Your Name Instructor Name Course Name Date submitted Summary Outline # Chapter 1 What Is Literature? How and Why Does It Matter? I. Defining Literature A. Part of human relationships B. James Wright s Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy s Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota 1. James Wright (1927-1980) poet, won Pulitzer Prize 1972, writes about working-class experiences 2. Thesis of poem implies the irony of despair even in a rural tranquility of life C. Genre-based linked to everyday behavior 1. Symbols meaningful images 2. Metaphors comparisons and contrasts 3. Late 18 th century literature links to literacy 4. Early1900s imaginative or creative thinking 5. Early 1970s call for expanded definition of literature to essays, letters, diaries, autobiographies, oral testimonies, literature curriculum 6. 20 th century controversies over literary canon (works taught again and again) 7. Literature and non-fiction creative non-fiction shows imagination, novelistic devices, evocative language, strong narratives 8. Fiction, poetry, drama may center on real-life events (representation of experience itself, not necessarily of the author s life) 9. Real events as literary art for art s sake (inspires contemplation rather than action) 10. Resist endorsing a single definition of literature II. What Makes Literature Literature A. Classifying literature 1. Treats characters as imaginary 2. Skillful use of language 3. Multiple meanings within literary context (ambiguous, symbolic, metaphorical) 4. Analysis, interpretation B. News Story Peter Rabbit Must Die (Joyce Wadler)
Your Last Name 2 III. IV. 1. Literary aspects arranged in paragraphs, semifictional, vivid style, colorful characters, associated with psychological and philosophical complexity) C. Poem Woodchucks (Maxine Kumin) 1. Literary aspects arranged in stanzas, fictional, rhyme, multiple meanings and connotations, literary devices (irony, symbols, metaphor) D. Literary works usually more extensive and intriguing; encourages inquiry Studying Literature in College Writing Courses A. Academic writing and reading literature interconnected with analysis, interpretation, and synthesis B. Close reading interpretation and evaluation C. Multiple dimensions of language meanings depending on context D. Understand life equipment for living (Kenneth Burke) E. Truth complicated and elusive (resist decoding) F. Literary Analysis interdisciplinary perspectives Making Literature Matter A. Art of Fiction (Henry James) Art lives upon discussion, upon experiment, upon curiosity, upon variety of attempt, upon the exchange of views and the comparison of standpoints (see p. 19 of MLM) B. Imitation of truth (Plato) C. Censorship fear of literature s power to shape thinking D. Notion of argument civilized efforts toward persuasive views E. Compose effective texts, analyze literary texts, negotiate other views Summary: This chapter briefly introduces how definitions of literature have evolved. It describes characteristics of literary texts that distinguish it from other genres. It also provides several reasons for studying literature in college writing courses. It reinforces the importance of effective arguments about literature in order to generate inquiry that has the potential to change one s mind. Source: Schilb, John and John Clifford. Chapter 1: What Is Literature? How and Why Does It Matter? Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers. 5 th edition. Bedford/St. Martin s: Boston and New York, 2012. 3-21. Print.
Your Last Name 3 Chapter 2 How to Read Closely I. Basic Strategies A. Make predictions as you read guess what will happen and how the text will turn out B. Reread the text focus on different element of the text, trace repetitions, examine text features C. Test the text against your own experience keep in mind your personal experiences and reactions to the literary text; personal identification with characters, situations or views the text presents D. Look for patterns in the text and disruptions of them repetitions of words, actions; oppositions; similar and related meanings; methods of organization (rhyme schemes or use of flashbacks); inconsistencies; shifts in meaning, tone, plot, character s behavior, narrative point of view, physical format E. Note ambiguities text s meaning not clear; calls for interpretation; more than one definition, symbolic meaning, implications F. Consider the author s alternatives author s choice and issues in the literary work; author s handling of particular passages; implications and effects of author s actual language G. Ask questions confront what puzzles you in the text; consider themes, tensions, obscured meanings, patterns, situations, relevance to current and cultural contexts H. Jot down possible answers ideas and reflections on a literary work 1. Make notes in the text itself underline and mark the passages; talk back to the text 2. Jot down anything you recall develop impressions of the text 3. Freewrite about the text for 10 minutes explore preliminary thoughts and feelings about it 4. Create a dialectical notebook record and reflect on your observations of the text and significant passages 5. Play with the text rearrange parts of the text, compare your alternative version with the original, consider differences and possibilities II. Reading Closely by Annotating A. Record directly on the text B. Jot down observations about the literary work C. Make connections with text and your notes III. Further Strategies for Close Reading A. Identify characters emotions pinpoint characters moods and passions; repressed emotions, desires, significance of lack B. Identify speech acts things that characters do with words; types of behavior they engage in as they talk and effects they aim to have on listeners; aspects of personalities, physical acts, verbal expressions 1. Speaker maintains that something is in fact the case (claim, conclude, argue)
Your Last Name 4 IV. 2. Tries to make the hearer carry out the speaker s wish (request, demand, recommend) 3. States an intention to do something (promise, guarantee, warn) 4. Establishes a new state of affairs (declare, fire, approve) 5. Acknowledges that he or she holds a particular attitude toward something (apologize, congratulate, protest) 6. Actual effect on listeners humiliation, intimidation, scaring, harassment, persuading, misleading 7. Various media (not just speech) and various communicative signs (not just words) photographs and other social media outlets Using Topics of Literary Studies to Get Ideas A. Human identity (gender, race, ethnic background, social class, sexual orientation, cultural background, nationality, and historical context) B. Representations of groups, stereotypes C. Acknowledgments or denials of differences among human beings D. Divisions, conflicts, multiple forces within the self E. Boundaries F. Politics and ideology (power, acts of domination, oppression, exclusion, and appropriation; acts of subversion, resistance, and parody) G. Ways that carnival and other festivities challenge or preserve social order H. Distinctions between universal, historical, cultural contexts I. Relations between public and private, social and personal J. Relations between central and marginal K. Relations between normal and abnormal L. Relations between high and low culture M. Economic and technological developments N. Role of performance in everyday life O. Values (ethical, aesthetic, religious, professional, institutional) P. Desire and pleasure Q. The body R. The unconscious S. Memory (public commemorations and personal memory) Summary: This chapter explains the process of close reading and several writing strategies to get ideas about a literary work for an essay. It provides various topics for responding critically to literary texts. Source: Schilb, John and John Clifford. Chapter 2: How to Read Closely. Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers. 5 th edition. Bedford/St. Martin s: Boston and New York, 2012. 22-48. Print.
Your Last Name 5 Chapter 4 The Writing Process I. Strategies for Exploring A. First stage of writing an essay about literature B. Involves several steps 1. Making predictions 2. Rereading the text with a different focus each time 3. Comparing the text with personal experience 4. Tracing patterns and breaks from patterns 5. Noting ambiguities 6. Considering author s alternatives 7. Generating questions 8. Considering how the text deals with topics 9. Formulating a tentative claim 10. Using informal writing (commenting in the text s margins; freewriting; note-taking; creating a dialectical notebook; playfully revising the text) II. Strategies for Planning A. Choose a text to analyze think about which texts are best to read critically B. Identify audience determine the readers (implied and actual); assumptions about their prior knowledge; write as if your audience is at least a bit more knowledgeable; good rule of thumb assume that your audience has read the text but that you need to recall any features of the text that are crucial to your argument (include some summary; make your ideas more prominent) C. Identify main issue, claim, and evidence 1. Issue Focus on an topic of issue (something people have disagreed or might disagree; question with various debatable answers) (list of issues on p. 57-65 fact, theme, definition, symbolism, pattern, evaluation, historical and cultural context, genre, social policy, cause and effect) 2. Claim statement that is spoken or written so that others will consider it to be true (debatable answers); this is your thesis; to qualify a claim express the claim in words that make it less than absolute with phrases such as perhaps, maybe, seems, appears, probably, most likely, several, some, many to acknowledge your claim as limited in scope) 3. Evidence support for your claims (details from the literary work; direct quotations; original experiences and circumstances; ethos 2 kinds: 1) speaker or writer reputation; 2) image of the writer that the audience develops in hearing or reading actual words) D. Identify warrants beliefs that lead people to call certain things evidence for their claims; assumptions that reinforce your case E. Determine how to organize argument 1. Sentence outline develops a detailed picture of your argument 2. Topic outline uses a few words to signify the main subjects the writer will discuss
Your Last Name 6 III. 3. Rhetorical purpose outline combines sentence outline and topic outline and includes the effect of the different sections on the audience; use phrases rather than sentences Strategies for Composing A. Decide on a title indicate the main claim you will be making in a few words B. Make choices about your style depends on audience and purpose; avoid extremes of pomposity and breezy informality; focus on the text; avoid the use of I in literary analysis C. Draft an introduction identify main text for analysis; main issue to be addressed; and main claim to be developed in response to the issue 1. State the issue as a question 2. Avoid applying a word like puzzling, confusing, mysterious 3. Personal reference state you were puzzled by a particular feature of the work but not able to interpret it 4. Aim to help others read the work 5. Express disagreement with existing or possible interpretations D. Limit plot summary 1. Assume the reader knows the basic plot; a few brief reminders of its key elements 2. Main purpose is to explain and support a claim about the text 3. Begin each new paragraph with a subclaim that helps develop main claim 4. Write about how the work being analyzed is constructed (make observations about specific methods the author uses to present the text) 5. Linger on some of the author s specific language, explore possible definitions of particular words E. Decide how to refer to the author s life and intentions 1. Be careful in linking a work to the author s own circumstances 2. Speculate about the author s aims 3. Acknowledge possible disagreements 4. Concede that your analysis of the work isn t the only reasonable one F. Avoid logical fallacies (unsound reasoning) 1. Ad hominem (Latin: toward the man ) attack the character of the person making the argument rather than the claim and evidence 2. Begging the question circular reasoning 3. Appeal to authority citing one expert does not conclusively prove your claim 4. Quotations from unreliable sources damage judgment and credibility 5. Relying too much on personal experience as evidence for your claim using one s experience without textual and critical specifics 6. Hasty generalization claim based on limited experience
Your Last Name 7 7. Post hoc, ergo propter hoc (Latin: because of this, then that ) error in cause and effect; unclear logical link between two events 8. Intentional fallacy problems arise because we are not always able to carry out our intentions 9. Straw man destroy someone s argument by ignoring their main point and focusing on something marginal 10. Slippery slope a claim that if we allow one thing to happen, then slipping into catastrophe is just around the corner 11. Oversimplification not seeing the inevitable complexity of things 12. Non sequitur general catchall fallacy that means it does not follow IV. Strategies for Revising A. Outline the paper and compare it with the original B. Check logic of argument C. Identify organizational gaps in the stages of argument D. Clarify title, words, concepts, sentences E. Check emphasis, concise use of sentences, active verbs F. Check appropriateness of vocabulary, word choice, tone, expressions G. Check grammar and mechanics conventions H. Follow proper format for quotations, notes, bibliography V. Strategies for Writing a Comparative Paper A. Compare two or more texts B. List similarities and differences C. Weigh your comparisons (preface with specific ideas; organize meaningful and compelling similarities and comparisons; identify the issue that will drive the argument; consider what s at stake questions) D. Use comparisons to resolve issues presented in the texts E. Decide on organizational structure of comparing texts 1. Discuss texts together, noting each of their similarities and differences (point-by-point discuss one point at a time and how it applies to each subject or texts) 2. Discuss one text and then move to the other, comparing it with the first (subject-by-subject discuss one subject or text, point by point, in complete detail before moving on to the next subject or text) Summary: This chapter explains the detailed process of writing an argument about a literary work. It provides strategies for planning, composing, and revising a draft. It also illustrates the different types of fallacies that student writers fall prey in their arguments. The last portion of the chapter briefly describes how to write a comparative essay about two or more literary texts. Source: Schilb, John and John Clifford. Chapter 4: The Writing Process. Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers. 5 th edition. Bedford/St. Martin s: Boston and New York, 2012. 75-107. Print.