Jess Tronch
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Jess Tronch
Prez [home]
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A guide for the stylistic commentary
of literary excerpts or short texts
Work in progress!! This text is unfinished and contains 'stubs'. (Last modified 4Feb13)
I am making this guide from what I learned and am learning from different sources, basically Lzaro & Correa Cmo se comenta , Lpez & Alonso Poesia y novela, Leech & Short Style in Fiction (from which questions marked off by a left-hand-margin line are taken). For details of these and other sources and references, see the bibliography at the end of this document.
Steps to follow:
1.- reading and understanding the text
2.- analysing the text
3.- writing your own commentary
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Self-study |
Read the text carefully, and read it again. As many times as you need.
If you read a text in an earlier variety of English, be careful with obsolete meanings;
do not only consult a present-day dictionary but look up in
the OED (Oxford English Dictionary) [from any computer connected to the University intranet, you can click on http://www.uv.es/biblioteca/sib/bdigital_c.html]
specialised glossaries
A good way to ensure your understanding of the text is to translate it into your mother tongue with a view to produce an understandable, acceptable and idiomatic rendering for an imaginary reader who does not know English.
interpret the meaning(s) of the text, subject matter and theme(s)
communicative or discourse level
text level
semantic and lexical level
morphosyntactic level
phonic level
Once you have analyzed the text, you select the relevant information from each aspect in order to write your own commentary.
You can organize your commentary as you think best, but I expect a commentary to contain the following:
- Brief identification of the text: genre, the work it belongs to, its author, its literary context (collection or series, writers complete works, literary school or movement, if appropriate) (Do not write at length about its author or literary context)
- Discusion of the communicative purpose, theme(s), issues, tensions and motifs, of the text both in itself, and in connection with the whole work the text is extracted from (and with the collection or series, if it is the case) (Do not paraphrase the text)
- Discussion of the content structure of the text (disposition of parts, sequence, climax)
- Explication of how language and stylistic choices contribute to the theme and tone of the text.
If it is a poem: describe its versification and what it tells.
If it is a play: point out stage conventions involved (asides, implied gestures or movements) or questions of production and staging (different interpretations of character, speech, etc.)
If it is a narrative excerpt: discuss appropriate narratological features (types of narrator, perspective or focalization, etc.)
You can structure your explication as you think best (following the actual sequential order of the text; organizing your comments around specific aspects; etc.)
Important remark:
do not simply describe what you observe in the text, but explain it
always ask questions 'why this is so', 'what effect it has' and find their answers by relating what the text communicates with how it communicates, with the way it is expressed)
a way to see a particular effect is to imagine an alternative expression, discern what different effect it makes and then compare it with the actual choices in the text
interpret the meaning(s) of the text,
communicative or discourse level
text level
semantic and lexical level
morphosyntactic level
phonic level
within the work the text belongs to,
within writers complete works,
linguistic or philological identification: what variety of the language is used: chronological, geographical, social (inferred from lexical, morphological, and syntactical features)
within literary context: conventions -> type of text:
mode,
genre,
occasion,
character (descriptive, narrative, argumentative, expostive, lyrical, satirical)
function: to amuse, to inform, to persuade, etc.
[Inventio, Internal stylistics]
First, we'll try to find an idea or purpose (in meaning, tone, effect) that provides a sense of unity to the text:
? What is the main communicative purpose of the text? What does it intend to convey?
? what are the
main tensions or contrasts on which the text is articulated?
? If the text
is an excerpt from a work, what ideas, emotions, effects in this
passage contribute to the main concerns, themes or issues in the
work?
A first step towards discerning the texts theme(s) may be to
summarize what the text is about (paraphrase of forty words)
[This paraphrase is not the identification of the theme or
themes]
Theme(s): abstraction from the meaning of actual events, emotions, and characters in order to identify fundamental and universal ideas explored in the text.
Thematic axis or thread running through the text= unity of meaning projected by the text, what the text communicates (its substance of content)
it can be expressed in a few words (e.g. a call to enjoy youth for life is transient)
topoi or commonplaces: recurrent themes in literature (e.g. tops of Collige, virgo, rosas by Ausonious, Carpe diem by Horace; contempt for the world, the world upside down; appearance and reality; all the world is a stage)
Identify secondary motifs [motifs = recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the themes)
Identify various kinds of relationship between motifs and thematic axis: (also expressed in terms of functions fulfilled by these motifs)
-supporting motifs ( depiction of woman in terms of ideal beauty, presented before call to enjoy youth for life is transient)
- framing motifs
-contrasting motifs
-intensifying motifs
[ dispositio, Internal stylistics, Thematic structure]
Articulation [units or parts]
Sequence and relationship
Composition and formal patterns [organizing distribution of contents]
? Where is the climax of the text?
Climax = point of tension, greatest intensity of content
Depending on the position of the text's climatic point, we can observe different vectors in the content organization:
climatic movement= progressive intensification , climax at the end
anti-climatic movement:
climax at the beginning and then tension decreases
tension intensifies - climax- tension diminishes
[Elocutio, External stylistics]
El anlsis consiste en justificar cada rasgo formal como una exigencia del tema (Carreter & Correa 111)
Every analysis of style is an attempt to find the artistic principles underlying a writers choice of language (Leech & Short 74)
We have to make ourselves newly aware, for each text, of the artistic effect of the whole, and the way linguistic details fit into this whole (Leech & Short 75)
The
answers to these questions will give a range of data which may
be examined in relation to the literary effect of each
passage (Leech & Short 75)
? How do
the text's linguistic choices help to establish its unifying
idea (meaning(s), purpose, theme)? If the text is an excerpt
from a work, how do linguistic choices help to establish the
work's main issues)?
You can analyse the texts linguistic choices by looking at different linguistic levels
communicative or discourse level
text level
semantic and lexical level
morphosyntactic level
phonic level
[The text in context= [discourse situation] external relations of a text seeing it as a discourse presupposing a social relation between its participants (author and reader; character and character), and a sharing by participants of knowledge and assumptions.]
? Who speaks? (If narrative, see Narrative text section; if lyrical, Lyrical text section)
? To whom is the text addressed?
? What relations do you see between addresser and addressee?
in terms of power relations
- Does the writer address the reader directly or through the words or thoughts of some fictional character?
- What linguistic clues (e.g. 1st-person pronouns) are there of the addresser-addressee relationship?
-What attitude does the author imply towards her or his subject?
-If a characters words or thoughts are represented, is this done by direct quotation (direct speech) or by some other method (e.g. indirect speech, free indirect speech)?
-Are there significant changes of style according to who is supposedly speaking or thinking the words on the page?
Lyrical attitudes (Lpez & Alonso):
I speaker
You speaker
3rd pers speaker
[Friedman's list of questions]:
? - Who is talking to the reader? [= narrator]
author in 1st or 3rd person [ = heterodiegetic, non-character narrator]
character in 1st or 3rd person [= homodiegetic, character-narrator]
or ostensibly no one [= imperceptible narrator]
? - from what position (angle)? [= focalization, perspective]
above
periphery
central
front
shifting
? - What channels of information he uses to convey the story to the reader?
authors words, thoughts, perceptions or feelings,
characters words, thoughts, perceptions or feelings
characters actions
? - at what distance does the place the reader from the story?
Dialogue
Stage directions
Cohesion = ways in which one part of a text is linked to another (e.g. the way sentences are connected)
- Does the text contain logical or other links between sentences (e.g. coordinating conjunctions, or linking adverbials)? Or does it tend to rely on implicit connections of meaning?
- What sort of use is made of cross-reference by pronouns (she, it, they, etc)? by substitute forms ( do, so, etc)? or ellipsis?
- Alternatively, is any use made of elegant variation [the avoidance of repetition by the substitution of a descriptive phrase (e.g. the old lawyer, her uncle Mr Jones)]?
-Are meaning connections reinforced by repetition of words and phrases, or by repeatedly using words from the same semantic field?
[Vocabulary ] General:
-Is the vocabulary simple or complex [i.e. with many morphemes (un-friend-li-ness); see Quirk and Greenbaum University Grammar]?
- formal or colloquial?
-descriptive or evaluative?
- general or specific?
- How far does the writer make use of the emotive and other associations of words, as opposed to their referential meaning?
-Does the text contain idiomatic phrases? If so, with what kind of dialect or register [polite/ familiar, spoken / written, scientific, religious, legal] are these idioms associated?
- Any use of rare or specialized vocabulary?
Are any particular morphological categories noteworthy (e.g. compound words, words with particular suffixes)?
- To what semantic fields do words belong?
Nouns:
- Are nouns abstract or concrete?
- What kind of abstract nouns occur (e.g. nouns referring to events, perceptions, processes, moral qualities, social qualities)?
- What use is made of proper names? collective nouns?
Adjectives:
- Are the adjectives frequent?
- To what kinds of attribute do adjectives refer: physical, psychological, visual, auditory, colour, referential, emotive, evaluative?
- Are adjectives restrictive or non-restrictive? gradable or non-gradable?
- Are adjectives attributive or predicative?
Verbs:
- do the verbs carry an important part of the meaning?
- are they stative (referring to states) or dynamic (referring to actions, events, etc)?
- Do verbs refer to movements, physical acts, speech acts, psychological states or activities, perceptions?
- Are verbs transitive, intransitive, linking (intensive)?
- Are verbs factive or non-factive [factive: presupposing the truth of what is being asserted (Mary liked the show); non-factive: leaving the question of truth open (I believe that Mary liked the show)?
Adverbs:
- Are adverbs frequent?
- What semantic functions do they perform (manner, place, direction, time, degree)?
- Is there any significant use of sentence adverbs (conjuncts such as so, therefore, however, disjuncts such as certainly, obviously, frankly)?
Theme and mood
Mood and lexical groups
Imagery: its grammar
(features which are foregrounded by virtue of departing in some way from general norms of communication; exploitation of regularities of formal patterning or of deviations from the linguistic code)
Tropes [=foregrounded irregularities of content]
-Are there any obvious violations of, or departures from the linguistic code?
- Any neologisms, deviant lexical collocations (e.g. portentous infants)?
-Any semantic, syntactic, phonological, or graphological deviations?
- What kind of special interpretation is involved in tropes such as metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, paradox, irony (e.g. metaphor can be classified as personifying, animizing, concretising, synaesthetic, etc)
- Does the text contain any similes or similar constructions (e.g. as if constructions)
- What dissimilar semantic fields are related through simile?
Sentence types:
- Are there only declarative sentences (statements), or also questions, commands, exclamations, or minor sentence types (such as verbless sentences)?
- If these other types are used, what is their function?
Sentence complexity:
- Do sentences on the whole have a simple or a complex structure?
- what is the average sentence length (in number of words)?
- What is the ratio of dependent to independent clauses?
- Does complexity vary strikingly from one sentence to another?
- Is complexity mainly due to (i) coordination, (ii) subordination, (iii) parataxis (juxtaposition of clauses or other equivalent structures)?
- In what parts of a sentence does complexity tend to occur?
- For instance, is there any notable occurrence of anticipatory structure (e.g. of complex subjects preceding the verbs, of dependent clauses preceding the subject of a main clause [these anticipatory or parenthetic structures cause delaying of the main information point]
Clause types:
- What types of dependent clauses are favoured: relative clauses, adverbial clauses, different types of nominal clauses (that-clauses, wh-clauses, etc)?
- Are reduced or non-finite clauses commonly used? If so, of what type are they (infinitive clauses, -ing or gerund clauses, -ed or participial clauses, verbless clauses)?
Clause structure:
- Is there anything significant about clause elements (e.g. frequency of objects, complements, adverbials; of transitive or intransitive verb constructions [see Quirk and Greenbaum University Grammar 7.1-17, and 12])
- Are there any unusual orderings (initial adverbials, fronting of object or complement, etc.)?
- Do special kinds of clause construction occur (such as those with preparatory it or there)?
Noun phrases:
-Are they relatively simple or complex?
- Where does the complexity lie (in premodification by adjectives, nouns, etc., or in postmodification by prepositional phrases, relative clauses, etc)?
-Note occurrence of listings (eg. sequence of adjectives), coordination, or apposition.
Verb phrases:
-Are there any significant departures from the use of simple past tense? For example, notice occurrences and functions of the present tense, of the progressive aspect (e.g. was lying); of the perfective aspect (e.g. has / had appeared); of modal auxiliaries (e.g. can, must, would, etc)
Other phrase types:
- Is there anything to be said about other phrase types: prepositional phrases, adverb phrases, adjective phrases?
[Minor] Word classes [function words: prepositions, conjunction, pronouns, determiners, auxiliaries, interjections]:
-Are particular function words used for particular effect (e.g. the definite or indefinite article; first person pronouns I, we etc; demonstratives this , that; negative words not, nothing, no)?
General:
-Any general type of grammatical construction used to special effect; e.g. comparative or superlative constructions, coordinative or listing constructions, parenthetical constructions, appended or interpolated structures such as occur in casual speech.
-Do lists and coordinations (e.g. list of nouns) tend to occur with two, three or more than three members?
Grammar
Similar sets
(features which are foregrounded by virtue of departing in some way from general norms of communication; exploitation of regularities of formal patterning or of deviations from the linguistic code)
Grammatical and lexical schemes: [scheme= foregrounded repetitions of expression]
- structural repetition: anaphora, parallelism,
-mirror-image structure: chiasmus
- Is the rhetorical effect of these one of antithesis, reinforcement, climax, anticlimax []?
[[definition= adequating syntax to content, to lyrical enunciation]]
syntax has expressive effect if adapted to the content
Positive: speed, swiftness, agility
Negative: slow, static,
Each dynamism depends on grammar categories, nature of clauses and periods
Positive: autnomomous elements, nouns and verbs, simple clauses, conative and exclamative tone
Negative: non-autonomous elements (modifiers, adjectives and adverbs, complex subordinated clauses, reiterations, comparisons
Positive dynamism
Negative dynamism
Figures of speech
(features which are foregrounded by virtue of departing in some way from general norms of communication; exploitation of regularities of formal patterning or of deviations from the linguistic
-Any phonological patterns of rhyme, alliteration, assonance?
-Are there any salient rhythmical patterns?
-Do vowel and consonant sounds pattern or cluster in particular ways?
-How these phonological features interact with meaning?
[See http://www.uv.es/tronch/stu/GuideEnglishProsody.html ]
Identify stanzas by looking at three elements:
- number of lines: 2, 3, 4, etc. or indefinite number
- rhyme pattern or scheme: combinations of rhymes,
e.g. four lines rhyming a b b a
- line length: e.g. trimeter, tetrameter, pentameter
Scan the lines of the poem, that is, measure its rhythm (by marking the rhythmical or metrical units in the line) in order to analyse and interpret its meter
1.- perceive the dominant rhythm (iambic, trochaic, spondaic, etc.)
take the poem as a whole and not merely a line at a time, for the lines may not be metrically identical ... get a sense of the basic pattern. Always one should read a poem aloud, at least several times, to establish the initial acquaintance (B&W 505)
2.- mark the natural accents in each the line, and count the number of syllables
3.- try to mark the foot divisions of the line metrical pattern that will best fit the dominant rhythm, number of accents, and number of syllables. (For instance, a dominant iambic rhythm will lead you to think of two-syllable feet; if you count five stresses and ten (or eleven, or nine) syllables, you can try the pattern of iambic pentameter)
3a. take into account sound and not writing governs rhythm, and therefore feet do not necessarily correspond to word divisions (see lonesome in It was nght / in the lne/some ...
3b. meter cannot violate the natural accentuation of a word (B&W 498). Never impose a preconceived hypothesized metrical pattern on the natural stresses of the line. For instance, primeval is naturally accented primval. You cant accent it as prmeval is you are trying an iambic pentameter pattern in This s / the fr/est pr/meval ...
3c. not all accents in a line have equal force, but what matters is the contrast between less accented syllables and more stressed syllables
3d. A good working guideline, but not an absolute principle, is that unimportant words receive less accent while key words in the line are accented (B&W 499)
4.- when marking foot divisions, take into account accepted or expected variations or licences from the metrical pattern (see corresponding section)
5.- observe the caesura or internal pause marking the end of a sense unit - not a metrical unit (B&W 511). Note that the caesura may occur in the middle of a foot: Its lve/linss/ incra/ses | t / will nver (J. Keats)
6.- observe the enjambment(s) or run-on lines.
7.- examine and explain the effect of regularities and irregularities, both those changes that are accepted or expected, and those that are not. Explain how variations give expression and vitality to the verse (B&P 53)
Please be reminded that after your analysis of the different linguistic levels and aspects, you move on to reflecting your explanations in a commentary
back to Writing your commentary
Bello Vzquez, Flix. El comentario de textos literarios: Anlisis estilsticos. Barcelona: Paids, 1997. [FI.L 0015/0034]
Dez Borque, Jos Mara. Comentario de textos literarios : (mtodo y prctica): Playor, 2001[ HU M/82.01/081
Lzaro Carreter, Fernando, y Evaristo Correa Caldern. Cmo se comenta un texto literario. Madrid: Ctedra, 1978.
Lpez Casanova, Arcadio, y Eduardo Alonso. Poesa y novela: teora, mtodo de anlisis y prctica textual. Valencia: Bello, 1982.
Paraso de Leal, Isabel . El comentario de textos poticos . Gijn : Jcar ; Valladolid : Acea, 1988[ HU M/82-1/008 HU M/82-1/009 ]
Villanueva, Daro. El comentario de textos narrativo. Jucar, 1989.
Zabalbeascoa, Jos A. La literatura inglesa desde el romanticismo hasta el modernismo (Comentario de textos): Alcal de Henares : Univ. de Alcal de Henares, 1994 [HU M/820-3/110]
Lennard, John. The poetry handbook : a guide to reading poetry for pleasure and practical criticism. 1996. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005
Peck, J. and M. Coyle. Practical Criticism. London: Macmillan, 1995.
Richards, I. Practical Criticism. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1929. [FI 0141/0092] (Crtica Prctica. Madrid: Visor, 1991. FI.L 0007/0009 )
Miller, Lindy. Mastering Practical Criticism. Basingstoke: Plagrave, 2001. [HU 82.01 73]
Gmez Lara, Manuel J., and Juan A. Prieto Pablos. The ways of the word : an advanced course on reading and the analysis of literary texts Huelva : Universidad de Huelva, 1994
Introduction to Practical Criticism The Virtual Classroom. University of Cambridge. https://www.english.cam.ac.uk/classroom/pracrit.htm
"Close Reading" English and Comparative Literary Studies. University of Warwick
"A Short Guide to Close Reading for Literary Analysis" Univ. Wisconsin Madison (on Robert Forst "Design")
"How to Read a Poem" Univ. Wisconsin Madison
"A Short Guide to Close Reading for Literary Analysis" Univ. Wisconsin Madison (on Robert Forst "Design")
"An example of a stylistic analysis" Univ. Lancaster (on (listen) by e.e.cumings)
[No longer available ]
"To His Coy Mistress - Elements of Poetry" Bedford VirtuaLit Interactive Tutorials . See also <http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/virtualit/default.asp?uid=0&rau=0>
Practical Criticism. Palgrave Macmillan. <http://www.palgrave.com/skills4study/subjectareas/english/practical.asp>
Katherine Mansfield - a close reading. Mantex Information Design. <http://www.mantex.co.uk/2009/09/19/the-voyage-a-close-reading/>
Corbett, Edward P. J. Classical rhetoric for the modern student . New York [etc.] : Oxford University Press, 1999 [HU 820M/008 ]
Corbett, Edward P. J., ed. Rhetorical Analysis of Literary Works. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1969.
Lanham, Richard A. A handlist of rhetorical terms: a guide for students of english literature. Berkeley (CA): University of California Press, 1969. [HU D2.2/12464 ]
Cockcroft, Robert, and Susan M. cockcroft. Persuading people: an introduction to rhetoric. London: Macmillan, 1992.
Burton, Gideon O. Silvae Rhetoric Brigham Young University, 1996-2003 http://humanities.byu.edu/rhetoric/silva.htm
Belsey, Catherine. Critical Practice. London: Methuen, 1980. [HU D2.1/10373]
Birch, David. Language, literature and critical practice: ways of analysing text. London: Routledge, 1993 FI 0142/0387 .
Blake, N. F. An Introduction to the Language of Literature. Houndmills and London: Macmillan, 1990.
Calvo, Clara and Jean Jacques Weber. The literature workbook. London [etc.] : Routledge, 1998[ FI 0156/0035 ]
Carter, Ronald, and Paul Simpson, eds. Language, Discourse and Literature: An Introductory Reader in Discourse Stylistics. London: Unwin Hyman, 1989.
Carter, Ronald, and Walter Nash. Seeing Through Language: A Guide to Styles of English Writing. Oxford: Blackwell, 1990
Carter, Ronald, ed. Language and Literature: An Introductory Reader in Stylistics. George Allen & Unwin, 1982.
Chapman, Raymond. Linguistics and literature : an introduction to literary stylistics. London : Edward Arnold, 1984 FI 0133/0215
Childs, Peter. Reading Fiction: Opening the Text. Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2001.
Leech, G. N. & M. Short. Style in Fiction. London, Longman, 1981.
Leech, G. N. A Linguistic Guide to English Poetry. London: Longman,
Page, Norman (ed.) : The Language of Literature: A Casebook. Macmillan, 1994
Ricks, Christopher The Force of Poetry. Oxford: OUP, 1995.
Seymour Chatman, ed. Literary style : a Symposium London [etc.] : Oxford University Press, 1971[ FI 0203/0145 HU 82M/166
Toolan, Michael J. Language in literature : an introduction to stylistics. London [etc.] : Arnold, 1998 [HU 82M/169]
Widdowson, H. G. Practical Stylistics : an approach to poetry . Oxford [etc.] : Oxford University Press, 1992. [FI 0142/0234 FI 0147/0144 ]
Wright, Laura, and Jonathan Hope. Stylistics : a practical coursebook. London [etc.] : Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1996.[HU 82.01/029]
Boulton, Marjorie. The Anatomy of Poetry. London: Routleedge, 1979.
Shapiro, Karl. A Prosody Handbook. Bew York: Harper and Row, 1965.
Barthes, Roland. Introduction to the Structural Analysis of Narrative Image, Music, Text. Glasgow: Fontana, 1977 (Translated from the French, 1966). Rpt. in S. Onega & Garca, Narratology.
Booth, Wayne C. The Rhetoric of Fiction, Chicago, U of Chicago P, 1961. [FI 82.08/058
Boulton, Marjorie. The Anatomy of the Novel, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1975. [164/0030
Lodge, David. The Art of Fiction. Penguin, 1992. [FI 0147/0088
Forster, E.M. Aspects of the Novel , Edward Arnold Ltd., London (1927) 1969. [82.08/057
Friedman, N. "Point of View in Fiction." PMLA 70 (1965). Rpt. in Onega & Garca, Narratology.
Onega, Susana, and J.A. Garca Landa, eds. Narratology: An Introduction. London: Longman, 1999.
Scholes, R. & R. Kellog. The Nature of Narrative. OUP, 1968.
Stanzel, A New Approach to the Definition of Narrative Situations. Rpt. in Onega & Garca, Narratology.
Lennard, John & Mary Luckhurst. The drama handbook : a guide to reading plays Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002
Abram, M. A Glossary of Literary Terms. London: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1988,
Murfin, Ross C. & Supryia M. Ray. The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms. Boston: Bedford Books of St Martins Press, 2003.
Preminger, Alex, and T. V. F. Brogan. The New Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1993.
Quirk, R. and S. Greenbaum. University Grammar of English. London: Longman, 1973.
Wales, Katie. A Dictionary of Stylistics. London: Longman, 1991.
This section compiles references to models of analysis (some of them on specific aspects only, such as merely understanding the text, or prosody, textual cohesion, etc.) and to sample essays involving close reading and analysis of style
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On Thomas Wyatts poem They flee from me, that sometime did me seek : Introduction to Practical Criticism The Virtual Classroom. University of Cambridge. http://www.english.cam.ac.uk/vclass/pracrit.htm
On W. B. Yeats poem A Prayer for Old Age : Practical Criticism. Palgrave Macmillan. <http://www.palgrave.com/skills4study/subjectareas/english/practical.asp>
Robert Forst "Design"
"A Short Guide to Close Reading for Literary Analysis" Univ. Wisconsin Madison
On the opening of K. Mansfields novel The Voyage: Katherine Mansfield - a close reading. Mantex Information Design. <http://www.mantex.co.uk/2009/09/19/the-voyage-a-close-reading/>
Bedford VirtuaLit Interactive Tutorials
<http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/virtualit/default.asp?uid=0&rau=0>
On Arnolds poem Dover Beach: Peck & Coyle Practical Criticism Writing a poetry practical criticism essay pp. 88-98 [explain their five-step process]
On Thomas Hardys poem A Church Romance: Peck & Coyle Practical Criticism Writing a poetry practical criticism essay pp. 98-102 [explain their 5-step process]
On R. S. Thomass poem The Welsh Hill Country: Peck & Coyle Practical Criticism
(Understanding a poem pp. 14-25 [explain their 6-step process for analysis and essay writing]
(Writing a poetry practical criticism essay pp. 102-110 [two real essays by students]
On W. H. Audens poem The Lunar Beauty: Blake, Introduction 1990 pp. 122-144
On the first paragraph of Henry James novel The Ambassadors : Watt First Paragraph
Essays in Childs Reading Fiction
Mathew Arnold Dover Beach
Gmez & Prieto Ways 1994
[Reading pp. 57-59 Prosodic analysis pp. 105-108 Syntactic analysis pp. 180-183 Semantic analysis 222-224 Toward commentary pp. 234-235 Speech acts analysis pp. 282-283
Mathew Arnold Dover Beach
Peck Poet 1988 [explains first steps: seeing what the poem is about, and building a response: pp.2-7]
Peck & Coyle Practical Criticism [Writing a poetry practical criticism essay pp. 88-98]
Gmez & Prieto Ways 1994
[Reading pp. 57-59 Prosodic analysis pp. 105-108 Syntactic analysis pp. 180-183 Semantic analysis 222-224 Toward commentary pp. 234-235 Speech acts analysis pp. 282-283
W. H. Auden The Lunar Beauty
Blake, Introduction 1990 pp. 122-144
Elizabeth Bishop "The Fish"
http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/virtualit/poetry/fish_elements/fish_essay.pdf
Elizabeth Bishop Sestina
Lennard Poetry Handbook 2005 [analysis of metre; analysis of form 69-71; lineation p. 183-5; analysis of rhyme pp. 214-5; biography pp. 328-9; gender 346
William Blake London
Peck & Coyle Practical Criticism [Discussing a detail, building a case pp. 57-62]
S.T. Coleridge Kubla Kahn
Peck & Coyle Practical Criticism [Understanding a poem pp.
John Donne The Anniversary
Peck Poet 1988 [explains 5-step process pp. 86-91]
John Donne The Canonization
Peck Poet 1988 [explains 5-step process pp. 91-96]
John Donne The Flea
Lennard Poetry Handbook 2005 [analysis of metre pp. 14-17; analysis of diction205-2; of syntax 277-9; biography pp. 324-325;
John Donne The Sun Rising
Peck Poet 1988 [explains 5-step process pp. 80-86]
Robert Forst "Design"
"A
Short Guide to Close Reading for Literary Analysis"
Univ. Wisconsin Madison
Thomas Hardy A Church Romance
Peck & Coyle Practical Criticism [Writing a poetry practical criticism essay pp. 98-102]
John Keats Ode on Melancholy
Lennard Poetry Handbook 2005 [analysis of form pp. 68-69; analysis of lineation pp. 183-184; of diction 252-4; of syntax 279-80; poem in histroy 297-9]
Christopher Marlowe The Passionate Shepherd to His Love
Boulton, Poetry 1979 pp.159-164
Andrew Marvell To His Coy Mistress
Peck & Coyle Practical Criticism [Understanding a poem pp. 29-30
Guerin Handbook 2005 [Word, Image, and Theme: Space-Time Metaphors in To His Coy Mistress pp. 111-116]
W. Owen Anthem for Doomed Youth
Peck Poet 1988 The Interpretation of poetry pp. 37-39
Lennard Poetry Handbook 2005 [analysis of metre pp. 18-20; analysis of rhyme pp. 212-214; of diction 254-5; biography pp. 326-328; poem in histroy 299-301
W. Shakespeare Sonnet 30 "When to the sessions of sweet silence thought
Levin, Linguistic Structures 1962. (Estructuras lingsticas 1974).
W. Shakespeare Sonnet 22 My glass shall not persuade me I am old
Analysis of a Shakespeare Sonnet Mantex Information Design. <http://www.mantex.co.uk/2009/09/28/analysis-of-a-shakespeare-sonnet/>
W. Shakespeare Sonnet 73 "That time of year..."
Fowler "Language and the Reader 1975
W. Shakespeare Sonnet 129 "Th'Expense of Spirit ..."
Jakobson Shakespeare's Verbal Art 1970;
Blake Introduction 1990 pp. 113-117 [Cohesion analysis]
W. Shakespeare Sonnet 130 My mistress eyes...
Gmez & Prieto Ways 1994
(Reading pp. 51-53 Prosodic analysis pp. 101-102 Syntactic analysis pp. 176-177 Semantic analysis 220-222 Toward commentary pp. 231-233 Speech acts analysis pp. 278-280
James Shirleys The glories of our blood and state
Boulton, Poetry 1979 pp.164-167
R. S. Thomas The Welsh Hill Country
Peck & Coyle Practical Criticism
(Understanding a poem [ 6 steps] pp. 14-25
(Writing a poetry practical criticism essay Real Essays pp. 102-110)
W. B. Yeats A Prayer for Old Age
Practical Criticism. Palgrave Macmillan. <http://www.palgrave.com/skills4study/subjectareas/english/practical.asp>
Derek Walcott Nearing Forty
Lennard Poetry Handbook 2005 [analysis of metre pp. 22-28; analysis of form 74-75; analysis of layout p. 101; punctuation p. 147-6; lineation p. 185; analysis of rhyme pp. 215-218; of diction 255-9; of syntax 281-5; poem in history 303-311; biography pp. 330-34; gender 347-49
Thomas Wyatt They flee from me, that sometime did me seek
Introduction to Practical Criticism The Virtual Classroom. University of Cambridge. <http://www.english.cam.ac.uk/vclass/pracrit.htm
Jane Austen Emma (opening)
Peck & Coyle Practical Criticism (Understanding a passage of prose pp. 134-136)
Childs Reading
Jane Austen Mansfield Park (opening)
Blake, Introduction 1990 pp. 118-121 [Cohesion analysis]
Emily Bront Wuthering Heights
opening: Peck & Coyle Practical Criticism (Discussing a detail, building a case pp. 163-167)
opening: Childs Reading
Joseph Conrad Heart of Darkness (opening)
opening: Peck & Coyle Practical Criticism (Understanding a passage of prose pp. 141-42)
opening: Childs Reading
Charles Dickens Bleak House
opening: [understanding What is close reading? Guidance notes. Mantex Information Design. <http://www.mantex.co.uk/2009/09/14/what-is-close-reading-guidance-notes/>
Henry James The Ambassadors
opening: Watt First Paragraph
Katherine Mansfield The Voyage
Katherine Mansfield - a close reading. Mantex Information Design. < http://www.mantex.co.uk/2009/09/19/the-voyage-a-close-reading/>
Mary Shelley Frankenstein
when the creature comes to life (Understanding a passage of prose pp. 136-137
Ben Jonson Volpone
1.3.8-81 Peck & Coyle Practical Criticism (Understanding an extract from a play pp. 182-191)
G. B. Shaw Arms and the Man
Peck & Coyle Practical Criticism (Writing a drama practical criticisim essay pp. 202-208)
Blake, N. F. An Introduction to the Language of Literature. Houndmills and London: Macmillan, 1990.
Boulton, Marjorie. The Anatomy of Poetry. London: Routleedge, 1979.
Childs, Peter. Reading Fiction: Opening the Text. Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2001.
Corbett, Edward P. J., ed. Rhetorical Analysis of Literary Works. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1969.
Fowler, Roger. "Language and the Reader: Shakespeare's Sonnet 73". Roger Fowler, ed. Style and Structure in Literature: Essays in the New Stylistics. Oxford: Blackwell, 1975. 79-122.
Jakobson, Roman & L. G. Jones. Shakespeare's Verbal Art in "Th'Expense of Spirit". The Hague: Mouton, 1970.
Lennard, John. The poetry handbook : a guide to reading poetry for pleasure and practical criticism. 1996. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005
Levin, Samuel R. Linguistic Structures in Poetry. Le Havre: Mouton, 1962. (Tr. Estructuras lingsticas en la poesa. Madrid: Ctedra, 1974).
Guerin, Wilfred L. et al. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. Fith edition. Oxford University Press, 2005.
Gmez Lara, Manuel J., and Juan A. Prieto Pablos. The ways of the word : an advanced course on reading and the analysis of literary texts Huelva : Universidad de Huelva, 1994.
Peck, J. and M. Coyle. Practical Criticism. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 1995.
Peck, John. How to Study a Poet. London: Plagrave, 1988.
Watt, Ian. The First Paragraph of The Ambassadors: An Explication. Essays in Criticism (1960). Reprint in David Lodge, ed., 20th Century Literary Criticism, London: Longman, 1972, pp. 528-544.