaving Iowa City, Carver went to a treatment center to attempt to overcome his alcoholism, but continued drinking for another three years.
His first short story collection, Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?, was published in 1976. The collection itself was shortlisted for the National Book Award, though it sold fewer than 5,000 copies that year.
He became interested in writing while attending Chico State College, and enrolled in a creative writing course taught by the novelist John Gardner, then a recent doctoral graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, who became a mentor and had a major influence on Carver's life and career. In 1961, Carver's first published story, "The Furious Seasons", appeared. More florid than his later work, the story strongly bore the influence of William Faulkner. "Furious Seasons" was later used as a title for a collection of stories published by Capra Press, and is part of the collection, No Heroics, Please and Call If You Need Me.Carver continued his studies[when?] under the short story writer Richard Cortez Day (like Gardner, a recent Ph.D. alumnus of the Iowa program) at Humboldt State College in Arcata, California. He chose not to take the foreign language courses required by the English program and received a B.A. in general studies in 1963. During this period he was first published and served as editor for Toyon, the college's literary magazine, in which he published several of his own pieces under his own name as well as the pseudonym John Vale.
According to biographer Carol Sklenicka, Carver falsely claimed to have received an M.F.A. from Iowa in 1966 on later curricula vitae. Maryann, who postponed completing her education to support her husband's educational and literary endeavors, eventually graduated from San Jose State College in 1970 and taught English at Los Altos High School until 1977. After completing graduate work at Stanford, she briefly enrolled in the University of California, Santa Barbara's English doctoral program when Carver taught at the institution as a visiting lecturer in 1974.
In the mid-1960s, Carver and his family resided in Sacramento, California, where he briefly worked at a bookstore before taking a position as a night custodian at Mercy Hospital.[citation needed] He did all of the janitorial work in the first hour and then wrote through the rest of his shift. He audited classes at what was then Sacramento State College, including workshops with poet Dennis Schmitz. Carver and Schmitz soon became friends, and Carver wrote and published his first book of poems, Near Klamath, under Schmitz's guidance.
1967 was a landmark year for Carver with the appearance of "Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?" in Martha Foley's annual Best American Short Stories anthology and the impending publication of Near Klamath by the English Club of Sacramento State College. He briefly enrolled in the library science graduate program at the University of Iowa that summer but returned to California following the death of his father. Shortly thereafter, the Carvers relocated to Palo Alto, California, so he could take his first white-collar job at Science Research Associates (a subsidiary of IBM in nearby Menlo Park, California), where he worked intermittently as a textbook editor and public relations director through 1970.
After the publication of "Neighbors" in the June 1971 issue of Esquire at the instigation of Lish (by now ensconced as the magazine's fiction editor), Carver began to teach at the University of California, Santa Cruz at the behest of provost James B. Hall, an Iowa alumnus and early mentor to Ken Kesey at the University of Oregon, commuting from his new home in Sunnyvale, California.
Having endured a succession of failed applications to the Stegner Fellowship, Carver was admitted to the prestigious non-degree Stanford University graduate creative writing program for the 1972–1973 term, where he cultivated friendships with Kesey-era luminaries Ed McClanahan and Gurney Norman in addition to contemporaneous fellows Chuck Kinder, Max Crawford, and William Kittredge. The $4,000 stipend enabled the Carvers to buy a house in Cupertino, California. He also took on another teaching job at the University of California, Berkeley that year and briefly rented a pied-à-terre in the city; this development was precipitated by his initiation of an extramarital affair with Diane Cecily, a University of Montana administrator and mutual friend of Kittredge who would subsequently marry Kinder.
During his years of working at miscellaneous jobs, rearing children, and trying to write, Carver started abusing alcohol. By his own admission, he gave up writing and took to full-time drinking. In the fall semester of 1973, Carver was a visiting lecturer in the Iowa Writers' Workshop with John Cheever, but Carver stated that they did less teaching than drinking and almost no writing. With the assistance of Kinder and Kittredge, he attempted to simultaneously commute to Berkeley and maintain his lectureship at Santa Cruz; after missing all but a handful of classes due to the inherent logistical hurdles of this arrangement and various alcohol-related illnesses, Hall gently enjoined Carver to resign his position. The next year, after leaving Iowa City, Carver went to a treatment center to attempt to overcome his alcoholism, but continued drinking for another three years.
His first short story collection, Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?, was published in 1976. The collection itself was shortlisted for the National Book Award, though it sold fewer than 5,000 copies that year.
Popular Mechanics
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