Reference no: EM133501869

Assignment: Critical Theory Application Critique- Not Waving but Drowning by Stevie Smith Essay

Overview

The Critical Theory Application Critique Assignments are purposed to introduce students to how critical theories are applied to various poems and then to give the students the opportunity to critique the weaknesses and strengths of the method as it has been applied to the poem. The key here is that this assignment is not a critique of a poem, but it is a critique of how others have critiqued a poem.

There are 3 The Critical Theory Application Critique Assignmentsas follows:

Instructions

For each Critical Theory Application Critique Assignment,choose one of the poems below to interact with during the course of this assignment. You cannot use a poem used in a previous assignment.

"Annabel Lee" by Edgar Allan Poe
"Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio" by James Wright
"Dreams" by Langston Hughes
"God's Grandeur" by Gerard Manley Hopkins
"Kubla Khan" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
"My Mistress' Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun" by William Shakespeare
"Not Waving But Drowning" by Stevie Smith
"The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost
"The Tyger" by William Blake
"Ulysses" by Alfred Lloyd Tennyson

Student choice of one of Fred Chappell's poems

You will find the links to the poems and website readings in the Critical Theory Application Critique Assignment page.

After choosing a poem, find two reviews of the poem that use one of the critical theories covered in this module. Carefully evaluate these materials to decide which poem and reviews you wish to use for this assignment. Your reviews may use the same critical theory or different critical theories, and in 500-600 words, summarize how the authors have used the critical theory in their review/critique of the poem. Then in 400-500 words critique the critique using a biblical worldview. Note, a biblical worldview here does not necessarily mean that it should overtly use Scripture in its analysis. Instead, your task is to consider where this critical theory does align with and or deviate from the worldview proffered by the Scripture.

Use the formatting style guide required throughout your degree program.

Location Assignment Title/Topic

Module 2: Critical Theory Application Critique: Formalism or Structuralism Assignment.
Module 4: Critical Theory Application Critique: Political, Deconstruction, or Psychoanalytical Assignment.
Module 6: Critical Theory Application Critique: New History, Postcolonial, or Reader Response Assignment.

Formalism

In developing a New Critical Reading of a Poem, critiques would consider the following:

Remember that the interpretation relies on formal elements of the poem - its tension, ambiguity, paradox, irony.The goal is to explain how these formal elements are both complex but ultimately unified.The central question New Critics ask is how the literary elements develop the poem's theme.To arrive at this conclusion, spend much time close reading the poem to get a sense of all the various parts - imagery, form, structure, rhythm, rhyme (as well as the ones named above or any other literary devices you see).Keep an eye on how all these various parts work together to communicate an overarching theme; this theme should emerge out of the resolution of the poem's apparent contradictions.

Structuralism

Structuralism has a lot of options in practice; basically, you pick one of the structuralist's theories about narrative and see how it plays out in the poem.For example, you could discuss Northrop Frye's theory of genres and categorize the poem according to his terminology.

You could also analyze the underlying narrative pattern at work (using something like Todorov's theory).Or you could apply Genette's theory of narrativity, considering how the story (plot) and the form (distance of author, audience; time story is told and how much time is devoted to certain elements; and atmosphere of story) work together.You could consider, too, Jonathan Culler's ideas about the codes of interpretation necessary to make sense of the poem.Levi-Strauss's concern with binary oppositions may also yield you some insight into the construction of your chosen poem; basically you'd answer the question, what binary oppositions does this poem rely on, and how does the tension between them further the plot?

Postcolonialism

Postcolonial readings are looking for places in which the dominant culture asserts itself at the expense of the marginalized; or, conversely, it can look for places in the text that the marginalized culture pushes back.Questions to consider in developing a postcolonial interpretation: are there aspects of colonial oppression at work in the text? What notions of postcolonial identity (or dominant cultural identity) promoted or presented in the work? Are there characters presented as "other"; if so, how? What does their representation say about the workings of power in that culture? Do you see any of Bhabha's notions of double consciousness or hybridity represented in the characters' actions or beliefs and values? What cultural differences are revealed or highlighted? How is identity shown to be formed-through religion, class, gender, dress, customs, or something else?Basically, a postcolonialist reading focuses on representations, identity, and cultural power.