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ll RlmS - Denis Delaney C i a r a n Ward C a r l a Rho F i o r i n a A Introduction to Literary Appreciation B From the Origins to the Middle Ages C The Renaissance D The Puritan, Restoration and Augustan Ages E The Romantic Age ure | the English language I Denis Delaney C i a r a n Ward C a r l a R...

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Denis Delaney

C i a r a n Ward

RlmS

C a r l a Rho F i o r i n a

A Introduction to Literary Appreciation B From the Origins to the Middle Ages C The Renaissance D The Puritan, Restoration and Augustan Ages E The Romantic Age

ure

the English language

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Denis Delaney

C i a r a n Ward

C a r l a Rho F i o r i n a

MODULES

A IntroductionI B From the Origins C The Renaissance D The Puritan, Restoration and Augustan Ages E The Romantic Age

Literature

in the English language

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INTRODUCTION TO LITERARY APPRECIATION 'May God keep us From single vision' W i l l i a m Blake

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Introduction to Literary Appreciation

Introduction What is literature? Since the dawn of civilisation many men and women have felt a vital need to c o m m u n i c a t e their t h o u g h t s and feelings b e y o n d their immediate circle of family, friends and acquaintances to a wider world. Thanks to the invention of writing and printing they have been able to hand down to successive generations a priceless treasury of manuscripts and books. Literature is generally taken to mean those pieces of writing which, despite the passing of the years and even of the centuries, still inspire admiration, reflection and emotion in readers. Poems, plays, novels and short stories in a given language that have stood the test of time collectively make up a national literature. This does not mean, however, that only older works can be called literature. Today, millions of books are produced every year but only some of t h e m find their way i n t o literary magazines or o n t o the literary pages of newspapers. In these cases it is the critics and not time that decide what is and what is not to be regarded as literature. W h e t h e r their choices are appropriate or not will be a matter for future generations to decide. It is impossible to f o r m u l a t e a t o t a l l y c o m p r e h e n s i v e and allencompassing definition of literature because literature is never static. Writers, genres and styles of writing have fallen in and out of favour t h r o u g h o u t history and even today arguments rage about w h e t h e r more popular forms of fiction such as detective stories should be considered literature. These disputes can be left to the critics because, for t h e reader, literature is simply beautiful, meaningful writing.

Why read literature? The most obvious answer to this question is because it is enjoyable. Everybody loves a good story, and many great works of literature tell memorable stories. These stories provide an escape from our daily lives by transporting us to different times and places. We can travel back to the depression era in the United States with John Steinbeck, or we can journey through the African jungle with Joseph Conrad, or we can be projected into the future by science fiction writers like H.G. Wells. Escapism is only one reason for reading literature. Literature can also be viewed as a source of knowledge and information.^If we read one of Chaucer's tales, a poem by Wilfred Owen and a novel by Chinua Achebe, we learn about a range of subjects from life in England in the Middle Ages, to conditions at the battle front in the first World War I, to the unresolved tensions in colonial Nigeria. Almost every poem, play or novel we read gives us more information about the world we live in.

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Introduction

Perhaps the most important reason for reading literature is because it breaks down our personal barriers. Literature invites us to share in a range of human eXpertences that we otherwise would be denied. It allows us to leave b e h i n d our age, sex, f a m i l y b a c k g r o u n d and e c o n o m i c c o n d i t i o n so t h a t we can see t h e world from t h e perspective of people who are completely different from us. Great writers make us understand how other people think and feel. Literature stirs up our e m o t i o n s . It amuses, frightens, intrigues, shocks, c o n s o l e s , frustrates and c h a l l e n g e s us. It helps us to understand ourselves and others. Literature widens our field of vision.

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Why analyse literature?

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Literary analysis, in its broadest sense, is any attempt to understand a literary text. Every time we close a book and think about what we have read we are doing some form of literary analysis. An analytical approach to literature involves careful observation and drawing conclusions. IjjiJiQt^siiT^lyLa-QUP s t i o n ° f tearing a poem or story asunder and labelling the parts; it entails discovering patterns of meaning and becoming aware of the writer's intentions. . -:> (}>vjo[\)^) Literary analysis is a way of learning more about how literary texts are structured. T h e more we learn about t h e art of writing, the more receptive and responsive we b e c o m e as readers. T h e a n a l y t i c a l approach also provides t h e v o c a b u l a r y we need to define and c o m m u n i c a t e our responses to literary texts. We must know the definitions of terms such as setting, character, plot and point of view ? in order to express and exchange opinions. if

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One modern poet, when asked t h e question ' W h a t is poetry?', replied that poetry, unlike prose, is a form of writing in which few lines run to the edge of the page! The American poet Robert Frost contended that 'poetry is the kind of thing poets write'. W h i l e t h e s e replies, at first, m a y n o t seem serious, t h e y i n a d v e r t e n t l y reveal two i m p o r t a n t aspects of poetry: t h e first q u o t a t i o n indicates the arrangement of the words on the page as an important element of poetry, while the second emphasises that there is a special 'poetic' way of using language. A working definition may, therefore, be that poetry emerges form the interplay between the meaning of words and their arrangement on paper; or - as the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge put it - 'poetry is the best words in their best order'. Although poems come in all shapes and sizes, they share certain characteristics. Imagery, metaphors and symbols make poetry SYLVIA dense with meaning. Sound features, such as rhyme, rhythm and PLATH repetition, give the language a special musical quality. The standard The Colossus rules of grammar and syntax are often ignored, so that the language may be used in a striking or original way. SELECTED POEMS Poetry, like all literature, is a writer's a t t e m p t to A t ® TWO PLAYS OF WILLiAM BUTLER communicate to others his emotional and intellectual response to his own experiences and to the world that surrounds him. The poet puts words together to make EDITED AMD INTRODUCTION the reader feel what he has felt and experience what he M. L. ROSENTHA1. TED has experienced. HUGHES Wolfwatching 1

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Figures of speech A figure of speech is any use of language which deviates from the obvious or common usage in order to achieve a special meaning or effect. We use figures of speech in everyday c o n v e r s a t i o n w h e n we say, for example, ' m o n e y talks' (personification) or 'I've got butterflies in my stomach' (metaphor) or 'he's like a bull in a china shop' (simile). The density and originality of a writer's use of figures of speech is part of his characteristic style. There are many different figures of speech. The most widely used are: A simile is a figure of speech in which a comparison between two distinctly different things is indicated by the word 'like' or 'as'. A simile is made up of three elements: • the tenor: the subject under discussion; • the vehicle: what the subject is compared to; • the ground: what the poet believes the tenor and the vehicle have in common. We can therefore analyse the simile 'life is like a rollercoaster' as follows: tenor life

. ground it has its ups and downs

vehicle rollercoaster

A m e t a p h o r is an implied c o m p a r i s o n w h i c h creates a total i d e n t i f i c a t i o n between the two things being compared. Words such as 'like' or 'as' are not used. Like a simile, a metaphor is made up of three elements: • the tenor: the subject under discussion; • the vehicle: what the subject is compared to; • the ground: what the poet believes the tenor and the vehicle have in common. We can analyse the metaphor 'he's a live wire' as follows: tenor ground vehicle he is full of energy/is very lively live wire is potentially dangerous In metonymy (Greek for 'a change of name') the term for one thing-is applied to another with which it has become closely associated. 'The crown', for example, can be used to refer to a king. In synecdoche (Greek for 'taking together') a part of something is used to signify the whole or vice versa, although the latter form is quite rare. An example of synecdoche from everyday speech can be found in the proverb 'Many hands make light work', where the expression 'many hands' means 'the labour of many people'. An example of the whole representing a part can be found in expressions such as 'I'm reading Dickens', where an attribute of a literary work (i.e. it was written by Charles Dickens) is substituted for the work itself. Personification is a form of comparison in which human characteristics, such as emotions, personality, behaviour and so on, are attributed to an animal, object or idea: 'The proud lion surveyed his kingdom'. The primary function of personification is to make abstract ideas clearer to the reader by comparing them to everyday human experience. Humanising cold and complex abstractions can bring them to life, render them more interesting and make them easier to understand.

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.Sa8Introduction to Literary Appreciation

QUESTIONS T O ASK W H E N A N A L Y S I N G FIGURES OF SPEECH Are comparisons drawn through metaphors or similes? What information, attitudes or associations are revealed through these associations? Are there any examples of synecdoche or metonymy? What is the writer's purpose in using these figures of speech? How do they affect the style and tone of the poem? Are animals, objects or ideas personified in the poem? How does personification contribute to our understanding of the poem?

CASE STUDY 1 American poet and novelist Sylvia Plath (1932-1963) dedicated much of her work to exploring various states of mind. While much of her work is dark and disturbing, some of her poems reveal a more playfid and witty nature.

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GLOSSARY 1. riddle: puzzle 2. ponderous: heavy, large 3. strolling: walking 4. tendrils: thin leafless branches that plants wrap around things 5. timbers: pieces of wood 6. yeasty: yeast is the substance that makes bread expand 7. new-minted: newly made

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I'm a riddle 1 in nine syllables, An elephant, a ponderous 2 house, A melon strolling 3 on two tendrils 4 . O red fruit, ivory, fine timbers 5 ! This loaf's big with its yeasty 6 rising. Money new-minted' in this fat purse. I'm a means, a stage 8 , a cow in calf 9 . I've eaten a bag of green apples, Boarded the train there's no getting off 10 .

8. stage: phase of development

9. calf: young cow

10. there's no getting off: you cannot descend from

COMPREHENSION Which of the following is the solution to the riddle posed in the opening line of the poem? • A | wo | man | who | fa | ces | a | cri | sis • A | wo | man | ex | pect | ing | a | ba | by • A | wo | man | who | thinks | she's | ov | er | weight Justify your answer by referring to the text.

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ANALYSIS - FIGURES OF SPEECH 1 Which metaphor do you find most effective and why? 2 Through which metaphors does the poet convey the following ideas about her condition? • Physical discomfort and disproportion • The sense that her destiny has been decided and there is no turning back

• A loss of personal identity • The sense of carrying something precious • The idea of nausea and indigestion which is associated with her condition • Her communion with the animal kingdom • The sense of growing and expanding.

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What is Poetry?

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American poet Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) lived most of her life in total isolation. Only seven of her nearly 2,000 poems were published during her lifetime. Her contemporaries found her work bewildering, but today she is considered a major writer of unsurpassed originality.

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Apparently with no Surprise by Emily Dickinson

Apparently with no surprise To any happy Flower, The Frost 1 beheads it 2 at its play In accidental power — The blonde assassin passes on — The Sun proceeds unmoved To measure off 3 another Day For an approving God.

GLOSSARY 1. Frost: frozen drops of water 2. beheads it: cuts its head off 3. To measure off: to bring to a close

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COMPREHENSION 1 What does the frost do to the flower? 2 How does the sun respond to this act?

3 How would you define God as He is portrayed in the poem? • Loving • Sadistic • Other:

• Cruel • Detached

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A N A L Y S I S - FIGURES OF SPEECH 1 Make a list of the elements that are personified in the poem.

2 Personification adds drama to the poem. Which words do you find particularly dramatic?

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The association of very different elements that we find in metaphors is also used to sell products in advertising. Consider this advertisement for a banking service: You've got a completely individual set of fingerprints. How about a financial plan to match? We could analyse this advertisement in the same way as we analyse literary metaphors: tenor ground vehicle financial plan individual fingerprints personalised unique Find other advertisements which associate either visually or verbally diverse elements, for example: children's snacks - being a good mother beauty products - being sexy and desirable car - being adventurous and manly In class, discuss the implied message in the advertisements and decide whether or not you find them effective.

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Introduction to Literary Appreciation

Imagery Images are words or phrases that appeal to our senses. Consider these lines taken from Wilfred Owen's poem Dulce et Decorum Est. Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags we cursed though sludge. The poet is describing his experience as a soldier during the First World War. Through his choice of words he creates:

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• visual images: bent double, old beggars under sacks, knock-kneed; • aural images: coughing like hags, cursed; • a tactile image: sludge. If we replace the imagistic words that Owen uses with more generic terms: Physically exhausted, the soldiers marched across the wet terrain cursing their fate. the impact on our senses is lost. A writer may use an image to help us: • re-live a sense experience that we have already had. We may be able to conjure up the sound of old women coughing or the sensation of walking through mud from past experience; • have a new sense experience. This is achieved when our sense memories are called f o r t h in a p a t t e r n t h a t does n o t c o r r e s p o n d to a n y of our actual experiences. Exploited in this way, images allow us to see, hear, feel, smell and taste experiences that are new to us.

Few battles in human history have caused such devastation as the Battle of the Somme during the First World War.

We use the term imagery to refer to combinations or clusters of images that are used to create a dominant impression. Death, corruption and disease imagery, for example, creates a powerful network in Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet. Writers often develop meaningful patterns in their imagery, and a writer's choice and arrangement of images is often an important clue to the overall meaning of his work.

QUESTIONS T O ASK W H E N A N A L Y S I N G A WRITERS USE OF I M A G E R Y • What does the writer want the reader to see, hear, taste, feel and smell? • What revealing details bring the place, the people or the situation to life? Does the writer use details that people would usually overlook? • Which are the most striking and revealing images? Which images tend to linger on in our minds? Are they important to the overall meaning of the work? • Does the work appeal to one sense in particular or to all the senses? • What emotions or attitudes do the images arouse in the reader?

What is Poetry?

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CASE STUDY 3 British-born poet and novelist Vernon Scanned (1922-) was a soldier, a boxer and a teacher before he became a writer. His work often takes its starting point from everyday domestic incidents.

Q Nettles by Vernon Scannell My son aged three fell in the nettle 1 bed. 'Bed' seemed a curious name for those green spears2, That regiment of spite 3 behind the shed 4 : It was no place for rest. With sobs and tears The boy came seeking comfort and I saw White blisters 5 beaded 6 on his tender skin. We soothed 7 him till his pain was not so raw8. At last he offered us a watery grin 9 , And then I took my hook 1 0 and honed the blade 11 And went outside and slashed 12 in fury with it Till not a nettle in the fierce parade Stood upright anymore. Next task: I lit A funeral pyre to burn the fallen dead But in two weeks the busy sun and rain Had called up tall recruits 13 behind the shed; My son would often feel sharp wounds 14 again. GLOSSARY 1. nettle: stinging grass

2. spears: sharp pointed pole used as a weapon

4. shed: small building for storing garden tools

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5. blisters: watery swellings under the skin containing watery fluid

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6. beaded: formed bubbles 7. soothed: comforted 8. raw: acute

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9. grin: smile 10. hook: tool used to cut grass 11. honed the blade: sharpened the cutting instrument

3. spite: malicious intent

12. slashed: cut with furious strokes 13. recruits: new soldiers 14. sharp wounds: painful injuries

COMPREHENSION 1 What happened to the poet's son while playing outdoors?

3 What did the poet do when he had finished comforting the boy?

2 We refer to a patch of nettles as a 'bed of nettles'. Why does the poet question the use of the word 'bed'?

4 What happened after two weeks? 5 What reflection did the poet make about his son's future?

ANALYSIS - IMAGERY 1 Pick out the military imagery in the poem. What association is established through the use of these words?

2 'White blisters beaded on his tender skin'. Which senses does this image appeal to? 3 What is conveyed by the image 'watery grin'?

Music videos are a powerful example of the impact of combining sound and visual images. Choose a music video that you particularly like. Identify the ideas and emotions that are conveyed by the lyrics and music of the song. Explain how the visual images of the music video reinforce or expand the impact of the song.

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.Sa12Introduction to Literary Appreciation

Symbols A symbol is an example of what is called the transference of mea...