ENG 241: Survey of American Literature I
Judy Riggin
How To: Read, Watch, and Write About Literature
[Introduction] [Your Responsibility] [Syllabus] [Assignments] [Exams] [Resources]
How To: Read, Watch, and Write About Literature |
Suggestions for Using Your Textbook:
Your textbook, The Heath Anthology of American Literature, offers you excellent background material for your reading of the works of literature, found in the editors' introductions to periods and to individual authors, as well as explanatory footnotes. You should be sure to read these materials because they will put the reading selections in cultural and historical contexts.
Also, your text is innovative in design, offering a wide spectrum of writers, examined from several critical perspectives. I strongly encourage you to read the "Preface" to the text to understand fully the aims of the book.
In general, I offer these basic guidelines for using this text in your studies:
1. Read the relevant Assignment and Study Outline before you begin to read a textbook assignment.
2. Read the Text Assignments before you watch the video lecture Program.
3. Read everything assigned at least once -- read assignments twice if possible.
4. Review this COURSE SITE information to know what you should review and concentrate on for your writing and exams.
5. Browse through unassigned materials for other reading that might interest you. This textbook is rich in its variety!
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Strategies for Reading Literature:
You may find the works of literature, especially colonial literature, difficult to read. Keep in mind that the authors are writers from earlier centuries, using styles that suited the readers of their times. Therefore, you may not feel comfortable with their spelling, vocabulary, sentence patterns, and word order. Don't let unfamiliar style bog you down! Read for the overall meaning of a selection, marking words, phrases, and passages that seem unclear.
When you have read through all of a selection once, return to the difficult parts and reread them slowly. Check the meanings of words given in the footnotes or look them up in a dictionary; write the meanings in the margins next to the words. Rephrase difficult sentences in your own words, writing these ideas in the margin, also. I think you will soon feel confident with your reading if you try these simple strategies.
Read analytically. Mark main ideas by underlining and noting them in the margins. As you learn about characteristics of certain periods or styles in literature, spot those characteristics in works. Mark these and label them in the margin, too. Think about the reading audience the writer originally intended the selection for, and how that intention shapes the ideas and style. And learn to watch for a writer's literary techniques. Notice figures of speech like metaphors or personification. Mark repetition--does the author mention a lily in bloom many times? Such repetition may indicate the lily is a symbol. Notice whether sentences are long, short, or both, with patterns that set up a rhythm. Make a note of these techniques in the margin, too. You may not get used to seeing all these factors at first, but keep in mind that one sign of a good student is a well-marked textbook--and keep trying.
A final comment about reading: If you have worked hard to understand a passage and are still confused, CALL or EMAIL ME. I am happy to go over the readings with you. DON'T GO TO OUTSIDE WEB OR PRINT SOURCES. I say this for two reasons. One, the assignments in the course aim to improve your analytical skills, not your ability to do research in the analysis of others. Two, reading outside sources often leads to incorporating the ideas of others into your own writing. If you use the ideas (not just the words, as in a quote) of sources without identifying where they came from, YOU ARE PLAGIARIZING. Plagiarism is intellectual dishonesty and will result in failing grades.
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Suggestions for Watching the Programs:
Before you watch each program, read the Program Study Outline for it on this site. Keep in mind my presentation will cover ideas that will help you write your journals and that will appear on the exams. Always watch with pen in hand and plenty of paper to write on. Keep your text open to the reading assignments, to follow along when I read specific passages and discuss their significance. Use 'How To: Read, Watch, and Write About Literature' to give you direction in taking notes from what you see and hear. Listen and watch carefully for indications of main points and the examples and illustrations I give of those points. Keep a separate sheet of paper for notes or questions you have or ideas you didn't understand.
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Characteristics of Successful Literary Analysis:
You will write literary analysis in three forms for your assignments--the journal writings, the essay, and the essay answers for the exams. All literary analysis, whatever its length or purpose, will be successful if it has the following characteristics:
1. The writer addresses the topic assigned or chosen.
2. The writer states a clear main idea for the analysis (usually called a thesis statement) in the opening paragraph.
3. The writer presents secondary ideas, or reasons, to support the thesis.
4. The writer offers brief quotations, or important details or facts from the text of the work as evidence that the thesis and reasons are valid.
5. The writer explains how and why the textual evidence is significant, by telling what the evidence shows, where the evidence shows it, and how the evidence supports the writer's reasoning.
6. All of the above elements reflect an accurate, complete reading of the literary work.
These are the characteristics I will look for when I evaluate your written literary analysis, so check your own work against these six characteristics. Of course, any literary analysis you write should reflect the qualities of good writing, in general: correct sentence structure and grammar, effective word choice, and a style virtually free from errors in mechanics, punctuation, and spelling.
In addition, here are some pointers for analyzing three particular aspects of literature: narrative point of view, theme, and symbol.
Narrative Point Of View
When you read fiction--a short story or a novel--you should always notice the story-telling "voice." This "voice," or perspective from which the story is related, is called its narrative point of view . A piece of fiction will almost always be told either in a first-person or a third-person point of view; some will combine types of points of view.
A first-person narrator will be a character in the story, observing events and people and telling the reader about them in an "I" voice. First-person narration lets the reader inside a character's mind, allowing intimate knowledge of what that person is like. Also, first-person p.o.v. limits what the reader knows to only the perceptions of the character-narrator.
Third-person narration speaks about "her," him," "them," telling a story from a perspective of a sensibility or source of knowledge (not a character) outside the events of the story. A third-person p.o.v. may be omniscient , or capable of knowing all about all characters' lives, thoughts, dreams, pasts, and so on. Often, third-person will be selective, or limited, omniscient p.o.v., in that all is told about the life, thoughts, dreams, of only one or two characters. (Rarely, an author will insert his or her own "I" voice into a work written in third-person p.o.v. This shift is called "authorial intrusion.")
When you have identified the narrative point of view of a work of fiction, ask yourself how the writer has shaped the meaning of the story by writing it that way. What do you learn about the characters and events? What is left out? Whose perspective dominates, determining the central issues of the story? How does the p.o.v. position the reader? Such an analysis can guide you in determining the work's overall meaning, or theme.
NOTE: In non-fiction, the "voice" of the piece of writing is sometimes called a persona ; in poetry, it is called the speaker .
Theme
The theme of a work is the statement made by the work as a whole about some aspect of human experience . When you are reading a work of fiction or a poem, you should easily see the human conflict or problem or issue the writer addresses. What are the characters concerned about? What subject keeps coming up in several lines of the poem? What "lesson" seems to emerge from the whole story or set of circumstances? I find most students can answer questions like these to get at the theme. However, I encourage you to learn the following two-step method for articulating the theme you find in a work:
STEP ONE : Ask yourself: What seems to be the main problem, issues, or conflict of the story? Generalize that problem into a topic. State the topic in a word or short phrase . For example, the topic of a story may be "justice" or the topic of a poem may be "the loss of love." Whatever issue or problem you see in the work can easily be phrased as such a topic.
STEP TWO: Because a word or phrase is not a complete idea, it therefore is also not a complete statement of the theme of the work. So, now ask yourself: Exactly what does the story say about this topic? State your conclusion as a complete idea, in a complete sentence , such as "Justice serves the rich" or "Justice will follow a sacrifice” or "A good hearted-person always finds justice." DO NOT just say, "The theme is justice." Create a generalization that encapsulates the meaning of the work as a whole. When you have made a complete statement, you have the theme. Also, be sure to avoid stating your understanding of the theme in the words of a familiar saying or cliché.
Symbol
Students sometimes struggle with symbols in literature. If you want to feel at ease with symbols, first give up the idea that a symbol is the writer's attempt to "hide" meaning. Why would a writer choose to hide the meaning of a work? Forget the clichéd phrase, "hidden meaning"; instead, consider a symbol to be a literary device for communicating an idea or emotion. A symbol is some thing--an object, place, person, event--which appears in the work as tangible and real. Yet it simultaneously represents an abstract idea or emotion or association, made clear by the way the writer presents it . A writer will call attention to a symbol. If something--says, a red apple--is repeatedly mentioned, chances are it's a symbol. Or a writer may feature the symbol in the actions of the characters; they may throw the apple to each other in a game of toss. Or the writer may purposely emphasize the symbol, perhaps spending a page describing the apple in elaborate detail.
When such techniques seem to be signaling a symbol, you can articulate its meaning by some simple strategies. First, consider whether the symbol has traditional or universal symbolic significance. A red apple does. In Christian culture, it is associated with the temptation and fall of Adam and Eve. Even in the fairy tale, "Snow White," the apple is a temptation that leads to problems. Test such symbolic meaning in your literary work. Does it "fit" that the apple represents temptation? Who tempts whom? What mistake is someone being tempted to make? If such ideas seem appropriate to the work, then you are understanding the symbolic meaning. If such explanations don't make sense, let the writer tell you the symbol's meaning. Reread the sections in which the symbol appears; consider what abstract associations the writer sets up. You may discover that, in fact, the writer has labeled the apple to be "the only gift" one character has given another, now "withered" and "faded." These words indicate the apple probably symbolizes the relationship between the characters, once valuable but now no longer full of life. In short, don't guess at the meaning of a symbol; trust your own ability to read what the writer tells you. (Also, keep in mind that some writers intend a symbol to suggest multiple meanings in order to enrich the whole work. But a writer will make such intentional ambiguity clear, too. Notice how Nathaniel Hawthorne does this.)
A final clarification: an image and a symbol are different devices. An image is something the writer presents to appeal to one or more of the reader's five senses--sight, sound, touch, taste, smell . It is usually descriptive, not symbolic. When an image or a group of similar images appears repeatedly, then the writer may be setting up a symbolic pattern, as discussed above. But remember that the terms "image" and "symbol" designate different literary techniques, and use them correctly.
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Rules for Writing About Literature:
1. WRITING YOUR TITLE
Write a title for each of your journals and your essay. The title should reflect the content of your ideas . Your title should not be only the name of the work you're writing about. Your titles should be written in conventional type. Do not capitalize all letters of a title. Capitalize only the first letters of important words. No quotation marks or underlining is necessary, unless you include the title of the work you're discussing.
EXAMPLE: Why I Like Ben Franklin, the Writer
EXAMPLE: Images of Darkness in "Young Goodman Brown"
2. PUNCTUATING TITLES OF LITERARY WORKS
In all of your writing, correctly punctuate the titles of works you discuss. The rules for punctuation of titles are as follows:
a. Use quotation marks around titles of poems, short stories, or essays.
b. Underline or italicize titles of book-length works (histories, novels, long poems), plays, movies, or works of art.
3. REFERRING TO THE WORKS AND AUTHORS
In your first paragraph, always give the complete title, correctly punctuated, and the author of the work(s) to be discussed. This first time you refer to a writer, give his or her full name (spelled correctly!).
In subsequent references, use only the author's last name without any title. First names are inappropriate, and saying "Mr. So-and-So" is artificially formal. Just say Bradstreet, Franklin, Poe, Dickinson, or whoever.
EXAMPLE:
Rowlandson's captivity narrative vividly details her battle with hunger, as well as her struggle with Indian captors.
4. USING PRESENT VERB TENSE
Always use the present tense when talking about something written. The work exists now, in the present, regardless of when it was written, or when you read it.
EXAMPLE:
In Common Sense, Paine presents the differences between society and government. He first explains, "Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness. . . ."
(Note: The verbs "presents" and "explains” are in the present tense.)
5. BLENDING QUOTATIONS
When you offer quotations as illustrations for your ideas, you must incorporate the quoted words into your own writing so that the quoted words and your own words read smoothly as grammatically correct sentences. You can present short quotes as part of the wording of your own sentence, or you can present a quote longer than a phrase by introducing it appropriately. DON'T simply stick in a quote by itself, without identifying its relationship to the idea you are explaining and as though its meaning were self-evident. That's called “dumping” a quote, and a dumped quote is weak as evidence or illustration of your ideas.
EXAMPLE:
Irving's characters are frequently described by a simple catalogue of details. For instance, in "Rip Van Winkle," we see a "stranger" who has a "short square" body and "thick bushy hair, and a grizzled beard."
If necessary, blend a quote by making minor adjustments to its wording. Subtract or add words in the quote, and punctuate these changes with an ellipsis or brackets.
a. ELLIPSIS: If you leave out part of a quote to make it blend into your sentence, you should use an ellipsis mark, or three spaced periods,to indicate the omission. Put the ellipsis in the middle of a quotation when you have omitted material or at the end when you have not ended as a sentence does. Then, four periods are used. The first three periods are the ellipsis marks and the fourth is a period to end the sentence. Do NOT use any ellipsis periods at the beginning of a quotation, even if you do pick up in mid-sentence. See examples of correct use of ellipsis in examples throughout this section.
If the quotation is short and clearly a portion of a whole idea, you do NOT have to use the ellipsis mark.
EXAMPLE:
In the opening scene, "a green and yellow parrot" hangs in its cage by the door. (Note: no ellipsis needed here because the material is obviously an incomplete excerpt.)
b. BRACKETS: Place brackets [ ] around words or letters you add inside a quote; do NOT use parentheses ( ) for this purpose.
See examples in this section.
6. PUNCTUATING QUOTATIONS
a. Commas and periods ALWAYS go inside quotation marks; semicolons and colons go outside.
b. ALL quotations which are shorter than four lines of your writing or typing should be incorporated into your own sentences, enclosed by double quotation marks.
c. If a short quote is POETRY, use slash marks (/) to indicate line breaks, and retain the capitalization and punctuation of original.
EXAMPLE:
The images of night begin in these opening lines: "For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams/ Of the beautiful Annabel Lee."
EXAMPLE :
Here in the forest, Rip encounters an unusual man who seems to belong to another time. His looks are odd, for he is
(Note: Brackets have been used to add verbs consistent with the grammar of the whole sentence.)
e. If you present a longer quotation of POETRY, you must set it off from your own writing in block format by indenting on the left ten spaces and using no quotation marks, but you should retain the lines of original (make it read the same as it does on the original page).
EXAMPLE:
Edward Taylor's lines are a passionate request for God to provide grace, asking,
But mighty, Gracious Lord
Communicate
Thy grace to breake the Cord afford
Us Glorys Gate
And State.
(Note: Even in this format, the quotation is blended in to be part of the sentence.)
7. EFFECTIVE STYLE
a. Don't use the first-person, “I” voice (including plural “we,” “us”) in analytical writing. It is usually not appropriate because it is informal, and it creates wordiness. (If you are asked to write a personal response, “I” is appropriate.)
EXAMPLE:
Don't: I therefore conclude that Rip can be understood as representative of many Americans, sleeping through the Revolution.
Do: Rip can be understood as representative of many Americans, sleeping through the Revolution.
b. Don't refer to what “the reader” (or “you,” meaning the reader) understands or thinks about a work. You can't truly know what any reader's response might be, and this construction also creates wordiness.
EXAMPLE:
Don't: Melville intends the reader to understand how slavery hurts all involved, slave and master alike.
Do: The resulting deaths of Babo and Cereno indicate how slavery hurts all involved, slave and master alike.
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Sample Writings, with Annotations:
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