I wanted to remind everybody of what is due tomorrow. First, all presentations must be complete. Secondly, the LitCrit2 essay is due. I've posted the guidelines below as another reminder! I also linked to an essay on Lerman in a previous post.
LitCrit2: Poetry/Drama
Due: December 16, 2009
Worth: 200 pts
Answer the prompt below to write a literary analysis paper of 4-5 pages.
Obviously, language is a driving voice in a piece of literature. However, language is complex, malleable, fluid. The various poets and dramatists we have read this second half of the semester prove that meaning can be shaped and reshaped through diction, through figures of speech, through rhythm, through imagery, through perspective, through dialogue, through inclusion of cultural allusions and more. Writers meld language like sculptures shape clay. Words, like clay, are built up into a distinct vision of the artist.
Though the subjects of their work are sometimes repetitive – love, friendship, death, etc. – the individual outlooks of each author, and the language they use, allow the reader to experience their subjects in new ways. Analyzing the language allows us to understand what larger statement(s) are being made through the work, the text. In this paper, you should be explaining not only what the meaning of a piece is to be but how the author has accomplished this – what literary devices does the author use…?
Specific Prompt:
Eleanor Lerman, in her poetry collection Our Post-Soviet History Unfolds, offers us some of provocative looks at modern life. As the back cover states:
[In this collection,] Lerman boldly wrests contemporary mysticism from a hardknock New York Jewish consciousness. She finds evidence of a larger vision everywhere—in Roswell, bondage clubs, broken-down beach club bars, in a walk with her dog along the beach. She’s a solid witness to the sixties: Cold War, Vietnam, the sexual revolution, drugs
(Editors, Sarabande Books).
Four of Lerman’s poems are attached: “We Took the Coastal Evacuation Route,” “Angels of the Inquisition,” “The Anthropic Principle” and “Starfish.” These four poems provide a young literary critic – you – with the chance to dissect both:
1) What larger meaning or statement a poem(s) make(s), and
2) What literary devices – especially poetic devices – Lerman uses.
Essentially, you are explicating these poems – what meaning can a reader arrive at, and how Lerman crafts that meaning.
Helpful Suggestions:
- You are not required to use each poem in your analysis, but if you do I would suggest balancing most of your analysis on one or two poems in the collection.
- Also, I suggest having a thesis statement that clarifies which literary device(s) your essay is going to focus on. (Don’t be jumpy, but stick to reasoning out a few points. Quality/development of points explored over quantity/# of claims made!)
Guidelines: Times New Roman or Cambria; 12 pt. font; double-spaced; Work Cited page and in-text citation; Provide an insightful, creative title to analysis that connects to thesis!
As the syllabus states, and as we have discussed briefly throughout the semester, you will be presenting to the class a Final Creative Project to the class December 14 and 16. Below are the requirements restated from syllabus (also on Oasis):
Final Creative Project (110pts) – You are to create a visual/oral/ performance piece that can be interpreted as a real-world application of literature. You will choose one of the authors/texts and create a piece that connects literature to another discipline. You will present this piece towards the end of the semester to your course-mates, with a 1-page companion explanation handed in at the time of presentation. Photography, graphic design, painting, instrumental performances, dance – these are just a few of the possible talents that may help you complete this project. A short film, a well-designed advertisement – something of quality and high creative output is expected!
I will add some examples of what students have done in the past once I take pictures and upload them!
