Blog 6

Working on my paper has encountered a couple of problems however the practice analysis helped in how to actually break the poem down. with poetry I find I don’t understand what is really beining said until i read it out loud or have it read to me. I don’t what it is but certain points and meanings aren’t stressed until I hear it verbally.  I finished my paper which was allot tougher than I though it would be, it took alot out of me to take one poem and break it down into three different theories. I enjoyed finishing it with the Marxist theory today because that theory i find relatively simple. I could find the difference in the social classes in the the story About Facewith relative ease. I switched it up the concept was that of the main character being the upper class and the upper class actually being the lower class. The hardest part about the essay had to be finding meaning and purpose in the psychoanalysis theory approach in About Face. I tried and tried to come up with various scenarios to fix it but i had a very hard time connecting it to the poem. I kno I”ll get alot of feed back from you . cant wait

blog 5

The past week was dedicated to non other than the Marxist theory and as well Bakhtin and the beliefs that there are multiple voices in one text. As we continue to go further into the semester Its getting a tad difficult to keep up with all the authors and their theories. Maybe its in correlation with my independent study class since we have so many pieces and authors in that class as well. The Marxist theory is a legit theory because it is one that actually divides society into 2 different class which is exactly how the world is. There are like he suggest haves and have nots or the proletariat’s and the bourgeoisie’s. This does exists amongst peoples actions and reactions especially in writing. To break it down further their lifestyle have affects on their writings and how they are perceived. This is where the words of George Lucas show true in that literature reflects the class situation if it’s time and author. Also where Louis Althusser states that society reflects lit and vice versus. Writing about this shouldn’t cause me to much conflict but only time will tell. I like the Marxist theory because its not so complex, it still however can throw you for a loop but what theory doesn’t?

Blog 4

The week of 9/15 through 9/19 was shorten by Ike to include 2 days, Wednesday and of course the glorious Web Class! Reflecting back on Wednesday unfortunately I was late however Dr. Wakefield still let me take the first quiz. The first quiz personally I found disastrous simply due to the fact that I didn’t have a book to fully understand the concept of deconstruction. I acquired a book finally and have begin reading how one signifier leads to 2 more signifiers and so on and so forth. I read how to determine when they are present in each story. Maybe quiz 2 will be better because quiz one was difficult.. I can only use the text to help me defeat the monsters Jung, Frye and Lacan. I felt as I didn’t have enough time on to quiz to make coherent points and in depth analyzation. Am I reading too deep? This is something I always fear and I felt that way with the quiz. We have weathered the storm and the class continues to roll on, luckily Fridays are now on E-course! (Thanks dad for the new computer!) I have to catch up on the notes from Wednesday due to my tardiness and taking the quiz the second part of the class. I look forward to next weeks discussion on heteroglossia.

Blog 2

9/1-9/5 the class discussed and reflected on the usage of formalism. This form of criticism is very keen in sticking to what is right in front of your eyes as it lays on paper. The best way to describe it would be to break down a poem using the only reference you have, the poem itself. When breaking it down and explaining you want to focus on the 3 characteristics we learned which is the form, diction and unity of the poem. Its hard to approach a poem with out automatically thinking to research and find outside information to theorize the meaning based on info collected. To break it down you have to dig deep and remember the donts of formalism… No bibliography and no paraphrase! A very important note that I jotted down was that all parts are coherent. We were introduced to the poem Ode on a Grecian Urn which most of the class found difficult to understand however after reading the formalist take on it by Cleanth Brooks and group discussion on the formalist approach became a little more clear and noticeable. I enjoy the idea that “quotes in criticism help readers analyze a poem without even reading it.” This week was very interesting and I look forward to progressing with the diffrent forms of criticism and writing my 1st actual formalism critique

BLOG 1

 The first week of class I missed due to registration issues. I reviewed the material along with the readings disscused and begin to form various thoughts and decisions for the class. I’ve never had Dr. Wakefield as a professor yet I have heard many great things concerning her teaching. I don’t really need this class to follow teaching however I find it will be useful in my emphasis which is public relations. There was a review of the MLA format given on 8/29, this included a handout which will be very helpful in writing this semester. I suggest that students also refer to the web page http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/. This website provided by Purdue has helped me throughout my college career in the MLA writing style. I have been late on my blogs because I have been waiting for my new laptop but now its here and I’m ready to roll.I look forward to this being a very interesting class Dr. Wakefield. This week has foreshadowed the formalist form of criticism. The form peeks my interest because it doesn’t deal with the background of writers or the actual research of the terms in the poem but actually breaking the poem down.  As 9/1-9/5 approaches we prepare for Formalism.