Sunday, November 29, 2009
Robin Hood
Well it certainly sounds like Eagleton is recommending a Robinhood approach to smooth out our economic imbalances, if not a downright Marxist solution.Because we are all going to die anyway,he says we must live more in the 'here aad now" and less within the confines of permanence (Eagleton,Terry. After Theory. New York: Basc Books, 2003. 209.Print.). In death the author argues that we learn our lives are not able to be mastered nor meaning fully arrived at,as there are always contingencies (Eagleton 213-215). Cheat death, no, but living with the ambivalent and the multiple possibilities in life and death is suggested. It sounds good, but then my father who planned all the details of the disposal of his property, animals and financial assets, as well as his physical care, as his health failed, certainly made everything much easier for himself and his family, as decisions and directions had already been chosen. Six of one and half a dozen of the other?
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
sexuality
Yikes we are talking about the unmentionable-gay sex, where people still ask questions like how do they do it? Aren't all gays HIV positive? Isn' the way you walk or hold your hands a relection of an underlying homosexuality. A gay person cannot really enjoy heterosexual sex can they? Or the opposite--they are no different than you or me, so don't talk about it. The point NOBODY IS TALKING!
It is important to acknowledge differences too initiate a dialogue about race and the same is true for sex and the development of an identity that can be realized in the ability to talk! Then we can begin to deal with the idea of the alien Other within ourselves, as it recognized and TALKED ABOUT for what it is.
It is important to acknowledge differences too initiate a dialogue about race and the same is true for sex and the development of an identity that can be realized in the ability to talk! Then we can begin to deal with the idea of the alien Other within ourselves, as it recognized and TALKED ABOUT for what it is.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
postcolonial theory
The idea of a fluid identity with multiple center not only fits postmodern writing but is apparently more representative of non-western writers. It is important to understand what is not other, as much as it is what is Other, to clearly grasp the stereotypes that are being projected,in order to reach beyond them. In looking at the "hybridity" of culture (Barry 192) it is not just the fact that our society is made up of people whose original origins are from all over the world, but to look at the racial, as well as national origin genetic/social mixing that has occurred over the generations in America. This means that many people are not coming from one particular world view and that our culture is in flux, as to how we see racial issues and our position versus those who set up our original colonies. It is a mistake to pretend that racial issues are no longer important in our society though, even for those whose backgrounds represent several different races. Most people want to own all that they are. It is important to examine how our society still exhibits racism to move it in a direction toward a freer and more equal society. We may have all kinds of laws on the books to protect people, but friendships, the neighborhoods we live, the schools our children attend, the resources available in one community versus another, substance abuse patterns, numbers of the unemployed and underemployed, as well as incarcerated continue to speak loudly. Understanding these things from a number of perspectives may lead to a number of possible remedies. One has to understand one's enemy in order to find a way to bypass them, or better yet come to a sense of mutuality, rather than attempting to destroy one another.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
History and Racism
Linda Daly
It seems that we have entered into a diatribe on cultural wars along with that of questions of identity, use of language and effective transmission of ideas meaningful in the literary tradition. Gates seems to be very critical of black creative writing, saying as an example that there is not apparent black history showing it to be part of the western frontier. Yet for those of you in the Morrison class, we just read Morrison's book Paradise, which is about blacks entering the western frontier of Oklahoma, when it was up for grabs and how all black communities were in fact established there. This is based on legitimate history which blacks were part of.
Multicultural literature, like all literature according to Gates at least by the middle of the nineteenth century, was not great unless imbued with "national spirit and "historical period" (1891). Certainly multicultural literature is part of world culture in this age of globalization, as none of us can escape the other and "we are already contaminated by each other" (Appiah 354, quoted within the Richter article on 1476). Therefore to suggest multicultural texts are not part of the western tradition is apparently spurious. Yet this begs the argument about putting meat into a curriculum that lends itself to knowledge based on depth, not just a collection of ideas. Achieving a true understanding of the original history of the standard absolutist ideas of western civilization does take considerable investigation. Being able to read in the language of the original great books while not commonly done, is not without merit, as Joyce made us all eminently aware. To understand black identity is also to understand in some depth, black history both in Africa and this country, political, social, religious and cultural. Just as this is so of European western traditions. This seems self evident.
Greenblat's ideas that we only listen to a ghost by listening to ourselves and that we only hear many ghostly voices by listening to many voices, is not entirely accurate in my opinion. When a ghost speaks, history speaks, we remember and interpret, as history has done so, because of hardwired archetypal formations, experience and education. We listen to a ghost with the same point of view that we listen to any character, through our eyes and mental storage of information,including historical, along with the text clues. Therefore, many voices really are a part of all of our individual assessments of a ghost.
Bhahha article on post colonial criticism suggested that rigid ideas about race, racism and culture has generally been needed in order to establish "a repertoire of conflictual position (that) constitute the subject in colonial discourse" is thought provoking"(300). It is often true, but authors such as Toni Morrison and Octavia Butler have tried to move the reader beyond this. It is as Bhahha suggests a conversation that occurs in the "margins," not only involving otherness but common humanity and individual choices, which can defy our concepts about each other.
Works Cited
Homi K Bhahha. 'The Other Question: The Stereotype and Colonial Discourse' from Twentieth-Century Literary Theory: A Reader. 2d ed. Ed. K. M. Newton. New York: Palgrave, 1997. Print.
Greenblalt, Stephen. "Shakespearian Negotiation: The Cessation of Social
Energy in Renaissance England. Berkeley; University of California Press, 1988. Print.
Guillory. "From Culturalist Capital: The Problem of Literary Canon Formation: Multicultural Interlude: The Question of a Core Curriculum." Richter, David H., Ed. The Critical Traditions: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford, 2007. Print.
Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. "Writing, Race and the Difference it Makes" The Critical Tradition: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford, 2007.
Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. "Dialogue Between Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Houston A. Baker Jr." The Critical Tradition: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford, 2007.
It seems that we have entered into a diatribe on cultural wars along with that of questions of identity, use of language and effective transmission of ideas meaningful in the literary tradition. Gates seems to be very critical of black creative writing, saying as an example that there is not apparent black history showing it to be part of the western frontier. Yet for those of you in the Morrison class, we just read Morrison's book Paradise, which is about blacks entering the western frontier of Oklahoma, when it was up for grabs and how all black communities were in fact established there. This is based on legitimate history which blacks were part of.
Multicultural literature, like all literature according to Gates at least by the middle of the nineteenth century, was not great unless imbued with "national spirit and "historical period" (1891). Certainly multicultural literature is part of world culture in this age of globalization, as none of us can escape the other and "we are already contaminated by each other" (Appiah 354, quoted within the Richter article on 1476). Therefore to suggest multicultural texts are not part of the western tradition is apparently spurious. Yet this begs the argument about putting meat into a curriculum that lends itself to knowledge based on depth, not just a collection of ideas. Achieving a true understanding of the original history of the standard absolutist ideas of western civilization does take considerable investigation. Being able to read in the language of the original great books while not commonly done, is not without merit, as Joyce made us all eminently aware. To understand black identity is also to understand in some depth, black history both in Africa and this country, political, social, religious and cultural. Just as this is so of European western traditions. This seems self evident.
Greenblat's ideas that we only listen to a ghost by listening to ourselves and that we only hear many ghostly voices by listening to many voices, is not entirely accurate in my opinion. When a ghost speaks, history speaks, we remember and interpret, as history has done so, because of hardwired archetypal formations, experience and education. We listen to a ghost with the same point of view that we listen to any character, through our eyes and mental storage of information,including historical, along with the text clues. Therefore, many voices really are a part of all of our individual assessments of a ghost.
Bhahha article on post colonial criticism suggested that rigid ideas about race, racism and culture has generally been needed in order to establish "a repertoire of conflictual position (that) constitute the subject in colonial discourse" is thought provoking"(300). It is often true, but authors such as Toni Morrison and Octavia Butler have tried to move the reader beyond this. It is as Bhahha suggests a conversation that occurs in the "margins," not only involving otherness but common humanity and individual choices, which can defy our concepts about each other.
Works Cited
Homi K Bhahha. 'The Other Question: The Stereotype and Colonial Discourse' from Twentieth-Century Literary Theory: A Reader. 2d ed. Ed. K. M. Newton. New York: Palgrave, 1997. Print.
Greenblalt, Stephen. "Shakespearian Negotiation: The Cessation of Social
Energy in Renaissance England. Berkeley; University of California Press, 1988. Print.
Guillory. "From Culturalist Capital: The Problem of Literary Canon Formation: Multicultural Interlude: The Question of a Core Curriculum." Richter, David H., Ed. The Critical Traditions: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford, 2007. Print.
Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. "Writing, Race and the Difference it Makes" The Critical Tradition: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford, 2007.
Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. "Dialogue Between Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Houston A. Baker Jr." The Critical Tradition: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford, 2007.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Language & Symbolic Power
Linda Daly
The entirety of this work seems to be centered around the validity of language as it describes classes,power,political ideation, economics and religion. I agree that the pairs of terms used to described relationships in opposition and likeness is most accomplished (147) as then we are getting around totality in language and absolutism. It is the unspoken, the unexpressed and unfound, which today will help us most in communicating experience. This is more than a pre-verbal understanding but an understanding of other, the unbelievable, the improbable and undecodable. Naming may represent power but what of non-naming? Is it not the ambiguous that is most intriguing. Domination is accompanied by structuring (1690 but why dominate, if only to encourage rebellion and starting anew? Can we live in relative freedom without risking anarchy? There is balance to Be found along with space in language and classifications that are neutralizing, shifting, doubling and lingering,expanding language and reality fields to the margins, the borders where symbolic effectiveness may be addressed for those who are at odds, at war even, in an attempt to establish a status quo for that point in time and place.
The entirety of this work seems to be centered around the validity of language as it describes classes,power,political ideation, economics and religion. I agree that the pairs of terms used to described relationships in opposition and likeness is most accomplished (147) as then we are getting around totality in language and absolutism. It is the unspoken, the unexpressed and unfound, which today will help us most in communicating experience. This is more than a pre-verbal understanding but an understanding of other, the unbelievable, the improbable and undecodable. Naming may represent power but what of non-naming? Is it not the ambiguous that is most intriguing. Domination is accompanied by structuring (1690 but why dominate, if only to encourage rebellion and starting anew? Can we live in relative freedom without risking anarchy? There is balance to Be found along with space in language and classifications that are neutralizing, shifting, doubling and lingering,expanding language and reality fields to the margins, the borders where symbolic effectiveness may be addressed for those who are at odds, at war even, in an attempt to establish a status quo for that point in time and place.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Maxist Theory
Marxism seems to be the story of paradox and that nothing is as it first seems. We are tricked in life, by our eyes and our dreams reams. Promises dissolve in the reality of clas control and man's inhumanity to one another. Marxism is a grim tale and difficult to agree with, as we cling to our ideals of democracy,freedom and capatalist success. I was raised on a farm and it was very hard at times, yet also immensely reassuring in the stability living on a farm afforded me. But the cold ax of bankruptcy loomed more than once. The sadness of shipping cattle to slaughter never left me. The ambivalence of the goodness of feeding the human race versus the destruction of living fellow creatures was always a conundrum. Growing vegetables and fruits seems like a much more honest way to make a living, but is frought with pesticides to earn survival. Can pastoral beauty be celebrated without ownership, classism and destruction? Are National Parks the new Marxism?
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Feminism
Linda Daly
Well I remember participating in a burn the bra protest in about 1969. I also remember the push for women to have access to birth control, including abortion and how the pill made it possible for everyone to have a real good time without too much fear of an unwanted pregnancy. The lesbian aspect was always there though as a double edged sword of getting too involved with feminist issues, would make people question your sexual orientation. I do think that feminism has been responsible for more women having more access to a variety of careers and promotion opportunities that did not used to be available. Sexual harassment laws have also greatly improved working conditions in my own career. Equal pay for equal work, got me a $25,000.00 a year improvement in my paycheck over a 5 year period. So there really have been improvements that I can see in my lifetime. Race and class issues of equality are still of course at work. More disturbing has been the great increase in domestic violence. The issue of women as abusive with children, certainly has been a continued reality. I have done child protection work from late 2005 to mid 2008 in El Paso County and certainly I have seen women abuse their children, but more often the situation is neglect, complicated by poverty, poor education, poor mental health and poor parenting skills. A number of women have also been involved in substance abuse, which men have often been responsible for in exposing the women to drugs and encouraging their addiction. And there are still a lot of women having children whom they are not prepared to raise. Looking at feminism in literature as a method of criticism, I am wondering how it informs literature, other than as a social reality that should not be ignored? Is it really the underlying basis of the writing? It can be but then what happens to other theories that might hold equal apparent worth such as post structuralism or psychoanalysis? Does feminist criticism get a backseat if more than one critical approach can be taken to the same literature? How does a feminisgt perspective inform morality, truth and whether an idea has a center?
Well I remember participating in a burn the bra protest in about 1969. I also remember the push for women to have access to birth control, including abortion and how the pill made it possible for everyone to have a real good time without too much fear of an unwanted pregnancy. The lesbian aspect was always there though as a double edged sword of getting too involved with feminist issues, would make people question your sexual orientation. I do think that feminism has been responsible for more women having more access to a variety of careers and promotion opportunities that did not used to be available. Sexual harassment laws have also greatly improved working conditions in my own career. Equal pay for equal work, got me a $25,000.00 a year improvement in my paycheck over a 5 year period. So there really have been improvements that I can see in my lifetime. Race and class issues of equality are still of course at work. More disturbing has been the great increase in domestic violence. The issue of women as abusive with children, certainly has been a continued reality. I have done child protection work from late 2005 to mid 2008 in El Paso County and certainly I have seen women abuse their children, but more often the situation is neglect, complicated by poverty, poor education, poor mental health and poor parenting skills. A number of women have also been involved in substance abuse, which men have often been responsible for in exposing the women to drugs and encouraging their addiction. And there are still a lot of women having children whom they are not prepared to raise. Looking at feminism in literature as a method of criticism, I am wondering how it informs literature, other than as a social reality that should not be ignored? Is it really the underlying basis of the writing? It can be but then what happens to other theories that might hold equal apparent worth such as post structuralism or psychoanalysis? Does feminist criticism get a backseat if more than one critical approach can be taken to the same literature? How does a feminisgt perspective inform morality, truth and whether an idea has a center?
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Marxist Theory
Marxist Theory
Marxist theory makes me think of books that focus on underprivileged people in our society and the conflict that comes out, such as T.C. Boyles work on migrant laborers and their interface with upper middle class families in the hills of LA. Steinbeck shows some of this same interface between the impoverished Okies and the camps that they lived in, among the fertile riches of California landowners. These examples of literature, lay bare the realities of our times and place, while revealing inner character, building tensions and a climax, as the underlying conflicts between characters and classes boil over. The climax strips any illusions away about our inner strengths and weaknesses.
If more recent Marxist theories allow for the “art” of literature to move away from the center of economics, or a central focus or essence, what kind of literature is being endorsed? Can magical realism, fantasy and leaps of imagination through time and space be endorsed? If the subtle and more flexible perspective and revealing of the unconscious, in finding historical truth is not incompatible with Marxism, would Butler’s Kindred find a place in Marxist theory? Class and power differences are certainly a focus, along with interior psyche issues of dealing with these inequities from a moral high ground, as the main character and her husband confront choices that impact their survival, amid time travel in different places, as well as time realities. What kind of literature do you think of that meets these expanded visions of Marxism?
Marxist theory makes me think of books that focus on underprivileged people in our society and the conflict that comes out, such as T.C. Boyles work on migrant laborers and their interface with upper middle class families in the hills of LA. Steinbeck shows some of this same interface between the impoverished Okies and the camps that they lived in, among the fertile riches of California landowners. These examples of literature, lay bare the realities of our times and place, while revealing inner character, building tensions and a climax, as the underlying conflicts between characters and classes boil over. The climax strips any illusions away about our inner strengths and weaknesses.
If more recent Marxist theories allow for the “art” of literature to move away from the center of economics, or a central focus or essence, what kind of literature is being endorsed? Can magical realism, fantasy and leaps of imagination through time and space be endorsed? If the subtle and more flexible perspective and revealing of the unconscious, in finding historical truth is not incompatible with Marxism, would Butler’s Kindred find a place in Marxist theory? Class and power differences are certainly a focus, along with interior psyche issues of dealing with these inequities from a moral high ground, as the main character and her husband confront choices that impact their survival, amid time travel in different places, as well as time realities. What kind of literature do you think of that meets these expanded visions of Marxism?
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Post Modernism
If the provisional or contingent is the definition of postmodernism, along with the use of space versus time, then what that means is that the meaning is not clear, it is contingent on something else. A truth that cannot be relied on. A truth that only works in some situations. A truth that cannot really be known. A truth that is up to interpretation. A truth based on space and not time. A truth based on what is in the room,not memory. A truth based on what is present and can be seen, not absent and in the past.
Now this part about the past and memory is something I do not quite understand. How can it be that the past would not be present, when the past is a part of us. Marks of the past are all about us, even in nature. Dreams, are usuaally our efforts to work out the past, as is most fiction that is written. I am not sure that I agree with the tenets of postmodernism in this regard.
Now this part about the past and memory is something I do not quite understand. How can it be that the past would not be present, when the past is a part of us. Marks of the past are all about us, even in nature. Dreams, are usuaally our efforts to work out the past, as is most fiction that is written. I am not sure that I agree with the tenets of postmodernism in this regard.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Post-Structuralism seems to be talking about structure and the lack of it. Interpretation such as psychoanalysis and Marxism or questioning what goes into interpretation and validity of interpretation. There is also a question of history and struggle and the attempt to move away from struggle. It seems political at first blush but I cannot help but look at the work of Toni Morrison and see elements of these literary positions in her work, as well as present day politics.
The history of slavery and the struggle to overcome racism and move away from slavery seem to be the interpretation of history of the African American people. Morrison though identifies this racism as internal to the African-American psyche, as it moves as a struggle between people within the African-American community, as a condition of class, sexism and skin color. Poverty, emotional deprivation, family secrets and personal successes and failures interact together in a continuing effort to define a people,relationships and characters.
The struggle of freedom and the success of Obama are also interesting in terms of post-structural views on racism in our culture, the African American people and perhaps Obama himself. Obama's own statements that racism is not behind the anger against some of his attempts to change policies such as health care to me is an example of this post-structural argument because of the avoidance of a struggle and attempt to reconstruct other's views of the black man as President. Is this the post-structuralist world that we have entered?
Morrison seems to be saying that the cultural struggles over racism are behind the lack of black cultural identity. Obama seems to be trying to move away from recognition of such a struggle. I think Morrison is right and Obama as a highly educated, light skinned, privileged black man raised in a white family calls upon some of the perceptions of Morrison's character, Jadine, in Tar Baby. If Michelle is more of Morrison's character, Son, transformed by her education and position to perhaps what he ran to in Paris, what has been her personal struggle in their relationship? Son and Jadine seem to have a failed relationship because of these cultural struggles. We know that Obama and Michelle have had their own personal and relationship struggles. Are American politics now struggling with a failed or successful administration based on racial identity issues?
The history of slavery and the struggle to overcome racism and move away from slavery seem to be the interpretation of history of the African American people. Morrison though identifies this racism as internal to the African-American psyche, as it moves as a struggle between people within the African-American community, as a condition of class, sexism and skin color. Poverty, emotional deprivation, family secrets and personal successes and failures interact together in a continuing effort to define a people,relationships and characters.
The struggle of freedom and the success of Obama are also interesting in terms of post-structural views on racism in our culture, the African American people and perhaps Obama himself. Obama's own statements that racism is not behind the anger against some of his attempts to change policies such as health care to me is an example of this post-structural argument because of the avoidance of a struggle and attempt to reconstruct other's views of the black man as President. Is this the post-structuralist world that we have entered?
Morrison seems to be saying that the cultural struggles over racism are behind the lack of black cultural identity. Obama seems to be trying to move away from recognition of such a struggle. I think Morrison is right and Obama as a highly educated, light skinned, privileged black man raised in a white family calls upon some of the perceptions of Morrison's character, Jadine, in Tar Baby. If Michelle is more of Morrison's character, Son, transformed by her education and position to perhaps what he ran to in Paris, what has been her personal struggle in their relationship? Son and Jadine seem to have a failed relationship because of these cultural struggles. We know that Obama and Michelle have had their own personal and relationship struggles. Are American politics now struggling with a failed or successful administration based on racial identity issues?
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Structuralism
English 615
Professor Eskew
09/19/09
Structuralism
Barry tells us that theorists distrust any idea, which is generalized, (totalism) as factual (35). It is suggested that if the reader of theory is having difficulty with a concept of theory, that the reader come back one of the following points of theory:
“Politics is persuasive,
Language is constitutive,
Truth is provisional,
Meaning is contingent,
Human nature is a myth (35).”
As the author moves on to discuss structuralism and what structuralist critics do. I was particularly taken with the idea that a structuralist may analyze prose narrative, as a complex of recurrent patterns or motifs.
Having recently read Toni Morrison’s Sula in another class, I could see that way of analyzing her work as valid and meaningful. I could also see it as very workable for such author’s works, such as Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself and numerous other authors. Recurrent themes of ancestry, culture, freedom, identity, destruction and remembrance play out in Sula, as well as Whitman’s The Song of Myself, in theme and character, with the help of imagery and situational context, while building suspense and a wandering plot within the unity of a life unfolding.
Instead of the liberal humanist focus on moral significance and wider interpretation, there is an attempt in structuralist theory to look at a kind of diagram of the narrative focused on pattern, design and symbol (50-51). I was excited by the idea that the parallels, echoes, reflections/repetitions, contrasts and patterns outlined by Barth could be found within the structure, plot, character, situation and language of literature (51). Also the ideas that there were codes underlying our understanding of literature seemed to hold so much promise (49-50).
The other codes involved action in the proairetic code; enigmas providing questions and suspense in the hermeneutic code; common knowledge in the cultural code; a theme or character suggested in the connotative code; or themes and parings in the symbolic code (49-50). So how can I use this complex information successfully in analyzing literature, was my question?
Well I can go back to the first paragraph and the points of theory that can help with concepts. The statement that meaning is contingent seems the most applicable to me, as it is such a highly understandable idea that is true in almost all situations, while the other theory points seem more limited in their focus. However if truth affects our attitudes and actions in all situations, not to mention knowledge, as suggested by I.A. Richards in “Poetry and Beliefs,” perhaps the statement that truth is provisional will tell me more in our analysis of literature (24). But the simple truth is that I prefer to look as meaning being contingent, because it is less abstract and real to me.
As I moved onto interpreting and explaining, the thought that the discontinuity, not the continuity, is the character of literary art is stunning (111). However, I see this in the characters and literature of say Sula and Song of Myself, as Sula is as generous, as she is destructive and Walt Whitman contains a multitude, full of differences and incongruities. If literature is overloaded with meaning and, attributable perhaps to something yet unknown as Lotman suggests (104), that works for me, as the characters of Sula and of Whitman in Song of Myself defy a complete knowing, as every explanation is met with another question. Sula is defined by psychological traits of being a narcissist, undercut by the realities of racism, sexism and childhood emotional traumas and deprivation. Whitman is defined by success in newspapers, marked by homosexuality, the tragedies and conflagration of the civil war, proud of freedom, worn by the care of his brother and an embracer of the future. These works are neither naïve or sentimental, such as Schiller suggests (300), although Whitman at first blush may seem to be so, until one reads more carefully and sees the ugliness and rawness of life that he captures. Morrison’s murders, suicides and grim tales of racism also could hardly be called naïve. Knowing who the author is and their life experiences, as well as intent, I have always found useful, but if one looks only at the literature as a document, both Sula and Song of Myself are works with a central point of reference,(as Brooks maintains is the work of a formalist critic to find)such as the effects of trauma and discrimination in Sula, or the force of life and free will in Whitman (28-29).
But why attempt structural analysis if literature is marked by discontinuity, an overload of meanings and unknowns? Our readings seem to be saying that every argument can be countered by another. Truth—where is it in these works? In the literature of Sula and Song of Myself, perhaps it is in the spirit that is revealed within the contradictions, which brings us back to truth being provisional.
Works Cited
Barry, Peter. Beginning Theory. 3rd ed. New York: Manchester University Press, 2009.
Morrison, Toni. Sula. New York: Plume, 1982. Copyright & originally published:
New York, Knopf, 1973. Print.
Newton, K. M., Ed. Twentieth Century Theory: A Reader. 2d ed. Brooks, Cleanth. “The Formalist Critic.” New York: Palgrave, 1997.
Newton, K. M., Ed. Twentieth-Century Theory: A Reader. 2d ed. Culler, Jonathan. “Semiotics as a Theory of Reading.” New York: Palgrave, 1997.
Newton, K. M., Ed. Twentieth-Century Theory: A Reader. 2d ed. Derrida, Jacques. “Structure, Sign and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences.” New York: Palgrave, 1997
Newton, K. M., Ed. Twentieth-Century Theory: A Reader. 2d ed. Lotman, Yury M., “The Content and Structure of the Concept of ‘Literature.’” New York: Palgrave, 1997.
Newton, K. M., Ed. Twentieth-Century Theory: A Reader. 2d ed. Peckham, Morse. “The Problem of Interpretation.” New York: Palgrave, 1997.
Newton, K. M., Ed. Twentieth-Century Theory: A Reader. 2d ed. Richards, I. A, “Poetry and Beliefs.” New York: Palgrave, 1997.
Perkins, G. & Perkins, B., Eds. The American Tradition in Literature. Vol One. 11th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007.
Richter, David H. Ed. The Critical Tradition: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford, 2007.
Professor Eskew
09/19/09
Structuralism
Barry tells us that theorists distrust any idea, which is generalized, (totalism) as factual (35). It is suggested that if the reader of theory is having difficulty with a concept of theory, that the reader come back one of the following points of theory:
“Politics is persuasive,
Language is constitutive,
Truth is provisional,
Meaning is contingent,
Human nature is a myth (35).”
As the author moves on to discuss structuralism and what structuralist critics do. I was particularly taken with the idea that a structuralist may analyze prose narrative, as a complex of recurrent patterns or motifs.
Having recently read Toni Morrison’s Sula in another class, I could see that way of analyzing her work as valid and meaningful. I could also see it as very workable for such author’s works, such as Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself and numerous other authors. Recurrent themes of ancestry, culture, freedom, identity, destruction and remembrance play out in Sula, as well as Whitman’s The Song of Myself, in theme and character, with the help of imagery and situational context, while building suspense and a wandering plot within the unity of a life unfolding.
Instead of the liberal humanist focus on moral significance and wider interpretation, there is an attempt in structuralist theory to look at a kind of diagram of the narrative focused on pattern, design and symbol (50-51). I was excited by the idea that the parallels, echoes, reflections/repetitions, contrasts and patterns outlined by Barth could be found within the structure, plot, character, situation and language of literature (51). Also the ideas that there were codes underlying our understanding of literature seemed to hold so much promise (49-50).
The other codes involved action in the proairetic code; enigmas providing questions and suspense in the hermeneutic code; common knowledge in the cultural code; a theme or character suggested in the connotative code; or themes and parings in the symbolic code (49-50). So how can I use this complex information successfully in analyzing literature, was my question?
Well I can go back to the first paragraph and the points of theory that can help with concepts. The statement that meaning is contingent seems the most applicable to me, as it is such a highly understandable idea that is true in almost all situations, while the other theory points seem more limited in their focus. However if truth affects our attitudes and actions in all situations, not to mention knowledge, as suggested by I.A. Richards in “Poetry and Beliefs,” perhaps the statement that truth is provisional will tell me more in our analysis of literature (24). But the simple truth is that I prefer to look as meaning being contingent, because it is less abstract and real to me.
As I moved onto interpreting and explaining, the thought that the discontinuity, not the continuity, is the character of literary art is stunning (111). However, I see this in the characters and literature of say Sula and Song of Myself, as Sula is as generous, as she is destructive and Walt Whitman contains a multitude, full of differences and incongruities. If literature is overloaded with meaning and, attributable perhaps to something yet unknown as Lotman suggests (104), that works for me, as the characters of Sula and of Whitman in Song of Myself defy a complete knowing, as every explanation is met with another question. Sula is defined by psychological traits of being a narcissist, undercut by the realities of racism, sexism and childhood emotional traumas and deprivation. Whitman is defined by success in newspapers, marked by homosexuality, the tragedies and conflagration of the civil war, proud of freedom, worn by the care of his brother and an embracer of the future. These works are neither naïve or sentimental, such as Schiller suggests (300), although Whitman at first blush may seem to be so, until one reads more carefully and sees the ugliness and rawness of life that he captures. Morrison’s murders, suicides and grim tales of racism also could hardly be called naïve. Knowing who the author is and their life experiences, as well as intent, I have always found useful, but if one looks only at the literature as a document, both Sula and Song of Myself are works with a central point of reference,(as Brooks maintains is the work of a formalist critic to find)such as the effects of trauma and discrimination in Sula, or the force of life and free will in Whitman (28-29).
But why attempt structural analysis if literature is marked by discontinuity, an overload of meanings and unknowns? Our readings seem to be saying that every argument can be countered by another. Truth—where is it in these works? In the literature of Sula and Song of Myself, perhaps it is in the spirit that is revealed within the contradictions, which brings us back to truth being provisional.
Works Cited
Barry, Peter. Beginning Theory. 3rd ed. New York: Manchester University Press, 2009.
Morrison, Toni. Sula. New York: Plume, 1982. Copyright & originally published:
New York, Knopf, 1973. Print.
Newton, K. M., Ed. Twentieth Century Theory: A Reader. 2d ed. Brooks, Cleanth. “The Formalist Critic.” New York: Palgrave, 1997.
Newton, K. M., Ed. Twentieth-Century Theory: A Reader. 2d ed. Culler, Jonathan. “Semiotics as a Theory of Reading.” New York: Palgrave, 1997.
Newton, K. M., Ed. Twentieth-Century Theory: A Reader. 2d ed. Derrida, Jacques. “Structure, Sign and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences.” New York: Palgrave, 1997
Newton, K. M., Ed. Twentieth-Century Theory: A Reader. 2d ed. Lotman, Yury M., “The Content and Structure of the Concept of ‘Literature.’” New York: Palgrave, 1997.
Newton, K. M., Ed. Twentieth-Century Theory: A Reader. 2d ed. Peckham, Morse. “The Problem of Interpretation.” New York: Palgrave, 1997.
Newton, K. M., Ed. Twentieth-Century Theory: A Reader. 2d ed. Richards, I. A, “Poetry and Beliefs.” New York: Palgrave, 1997.
Perkins, G. & Perkins, B., Eds. The American Tradition in Literature. Vol One. 11th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007.
Richter, David H. Ed. The Critical Tradition: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford, 2007.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Renaissance Rhetoric
Linda Daly
Eng 615
Doug Eskew
09/12/09
Renaissance Rhetoric
Conley discusses the decline of rhetoric in education in the Middle Ages to the first decades of the Renaissance. He describes a reaction against classical learning in the tenth century in the face of invasions and fears of the arrival of the Antichrist and end of the world because of the arrival of the Millennium of the year 1000 (86-87). A man of letters named Gerbert of Reims did not write on rhetoric but did advocate that theology not be studied until after a through systematic grounding in liberal arts, including mathematics and astronomy (87). He did embrace Cicero’s ideas on the importance of eloquence and science of morals to be considered for men in public affairs in order to be persuasive (88).
Conley goes on to describe another man in the church, a German named Notker Labeo, who translated Boethius and Aristotle, as well as Terence and Virgil. He wrote about eloquence involving both comprehension and artistic transformation, understanding the substance, material, which comprise all things and deeds which may give rise to controvesia and the ars or scientia that shapes one’s treatment of the controversia (89). They are complementary and represent two sides of the same thing (89). The novel aspect of his work was a concentration on invention, eliminating discord through discourse, or rhetorical sweetness (89-90).
By the end of the 11th century and first half of the twelfth, Cicero and Boethian dialectical influences began to be felt with treatises on the rhetoric of letter writing, poetic composition and preaching that continued into the thirteenth century 991). As time went on rhetoric followers were divided in approach to rhetoric. There was an emphasis on rhetoric as needing to be useful in life, such as legal cases, where rhetoric was equated to eloquence learned from rules being put to use for society or the cult of humanity (92). Eventually in the twelfth century jurisprudence was considered an independent study, which was served by rhetoric, rather than rhetoric being the underpinning of logic.
There continued to be study of the use of rhetoric in the art of letter writing, preaching and grammar. The art of letter writing and preaching both involved persuasion amid a formulated system of presentation or decorum (94-97). Cicero’s influence regarding eloquence, as well as Basevorn’s system—“almost a calculus—of invention and amplification (97).” Basevorn’s ideas were not in favor in the fourteenth century, as the focus of preaching was on moving and edifying rather than simply instructing. But over time rhetorical theory incorporated Boethian in the teaching of preaching, while universities promoted a notion of eloquence based on the Ciceronian ideal (97). In terms of writing letters, decorum based on style was argued about but a format based on Cicero’s influence held sway (93-94). In terms of grammar it is important to realize that the definition of grammar in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries included the art of speaking correctly and the explanation of poetry (98). Poetry was considered oral discourse (98). In the teaching of poetry it became apparent that there was an attention to style and to prose, metrics and rhythm that paid attention not only to style, but to amplification, abbreviation and ornamentation, Ciceronian in content and spirit (99).
Aristotle was taught in universities in ethics courses and rhetoric was dialectic rather than Ciceronian, losing its importance in universities until well into the renaissance. Remember that dialectic themes are universal, with a force derived from abstract propositional themes, a thesis or question without circumstances (980). Rhetoric deals with hypotheses; questions framed by circumstances, such as person, place and time, as well as cause and are continuous (80). Rhetoric seeks to persuade, while dialectic seeks to have victory in disputation (80). So while I was thinking of rhetoric, as an oral debate, it is actually what forms composition, oral or written and Cicero’s emphasis on eloquence also embraces realities that one forms hypotheses about, rather than dialectic universal questions not based in the realities of person, place, time. or cause.
Switching over to our readings in Matsen, we learn about the basic techniques of rhetoric formulating the basics of compositional techniques (251). Greek, Roman and Augustine. Myths, comparisons, narratives, comparisons, topics, paraphrasing, a counter statements and confirmation are some of the major elements of a successful composition. Whether a political speech, or a novel, persuasion is the center of the work.
Aphthonius of Antioch in the fourth century A.D. wrote a Progymnasmata in Byzantine times, later translated in the fifteenth century to become influential in the use of teaching composition based on rhetoric, including the following elements: fables; narratives; a reminiscence about a person; gnome, (declaratory statements urging onto something, or averting it); refutations; confirmations; Koinos Topos (amplifying inherent evils); Encommmium (inherent excellences); invectives; comparisons; Ethopoeia (an imitation of a proposed person); Elpharasis (descriptive composition, bringing things clearly into view); thesis (a logical examination of any matter under consideration, political and theoretical); and law (266-288).
Matsen’s next chapter is on style, part of a five point canon on rhetoric that included invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery. Written style might vary from oral and was acknowledged by authorities or critics such as Dionysius, Demetrius, Longinus and Hermogenes. Dionysius and Demetrius both wrote more about style used in oral speech, with an emphasis on sound.
Dionysius, who was born in Asia Minor but produced his life’s work in Rome described smooth sentences that are complete and euphonious, rhymic, exemplifying noble, splendid and free thought, while rough sentences were “unpolished, plain spoken, unembelished with archaism and the patina of age as it’s beauty (289).” He believed that the best rhetoric had both styles (289). He goes onto say to compare rhetoric with performing arts, describing it thus: “The science or oratory is a sort of music which differs quantitatively not qualitatively from the vocal and instrumental king; words too have their melody and rhythm, their variation and propriety, so kind; words too have their melody and rhythm, their variation and propriety, so that in oratory too the ear is delighted by melody, educed by rhythm, gratified by variety, and everywhere seeks what properly belongs (300). As I also have a degree in Art, specifically painting, I would have to say that many of the same principles apply to pleasing the eye with variation, unity, movement, transitions, texture built up and colors that bleed effortlessly into one another, drama created with contrast, etc.
Demetrius concluded that there were four styles: plain, elevated, elegant, and forceful (289). He embraced the criticisms of Cicero on styles that had faults but unlike Dionysius, felt that there was a place for spontaneity (289). He lived over a hundred years later than Dionysius and was an Athenian who wrote about plain and grand styles, while considering the other two to be intermediaries between the two (310). He writes about the importance of being concise and frequently is so in his writings (315). He equates it with force, vigor and energy. In his writings, he often employs such tools, for example, “It has already been said that the figure of abruptness has a forcible effect.” It was this abruptness that I found off putting, as my mind resisted embracing his words and I had to reread his works several times to begin to get the gist of his writing.
Longinus wrote on what made good writing, particularly evaluating inspiration, or greatness of thought (289). This made me wonder about whether inspiration and spontaneity were similar concepts? He was considered basically a father of innovative literary criticism (289). It is unknown if he is the Longinus of the third or first century, but some evidence to suggest that his works do go back to the first century, because of his words about government ad literature. I was very taken with his pronouncement that “great writing does not; it takes the reader out of himself (323).” Many times I have found my most memorable reading has been when I am transported to another life, another time or place, forgetting my own situation and being absorbed by another. The description of narration in Homer’s Odyssey being a byproduct of old age compared to the youthfully written action and energy being produced in Homer’s Iliad was also thought inducing, as I hope that I can write with vigor even though I have passed from youthfulness into late middle age. Does age really have to define one even in writing?
Hermogenes also examined what made writing good, looking in depth at the particular kinds of style and comparing them, which may have some links to Plato’s ideai or forms, as he looks at and subdivides seven styles in to twenty concepts of style (290). His seven styles included clarity, grandeur, beauty, rapidity, character, sincerity and force. Because order, metrics, cadence and rhythm have such an effect on composition, he goes onto classify style under the following headings, “which denote those factors through which a particular style is produced: thought, approach, diction, figures, clauses, word order, cadence and rhythm (339). For example, when I write in response to a literary work of fiction, I can close my eyes, block out specifics and respond to the memory, images and rhythm the work left me with in creative thought, prior to going back and picking out specific examples to further explain and delineate my arguments. Whereas, in this class, I find I have to pick out examples and record the highlights, before I can really think about what I have read, as it is so dense. My style of writing therefore becomes very different. That which is written from my thought prior to honing in on specifics is much stronger, as it has elements of beauty and grandeur that I can evoke through use of the five senses in presenting my thoughts. The way I find myself responding to this work gives me clarity, as doors are finally opened, which my mine wants to leave shut until I force myself to consider and consider again the information being presented. To make myself distinct, as Hermogenes describes distinction as a unique attribute of effective clarity (346-348), consider that I just do not get Matsen at first, but with repetition and familiarity, the words achieve meaning.
Going onto the actual readings for this week in Matsen, we have Augustine who lived from a.d.354-430 and was a teacher of rhetoric before embracing Christianity (360). He wrote about how to discover the truths in the bible and to express or teach what they have learned through Ciceronian principles: to teach, to delight, and to persuade (360). It is through rhetoric though that Faith can be taught, “to conciliate the hostile, to arouse the careless, and to inform those ignorant of the matter in hand, (362-363). Eloquence is teaching and persuasion must precede instruction, thus it becomes clear that to teach the Faith, the skills of rhetoric are necessary (366-367). Part of rhetoric is to please and part of Christianity is to be docile to God (370). Augustine became of the belief that prayer would help to achieve eloquence, as was God’s presence with us (370-372). Style may vary in modulation to achieve a pleasing quality, but are not worthy of use unless persuasion in achieved (374). Clarity, wisdom, truth has to be understood, regardless of the style, to be persuasive (374). It is the goodness of the speaker, as preachers of truth do no wrong, because “God is theirs, and to Him belong the words which they speak; and they make these, too, their own, though they were not able to compose them, if they compose their lives in accordance with them (378).” The power of prayer therefore renders an eloquent speaker, as the truth is told through God. Can God really make us all eloquent is we are true believers? Why do people even listen to non-believers or academics?
Works Cited
Conley, Thomas M. Rhetoric in the European Tradition. Chicago: The University
of Chicago Press, 1990. Print.
Matsen, Patricia P.; Rollinson, Philip; & Sousa, Marion. Reading from Classical
Rhetoric. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1990.
Eng 615
Doug Eskew
09/12/09
Renaissance Rhetoric
Conley discusses the decline of rhetoric in education in the Middle Ages to the first decades of the Renaissance. He describes a reaction against classical learning in the tenth century in the face of invasions and fears of the arrival of the Antichrist and end of the world because of the arrival of the Millennium of the year 1000 (86-87). A man of letters named Gerbert of Reims did not write on rhetoric but did advocate that theology not be studied until after a through systematic grounding in liberal arts, including mathematics and astronomy (87). He did embrace Cicero’s ideas on the importance of eloquence and science of morals to be considered for men in public affairs in order to be persuasive (88).
Conley goes on to describe another man in the church, a German named Notker Labeo, who translated Boethius and Aristotle, as well as Terence and Virgil. He wrote about eloquence involving both comprehension and artistic transformation, understanding the substance, material, which comprise all things and deeds which may give rise to controvesia and the ars or scientia that shapes one’s treatment of the controversia (89). They are complementary and represent two sides of the same thing (89). The novel aspect of his work was a concentration on invention, eliminating discord through discourse, or rhetorical sweetness (89-90).
By the end of the 11th century and first half of the twelfth, Cicero and Boethian dialectical influences began to be felt with treatises on the rhetoric of letter writing, poetic composition and preaching that continued into the thirteenth century 991). As time went on rhetoric followers were divided in approach to rhetoric. There was an emphasis on rhetoric as needing to be useful in life, such as legal cases, where rhetoric was equated to eloquence learned from rules being put to use for society or the cult of humanity (92). Eventually in the twelfth century jurisprudence was considered an independent study, which was served by rhetoric, rather than rhetoric being the underpinning of logic.
There continued to be study of the use of rhetoric in the art of letter writing, preaching and grammar. The art of letter writing and preaching both involved persuasion amid a formulated system of presentation or decorum (94-97). Cicero’s influence regarding eloquence, as well as Basevorn’s system—“almost a calculus—of invention and amplification (97).” Basevorn’s ideas were not in favor in the fourteenth century, as the focus of preaching was on moving and edifying rather than simply instructing. But over time rhetorical theory incorporated Boethian in the teaching of preaching, while universities promoted a notion of eloquence based on the Ciceronian ideal (97). In terms of writing letters, decorum based on style was argued about but a format based on Cicero’s influence held sway (93-94). In terms of grammar it is important to realize that the definition of grammar in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries included the art of speaking correctly and the explanation of poetry (98). Poetry was considered oral discourse (98). In the teaching of poetry it became apparent that there was an attention to style and to prose, metrics and rhythm that paid attention not only to style, but to amplification, abbreviation and ornamentation, Ciceronian in content and spirit (99).
Aristotle was taught in universities in ethics courses and rhetoric was dialectic rather than Ciceronian, losing its importance in universities until well into the renaissance. Remember that dialectic themes are universal, with a force derived from abstract propositional themes, a thesis or question without circumstances (980). Rhetoric deals with hypotheses; questions framed by circumstances, such as person, place and time, as well as cause and are continuous (80). Rhetoric seeks to persuade, while dialectic seeks to have victory in disputation (80). So while I was thinking of rhetoric, as an oral debate, it is actually what forms composition, oral or written and Cicero’s emphasis on eloquence also embraces realities that one forms hypotheses about, rather than dialectic universal questions not based in the realities of person, place, time. or cause.
Switching over to our readings in Matsen, we learn about the basic techniques of rhetoric formulating the basics of compositional techniques (251). Greek, Roman and Augustine. Myths, comparisons, narratives, comparisons, topics, paraphrasing, a counter statements and confirmation are some of the major elements of a successful composition. Whether a political speech, or a novel, persuasion is the center of the work.
Aphthonius of Antioch in the fourth century A.D. wrote a Progymnasmata in Byzantine times, later translated in the fifteenth century to become influential in the use of teaching composition based on rhetoric, including the following elements: fables; narratives; a reminiscence about a person; gnome, (declaratory statements urging onto something, or averting it); refutations; confirmations; Koinos Topos (amplifying inherent evils); Encommmium (inherent excellences); invectives; comparisons; Ethopoeia (an imitation of a proposed person); Elpharasis (descriptive composition, bringing things clearly into view); thesis (a logical examination of any matter under consideration, political and theoretical); and law (266-288).
Matsen’s next chapter is on style, part of a five point canon on rhetoric that included invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery. Written style might vary from oral and was acknowledged by authorities or critics such as Dionysius, Demetrius, Longinus and Hermogenes. Dionysius and Demetrius both wrote more about style used in oral speech, with an emphasis on sound.
Dionysius, who was born in Asia Minor but produced his life’s work in Rome described smooth sentences that are complete and euphonious, rhymic, exemplifying noble, splendid and free thought, while rough sentences were “unpolished, plain spoken, unembelished with archaism and the patina of age as it’s beauty (289).” He believed that the best rhetoric had both styles (289). He goes onto say to compare rhetoric with performing arts, describing it thus: “The science or oratory is a sort of music which differs quantitatively not qualitatively from the vocal and instrumental king; words too have their melody and rhythm, their variation and propriety, so kind; words too have their melody and rhythm, their variation and propriety, so that in oratory too the ear is delighted by melody, educed by rhythm, gratified by variety, and everywhere seeks what properly belongs (300). As I also have a degree in Art, specifically painting, I would have to say that many of the same principles apply to pleasing the eye with variation, unity, movement, transitions, texture built up and colors that bleed effortlessly into one another, drama created with contrast, etc.
Demetrius concluded that there were four styles: plain, elevated, elegant, and forceful (289). He embraced the criticisms of Cicero on styles that had faults but unlike Dionysius, felt that there was a place for spontaneity (289). He lived over a hundred years later than Dionysius and was an Athenian who wrote about plain and grand styles, while considering the other two to be intermediaries between the two (310). He writes about the importance of being concise and frequently is so in his writings (315). He equates it with force, vigor and energy. In his writings, he often employs such tools, for example, “It has already been said that the figure of abruptness has a forcible effect.” It was this abruptness that I found off putting, as my mind resisted embracing his words and I had to reread his works several times to begin to get the gist of his writing.
Longinus wrote on what made good writing, particularly evaluating inspiration, or greatness of thought (289). This made me wonder about whether inspiration and spontaneity were similar concepts? He was considered basically a father of innovative literary criticism (289). It is unknown if he is the Longinus of the third or first century, but some evidence to suggest that his works do go back to the first century, because of his words about government ad literature. I was very taken with his pronouncement that “great writing does not; it takes the reader out of himself (323).” Many times I have found my most memorable reading has been when I am transported to another life, another time or place, forgetting my own situation and being absorbed by another. The description of narration in Homer’s Odyssey being a byproduct of old age compared to the youthfully written action and energy being produced in Homer’s Iliad was also thought inducing, as I hope that I can write with vigor even though I have passed from youthfulness into late middle age. Does age really have to define one even in writing?
Hermogenes also examined what made writing good, looking in depth at the particular kinds of style and comparing them, which may have some links to Plato’s ideai or forms, as he looks at and subdivides seven styles in to twenty concepts of style (290). His seven styles included clarity, grandeur, beauty, rapidity, character, sincerity and force. Because order, metrics, cadence and rhythm have such an effect on composition, he goes onto classify style under the following headings, “which denote those factors through which a particular style is produced: thought, approach, diction, figures, clauses, word order, cadence and rhythm (339). For example, when I write in response to a literary work of fiction, I can close my eyes, block out specifics and respond to the memory, images and rhythm the work left me with in creative thought, prior to going back and picking out specific examples to further explain and delineate my arguments. Whereas, in this class, I find I have to pick out examples and record the highlights, before I can really think about what I have read, as it is so dense. My style of writing therefore becomes very different. That which is written from my thought prior to honing in on specifics is much stronger, as it has elements of beauty and grandeur that I can evoke through use of the five senses in presenting my thoughts. The way I find myself responding to this work gives me clarity, as doors are finally opened, which my mine wants to leave shut until I force myself to consider and consider again the information being presented. To make myself distinct, as Hermogenes describes distinction as a unique attribute of effective clarity (346-348), consider that I just do not get Matsen at first, but with repetition and familiarity, the words achieve meaning.
Going onto the actual readings for this week in Matsen, we have Augustine who lived from a.d.354-430 and was a teacher of rhetoric before embracing Christianity (360). He wrote about how to discover the truths in the bible and to express or teach what they have learned through Ciceronian principles: to teach, to delight, and to persuade (360). It is through rhetoric though that Faith can be taught, “to conciliate the hostile, to arouse the careless, and to inform those ignorant of the matter in hand, (362-363). Eloquence is teaching and persuasion must precede instruction, thus it becomes clear that to teach the Faith, the skills of rhetoric are necessary (366-367). Part of rhetoric is to please and part of Christianity is to be docile to God (370). Augustine became of the belief that prayer would help to achieve eloquence, as was God’s presence with us (370-372). Style may vary in modulation to achieve a pleasing quality, but are not worthy of use unless persuasion in achieved (374). Clarity, wisdom, truth has to be understood, regardless of the style, to be persuasive (374). It is the goodness of the speaker, as preachers of truth do no wrong, because “God is theirs, and to Him belong the words which they speak; and they make these, too, their own, though they were not able to compose them, if they compose their lives in accordance with them (378).” The power of prayer therefore renders an eloquent speaker, as the truth is told through God. Can God really make us all eloquent is we are true believers? Why do people even listen to non-believers or academics?
Works Cited
Conley, Thomas M. Rhetoric in the European Tradition. Chicago: The University
of Chicago Press, 1990. Print.
Matsen, Patricia P.; Rollinson, Philip; & Sousa, Marion. Reading from Classical
Rhetoric. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1990.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Roman Rhetoric
Class: Literary Theory 615
Instructor: Doug Eskew, PhD
Student: Linda Daly
Date: 9/6/09
Roman Rhetoric
The art of oratory has apparently inspired great debate in society from it’s beginning. An argument is after all a disagreement, a controversy, used in politics to develop cohesion. At the base of politics is power and as the saying goes absolute power does corrupt. Cicero did lose his life for a reason. As Conley discuses the idea of stasis, translated as strife or immobility (32), the context of rhetoric as a serious debate becomes clearer. Adversaries with words who have often shifted in history to physical violence.
Conley discuses at length the educational approaches to rhetoric in the classic age and summarizes history and the pervasiveness of Greek rhetorical philosophy handed down from Isocrates continuing to hold sway in the educational teachings of Cicero and others. Conley goes on to describe the power or dynamis of the speaker and a great and virtuous man “worthy of speech” is at the center of Greek rhetorical theory with the goal of paideia being eloquence (32). I do not think lightly of two “gents” in a fight as eloquent. Some of the most effective lawyers that I have seen have been far less eloquent than crafty and vicious with words, yet most politicians retain more of a veneer of eloquence shown to the general public than their profession is particularly known for. And then Conley raises the issued of “translative statis” (35) questioning for example whether the court is competent or not as blame is shifted or justified, brings forth the whole notion of shifty eyed lawyers in sharp relief getting off wanton murderers or angels of mercy, giving relief to those who are truly innocent.
Rhetoric is described by Conley as having traditions and schools of teaching philosophies, dominated by Isocrates goal of social cohesion (69). Style and scripture also became interesting ways to consolidate rhetoric as a part of a valued education according to Conley (67). Ideal models and values were used by orators as a form of creating cultural identity as much as solidarity in war in Byzantine society according to Conley (68). Pattern, shape and a precise curricula to teach rhetoric were very important to the science and art of rhetoric. Conley describes Cicero teaching a five-part syllogism , while Hermogean argument had four principle elements that could be developed along six separate lines supported by as many as a couple of hundred arguments. (56). Types of style or idea combined thought approach, and diction and composition involving figures, clauses, word order and prose rhythm produced stylistic effects such as clarity, grandeur, beauty, vigor, character, sincerity and decorum according to the Byzantine Hermogenes’ On Invention, a book Conley says was used for centuries to teach rhetoric (57). But it is the Greek Isocratean influence and ideal of the eloquent speaker, as an educator and leader in society that has held sway over western rhetoric until the beginning of the Middle Ages in the Latin West—and beyond, according to Conley (46). Whether this is from the sway of Cicero and Pliny, among others, whom Conley describes as embracing the idea of consensus or the rightness of the ideal of eloquence is hard to say but their influence is not forgotten (42).
Matsen too describes rhetorical training, discussing the need for methodical training (213) in the faculties of Invention, Arrangement, Style, Memory, and Delivery (163). Matsen described a perceived expert having virtue charm and dignity; a wit recognized by common people as a great orator (175). Matsen also discusses the success of young orators versus older ones and how the formulas for the one does not work for the other, as more weight and authority are required of older orators versus the rapid speech or balanced youthful orator (178-179). Even as he said that I felt a need to use examples and citations to buttress my arguments, whether for this class or another.
I thought that it was interesting that Matsen described a conjectural argument not being able to take place from the same pint of view and system of classification as definitive and conjectural. These are not subcategories but areas of scope that have to be considered in the equitable and legal and with the equitable, absolute right and wrong and assumptive comparisons are drawn (181-183). I am interpreting this as you cannot make an assumption and define it at the same time as an absolute right or wrong and use these effectively in rhetoric? I like Matsens warning that the audience should be familiar with the facts of a case and both sides to be able to fully appreciate the speeches used to persuade an audience (223).
Towards the end of our reading for this week Matsen captured some of my thoughts that oratory by attorneys can be a devious art, describing it as devoid of discipline, off-hand and overbearing at times, a goal for unbridled populace, citing the price paid by Cicero in his death (249). He also states that in preparing an audience for what is to come, the orator dissembles, sets a trap and may deliberately disguise a precept (223), encouraging the student to read the speeches carefully. Matsen ends the chapter with classic orators taking exception and even denouncing the other, while smiling and asking for further treatment of other ideas, an eloquent discourse to be sure (250).
Works Cited
Conley, Thomas. Rhetoric in the European Tradition. Chicago: The University of
Chicago Press, 1990. Print..
Matsen, Patricia; Rollinson Philip & Soust, Mario. Readings from Classical Rhetoric.
Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press
Instructor: Doug Eskew, PhD
Student: Linda Daly
Date: 9/6/09
Roman Rhetoric
The art of oratory has apparently inspired great debate in society from it’s beginning. An argument is after all a disagreement, a controversy, used in politics to develop cohesion. At the base of politics is power and as the saying goes absolute power does corrupt. Cicero did lose his life for a reason. As Conley discuses the idea of stasis, translated as strife or immobility (32), the context of rhetoric as a serious debate becomes clearer. Adversaries with words who have often shifted in history to physical violence.
Conley discuses at length the educational approaches to rhetoric in the classic age and summarizes history and the pervasiveness of Greek rhetorical philosophy handed down from Isocrates continuing to hold sway in the educational teachings of Cicero and others. Conley goes on to describe the power or dynamis of the speaker and a great and virtuous man “worthy of speech” is at the center of Greek rhetorical theory with the goal of paideia being eloquence (32). I do not think lightly of two “gents” in a fight as eloquent. Some of the most effective lawyers that I have seen have been far less eloquent than crafty and vicious with words, yet most politicians retain more of a veneer of eloquence shown to the general public than their profession is particularly known for. And then Conley raises the issued of “translative statis” (35) questioning for example whether the court is competent or not as blame is shifted or justified, brings forth the whole notion of shifty eyed lawyers in sharp relief getting off wanton murderers or angels of mercy, giving relief to those who are truly innocent.
Rhetoric is described by Conley as having traditions and schools of teaching philosophies, dominated by Isocrates goal of social cohesion (69). Style and scripture also became interesting ways to consolidate rhetoric as a part of a valued education according to Conley (67). Ideal models and values were used by orators as a form of creating cultural identity as much as solidarity in war in Byzantine society according to Conley (68). Pattern, shape and a precise curricula to teach rhetoric were very important to the science and art of rhetoric. Conley describes Cicero teaching a five-part syllogism , while Hermogean argument had four principle elements that could be developed along six separate lines supported by as many as a couple of hundred arguments. (56). Types of style or idea combined thought approach, and diction and composition involving figures, clauses, word order and prose rhythm produced stylistic effects such as clarity, grandeur, beauty, vigor, character, sincerity and decorum according to the Byzantine Hermogenes’ On Invention, a book Conley says was used for centuries to teach rhetoric (57). But it is the Greek Isocratean influence and ideal of the eloquent speaker, as an educator and leader in society that has held sway over western rhetoric until the beginning of the Middle Ages in the Latin West—and beyond, according to Conley (46). Whether this is from the sway of Cicero and Pliny, among others, whom Conley describes as embracing the idea of consensus or the rightness of the ideal of eloquence is hard to say but their influence is not forgotten (42).
Matsen too describes rhetorical training, discussing the need for methodical training (213) in the faculties of Invention, Arrangement, Style, Memory, and Delivery (163). Matsen described a perceived expert having virtue charm and dignity; a wit recognized by common people as a great orator (175). Matsen also discusses the success of young orators versus older ones and how the formulas for the one does not work for the other, as more weight and authority are required of older orators versus the rapid speech or balanced youthful orator (178-179). Even as he said that I felt a need to use examples and citations to buttress my arguments, whether for this class or another.
I thought that it was interesting that Matsen described a conjectural argument not being able to take place from the same pint of view and system of classification as definitive and conjectural. These are not subcategories but areas of scope that have to be considered in the equitable and legal and with the equitable, absolute right and wrong and assumptive comparisons are drawn (181-183). I am interpreting this as you cannot make an assumption and define it at the same time as an absolute right or wrong and use these effectively in rhetoric? I like Matsens warning that the audience should be familiar with the facts of a case and both sides to be able to fully appreciate the speeches used to persuade an audience (223).
Towards the end of our reading for this week Matsen captured some of my thoughts that oratory by attorneys can be a devious art, describing it as devoid of discipline, off-hand and overbearing at times, a goal for unbridled populace, citing the price paid by Cicero in his death (249). He also states that in preparing an audience for what is to come, the orator dissembles, sets a trap and may deliberately disguise a precept (223), encouraging the student to read the speeches carefully. Matsen ends the chapter with classic orators taking exception and even denouncing the other, while smiling and asking for further treatment of other ideas, an eloquent discourse to be sure (250).
Works Cited
Conley, Thomas. Rhetoric in the European Tradition. Chicago: The University of
Chicago Press, 1990. Print..
Matsen, Patricia; Rollinson Philip & Soust, Mario. Readings from Classical Rhetoric.
Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Reading Literature--Recent Theories, ENG 615
Hello Fellow 615 Classmates in Graduate School of the English Department at CSU Pueblo,
To start out with I am late,as I thought the time frame was for tonight at midnight. I am also confused. We have an extensive reading assignment on line regarding French Marx theory? Are we supposed to do anything with that--I read it but it appears that our assignments for this blog center on Conley 1-28 and Matsen-1-160. Is that everyone else's understanding?
But getting on with it.
I like that Aristotle, in Conley's writing,viewed knowledge as a plurality of theoretical, practical and productive ideas. Whether arguments are based on universal premises or personal opinions is not important to Aristotle, as is was to Plato. Rather than simply looking at the power of a persuasive argument to be the meat and soul of an argument or rhetoric, he expanded it to look at a question of perceiving the available "persuasives" (14). He was able to conceive of composition, as having many elements including style,form and use of metaphor that created great rhetoric. It is not beyond question and it is not necessarily delivered only by those handsome and healthy or any other artifice, so personally evaluated. Ideas are embraced rather than limited. Art and beauty takes their place alongside knowledge, as ways of apprehending a subject.
I also thought that it was interesting in the writing of Matsen, how Sophists were viewed as prioritizing rote knowledge and written argumentation over that of oratory. Moreover, I was fascinated that oratory as a purpose was seen at one point primarily concerned with patriotism and at other points with as a focus of words and human affairs(43. It brought me back to when I first started having to write lengthy persuasive court reports. I also had to present oral testimony. Both forms of rhetoric involved factual events that led to a conclusion and recommendation, which could returning children or terminating parental rights. Lawyers would present their own oratory and questions but I also had a role in turning aside their questions, accusations and inquiries with my steadfast beliefs based on facts. This background certainly helped me to formulate convincing argumentation, in a much more vital way than those involved in scholarly discussions. The discussion on the role of forensics and investigation as oratory was fascinating as to how the truth can seen in different ways, as can guilt and responsibility. It shows that rhetoric is indeed a serious subject worthy of much thought and discourse, as it has in fact been over the ages.
The idea that Aristotle suggests of an orator projecting moral character, which lends persuasiveness to the argument through confidence was also interesting. As I have watched attorneys waging arguments, their confidence can be confusing, so one must listen very closely to the words and nuances they use. Particulars and universals may be mired in forensics in such a way that the truth is not easy to determine. I am with Aristotle, as both can be important in rhetoric in proofs and determining truths. The discussion on signs and later on metaphors and their roles in oratory w"as also fascinating. How many movies have we all watched that proclaim it is a sign", yet may be a valid part of knowledge building or a fallacy, among a number of possible sources of fallacies (125). A sense based metaphor related to beauty is an interesting idea as well, and apparently was seen by Aristotle as integral to effective rhetoric, along with epithets, which may might well be associated with something undesirable or appalling even (160). I think that these ideas are important to recall, as we move forward in writing and reading effective rhetoric, as there is a distinct ring of truth in them.
(14) Conley, Thomas. Rhetoric in the European Tradition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994.
(43,125,160) Matsen, Patricia P., Rollinson, Philip & Sousa, Marion, eds. RReadings from Classical Rhetoric. Carbondale, Ill.: Southern Illinois University Press,1990.
Linda Daly
To start out with I am late,as I thought the time frame was for tonight at midnight. I am also confused. We have an extensive reading assignment on line regarding French Marx theory? Are we supposed to do anything with that--I read it but it appears that our assignments for this blog center on Conley 1-28 and Matsen-1-160. Is that everyone else's understanding?
But getting on with it.
I like that Aristotle, in Conley's writing,viewed knowledge as a plurality of theoretical, practical and productive ideas. Whether arguments are based on universal premises or personal opinions is not important to Aristotle, as is was to Plato. Rather than simply looking at the power of a persuasive argument to be the meat and soul of an argument or rhetoric, he expanded it to look at a question of perceiving the available "persuasives" (14). He was able to conceive of composition, as having many elements including style,form and use of metaphor that created great rhetoric. It is not beyond question and it is not necessarily delivered only by those handsome and healthy or any other artifice, so personally evaluated. Ideas are embraced rather than limited. Art and beauty takes their place alongside knowledge, as ways of apprehending a subject.
I also thought that it was interesting in the writing of Matsen, how Sophists were viewed as prioritizing rote knowledge and written argumentation over that of oratory. Moreover, I was fascinated that oratory as a purpose was seen at one point primarily concerned with patriotism and at other points with as a focus of words and human affairs(43. It brought me back to when I first started having to write lengthy persuasive court reports. I also had to present oral testimony. Both forms of rhetoric involved factual events that led to a conclusion and recommendation, which could returning children or terminating parental rights. Lawyers would present their own oratory and questions but I also had a role in turning aside their questions, accusations and inquiries with my steadfast beliefs based on facts. This background certainly helped me to formulate convincing argumentation, in a much more vital way than those involved in scholarly discussions. The discussion on the role of forensics and investigation as oratory was fascinating as to how the truth can seen in different ways, as can guilt and responsibility. It shows that rhetoric is indeed a serious subject worthy of much thought and discourse, as it has in fact been over the ages.
The idea that Aristotle suggests of an orator projecting moral character, which lends persuasiveness to the argument through confidence was also interesting. As I have watched attorneys waging arguments, their confidence can be confusing, so one must listen very closely to the words and nuances they use. Particulars and universals may be mired in forensics in such a way that the truth is not easy to determine. I am with Aristotle, as both can be important in rhetoric in proofs and determining truths. The discussion on signs and later on metaphors and their roles in oratory w"as also fascinating. How many movies have we all watched that proclaim it is a sign", yet may be a valid part of knowledge building or a fallacy, among a number of possible sources of fallacies (125). A sense based metaphor related to beauty is an interesting idea as well, and apparently was seen by Aristotle as integral to effective rhetoric, along with epithets, which may might well be associated with something undesirable or appalling even (160). I think that these ideas are important to recall, as we move forward in writing and reading effective rhetoric, as there is a distinct ring of truth in them.
(14) Conley, Thomas. Rhetoric in the European Tradition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994.
(43,125,160) Matsen, Patricia P., Rollinson, Philip & Sousa, Marion, eds. RReadings from Classical Rhetoric. Carbondale, Ill.: Southern Illinois University Press,1990.
Linda Daly
Monday, July 6, 2009
LESSON PLAN ON HEMINGWAY
Lesson Plan Info
Title: Hemingway
Created By: Linda Daly
Date Created: 07/04/09
Grade: 9-12
Subject: Literature and Composition
Topic of Lesson: Character Development of the Hero
Type of Lesson Plan: Direct Instruction
Class Submitted For: Ed 520
Instructor: Dr. Massey
Standards
Content Area: Reading & Writing
Standard #: 4
Student apply thinking skills to their reading, writing,
speaking, listening, and viewing.
Benchmark/Grade Level Expectancy:
In order to meet this standard for grades 9-12,
students will
*make predictions, analyze, draw conclusions, and
discriminate between fact and opinion in writing, reading,
speaking, listening, and viewing to define and solve
problems;
*recognize, express, and defend points of view orally and in
writing;
*identify the purpose, perspective, and historical and cultural
influences of a speaker, author, or director; and
*evaluate the reliability, accuracy, and relevancy of
information.
Standard #: 5
Students read to locate, select, and make use of
Relevant information from a variety of media,
reference, and technological sources.
In order to meet this standard, students will
*select relevant material for reading, writing, and
speaking purposes;
*understand the structure, organization, and
use of various media, reference, and
technological sources as they select information for
their reading and writing;
*paraphrase, summarize, organize, and synthesize
information;
*give credit for other’s ideas, images, or information;
and
*use information to produce a quality product.
Overview
Objective:
Mrs. Daly’s high school students will be able to identify and analyze
verbally, in writing and with technology, at least five examples each
of Hemingway’s life and writing style in paired discussion and notes
before using Internet and software resources to revisit Dramatica
theory to analyze character development, which the student then
draws at least one comparison each with examples from classic
literature and film in written blogs and three reply discussions to other students in the group on heroic struggles of the characters with courage in hunting and dreaming of loss of faith and denial of the odds and survival, before identifying one example of a modern day similar struggle, then all of the major points will be developed further with eight Power Point slides complete with graphics, text, music and voice-overs, by each student, for the group to use to formulate a 40 slide Power Point presentation to the class.
Assessment Plan:
The students will be able to identify and analyze verbally in
brainstorming pairs three examples each of Hemingway’s life and
writing style from which they take individual notes with five
sentences about each area. The students will then use their notes to
initiate an interactive discussion blog, in which they write two to three
paragraphs with five examples each of Hemingway’s life and
writing style, as well as character development using Dramatica theory. The student will draw at least one comparisons with examples from classic literature and modern film. The student will then develop one
example of a current day struggle that the student can relate to the struggle of the hero in the literature that the group has been reading. The student will respond in the writing blog to at least three other students in the group. The student will then create eight Power Point slides with graphics and audio text, which the group then works on incorporating into a Power Point presentation to the class.
Learning Context:
The class is studying American Literature this semester and this
particular unit is focused on the Twentieth Century and the
aftermath of two world wars. The current lesson is on character
development of heroes.
The Dramatica theory of character development was recently
studied in web quest on To Kill A Mockingbird, by Lee Harper.
That study will be continued, as the class looks at works by Ernest
Hemingway that include two groups reading, The Old Man and the
Sea and two groups reading, The Snows of Kilimanjaro.
The class will then consider new information tying the struggles of
these heroes with literature of Shakespeare’s, Hamlet, which the
class studied the previous year and Melville’s, Moby Dick, which the
class studied the previous semester. The students will then be
studying women’s literature in the same time period and will be
contrasting Hemingway’s style with that body of work and
evidence of his spirit continuing in contemporary literature, film,
and life events.
Time Allotment:
The class will be studying the works of Hemingway over a five week
period, with this assignment starting on the beginning of week four
of this five week period.
Instructional Materials
Teacher Materials:
The teacher will have literature and films available of the following:
*The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway
*The Snows of Kilimanjaro, by Ernest Hemingway
*Hamlet, by William Shakespeare
*Moby Dick, by Herman Melville
The teacher will also have computer access with Microsoft Office
and Inspiration software installed, along with access to the Internet, as
well as a projector and screen.
The teacher will have Internet resources on hand with text, graphics
and video on Hemmingway’s life and writing style to share with the
class.
Additionally, the teacher will have the Dramatica theory previously
presented in a video complete with Inspiration graphics and video clips
of Star Wars and Jaws for review.
Also the teacher will have an Internet source using classic literature
comparisons with contemporary films, including Shakespeare’
Hamlet and Star Wars, as well as The Old Man and the Sea with
Moby Dick.
Student Materials:
*Two groups will have novels and computer videos of The Old Man
and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway. They will also have access to
the novel and computer videos of the movie Moby Dick, by Herman
Melville, as well as an Internet site discussing Moby Dick and
comparisons with The Old Man and the Sea.
*Two groups will have novels and of The Snows of Kilimanjaro, by
Ernest Hemingway. They will have access to the play and computer
videos of the movie Hamlet, as well as an Internet site discussing
comparisons between Hamlet and the movie Star Wars.
*The entire class will be presented for review a previously studied
video on Dramatica theory with three Inspiration graphic
organizers of the theory, as applied to character development and
video clips accompanied by theme music and text identifying
Dramatica theory concepts with various characters in Star Wars
and Jaws.
*The entire class will be presented for study Internet text, video and
graphics on Hemmingway’s life, writing style to share with the class.
*All of the students will have computer and Internet access.
The computers will have Microsoft Office products and Inspiration
software installed.
Differentiation of Instruction:
The students will have instruction presented visually, orally and
with kinetic interaction activities involving talking, listening, taking
notes and writing on the computer viewing activities on the
computer, as well as finding graphics to insert on the computer
while reading. All 9 intelligence styles will hopefully be addressed
in this process. The struggling students will be paired with more
advanced students within the groups and given more individual
attention when needed. The grading expectations will be
somewhat relaxed for struggling students. Only three sentences of
notes will be required for each of the areas being reviewed and only
one paragraph required in the blog sharing and only a written
response to two students. The group Power Point should have at
least four entries from struggling students. Advanced students will
be given the opportunity to use Inspiration Software to create
Dramatica based graphic organizers on comparisons of classic
literature and Hemingway’s literature, complete with video, music
and voice over elements on at least one slide.
BRAINSTORMING of Essential Components
Opening:
Denial and Survival and Courage in Hunting and Dreaming of Loss of
Faith are some of the themes we see in Hemingway’s works. Are
there correlations that can be made between the heroes in these
works and classic literature, film or current situations using
Dramatica theory? We will review highlights of the stories and ask
Socratic questions to access previous knowledge.
Present & Structure New Content:
Hemingway’s life, Dramatica theory and information presenting
comparisons between Hemingway’s story and classic examples in
literature will be considered.
Guided Practice:
The students will be given direct instruction, verbal, in text and in
video format on Hemingway’s life, writing style and character
development, using the Dramatica theories. The student will then
be introduced to certain web sites for researching ideas for their
blog and Power Point presentation. The student will also be
instructed on where they can locate a place for the class to blog.
The students write a simple blog and respond to one of their peers,
in a response blog.
Checking For Understanding:
Socratic questions and one to one questions will be asked, as needed,
along with a verbal and visual review of material, as needed.
Independent Practice:
The student’s will work with a partner in their group to brainstorm
ideas before formulating individual notes. They then work as an
individual blogger writing and then responding to other individual
bloggers. The individual will do individual research and formulate
Power Point slides with visual, audio and text elements, which will
then be shared with the larger group to be included in a group
Power Point, which the group will organize and design, based upon
the research efforts of the individual members.
Closure:
The students will all be given a chance to discuss their Power Point
presentations to the class. Then the students will be asked to
consider personal challenges that they might have had, which
resonate in some way, perhaps not with as much drama, but have
meaning to the student. The students will have another discussion
and the class will end.
Sequence of Procedures:
Opening
Gaining Attention:
Love and Loss, Denial and Survival and Hunting and Dreaming are
some of the themes we see in Hemingway’s works that we have
read.
Assessing Prior Knowledge:
Which of these themes to you see and in which work? Can you use
examples that would tell why, when, where, how and who?
State Purpose (Objective) of Lesson:
Mrs. Daly’s high school students will be able to identify and analyze
verbally, in writing and with technology, at least five examples
each of Hemingway’s life and writing style in paired discussion and
notes before using Internet and software resources to revisit
Dramatica theory to analyze and write in a blog two to three
paragraphs and respond to three other blogs on character
development of at least one comparison each from classic literature
and film in written blog discussion on heroic struggles of the
characters with courage in hunting and dreaming of loss of faith and
denial of the odds and survival, before identifying one example of a
modern day similar struggle, then take all the information
highpoints and putting them into eight Power Point slides complete
with graphics, text, music and voice-overs, by each student, for the
group to use to formulate a 40 slide Power Point presentation to the
class.
Body
Teacher Input(s):
The teacher will present Internet material on the life and writings
of Ernest Hemingway and re-present the Dramatica theory material
previously reviewed by the class when studying To Kill a
Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. The teacher will direct the students on
the specifics of the objectives and assessment. The teacher will
present new information on Internet sites that draw comparisons
between the film of Star Wars and Shakespeare’s Hamlet and
Hemmingway’s The Old Man and the Sea and Melville’s Moby Dick.
The teacher will direct the students to the blog sites for each group
on the computer and go over again the expectations to be met with
in-class paired and group brainstorming and individual note taking,
blog writing, blog discussions, as well as the group Power Point.
Advanced and struggling students will be advised of their
differentiated opportunities individually.
Guided Practice(s):
The students will be guided through verbal instructions, projected
material from the Internet and video, and a practice exercise on
logging on and off a blog, which will be new to the class. The
students will also be given written instructions and Internet
resource sites. The rubric will also be available on-line for
students to re-check for expectations, along with on-line resources.
Checks for Understanding:
All students will be asked random Socratic questions, with who,
what, where, why, when and how elements about the information
previously presented, reviewed and/or new information.
Struggling students will be asked specifically to explain the
instructions or information aspects and then assisted with re-
explanation and re-teaching as needed.
Assessment (Independent Practice)
Formal or Informal
See the attached rubric:
Stated Objective or Performance
Student will produce a group Power Point presentation on
Hemingway’s life, style of writing and character development
using Dramatica theories. It will include comparisons on
character development with classic literature and film, as well as
a current life situation. 50%
Beginning 1:
The student will participate in producing a group Power Point
with 25 slides, with each group member creating two slides
containing at least one example each of Hemingway’s,
life and writing style and one example each of comparisons of
character development, [using 82q theories] with classic
literature, film and a current life situation.
Developing 2:
The student will participate in producing a group Power Point of
30 slides, with each group member creating four slides each of
Hemingway’s life and writing style and one example each of
comparisons of character development, [using Dramatica
theories] with classic literature, film and a current life situation.
Very Good 3:
The student will produce a group Power Point of 35 slides, with
each group member creating six slides each of
Hemingway’s life and writing style and one example each of
comparisons of character development, [using Dramatica
theories] with classic literature, film and a current life situation.
Exemplary 4:
The student will produce a group Power Point of 40 slides, with
each group member creating eight slides of Hemingway’s
life and writing style and one example each of comparisons of
character development, [using Dramatica theories] with classic
literature.
Stated Objective or Performance
Student will participate actively as a cooperative group member
in a brainstorming activity. 20%
Beginning 1:
Student will write at least a two-sentence note about ideas that
the student is brainstorming in conjunction with another student
within their group. [This will be worth full points for identified
struggling students.]
Developing 2:
Student will write at least a three-sentence note about ideas that
the student is brainstorming in conjunction with another student
within their group.
Very Good 3:
Student will write at least a four-sentence note about ideas that
the student is brainstorming in conjunctions with another
student within their group.
Exemplary 4:
Student will write at least a five-sentence note about ideas that
the student is brainstorming in conjunction with another student
within their group.
Stated Objective or Performance
Student will write a one to two paragraphs in a blog and respond
to at least three other blogs about Hemingways’s life and writing
styles, as well as character development [using Dramatica
theories] comparing one classic literature piece, film example
and current situation with Hemingway’s literature.
Beginning 1:
The student will write one to two sentences in a blog and
respond to at least one other blog about Hemingway’s life and
writing style, as well as character development [using
Dramatica theories] comparing one classic literature piece, film
example and current situation with Hemingway’s literary
characters.
Developing 2:
The student will write three to four sentences in a blog and
respond to at least two other blogs about Hemingway’s life and
writing style, as well as character development [using
Dramatica theories] comparing one classic literature piece, film
example and current situation with Hemingway’s literary
characters.
Very Good 3:
The student will write one to two paragraphs in a blog and
respond to at least three other blogs about Hemingway’s life
and writing style, as well as character development [using
Dramatica theories] comparing one classic literature piece,
film example and current situation with Hemingway’s literary
characters.
Exemplary 4:
The student will write two to three paragraphs in a blog and
respond to at least three other blogs about Hemingway’s life
and writing style, as well as character development [using
Dramatica theories] comparing one classic literature piece,
film example and current situation with Hemingway’s literary
characters.
Closure:
Students will be given the opportunity for discussion and asked
if they think that Hemingway’s heroes brought on themselves
their hardships intentionally or if fate was responsible. More
discussion will follow. The class will end with the students
being asked to reflect on personal challenges that they may
have had which resonate with the challenges of Hemingway’s
heroes in some perhaps less dramatic manner but nevertheless
important to the student.
Reteaching Activities:
Students who are struggling will have clips reshown from the
movies of the works being studied, the Internet video on
Dramatica theory and additional verbal explanation. In
addition, Special Education staff will be on hand to further offer
additional clarification and assistance in note taking.
Extension Activities:
Advanced students will be given the opportunity to use
Inspiration software to develop a graphic organizer and film
clips of Dramatica character development theory, as applied to
Hemingway’s works that the students have been studying in
their particular group along with Melvilles’ Moby Dick, if the
group that the advanced student is in, has been reading The Old
Man and The Sea and Shakespeare’s Hamlet, if the group that the
advanced student is in, has been reading The Snows of
Kilimanjaro.
Sample Student Products:
(Not Applicable as this lesson has not yet been taught.)
Teaching Materials:
The novels and films of Ernest Hemingway’s, The Snows of
Kilimanjaro and The Old Man and The Sea.
A previous teacher created computer video on Dramatica theory
that utilized Inspiration software for three graphic organizers on
character development theory and film clips of Star Wars
development.
Internet resources and software on Hemingway’s life and writing
styles, which includes videos, graphics and text.
Internet resources on comparisons between Hemingway’s, The Old
Man and the Sea and Melville’s Moby Dick.
Internet resources on comparisons between Star Wars and
Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
Computer and Internet Access with Inspiration Software and
Microsoft Office installed.
References:
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. Scribner Classics:
New York, NY, 1952.
The Old Man and the Sea. A DVD by Warner Home Video, March
2001.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories.
Scribner Classics: New York, NY, 1955.
The Snows of Kilimanjaro. A DVD by TGG Direct, Jan.2003, starring
Gregory Peck & Susan Hayward.
Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick. Barnes & Noble Classics: New York,
NY 2003. (Note was first published in 1851.)
Academic Fitness Tools for Academic Success: Middle School Software by Fogware Publishing Co., Merriam-Webster, Clearvue & SVE, Inc. Baron’s Educational Series, Inc. and Weekly reader Corporations, 2008-2009.
http://www.emints.org/ethemes/resources/S00001778.shtml
9th - 12th grade http://myhero.com/myhero/go/theteachersroom/lessons_view_bl…
http://www.youtube.com/user/lindadaly1#play/uploads
http://www.classicmovies.org
http://www.dramatica.com
http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdeassess/documents/OSA/standards...
http: books, google.combooks?id=clypdkrGMS38C&1pg=PP1&p
http://www.lostgeneration.com
bardfilm.blogspot.com/
http:www.cummingsstudyguides.net
www.english-blog.com
www.shakespeare-literature.coom/hamlet/index.html.
Title: Hemingway
Created By: Linda Daly
Date Created: 07/04/09
Grade: 9-12
Subject: Literature and Composition
Topic of Lesson: Character Development of the Hero
Type of Lesson Plan: Direct Instruction
Class Submitted For: Ed 520
Instructor: Dr. Massey
Standards
Content Area: Reading & Writing
Standard #: 4
Student apply thinking skills to their reading, writing,
speaking, listening, and viewing.
Benchmark/Grade Level Expectancy:
In order to meet this standard for grades 9-12,
students will
*make predictions, analyze, draw conclusions, and
discriminate between fact and opinion in writing, reading,
speaking, listening, and viewing to define and solve
problems;
*recognize, express, and defend points of view orally and in
writing;
*identify the purpose, perspective, and historical and cultural
influences of a speaker, author, or director; and
*evaluate the reliability, accuracy, and relevancy of
information.
Standard #: 5
Students read to locate, select, and make use of
Relevant information from a variety of media,
reference, and technological sources.
In order to meet this standard, students will
*select relevant material for reading, writing, and
speaking purposes;
*understand the structure, organization, and
use of various media, reference, and
technological sources as they select information for
their reading and writing;
*paraphrase, summarize, organize, and synthesize
information;
*give credit for other’s ideas, images, or information;
and
*use information to produce a quality product.
Overview
Objective:
Mrs. Daly’s high school students will be able to identify and analyze
verbally, in writing and with technology, at least five examples each
of Hemingway’s life and writing style in paired discussion and notes
before using Internet and software resources to revisit Dramatica
theory to analyze character development, which the student then
draws at least one comparison each with examples from classic
literature and film in written blogs and three reply discussions to other students in the group on heroic struggles of the characters with courage in hunting and dreaming of loss of faith and denial of the odds and survival, before identifying one example of a modern day similar struggle, then all of the major points will be developed further with eight Power Point slides complete with graphics, text, music and voice-overs, by each student, for the group to use to formulate a 40 slide Power Point presentation to the class.
Assessment Plan:
The students will be able to identify and analyze verbally in
brainstorming pairs three examples each of Hemingway’s life and
writing style from which they take individual notes with five
sentences about each area. The students will then use their notes to
initiate an interactive discussion blog, in which they write two to three
paragraphs with five examples each of Hemingway’s life and
writing style, as well as character development using Dramatica theory. The student will draw at least one comparisons with examples from classic literature and modern film. The student will then develop one
example of a current day struggle that the student can relate to the struggle of the hero in the literature that the group has been reading. The student will respond in the writing blog to at least three other students in the group. The student will then create eight Power Point slides with graphics and audio text, which the group then works on incorporating into a Power Point presentation to the class.
Learning Context:
The class is studying American Literature this semester and this
particular unit is focused on the Twentieth Century and the
aftermath of two world wars. The current lesson is on character
development of heroes.
The Dramatica theory of character development was recently
studied in web quest on To Kill A Mockingbird, by Lee Harper.
That study will be continued, as the class looks at works by Ernest
Hemingway that include two groups reading, The Old Man and the
Sea and two groups reading, The Snows of Kilimanjaro.
The class will then consider new information tying the struggles of
these heroes with literature of Shakespeare’s, Hamlet, which the
class studied the previous year and Melville’s, Moby Dick, which the
class studied the previous semester. The students will then be
studying women’s literature in the same time period and will be
contrasting Hemingway’s style with that body of work and
evidence of his spirit continuing in contemporary literature, film,
and life events.
Time Allotment:
The class will be studying the works of Hemingway over a five week
period, with this assignment starting on the beginning of week four
of this five week period.
Instructional Materials
Teacher Materials:
The teacher will have literature and films available of the following:
*The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway
*The Snows of Kilimanjaro, by Ernest Hemingway
*Hamlet, by William Shakespeare
*Moby Dick, by Herman Melville
The teacher will also have computer access with Microsoft Office
and Inspiration software installed, along with access to the Internet, as
well as a projector and screen.
The teacher will have Internet resources on hand with text, graphics
and video on Hemmingway’s life and writing style to share with the
class.
Additionally, the teacher will have the Dramatica theory previously
presented in a video complete with Inspiration graphics and video clips
of Star Wars and Jaws for review.
Also the teacher will have an Internet source using classic literature
comparisons with contemporary films, including Shakespeare’
Hamlet and Star Wars, as well as The Old Man and the Sea with
Moby Dick.
Student Materials:
*Two groups will have novels and computer videos of The Old Man
and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway. They will also have access to
the novel and computer videos of the movie Moby Dick, by Herman
Melville, as well as an Internet site discussing Moby Dick and
comparisons with The Old Man and the Sea.
*Two groups will have novels and of The Snows of Kilimanjaro, by
Ernest Hemingway. They will have access to the play and computer
videos of the movie Hamlet, as well as an Internet site discussing
comparisons between Hamlet and the movie Star Wars.
*The entire class will be presented for review a previously studied
video on Dramatica theory with three Inspiration graphic
organizers of the theory, as applied to character development and
video clips accompanied by theme music and text identifying
Dramatica theory concepts with various characters in Star Wars
and Jaws.
*The entire class will be presented for study Internet text, video and
graphics on Hemmingway’s life, writing style to share with the class.
*All of the students will have computer and Internet access.
The computers will have Microsoft Office products and Inspiration
software installed.
Differentiation of Instruction:
The students will have instruction presented visually, orally and
with kinetic interaction activities involving talking, listening, taking
notes and writing on the computer viewing activities on the
computer, as well as finding graphics to insert on the computer
while reading. All 9 intelligence styles will hopefully be addressed
in this process. The struggling students will be paired with more
advanced students within the groups and given more individual
attention when needed. The grading expectations will be
somewhat relaxed for struggling students. Only three sentences of
notes will be required for each of the areas being reviewed and only
one paragraph required in the blog sharing and only a written
response to two students. The group Power Point should have at
least four entries from struggling students. Advanced students will
be given the opportunity to use Inspiration Software to create
Dramatica based graphic organizers on comparisons of classic
literature and Hemingway’s literature, complete with video, music
and voice over elements on at least one slide.
BRAINSTORMING of Essential Components
Opening:
Denial and Survival and Courage in Hunting and Dreaming of Loss of
Faith are some of the themes we see in Hemingway’s works. Are
there correlations that can be made between the heroes in these
works and classic literature, film or current situations using
Dramatica theory? We will review highlights of the stories and ask
Socratic questions to access previous knowledge.
Present & Structure New Content:
Hemingway’s life, Dramatica theory and information presenting
comparisons between Hemingway’s story and classic examples in
literature will be considered.
Guided Practice:
The students will be given direct instruction, verbal, in text and in
video format on Hemingway’s life, writing style and character
development, using the Dramatica theories. The student will then
be introduced to certain web sites for researching ideas for their
blog and Power Point presentation. The student will also be
instructed on where they can locate a place for the class to blog.
The students write a simple blog and respond to one of their peers,
in a response blog.
Checking For Understanding:
Socratic questions and one to one questions will be asked, as needed,
along with a verbal and visual review of material, as needed.
Independent Practice:
The student’s will work with a partner in their group to brainstorm
ideas before formulating individual notes. They then work as an
individual blogger writing and then responding to other individual
bloggers. The individual will do individual research and formulate
Power Point slides with visual, audio and text elements, which will
then be shared with the larger group to be included in a group
Power Point, which the group will organize and design, based upon
the research efforts of the individual members.
Closure:
The students will all be given a chance to discuss their Power Point
presentations to the class. Then the students will be asked to
consider personal challenges that they might have had, which
resonate in some way, perhaps not with as much drama, but have
meaning to the student. The students will have another discussion
and the class will end.
Sequence of Procedures:
Opening
Gaining Attention:
Love and Loss, Denial and Survival and Hunting and Dreaming are
some of the themes we see in Hemingway’s works that we have
read.
Assessing Prior Knowledge:
Which of these themes to you see and in which work? Can you use
examples that would tell why, when, where, how and who?
State Purpose (Objective) of Lesson:
Mrs. Daly’s high school students will be able to identify and analyze
verbally, in writing and with technology, at least five examples
each of Hemingway’s life and writing style in paired discussion and
notes before using Internet and software resources to revisit
Dramatica theory to analyze and write in a blog two to three
paragraphs and respond to three other blogs on character
development of at least one comparison each from classic literature
and film in written blog discussion on heroic struggles of the
characters with courage in hunting and dreaming of loss of faith and
denial of the odds and survival, before identifying one example of a
modern day similar struggle, then take all the information
highpoints and putting them into eight Power Point slides complete
with graphics, text, music and voice-overs, by each student, for the
group to use to formulate a 40 slide Power Point presentation to the
class.
Body
Teacher Input(s):
The teacher will present Internet material on the life and writings
of Ernest Hemingway and re-present the Dramatica theory material
previously reviewed by the class when studying To Kill a
Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. The teacher will direct the students on
the specifics of the objectives and assessment. The teacher will
present new information on Internet sites that draw comparisons
between the film of Star Wars and Shakespeare’s Hamlet and
Hemmingway’s The Old Man and the Sea and Melville’s Moby Dick.
The teacher will direct the students to the blog sites for each group
on the computer and go over again the expectations to be met with
in-class paired and group brainstorming and individual note taking,
blog writing, blog discussions, as well as the group Power Point.
Advanced and struggling students will be advised of their
differentiated opportunities individually.
Guided Practice(s):
The students will be guided through verbal instructions, projected
material from the Internet and video, and a practice exercise on
logging on and off a blog, which will be new to the class. The
students will also be given written instructions and Internet
resource sites. The rubric will also be available on-line for
students to re-check for expectations, along with on-line resources.
Checks for Understanding:
All students will be asked random Socratic questions, with who,
what, where, why, when and how elements about the information
previously presented, reviewed and/or new information.
Struggling students will be asked specifically to explain the
instructions or information aspects and then assisted with re-
explanation and re-teaching as needed.
Assessment (Independent Practice)
Formal or Informal
See the attached rubric:
Stated Objective or Performance
Student will produce a group Power Point presentation on
Hemingway’s life, style of writing and character development
using Dramatica theories. It will include comparisons on
character development with classic literature and film, as well as
a current life situation. 50%
Beginning 1:
The student will participate in producing a group Power Point
with 25 slides, with each group member creating two slides
containing at least one example each of Hemingway’s,
life and writing style and one example each of comparisons of
character development, [using 82q theories] with classic
literature, film and a current life situation.
Developing 2:
The student will participate in producing a group Power Point of
30 slides, with each group member creating four slides each of
Hemingway’s life and writing style and one example each of
comparisons of character development, [using Dramatica
theories] with classic literature, film and a current life situation.
Very Good 3:
The student will produce a group Power Point of 35 slides, with
each group member creating six slides each of
Hemingway’s life and writing style and one example each of
comparisons of character development, [using Dramatica
theories] with classic literature, film and a current life situation.
Exemplary 4:
The student will produce a group Power Point of 40 slides, with
each group member creating eight slides of Hemingway’s
life and writing style and one example each of comparisons of
character development, [using Dramatica theories] with classic
literature.
Stated Objective or Performance
Student will participate actively as a cooperative group member
in a brainstorming activity. 20%
Beginning 1:
Student will write at least a two-sentence note about ideas that
the student is brainstorming in conjunction with another student
within their group. [This will be worth full points for identified
struggling students.]
Developing 2:
Student will write at least a three-sentence note about ideas that
the student is brainstorming in conjunction with another student
within their group.
Very Good 3:
Student will write at least a four-sentence note about ideas that
the student is brainstorming in conjunctions with another
student within their group.
Exemplary 4:
Student will write at least a five-sentence note about ideas that
the student is brainstorming in conjunction with another student
within their group.
Stated Objective or Performance
Student will write a one to two paragraphs in a blog and respond
to at least three other blogs about Hemingways’s life and writing
styles, as well as character development [using Dramatica
theories] comparing one classic literature piece, film example
and current situation with Hemingway’s literature.
Beginning 1:
The student will write one to two sentences in a blog and
respond to at least one other blog about Hemingway’s life and
writing style, as well as character development [using
Dramatica theories] comparing one classic literature piece, film
example and current situation with Hemingway’s literary
characters.
Developing 2:
The student will write three to four sentences in a blog and
respond to at least two other blogs about Hemingway’s life and
writing style, as well as character development [using
Dramatica theories] comparing one classic literature piece, film
example and current situation with Hemingway’s literary
characters.
Very Good 3:
The student will write one to two paragraphs in a blog and
respond to at least three other blogs about Hemingway’s life
and writing style, as well as character development [using
Dramatica theories] comparing one classic literature piece,
film example and current situation with Hemingway’s literary
characters.
Exemplary 4:
The student will write two to three paragraphs in a blog and
respond to at least three other blogs about Hemingway’s life
and writing style, as well as character development [using
Dramatica theories] comparing one classic literature piece,
film example and current situation with Hemingway’s literary
characters.
Closure:
Students will be given the opportunity for discussion and asked
if they think that Hemingway’s heroes brought on themselves
their hardships intentionally or if fate was responsible. More
discussion will follow. The class will end with the students
being asked to reflect on personal challenges that they may
have had which resonate with the challenges of Hemingway’s
heroes in some perhaps less dramatic manner but nevertheless
important to the student.
Reteaching Activities:
Students who are struggling will have clips reshown from the
movies of the works being studied, the Internet video on
Dramatica theory and additional verbal explanation. In
addition, Special Education staff will be on hand to further offer
additional clarification and assistance in note taking.
Extension Activities:
Advanced students will be given the opportunity to use
Inspiration software to develop a graphic organizer and film
clips of Dramatica character development theory, as applied to
Hemingway’s works that the students have been studying in
their particular group along with Melvilles’ Moby Dick, if the
group that the advanced student is in, has been reading The Old
Man and The Sea and Shakespeare’s Hamlet, if the group that the
advanced student is in, has been reading The Snows of
Kilimanjaro.
Sample Student Products:
(Not Applicable as this lesson has not yet been taught.)
Teaching Materials:
The novels and films of Ernest Hemingway’s, The Snows of
Kilimanjaro and The Old Man and The Sea.
A previous teacher created computer video on Dramatica theory
that utilized Inspiration software for three graphic organizers on
character development theory and film clips of Star Wars
development.
Internet resources and software on Hemingway’s life and writing
styles, which includes videos, graphics and text.
Internet resources on comparisons between Hemingway’s, The Old
Man and the Sea and Melville’s Moby Dick.
Internet resources on comparisons between Star Wars and
Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
Computer and Internet Access with Inspiration Software and
Microsoft Office installed.
References:
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. Scribner Classics:
New York, NY, 1952.
The Old Man and the Sea. A DVD by Warner Home Video, March
2001.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories.
Scribner Classics: New York, NY, 1955.
The Snows of Kilimanjaro. A DVD by TGG Direct, Jan.2003, starring
Gregory Peck & Susan Hayward.
Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick. Barnes & Noble Classics: New York,
NY 2003. (Note was first published in 1851.)
Academic Fitness Tools for Academic Success: Middle School Software by Fogware Publishing Co., Merriam-Webster, Clearvue & SVE, Inc. Baron’s Educational Series, Inc. and Weekly reader Corporations, 2008-2009.
http://www.emints.org/ethemes/resources/S00001778.shtml
9th - 12th grade http://myhero.com/myhero/go/theteachersroom/lessons_view_bl…
http://www.youtube.com/user/lindadaly1#play/uploads
http://www.classicmovies.org
http://www.dramatica.com
http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdeassess/documents/OSA/standards...
http: books, google.combooks?id=clypdkrGMS38C&1pg=PP1&p
http://www.lostgeneration.com
bardfilm.blogspot.com/
http:www.cummingsstudyguides.net
www.english-blog.com
www.shakespeare-literature.coom/hamlet/index.html.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Tallking on my Wiki
Go to http://www.seedwiki.com and then click on Connections by Cat and you are in!
Writing Connections by Cat Miles
Cat Miles is my fun name. You know me as Linda Daly. This is my first entry for ED 520.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
