Welcome To The World of Literary Theory
Literary theory. Just the name sounds boring, ancient, and predictable. The concept may make you cringe or even hide behind an education filled with far less intimidating subject matter. As a student you picture some tenured teacher attempting to enlighten you with his or her knowledge of authors who have been long gone or nearly there. You think of endless hours slaving over an anthology of stories you have already read. You do not understand how all of this pertains to your life, your present, or your future. Therefore, you do not go to class, or when you do go you eagerly count down the minutes of torture, and when the semester ends and you get a grade that reflects your misery with literature, you swear off all English related subjects for life. You are just happy it’s over. As an individual who has been down your road, I encourage you to rethink this plan.
If you think about it, can you ever truly push English out of your life for good? In its very basic sense, English is communicating. You will always have a need for the language and you will always have a need for writing it down. English shapes your life more than you may think. I know I am repeating to you things you already know. So I will get back to the dreaded subject of literary theory. I will start by telling you I once had the same thought process as many of you as you begin your journey into the world of literature. I will also tell you to discard this negative notion of literature and prepare to begin a journey into the understanding of life. I bet you did not know it, but that is the essence of this concept students run away from in fear - life. When you begin to understand literary theory, you begin...
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...hard Sennett, “Autonomy, An Authority Without Love,” and Stephen Frosh, “Social Experience and the Constructed Self.” They describe the concept of self as formulated by literary theorist such as themselves. It is works such as theirs that force the mind to think differently and generate more questions than answers – a sign of intelligence, learning, and understanding at their best. Understanding the self in terms of modernist and post modernist viewpoints created through literary theory expand and solidify notions of Sennett and Frosh while at the same time bringing those very ideas into question. That is what you find the study of literary theory to be focused around, many answers, but even more questions. However, do not think of yourself as lacking when in fact you are ahead of the game, as most people never even dare to question what cannot be answered.
“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” Clover, the main character in the story The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson, Clover grows up, disobeys her mom, and makes a new friend. I think the theme of the story The Other Side is courageous because Annie and Clover are both kind to each other, they accept each other, and they are both brave.
Sir Raymond Firth famously said that ethnography “makes the exotic familiar and the familiar exotic.” You mainly hear stories of ethnographers and anthropologist going to other countries to study societies that are fascinating and unknown so that we can become familiar with their culture and understand. This is how we make the exotic familiar. Within our own country we are under the impression that because we live around these people we know them and there is nothing to learn, but when we step in and begin to observe what’s in our own backyard we realize there are things that we don’t know. This is what Philippe Bourgois and Jeff Schonberg have done in Righteous Dopefiend.
Clive Barker, the author of The Thief of Always, writes a fantasy about Harvey(the main character) taken into into a place full of illusions. Soon he finds out that there was this horrible Hood that had taken his precious time and almost has eaten his soul. So, Harvey then tries to destroy this evil Hood who ends up to be the oh so perfect house. Hood is evil and different ways he is evil. There are many things that makes someone or something truly evil. Hood is ultimately evil. These are the things that make him who or what he is. Evil is significant to most stories because that is the major conflict. The antagonist, Hood, does a really good job of being the bad guy. Usually it’s a person who is has some kind of kindness inside,
In a country like the United States of America, with a history of every individual having an equal opportunity to reach their dreams, it becomes harder and harder to grasp the reality that equal opportunity is diminishing as the years go on. The book Our Kids by Robert Putnam illustrates this reality and compares life during the 1950’s and today’s society and how it has gradually gotten to a point of inequality. In particular, he goes into two touching stories, one that shows the changes in the communities we live in and another that illustrates the change of family structure. In the end he shows how both stories contribute to the American dream slipping away from our hands.
Thomas Paine once said “The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.” Conflict is an obstacle that many characters in books go through. It is what drives the reader to continue reading and make the book enjoyable. Additionally, authors use symbolism to connect their novels to real life, personal experience, or even a life lesson. In “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee and “A Lesson Before Dying” by Ernest J. Gaines, both take place during a time where colored people were being looked down upon and not treated with the same rights as white people. However, both novels portray the conflict and symbolism many ways that are similar and different. Additionally, both of these novels have many similarities and differences that connect as well as differentiate them to one
“Often fear of one evil leads us into a worse”(Despreaux). Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux is saying that fear consumes oneself and often times results in a worse fate. William Golding shares a similar viewpoint in his novel Lord of the Flies. A group of boys devastatingly land on a deserted island. Ralph and his friend Piggy form a group. Slowly, they become increasingly fearful. Then a boy named Jack rebels and forms his own tribe with a few boys such as Roger and Bill. Many things such as their environment, personalities and their own minds contribute to their change. Eventually, many of the boys revert to their inherently evil nature and become savage and only two boys remain civilized. The boys deal with many trials, including each other, and true colors show. In the end they are being rescued, but too much is lost. Their innocence is forever lost along with the lives Simon, a peaceful boy, and an intelligent boy, Piggy. Throughout the novel, Golding uses symbolism and characterization to show that savagery and evil are a direct effect of fear.
From our readings so far, one can see the strenuous decisions that have to be made when choosing to conform or to rebel against societies expectations. There can be both positives and negatives to conforming or rebelling. One isn’t right or wrong over the other, it’s based off of the particular individual. “The Hero’s Journey” is the perfect template for most works of literature. It conveys the steps necessary individuals must take to find themselves and to overall grow as a person. “Barn Burning” by William Faulkner and “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. are perfect examples of characters going through the cycles of the “Hero’s Journey,” while trying to determine exactly where they belong in society. Not only characters in a story,
Robin Cochrane Mrs. Schroder AP Literature and Composition 3 January 2018 The Awakening 1999 Prompt In one’s lifetime, he or she may face an internal struggle. Perhaps the struggle lies in a difficult choice between right and wrong. Perhaps it lies in a decision between want and need.
The first unit on our textbook Interactions by Ann Moseley and Jeanette Harris talks about the self-concept. It is hard to find a definition for the self-concept because it is certain beliefs about ethnicity, religion, and personalities combined. This unit has a number of readings by various authors where it shows struggles with the self. Self-identity, ethnic backgrounds, and self-esteem are the major aspects of those readings. After reading their writings I found that I could relate to their experiences. The three readings that got my attention were “Zero” By Paul Logan, “I’m Just Me” by Lylah Alphonse, and “The Jacket” by Gary Soto.
In unit one of Interactions, the authors Ann Moseley and Jeanette Harris showed a number of readings about the idea of the self. The self-concept is an important matter because people change with age constantly and their thoughts change as well. There are many factors that can affect any individual’s thought of self-concept such as growing up, life experiences, friends and family, and meeting new people. Moreover, a number of readings in unit one by different authors showing their experiences and struggles with self-concept such as ethnicities, economy status, and self-esteem issue. I have had similar experiences with several authors, which are, “Zero” by Paul Logan, “Living in two worlds” by Marcus Mabry, and “The Jacket” by Gary Soto.
Death can both be a painful and serious topic, but in the hands of the right poet it can be so natural and eloquently put together. This is the case in The Sleeper by Edgar Allan Poe, as tackles the topic of death in an uncanny way. This poem is important, because it may be about the poet’s feelings towards his mother’s death, as well as a person who is coming to terms with a loved ones passing. In the poem, Poe presents a speaker who uses various literary devices such as couplet, end-stopped line, alliteration, image, consonance, and apostrophe to dramatize coming to terms with the death of a loved one.
Klages, M. (2006). Literary Theory: A guide for the perplexed . London: Continum International Publishing Group.
"Iraqi Head Seeks Arms." (Pinker, p. 69) Quiproquo, double entendre, pun. These are instances of finding more than one possible meaning to an event, most often a phrase. We can't read Shakespeare, or Molière, or the works of many other authors if we don't believe that something can have more than one meaning. "There is no topic in philosophy that has received more attention than meaning, in its multifarious manifestations." (Dennett, p. 401) Meaning is one of our most intimate bedfellows – it is always in our minds. In Webster's Third New International Dictionary, meaning is defined as follows;
Young, J. (2013). The 8 biggest responsive web design problem (and how to avoid them). Retrieved from http://www.creativebloq.com/responsive-web-design/problems-8122790
The study of Literature can enrich our lives in all kinds of ways. This study is a part of our cultural heritage. Literature is a very effective way of understanding a culture of a particular time, of a particular class and of a social group.