Prompt, Week 3: Close Reading Assignment

DUE: Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Explanation

So far, we have talked a great deal about close reading, and we’ve even done a little as a group (think the political comic we looked at on the second day). Now, each of you will undertake a close reading of your own. As I mentioned in the syllabus, close reading (also referred to narrowly as explication) is the practice of reading, analyzing, and interpreting a single passage within a larger text. Traditionally, this kind of reading was limited to identifying significant rhetorical figures, like the master tropes discussed by Culler (70–72; metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, and irony).

However, times have changed. Close reading is still at the heart of literary studies, but it has expanded to include a wider range of critical approaches. For instance, we can close read passages in The Odyssey using performance or identity in order to make an argument about how to read a text.

Which brings me to the next, crucial element of close reading. When you close read a passage, your interpretation is not limited to that passage. Instead, the close reading of three or four lines (or maybe a paragraph or two) enables you to make an argument about how the entire text can be read. In fact, close reading is a kind of evidence. It acts as the critical support for your primary argument.

And, indeed, everything you write should have an explicit or implied argument. This may at first seem counterintuitive because close reading is more like observation or description than argument, but close readings always contain an argument for how we, other readers of the text, should understand it.

Method

Conceptually, this is all well and good. But how do you, as novice close readers, perform your close readings? Here are my suggestions:

First, Read

• Carefully read your target text
• Identify a passage that strikes you as interesting
• Consider how you want to read the passage (performance, identity, rhetorical analysis, or some combination, etc. Do not feel limited by these categories)
• Begin interpreting the passage using your chosen approach
• Think about how your interpretation argues for a certain way of reading the entire text

Then, Write

• Consider using the form Assertion, Citation, Explanation, or ACE.
• Write your assertion, which is your primary argument about the text
• Follow the assertion with your citation, or passage. This is where you do your close reading. You will cite the passage, in part or in full, and then you will describe how to read it. The best kind of citations are integrated with your own words (do not just quote an entire passage; instead, cite those parts that are most important to your reading). Avoid block quotes.
• Finally, explain why your close reading is important for a better understanding of the text as a whole.

ACE may at first seem formulaic, but when starting out it can be helpful to have a formula to work with. In terms of writing, this organization pattern is widely accepted across a range of disciplines, so it may be good practice to try and follow it.

Logistics

• Read one of the assigned target texts, which include chapters from The Odyssey, The Aeneid, Beowulf, The Inferno, and Paradise Lost.
• Publish your close reading as a blog post
• Title your post with the week and your name (for ex., mine would be: Week 3: James Trout)
• Your reading should be at least 350 words long and no more than 550 words
• All posts must be published by Wednesday, 6 pm. All late posts will automatically receive half credit. If the post is not published by Friday, 12 pm, it will receive no credit.

Please check your posts for my comments. I will often critique your posts in the comment section. If your post does not meet my standard for full credit, I will give you suggestions for improvement and ask you to edit your original post. If you choose not to edit the post, you will receive half credit.

Chapter 8: Identity, Identification, and Subject

Culler starts off his final chapter with a discussion of how the self or 'I' is developed. First, the self is either given: it just is, it exists; or that it is made. Interacting with that is the construction of terms, from the perspective of the individual or from societal forces. Culler notes that the majority of traditional interpretation comes at the “given” “individual” combination and that in order to better understand literature there needs to be greater exploration of the other dimensions in regards to identities in literature.

Literature has not only made identity a theme; it has played a significant role in the construction of the identity of readers. In narrative literature, we come across the question, “Do characters make their fate or suffer it?” Characters can be heroes while others may turn out to be the bad person without knowing it. But then, characters identities are determined by birth or by personal qualities that are revealed during their lives. As time goes by, characters do “discover” who they are, not by learning something about there past but by acting in such a way that they become what seems to have been their “nature”. Literature does not only bring out the identity in characters, it constructs the identity of readers especially in poems and novels, because readers become who they are by identifying with figures they read about. This can be a good thing or a bad thing, but hopefully literature will make them better people through certain experiences.

There are many different theories debating how identity is formed. Jaques Lacan refers to this idea of the ‘mirror stage’ when an infant sees their reflection for the first time and identifies themselves as a whole. Lacan believes the self is formed by what is reflected back like a mirror or a mother of society. Therefore, one’s identity is constantly being formed and is never completed. Psychoanalysis supports the idea that we do not become who are supposed to be because societal norms cause resistance in the forming of one’s identity. Identification plays an important role in the forming of group identities. An important question is raised about whether or not there is something essential members of a group must have in order to function together. This question rises the debate of essentialism; whether identity is given or it is something that is always being formed.

The idea behind the pervasive structures section once again has to deal with identity and theory. According to Louis Althusser “identity is culturally interpreted” which suggests that, has a major effect on someone discovering their own personal identity. Stuart Hall argues that identities are “labels” in which people give themselves to make them feel comfortable amongst a group. Judith Butler sees it as the repression of homoerotic desire which forms into heterosexual identity. Overall this “identity” is still very hazy and skeptical ideas which people still have not found a conclusion, or have decided on a consensus yet. It’s all just theorizing conjecture and until we retrieve hard facts that prove one way or another it will continue to be a battle of wits.

Chapter 3: Literature and Cultural Studies

Chapter 3 was about literature and cultural studies. The chapter begins by stating that “ ‘Theory’ is the theory and cultural studies the practice” (Culler, 42). This means that cultural studies follows the application of the theory. The chapter continues to discussed how cultural studies is involved with literature.

When Culler talks about cultural studies, he means popular culture. Today’s media and pop culture has been highly influenced by literature. Without old literature such as the Odyssey, things that make up our pop culture, such as television and films, would not be where they are today. Because television and films are becoming more and more popular, Culler brings up the question of, “won’t cultural studies kill literature by encouraging the study of films, television, and other popular cultural forms…?” Later in the chapter, Culler goes on to say that, “theory has reinvigorated the traditional literary canon, opening the door to more ways of reading the ‘great works’.” This begins to answer his earlier question of whether cultural studies will kill off literature, or continue to keep in standing.

Today, there are modern, translated versions of old literature, such as the works of Shakespeare, the Odyssey, etc., which have allowed literature to survive as long as it has, and will continue to keep it alive. Television and films today have been inspired by such literary works. During the time the Odyssey was written, literature was their form of entertainment, much like television and films are for us today.

The Odyssey was a spoken story, that has been translated into a written version. It originated as a story that was passed down by storytellers. Shakespeare's works were similar in the way that they were acted out in plays, but they are now currently in a written form. An example of how old literature is still alive and influencing modern society is the 2010 movie, Letters to Juliet, which is based on the ideas of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

Chapter 7: Performative Language

“The problem of performative language brings into focus important issues concerning meaning and effects of language and leads to questions about identity identity and the nature of the subject” (Culler 94).

To understand performatives we first must understand what they are. Performative utterances do not tell about but instead perform the action of what is being talked about.  This helps us view literature as an act or an event. It is not a true of false statement but a felicitous or infelicitous. (This means whether or not a statement is appropriate or inappropriate for the occasion.) 

There are two kinds of literary utterances: performative and constative. Constative utterances are used in language to represent things as they are and name things that are already there ( a statement). For example saying “the court is now in session” is a constative utterance. On the other hand, performative is the rhetorical operations, the act of language, that brings things into being. For example saying “you are under arrest” is performative. “Theroists agree that we must pay attention to what literature does as much as what it says” (Culler 96). 

Utterances brings characters and their actions and also ideas and concepts into being. The  reader can  discover that literature does not just sit on a page. It actually creates whole ideas that have never been thought of before. Rochefoucauld argues that romantic love is just a literary creation. That it had never been thought of before but brought into  reality by literary utterances. 

Performative language can be used to transform the world we live in by bringing new and revolutionary ideas and concepts. This use of language that was previously considered only marginal is now actively used in the world to break the link between the meaning and the intention of the speaker. It does not only apply to text on a page, it has many levels that relate to and influence our life every day. 

So the main problem with constative and performative utterances comes from trying to separate them; to distinguish and identify them in literary text. It has extensively been debated and the conclusion derived is that there is an impasse; there can not be one without the other. 

Chapter 2: What is Literature and Does It Matter? By: Ashley Milton, George Stearn, Noah Aigner, Lauren Greb

Chapter Summary

In Chapter two of Jonathan Culler’s Literary Theory the author explores the definition of literature itself in order to further acquaint the reader with that concept. For something that is discussed as often as literature it is interesting to think that the definition of the word itself is not so easily pinned down. Literature is not only the written word, say Culler, but it possesses a certain quality which makes it unique and worthy of attention. 

In addition, many qualities of literature can be applied to outside subjects with relative ease. So why then is literature so difficult to define? Culler believes that history has shaped the definition in such a way that it applies to more forms of writing than just narrative and nonfiction, rather any piece of writing with a structure (or purposeful lack thereof) and an innate ability to be analyzed could be considered a literary work. Also, in this modern age historical definitions might not apply. Culler reasons that literature may have some qualities that differentiate it from an autobiography or song for instance. 

What are those qualities? That is more difficult to discern, as many of them are universal, as stated previously. Literary Conventions are certainly a quality that sets literature apart from other forms of writing. Culler reasons that how you write a work is just as important as the content. The nature of literature is also important, because of their unique structure and function many types of poetry are instantly recognizable; this makes them literature. But neither that nor the integration of language cover the entirety of the question, literature also creates a “fictional world” in which the reader is privy to complex narrative woven using different techniques. Literature can also be aesthetically pleasing; people often debate about the beauty of the written word. 

Finally, one of the most interesting qualities of literature is its ability to build on itself. Newer works reference older ones and scores of authors put references to works like the Odyssey and classical readings into their work. For the last portion of the chapter, Culler discusses the functions of literature and the paradox it creates. Many argue that it encourages civility and education, as well as solitary study. However, it also encourages new avenues of thought which can lead to action. 

Literature is a paradox because it encourages regulated creativity, but it is that same regulation which allows authors to grow beyond the scope of convention and into their creative own. Culler ends the chapter by reminding the reader that scholars examine the nature of literature to better hone the tools of their trade, and know the medium with which they do their work. Questioning literature helps readers better understand the nature of creativity and their own ability to express themselves.

Chapter 4: Language, Meaning and Interpretation: Taylor Baggerly, Drew Smith, Randi Taylor and Jaclyn Griggs

What is involved in thinking about meaning?
There are three dimensions or levels of meaning: the first being the meaning of a word, of an utterance and of a text. In other words, what is being said between the lines, what can be inferred by the author’s diction that is not so clear? The second dimension addresses the possible meanings of words that contribute to the meaning of an utterance, which is an act by the speaker. The text, something the author has constructed, and its meaning is not a proposition but what it does, its potential to affect readers is the third dimension. All in all, it is important to look at the whole picture while reading a text, not just the literal language used, but why that specific language was used versus any other number of words.

Ferdinand de Saussere, on the other hand, found that a language is a system of differences. His theory of language states that “what makes each element of a language what it is, and what gives it its identity, are the contrasts between it and other elements within the system of the language” (Culler, 57). Since language is a system of signs and the key facts, Saussure calls this “arbitrary nature of the linguistic sign”. There is no way of showing that there are thoughts of one language that can't be thought or expressed in another, but we do have evidence that one language makes 'natural' or 'normal' thoughts that require a special effort in another. Saussere also has a secondary theory that both the form and meaning of a word are forms of division in the planes of sound and thought. This can also be broken down by the sounds words make and the meanings of each word, just because the sound is similar does not mean that the word is.

What determines meaning?
The meaning of an utterance is what someone intends the reader understand. Sometimes the meaning is in the text and other times the context is what determines meaning. The meaning of a work to a certain individual may not be what the writer intended, and can differ among individuals. If you come up with an interpretation, you have to persuade others of its pertinence, or it will be dismissed. Meaning is the experience of a subject and a property of a text; what we understand and what we try to understand.

Chapter 5: Rhetoric, Poetics and Poetry by: Liza, Samantha, Laura and Conor

In this chapter, Culler aims to define both poetry and rhetoric, citing both their differences and the ways in which they are connected. He begins by crediting Aristotle as the one who first separated the two, rhetoric being the art of persuasion and poetry being the art of imitation. The two forms were integrated and separated a few more time by history, until the late twentieth century when rhetoric was revived as the “study of the structuring powers of discourse” (Culler 69). Poetry, on the other hand, is said to be “language that makes abundant use of figures of speech and language that aims to be powerfully persuasive” (Culler 69).

Culler goes on to list a few rhetorical “figures” that literary theorists find important in both poetry and rhetoric. There is lists of four that theorists agree are the most significant: metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, and irony. There are obviously many more figures of speech that are important in both rhetoric and poetry, but these four “master tropes” are the most basic structures by which “we make sense of experience.”

Poetry is one medium through which poets aim to make that sense. Poetry, as Culler defines, can be seen in many different ways, such as either a structure (the actual words on a page meant to be read) or an event (the act of the poet or the experience of the reader). Poetry can be defined through the relationship of the author to the speaker, and by extension, that of the speaker to the reader. Especially in lyric, it is crucial to make the distinction between the voice that speaks the poem and the poet who created it, for the author may not be intending for their voice to narrate. This distinction is also linked to genre, as the Greeks divided their works according to who speaks. There are three: poetic or lyric, where the narrator speaks in first person; epic or narrative, where the narrator has a voice but there is also dialogue spoken by other characters; and finally drama, where the characters are the only ones that speak.

As previously stated, rhetoric and poetry are closely linked. In poetry, rhetorical devices are used to exaggerate and sometimes hyperbolize the human experience. Culler means to treat poems on a different level than other forms of rhetoric. Poems are simply “explorations in poetics” through the use of those rhetorical devices, and at their basest sense, are attempts at creating meaning from our experiences.

Chapter 6, Narrative Summary: Karrah, Keagan, Aj, Hans, & Kimberly

Culler begins by telling what stories are. Stories are the way we make sense of things; life does not simply have a cause and effect relationship. A + B does not always yield C. Instead we follow the “logic of story” whereas our job as the audience is to understand, to conceive of how one thing managed to cause something else. Aristotle said all good stories require a beginning, middle and end, which are not enough. A plot requires transformation from the initial situation, change with reversal and resolution that makes that change legitimate. Stories require an ending that’s relevant to the beginning. Writers and readers shape the events in plots to make sense of things.
Presentation.

• “Who Speaks”? A first person narrator can be the main protagonist of their story, a minor character or an observer whose role is to describe events to the audience.
• “Who Speaks to Whom”? The audience is also known as the narrate, the audience at the time of the story is written is expected to recognize certain allusions. 
• “Who Speaks When”? A narrator can speak as events transpire, immediately follow particular events, or the most common method after the final event in the story.
• “Who Speaks What Language”? Different Narrators have distinct languages where they can recount a story or adopt/report the language of others. A story with many voices is called polyphonic. Single voiced story is monological.
• “Who Speaks With What Authority”? Listeners grant story tellers with a certain authority. As listeners we accept what narrators tell us until we’re given a reason to doubt them. This imposes the problem of self-conscious narration. A narrator can ‘abuse’ their power, sometimes discussing the merits of the story they tell. They can be hesitant about the manner they tell it in or flaunt their knowledge of the story.

Focalization is the story that is told through a character in third person. This person is not the narrator though the novel presents the story through their perspective. The focalizer may not be the same as the narrator.

• “Temporal”, the story could be told from what the character knew at the time or later with the benefit of hindsight, or if the author might combine these two perspectives. 
• “Distance and Speed”, the story can be told slowly in great detail or very quickly. Pseudo-iterative is something so specific that it cannot occur over and over is presented as what regularly happened.
• “Limitations of Knowledge”, sometimes narratives are presented from a limited perspective. This can describe what transpired with great detail but abandons character thoughts and intentions.

Omniscient narration is a focalizer who’s a ‘god-like’ figure with access to the thoughts and hidden motives of each character. Stories can be focalized through one character both in first person as what they observed or in third person but from a third person limited point of view. Unreliable narration is a result from limitation in point of view.

Ending “What Do Stories Do”? The simple answer is pleasure. They can give a new twist to familiar situations. Pleasure is linked to desire and when narrative is driven by desire in the form of epistemophilla, a desire to know, we want to discover the secrets within the narration, we want to know the end, to find the truth.

Odysseus

Looking online I found that Odysseus's name originates from a Greek word meaning "to hate". Initially this confused me as Odysseus does not appear hateful in nature, but upon further speculation I thought that this could be directed towards him. Mr. Trout had explained Book 9 from a different perspective; being sympathetic towards the cyclops. Perhaps that was the original intention of the author, if not it certainly gives the sympathy card for the Cyclopes more legitimacy. Thoughts?

-Keagan Tice

Chapter 1: What is theory? By Hanna, Yunsun, Phillip, and Nathan

Theory is said to have changed the nature of literary studies. Although literary theory, meaning the systematic account of the nature of literature and of the methods for analyzing it, specifically is also important, it is not what they mean. A theory in general is often used to replace the word “guess” and to show speculation. The example in the chapter was the response to the question, “why did Laura and Michael split up?” with the answer, “my theory is because Michael was having an affair with Samantha”. In reality, theory is an explanation that might not be affected by someone’s answer, and also holds a certain level of complexity that makes it hard to be proved true or false. An example for this was “my theory is that Laura was always secretly in love with her father and the Michael could never succeed in becoming the right person”.

Theory can also be considered as a genre. Anything that is considered miscellaneous writing can sometimes also be considered theory. Works that are considered to be theory often have effects on fields other then what were intended. They offer new input and insight on many different subjects, such as culture, nature, and meaning.

One of the main effects of theory is disputing what most people consider to be common sense. The offer multiple explanations for everyday occurrences that are hard to either prove or dispute. For example, theory questions the most basic premises or assumptions of literary study.

Other examples that are elaborated on in Chapter one are, number one, Michel Foucault’s suggestion that sex is a complex idea produced by a range of social practices, investigations, talk and writing, and number two, Jacques Derrida’s idea that maybe writing is just a unnecessary supplement, meaning an addition or extension, to speech. Both are examples of ideas that are not easily proven or disputed.

Theory can be confusing and intimidating due to it’s many definitions. The main points one needs to know about theory are that it is interdisciplinary, analytical and speculative, reflexive, and a critique of common sense.