Oh, What I've Learned...

For the past two months, all of my school work has been focused literature and French as these were the two courses I was taking.  However, my learning in the past two months extends far past these two subjects, with them being great gateways into further and new found ideologies. Below are the learning outcomes I was expected to meet for my literary analysis class.

1.  Know basic literary terms and methods - Speaking of gateways, knowing literary terms and methods is THE gateway into formal literary analysis.  This does not go to say that without a knowledge of literary terms, one cannot have profound thoughts about literature, but a more accurate analysis is possible if you are aware of the techniques that authors use.  Starting this class, I was not familiar at all with basic literary terms, movements/eras, methods, etc.  I was able to recognize certain basic techniques, but would not have been able to put a name to them.  For example, I was able to recognize when authors spoke about historical pasts, but would never have thought of that as a literary method: allusion.  Authors speak about the past to show its relevance to what they are trying to say.  I think that it also acts as a way of connecting audiences who are aware of certain histories.  A term that I was aware of prior to the course is Tone.  I knew what it meant, but in exploring it on greater levels, I really started to understand it and the craftiness required by authors to create it.  I am now able to identify words, phrases, use of other literary techniques, etc. that are specifically used to create tone.  Tone does not always come naturally out of thought.  Diction is manipulated to establish certain tones. 

2.  Know basic literary genres and representative texts:  What I love about genre is its lack of a rule for what qualifies as genre.  Any two texts that have a similarity can form a new, very specific sub genre.  Genres act as a way of guiding people to works that they know they would enjoy or would like to explore further.  I wrote a post about a very specific sub genre that I named, "Krakauerism." The qualifications? Be a piece of literature written by Jon Krakauer.  Genre can be created on a very broad level, like Non-Fiction or poetry; it can be something a little more categorized, like epic poetry, or it can be created on something extremely specific, like Krakauerism, Head-over-heels-falling-in-love poetry. 

3.  Write literary arguments - The past three weeks have been devoted to writing a well thought out, researched, and agreeable/arguable literary argument through our final paper.  My topic originated in me writing my personal literary narrative and the comments that I received from others on it.  I can comfortably say that I am proud of my final product and of my topic choice, as I discuss here.  I feel that I created a literary claim that was both arguable by an educated audience as well as agreed with by an educated audience.  Prior attempts at literary arguments can be found here and here.

Let's Review the Writing Process

There was no specific prompt for this final paper, giving us students the freedom to create a topic on something that we have a passion for and enjoy discussing.  I found mine: intended effects vs. actual effects of love poetry on society and the modern mind.  The topic actually arose in writing my personal literary narrative where I discussed my love and infatuation with Francesco Petrarch.  In this situation, I chose my primary literary text first: Petrarch's Sonnet 3 and then thought about it enough to the point where there were enough points that I enjoyed thinking about. I took those points and joined them together to create a topic/argument. After taking my thoughts to the social media realm, I let it stew more and finally came up with this as my thesis:

 Standardized western beliefs of love, both unrealistic and realistic, are deeply rooted in both classical society and ours today.  What should be considered when reading all sub-genres of love poetry, is that the work is almost never eternally true. Love fluctuates, and our society should not be trained to accept romantic literature, movies, music, or romantic art in general as love’s definition because they are inaccurate depictions.

I knew that this thesis had enough fuel behind it where I would feel comfortable discussing it without feeling too repetitive or not having enough to say.  Even after the paper is completed and turned in, I have continued to discuss the topic with friends.  I have new points and ideas about the topic.  That's how I knew it was right for me: if I could always find something new to say about it.  Overall, I am really happy with the way it turned out and the direction that my argument turned.  If you're bored and want a quick read, here's the link to my final draft. 

HBLL FUN

The library is my stomping ground, well, the fifth floor of the Harold B. Lee Library is my stomping ground, but we have a definite love/hate relationship.  I love being there because it's one of the few places that I can really focus on academics. I hate being there because of too much time spent there, and the knowledge that focus is to come when I go there.  Lucky for me, the Humanities reference section is on my home floor, so I have constant access to it.  I have only used the reference section for one other class, so it was nice to see what else it had to offer me.  I went through several books and guides on literature and flipped to each's romance, poetry, and love sections.  I got some really useful information from them about romance's background.  Thanks to technology, I just took pictures of the material I needed instead of having to make a copy!

Same goes for the library website.  For a class I had last year, the professor created an online subject guide for our research, and it really helped.  I grew to recognize that you really have much more validity if you cite valid sources.  Plus the information can really help your argument! 

Rough Rough Draft

Here is my very rough draft of my essay so far.  I am still working out the construction of it as a whole.  I want to switch around ideas from the intro and put them into the body paragraphs.  I love writing the intros because I always think of more arguments when considering the broader subject of my topic first. 

           

Krakauerism

This past week I have been reading Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, who is also the author of Into Thin Air and Under the Banner of Heaven.  Krakauer is a well known writer focusing on the Sub-genre of outdoor and climbing non-fiction.  His work has been very successful, with three bestsellers, a big studio film adaptation, and many T.V. features and adaptations as well. 

Into the Wild is one of the first non-fiction novels about a subject that I was unfamiliar with that really interested me.  It follows the "big adventure" of Christopher McCandless's adventure to live in the wild of Alaska.  After four months after entering into the wild, he was found dead in 1992 by starvation in an abandoned bus.  I have read several music and film non-fictions/biographies, most of which I thoroughly enjoyed, but I can partly blame the enjoyment on my enthusiasm for the subject.  Into the Wild is an outdoors book at first glance, and I do enjoy the outdoors, but would not usually seek out on my own.  After reading, I realized that it was not at all about the technical or literal aspects of being outdoors, but rather why McCandless loved being on his own, depending on essentially nothing material.

Chris McCandless in the Alaskan wild

Quotations

Here are some of the poems I intend to quote from in my paper on love poetry:

Petrarch Sonnets 3, 6, 101, 106, 151, 144, 132

Sonnet 116, William Shakespeare (1609)

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.


I would want to compare Sonnet 116 to:

Discussing Genre - Thesis

As of now, my thesis is mainly focused on the topic of genre and I will be using texts to support my argument of how love poetry can be detrimental and preach false ideas to the adolescent mind.  So, with love poetry as my genre, I am choosing to focus on the poems that are written in the context of being in love and falling in love.  I will lightly mention some of the heartbreak type poetry, which is definitely under the umbrella of love poetry, but some would consider it to be its own sub-genre, especially since the tone is most often opposite of the aforementioned types.

Since love poetry is such a large genre, I am going to try and hone in on the poems of the sub-genre I am titling, "Head-Over-Heals In Love" poems.  Very whimsical, airy, sometimes light feeling, other times VERY heavy.

Fortunately, everyone can relate to this genre in one way or another, whether they hate it or love it. Love is the most fundamental characteristics of humanity.  It is not a genre that is restricted to one time period or one philosophical movement.  It is universal and can be found in in literature from all different places and times.

Discussing the genre evidently benefits my argument because it is a part of my argument!

The Discussions of Facebook!

Seen this week on the Discussions of Facebook: Caitlyn posts and hosts a discussion of love poetry and its influence on the young mind. Does it fail or succeed?

I say SUCCESS.  I actually received some really great feedback and had some very interesting discussions with a few FB friends.  It got pretty real towards the end.

My topic of love poetry and its effects on love is pretty universal because everyone has an opinion of love.  I had to informalize my thesis to appeal to the internet world and it worked well enough.  Here is what I posted:

 

I think that I could have made it less academic feeling, but I'm satisfied with the responses I got.  The more specific questions led the discussion in the right direction and after someone would comment, I would respond with more questions to keep it fueled.  I was able to see certain faults of my thesis. For example, the use of the phrase "sophisticated mind" vs. "more mature/experienced."  The first definitely came off too snobby and someone else's comment helped me realize that.  The entire post ended up with 1268 words in 15 comments.   

Love Poetry's Unfortunate Influence on the Adolescent

As an extension of an earlier post and its comments, I have decided to elaborate on love poetry's intentions, using Petrarch's sonnets as a main source.

It's a heavy topic for me and at this point, I'm not sure I agree 100% with my claim, but it's controversial and interesting enough to make it worth while.  Let's see if I can spark some argumentative discussions. 

Haven't we all been messed with, at least a little, by The Notebook?

1. Policy Claim - Despite love poetry's universal acceptance and adoration, the adolescent mind should take caution when reading the genre in search for greater knowledge of love for there are forms of trickery, whether intentional or unintentional by the author.  A more mature mind can more easily absorb love poetry without falling susceptible and developing unrealistic beliefs of its peril, or lack thereof. hidden behind the words that appeal to the young audience and if accepted, conjure unrealistic beliefs about love. 

2. Definition Claim - It can be deceiving by how often times love poetry is not about the love itself, but the exploration of the feelings of love, which is destructive to the unripened and easily influenced mind.  People are raised to believe in a love that is more oft than not represented by the unstable and fast changing emotions that it brings than the love itself.

3. Comparison Claim - Though both the "love high" and heartbreak are represented in love poetry, the adolescent mind tends to retain and ponder the wonderfully overwhelming emotions of being in love over the horribly miserable emotions of hearbreak.  Caution should be paid when diving into the powerful genre.

4. Evaluation Claim - While Petrarch's sonnets are almost entirely about his eternal love Laura, he is more concerned with his own feelings of love and not Laura herself.  Standardized western beliefs of love, both unrealistic and realistic, are deeply rooted in both Petrarch's society and ours today.  The classical thought of love being a curse surely influenced Petrarch, although Christian, but it takes the more ripened mind to identify the ideal while consulting love poetry.

5. Cause/Effect Claim - Although the airy and whimsical tones to love poetry make for beautiful and unparallelled works, there is always a danger present of getting caught up in the benevolent aspects of love, and ignoring the malicious.  

Feel free to let me know your thoughts on the topic.

Topics That Tickled My Fancy

Gotta love weird post titles. 

Following the model of Dawn's post, I've decided to answer all of Dr. Burton's questions concerning the process of literary analysis and developing a thesis.  

1.  Review your recent writing, notes, discussions, etc. to find topics and issues that have intrigued you.

        

 I've found that all of the topics that have caught my interest have to do with either the internal thinking     process and/or thoughts of certain characters, social issues present in era/plot, and authors' intentions.  

2. Review your recent reading-- perhaps looking at passages you have annotated or notes you made in the margins. What are the ideas, characters, or issues that most interested you?

I really enjoyed reading "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid because it raises social issues and I feel that there is a lot to be discussed there.  As I mentioned in another post, I really like Petrarch's work and brought to attention his interest in his feelings for Laura and not necessarily Laura herself.  

Memoirs of a Teenager

Model yours after whatever memoir/biography you choose. P.S. the tone should be reminiscent and make sure to not hold back too much; autobiographies are very open!

In order for me to speak about my familial relationships and social media's impact on them, I must first discuss those relationships states'.  I have an older sister and two parents, all of whom are nice and good people, but we're not all nice and good people towards each other, more so in the past.  My sister and I have a seemingly above average amount of problems and differences, which have, as one can imagine, weakened our relationship over the years.  Social media has not helped the issues.  We are on again, off again Facebook friends and I honestly do not know why.  Every few months, she will add me, and then delete me and this process has been recurring since I first got my Facebook in 2008.  I believe the first time she deleted me was because I left my Facebook open on the home computer and my parents were able to access hers and discovered new and enlightening pictures about my sister's extra-curricular activities to their disapproval.  As a result of years of being deleted from her social network, I have this bitter taste in my mouth everytime I discuss Facebook and my sister.

Social Learning

This past week, I was able to give several literary recommendations to friends and acquaintances as to contribute to Learning Outcome # 4.  On Monday, I went to the library to check out a biography on Francesco Petrarch, whom I adore.  Humanism is one of my favorite philosophical movements, so humanist ideas mixed with love poetry = me loving it.

The person I was sitting with then asked me what the book was and I explained to him who Petrarch was.  He did not seem amused.  Feeling the need to defend the poet, I went on a tangent explaining what he wrote about, why it is so beautiful, why it would speak to him if he were to read it, etc.  Then he seemed convinced and I think accepted Petrarch as reputable.  JOB DONE.

A few minutes later, I went to the help desk where my friend was working to check out the book.  He, as well was unfamiliar with the 14th century writer so once again, I happily gave a brief background and told him that he should check his work out.  TWO in one day! I left the library satisfied.

             ↑ My fifth floor Instagram ↑

Let's Analyze Algernon

After re-reading Scene I Act I of "The Importance of Being Earnest" by Oscar Wilde for the first time since high school, I was reminded of its wit and cynical tone.  Off the bat, Algernon appears to have a very modern and contemporary way of thinking/being.  He comes across as quite argumentative and holds the confidence that he can read others well.  This is shown in Act I when Algernon will not give Earnest/Jack his cigarette case back knowing full well that it belongs to Earnest.  He just argues for the sake of arguing.

I am especially drawn to the following exchange:

Jack. Of course it’s mine. [Moving to him.] You have seen me with it a hundred times, and you have no right whatsoever to read what is written inside. It is a very ungentlemanly thing to read a private cigarette case.

Algernon. Oh! it is absurd to have a hard and fast rule about what one should read and what one shouldn’t. More than half of modern culture depends on what one shouldn’t read.

Jack. I am quite aware of the fact, and I don’t propose to discuss modern culture. It isn’t the sort of thing one should talk of in private. I simply want my cigarette case back.

Seemingly, Algernon has thought about this aspect of the culture at the time.  Maybe, I came to this conclusion because I was reading the dialogue without verbal pauses or hesitations.  To my imagination, Algernon was quick to respond with this line, making me think it was not a new ideal to him.  This seems to go for most remarks that Algernon makes.  They are representations of his thoughts. 

Algernon is careless and inconsiderate of others people's feelings and does not hesitate to lie; hence his fictional Bunbury.  However, all of his witty and sharp comments show at least a glimpse into his argumentative and complex mind.  

Also, I had to mention that this past Winter, I was able to go to the wondrous Cimitière du Père Lachaisse in Paris, where one can find the grave of Oscar Wilde.  The glass wall surrounding the actual grave was summoned due to the cult practice of leaving the mark of red lips on it.  You can see from the photo, however, that some still choose to do so.  I was planning on paying my respects in this manner as well, but I would have had to hop some fences and the kissing the glass seemed disgustingly unsanitary. 

DRAMA

My past experiences with drama are not plentiful, but with the knowledge that I do have, I LOVE DRAMA.  I've mentioned in several posts (here and here) how literature is a form of art which is a means of communication and expression.  The art of theatre is the dramatized version of feelings, sometimes meeting the same caliber of intensity. 

In theatre, certain status quos of the ordinary world (even in literature) do NOT EXIST.  People are free to be as loud as they want, as quiet as they want, as musical as they want, and of course as angry or sad as they want.  Now that's what I call a dream world.  It can be the ultimate be who you want to be world. 

Let's go to the THEATER

Tonight I saw the musical, Urinetown, and boy let me tell you what a treat it was to go to urinetown (that is, err, in a figurative sense).  Bad jokes aside, it really was well worth the $16 I spent to see it.  It was put on in the small and cozy Hale Theatre in Orem, UT and is running through June 15. Get your tickets here.

The work gets its title from Urinetown being the place where people who "relieve themselves" in public go after being caught, as it is against the law.  In this society, people must pay to use the restrooms, if they don't have enough money, then they simply can't go.  Urinetown focuses on several people who are living in the poorest part of town and often do not have enough money to pay. Eventually a rebellion starts and yada yada yada. Again, go see it. 

For starters: the music was catchy, the cast holds great singers and actors, and the themes were powerful.  I would say that these three combined always make for a pretty decent show.  The stage was very small and there was not really a specifically built set aside from a few signs and painted walls.  In actuality, I feel this minimalistic set design brought the audience's attention to the dialogue as opposed to getting lost in visuals (which can also make for a very respectable production).

OH How the Time Flies

Time Flies when you're having fun, right?! Err, or rather learning? Either way, the time has indeed flown by.  I started out this expedited semester with eagerness to learn and also fear for what was to come.

And 3 weeks later, I have to say I have learned loads of new interpretive methods, and have also overcome many loads of fears. Do you see the repetition there? Just one of the many literary methods.

My first reference to the five learning outcomes in a blog post was through a philosophical analysis of literature where I discuss "explor[ing] the evolution of literacy and literary formats," or the fifth learning outcome.  Next, I discussed the analysis of poetry and putting the intimidation behind me in this post.  This was my learning plan on how to move forward despite my fears and hesitations.  I again discuss overcoming my poetic fears in my personal literary narrative, and I feel that you can see my forthcoming analysis skills, obviously with much more learning to be learned.  

BOWIE AND GEOGRAPHER

Music is often times poetry.  The lyrics in a song are usually not arranged in a structured sonnet form, but rather free verse.  I want to focus on a few poetic songs that have caused me to grow and taught me new things and feelings I never imagined discovering.

The first artist that I ever sought out completely on my own, free from others' influence, was David Bowie when I was 11 years old.  I had never heard or seen anyone else who was even similar to him, and he blew my mind with stage makeup and oh so out-of-this-world lyrical ideas.  The first time I felt true loneliness through art was with the song "Lady Stardust" off the amazing album, Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.  

SONNET 29 Performed

Poetry holds a very strong musical background, especially sonnets.  With devices like iambic pentameter, rhyme sequence, and the set amount of syllables and lines, sonnets become a more formulaic form of poetry.  Music is as well formulaic; there is a set percussion (often unchanging), bass tones to complement the treble tones, everything aspect of a musical piece has to fit with each other.

I came across a musical interpretation of Shakespeare's Sonnet 29 by Robert Wilson and Rufus Wainwright. This music video/performance was done by the Berliner Ensemble in 2009.  Like interpreting literature, this piece definitely required me to re-watch and review multiple times before I could really begin interpreting. 

Performance Here

Epic Poetry

Last semester, here at BYU, I took Dr. Matthew Ancell's humanities course on Western Literature.  It was life changing (if anyone has the time to take it, DO IT).  After the Old Testament, the first literature we approached was the ancient Grecian society's epic poetry, namely The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer.  At the time, these poems were recited as performances, with the speaker memorizing the entire piece (Both works are lengthy).  I had read abridged versions of each prior, but this time through was different.  

I learned to appreciate and love the works that had always seemed to be a hassle before, despite the theme of external value being the most important being present in society at the time. 

Poetry Is ART

As I have stated in a previous post, poetry can be very daunting to those not already comfortable with it.  Most of us are aware that poems are brief, but hold a lot of meaning.  The thought of an in depth analysis of short sentences and individual words is still pretty terrifying to me; I fear that I cannot tap into the mindset of the author. 

That being said, when consulting the text, Literature: Craft & Voice by Nicholas Delbanco and Alan Cheuse, the fear did not necessarily disappear, but I found motivation and justification in the act of analyzing poetry.  Throughout the text, there are several larger font, red quotes spread about poetry; not about individual poems but rather the entire subject of poetry.  They all allude to the ideas of why poetry is written, why we should read poetry and what it does for us as a society. 

"Reading good poetry helps a person feel less lonely.  It's the evidence 

that someone else has felt what we feel, knowing what we know" (592).

(Taken from a conversation with Jane Hirschfield)

I think that this can be said concerning all forms of art (literature, visual, auditory; art is infinite and UNBOUND).  We all try to make out and understand this world and this life, never fully knowing.  Expression of one's self and I agree with Jane Hirschfield, that the creation of art is evidence of us trying to make sense of this world, making what we know evident.  I have always had a connection with the arts, but I would say poetry has been my weakest link in all my relationships.  Relating this idea that is mentioned by Hirschfield to poetry creates this desire in me to focus on it and learn it as it is another major form of ART.