poetry final

3 reasons as a christian to study literature

1. understand human nature and humanitys relationship with god

2. to understsnd cultures

3. to recognize and appreciate superior literature

4 aspects of inherent human nature

1. longing for god ,moral goodness, freedom from sin

2. human depravity and sinful nature

3. longing for relationships with others

4. longing for self

4 tasks/purposes of the critic

1. describe the work

2. analyze how the parts work together

3. interpret the meaing and merit and culture reflected in the work

4. evaluates the quality

4 approaches for deriving meaning

1. social

2. contextual

3. texts constructed as lit have their own codes and practices

4. not all readers created equal

3 places meaing is derived from

1. the author

2. the reader

3. the text

5 things a significant interpretation should seek to do

1. able to be understood by other readers

2. consistent with the texts context

3. supported by the text itself

4. aware of texts cultural history

5. aware of the broader context of literature

3 ways authorial authority is complicated

works may develop meanings the author never intended

may contain cultural meanings the author wasn’t aware of

authors may not understand all of their own motives

the ultimate conclusion about authorial authority and meaning

meaning is the important significant derived from the work

4 interpretations of text

1. arguable(strong)

2. arguable(weak)

3. definitive

4. dismissible

2 epics homer created

illiad then oddysey

epic poem

long narrative poem deals with important subject matters like events of cultural significance and heroic actions

7 characteristics of epics

1. hero of imposing stature

2. vast setting

3. great deeds requiring courage or superhuman valor

4. supernatural forces

5. elevated style of writing

6. poet remains relatively objective

7. usually about the founding of a nation, development of a culture, or national hero

6 common devices of epics

1. states theme at beginning

2. invocation of muse

3. cataloguing

4. in media res

5. extended formal speeches

6. epic similie (elaborate comparison)

main differences between illiad and odyssey

illiad is concerned with fate, a serious tone, emphasizes honor, country, and battle

odyssey is concerned with free will, focus on cunning and cleverness, emphasizes reputation, home, and cleverness

3 parts of the divine comedy

1. inferno(hell)

2. purgatorio(purgatory)

3. paradiso(paradise)

purposes in writing the divine comedy

1. autobiographical explanation of his spiritual journey and struggles

   1. to illuminate vision of afterlife

4 sources of dantes vision of the afterlife

1. bible

2. roman catholic tradition and apocrypha

3. greek mythology and roman literature

4. aristotle

4 general sections in the inferno

1. limbo (righteous pagans)

2. circle 2-5 sins of incontinence(failure to control desires)

3. circle 6-7 sins of reason overruled (violenced and heresy)

4. circle 8-9 sins of passionless choice (betrayl and fraud)

Homer is “the poet”, this is “the poetess)

sappho

the lyric

a short personal poem expression emotions and thoughts, often love, sappho sort of founded it

3 reasons why ShiJing was venerated

1. confuscious highly valued it

2. foundation of chinese iterature and culture

3. reflects every aspect of chinese life

5 traites of classical chinese poetry

1. simple in language and style

2. agrarian life, romance, or dynastic concerns

3. four-syllable lines with rhyme

4. organized with contrast

5. alliteration, repetition, and onomatopoeia

significance of the The Exeter Book

largest surviving collection of old english lit, contains the wanderer and the seafarer

wraecca

“wretch” “stranger” “unhappy man” “wanderer”

2 qualities ascribed to the wanderer

1. stoic

2. conflicting overlapping tones: mutability, nostolgia

kenning

metaphoircal compound phrase instead of a simple noun: ex. whale-road = ocean

2 notes about the seafarer

1. balance between anglo-saxon belief in fate and christian reliance on God

2. sea symbolizes hardship but also brings the speaker closer to god while land represents safety and security

why is miltons paradise lost considered the best poem ever

1. sustained brilliance over its great length

2. ambitious goal to become the greatest

3. complex themes, memorable characters(satan)

milton intended what with paradise lost

1. show justice of god’s actions

2. show importance of christian values

3. show beginnings of christianity

modernity

historical era of renaissance to present

modernization

social changes brought by science, technology, industrialzation, urbanization, globalization, and nationalism

modernism

artistic movement

characteristics of modernism

elitism, fragmentation, juxtaposition, alienation, subjectivity, complexity, interiority, individual style, originality, organic wholeness

3 distinctions of the love song of j. alfred prufrock

1. dramatic monologue

2. stream of consciousness

3. blurred boundaries between reality and imagination

theme of prufrock

paradoxical realization that modern culture is spiritually bankrupt while the individual feels unable to do anything about it

2 emphases of Eliot’s early poetry

1. alientation of the individual

2. frequent allusions

3. the limits of language

4. juxtaposition

5. de-emphasis of authors voice

6. lack of comon cultural knowledge

7. emphasis on heroic virtues and traditional values

6 major themes of robert frosts poetry

1. the difficulty of decisions

2. the necessity of individual self-assertion

3. the inevitable isolation of individuals

4. the difficulty of understanding the world

5. the ambiguity of nature as a source of wisdom

6. the inevitability of decay, doom, and extinction

3 qualities of ee cummings poetry

language games

typographic freedom

simple, childlike views of the world

various types of translation

free, semantic, literal, faithful, adaption, idiomatic