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ENC 1102 Project for Literary Analysis (3) Literary Triangles
Readers’ approach to fictional works is different from their approach to essays and other non-fiction works. As the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge observed, they “suspend” their “disbelief.” If they apply the ethos-pathos-logos triangle to a literary work, they would not, for example fault the ethos of an author for not telling a literal truth (although they would expect an author to create literary truths). This project asks you to apply another triangle to analyze Sarah Orne Jewett’s “A White Heron.”
This project represents 17% of your final grade. (12% the essay produced, 5% evidence of group work, homework and other relevant materials section three of your journal)
Homework: (due date to be announced in class) After reading the story, do an internet search or visit the library for background on Jewett and the culture she lived in. Think about how that culture might have informed her work.
Stage One: As a class we will discuss the story, the theory behind the cultural-context triangle and ways to apply it to the story.
Cultural-Context Triangle
Author______________________________Reader
Work
Universe
Stage Two: With your group consider the Triangle. Then, using the questions listed below and the information you gathered through your homework, discuss the ways that the author-reader-universe connections inform the work or the theme.
As a group -- prepare a 250-word essay to sum up your observations and analyses. Your group will present this essay to the rest of the class. (Be sure to include a copy of your group’s essay in your journal section two.
Stage Three: Write a 750-word essay more developing your group’s presentation more fully, developing one aspect of your group’s essay, or exploring one if the questions your group didn’t cover. (Remember what the author does not include in the story or what a character chooses not to do is often as important as what is included or chosen.) Due Date to be announced in class.
The grade for the essay will be based on its clarity, structure, thoughtfulness, and depth.
TRIANGLE: Author: What does the author express through the actions and thoughts of the main character? Why does the author have the main character do or think what that character does? Do you think the author reacted in similar ways or saw someone act in a similar way? How might those experiences or observations have affected this portrayal? Why do you think the author is recalling these experiences?
What does the author express through the actions and thoughts of the other characters? Why does the author have the other characters do or think what they do? Do you think the author reacted in a similar way or saw someone act in a similar way? How might those experiences or observations have affected these portrayals? Why do you think the author is recalling these experiences?
What does the author express through the setting? Has the author been in a similar setting or known someone who was in a similar setting? How have those experiences or knowledge affected this setting? Why is the author recalling this setting? What does the author want you think about this fictional world? Why does the author set this piece in this time period and/or place?
What does the author express through the theme(s)? How do the author’s experiences or observations relate to this theme(s)? How does the theme(s) reveal something about the author? Why do you think this theme(s) is meaningful to the author?
Reader: What did you learn through the actions or thoughts of the main character? Have you had similar experiences or seen someone who has had similar experiences? How do the events in the story affect your memories? What would you do in a similar situation? How doe the main character’s actions affect your response to the story? What do you think the author wants you to think about these experiences (your own or the character’s)? Why?
What do you learn through the actions of the other characters? Have you had similar experiences or seen someone who has had similar experiences? How do the events in the story affect your memories of those experiences? How have your experiences or knowledge affected your perceptions of these characters? What would you do in a similar situation? How do these characters’ actions affect your response to the story? What do you think the author wants you to think about these experiences (your own or the character’s)? Why?
What do you learn through the setting? Have you been in a similar setting or known someone who was in a similar setting? How does the setting affect your memories? How have your experiences or knowledge affected your perceptions of the story’s setting? How would you react to this setting? How does the story’s setting affect your response to the story? Why? What does the reader learn through the theme(s )*? What do you think the author wants the readers to learn? How do you feel about the theme(s) that the author presents? How does it change or reinforce your feelings about the topic? Why? How doe your experience or observations relate to this theme(s)?
Universe: How do the main character’s experiences reflect those of society or of society at the time the work was written? Do people you know act and think this way? How are these experiences and thoughts typical or atypical of society’s norms? How do they depart from or mirror society’s expectations? Why do you think the main character reacts to the universe in this way? What is the author trying to show about the universe? What is the author trying to show about the real world? How do the main character’s reactions to this universe affect your perceptions of this universe? How do the main character’s reactions to this universe affect your persceptins of your universe? What do you think the author wants you to think about the way the main character reacts to this universe? Why?
How do the other characters’ experiences reflect those of society? Do people you know act or think this way? How are these experiences and thoughts typical or atypical of society’s norms (or the norms at the time the story was written)? How do they depart from or mirror society’s expectations? Why do you think that the characters react to the universe in this way? What is the author trying to show about the universe? What is the author trying to show about the real world? How do the characters’ reactions to the universe affect your perceptions of the universe? How do the characters’ reactions to this universe affecst yur perceptions of your universe? What do you thin that the author wants you to think about the way the characters react to this universe?
How does this setting reflect society? Is this setting typical or atypical of the universe? How does it depart from or mirror the universe? Why do you think that the setting is shown in this way? What is the author trying to show about the universe? What is the author trying to show about the real world? How does this setting affect your perceptions of this fictional univers? How does the setting affect your perceptions of the real world? How do you think that the author wants you to think about the way this setting compares to the real world? |
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