Course Packet
English 300
Critical Approaches to Literature
Dr. Steven Frye
California State University, Bakersfield
Department of English
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English 300
Critical Approaches to Literature
Dr. Steven Frye
Group Discussion Questions for Plato’s Ion

Explore the form of the “Socratic” dialogue. From the standpoint of logic and
argumentation, how does it work? What advantages does it offer as a means of
developing ideas and clarifying them?

Discuss the persona of Socrates. He is an historical figure, but in the context of
Plato’s dialogues he is largely an invention. Consider his personality, voice,
manner, and habits of mind. How does he function to accomplish Plato’s
purpose?

Consider Ion’s claim about his understanding and interest in Homer and his
disinterest and his lack of understanding in other poets. Think about the
implications of his statements as they relate to the intellectual processes of poets,
critics, actors, rhapsodes, etc.?

Consider Plato’s claims about the nature of the poet and the rhapsode, as well as
the nature and source of poetry itself? Think about the epistemological
implications of his statements (the relationship of poetry to truth and wisdom,
which are the goals of philosophy).
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English 300
Critical Approaches to Literature
Dr. Steven Frye
Plato’s Aesthetics in Ion
Plato’s Dialogues
Period One: After 399 B.C.E.
Apology of Socrates
Crito
Gorgias
Ion
Middle Period: 380-367 B.C.E.
Symposium
Cratylus
Republic
The Late Period: 366-360 B.C.E.
Timaeus
Critias
Sophist
Phaedrus
The “Socratic” Dialogue Form
From the Norton Anthology: “Characteristic of these early dialogues is Socrates’
disarming claim of ignorance and a formal technique of cross-examination called
elenchus, a method of questioning designed to lead the learner through stages of
reasoning and to expose the contradictions in an opponent’s original statement” (34).
Plato’s “Idealism” and his Theory of Criterion Form (from the writings of the
middle period)
There exists an immaterial realm of pure Forms or Ideas. In this realm of the Ideal pure
Truth resides. All things in physical nature are the product of mimesis or imitation, and
as such they are imperfect manifestations of ideal forms constituted eternally in the
absolute. Thus all human creations, specifically art, architecture, music, poetry, and
drama, are imperfect imitations of the Ideal, and are removed from pure truth. Since art
is an imitation of Nature, and Nature is an imitation of the Ideal, art is an imitation of an
imitation.
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Ion
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Ion is a rhapsode, a reciter and an interpreter of poetry, by analogy a critic
Homer and others are the poets
Ion claims he cannot speak of other poets besides Homer, even those he has
probably read
Socrates claims, then, that his interpretation of Homer is a product of “divine
madness,” irrationality, inspiration from the Gods, not rational judgment
Poetry is the product of the irrational mind
The relationship of poetry and truth, in Ion, appears to be an ambiguous one
“For the poet is an airy thing, winged and holy, and he is not able to make poetry until
he becomes inspired and goes out of his mind and his intellect is no longer in him. As
a human being has his intellect in his possession he will always lack the power to make
poetry or sing prophesy” (Norton Critical Plato 41).
The Terms of the Debate as Established by Plato
Is poetry (or any art form for that matter) the product of inspiration, intuition,
imagination, genius, generative irrationality, even divine madness, as is maintained by
Plato (4th Century B.C.E. Greek), Longinus (1st century Roman), Friedrich Von Schiller
(18th Century German), William Wordworth (18th and 19th Century Englishman), and
Ralph Waldo Emerson (19th Century American)?
Or, is poetry (or any art form for that matter) the product of “art,” meaning artisanship or
artistry: learning, craft, rational and systematic rules of constructions and critical
judgment, as is maintained by Horace (1st Century B.C.E.), Geoffrey of Vinsauf (13th
Century Englishman) and Alexander Pope (18th Century Englishman)?
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English 300
Critical Approaches to Literature
Dr. Steven Frye
Discussion Questions for Aristotle’s Poetics
In your groups, discuss the following passage and be prepared to paraphrase it for the rest
of the class.
1) Page 1, complete paragraphs 2 and 3, beginning “Epic poetry and tragedy”
2) Page 3, complete paragraphs 1, 2, 3, and 4 beginning “Poetry in general”
3) Page 4, complete paragraphs 4 and 5, beginning “Epic poetry agrees”
4) Page 4, complete paragraph 6, beginning “Tragedy, then, is an imitation”
5) Page 5, complete paragraph 2, beginning “Again, Tragedy is an imitation”
6) Page 8, complete paragraphs 3 and 4, beginning “Reversal of the Situation”
7) Page 9, complete paragraph 2, beginning “A perfect tragedy should”
8) Page 11, complete paragraph 1, beginning “As in the structure of the plot”
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English 300
Critical Approaches to Literature
Dr. Steven Frye
Aristotle’s Poetics
Methodology and Epistemology
Inductive (sense-based) Reasoning
Proto-empiricism
Pragmatism
Categorization, differentiation, and classification
The Parts of Tragedy
Plot
Character
Diction
Thought (Reasoning)
Spectacle
Song
Central Ideas and Terms
Imitation (mimesis)
Reversal (peripeteia)
Recognition (anagnorisis)
Unity of action
Tragic hero
Tragic flaw (hamartia)
Catharsis (to cleanse and/or purge the emotions of pity and fear)
God from the machine (dues ex machina)
Aristotle’s Definition of Tragedy (Richard Janco translation): Tragedy is a
representation of a serious, complete action which has magnitude, in embellished speech,
with each of its elements [used] separately in the [various] parts [of the play];
[represented] by people acting and not by narration; accomplishing by means of pity and
terror the catharsis of such emotions.
Aristotle’s Definition of Tragedy (S. H. Butcher translation) Tragedy, then, is an
imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language
embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate
parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative; through pity and fear effecting
the proper purgation of these emotions.
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English 300
Critical Approaches to Literature
Dr. Steven Frye
Group Questions for Sophocles’s Oedipus the King
1) Explore Oedipus as a “tragic hero” as Aristotle defines him. Does he conform to
Aristotle’s model? What characteristics does he possess that Aristotle identifies?
Are there any ways that he does not conform to Aristotle’s idea?
2) Discuss the play in terms of Aristotelian “unities.” What evidence do you find
from the plot that the tragedy is organized such that these unities are observed? Is
there any deviation from Aristotle’s principles?
3) Identify and discuss the Recognition and Ironical Reversal of Intention/Ironic
Reversal of Situation. How effectively and completely does it function to bring
about catharsis?
4) Consider the tragedy in terms of Aristotle’s idea of catharsis. How does the
creation of both plot and the character function in harmony to bring about this
catharsis? Do they?
5) Consider the role of the chorus. How does it function to complement both plot
and character?
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English 300
Critical Approaches to Literature
Dr. Steven Frye
Discussion Question for Horace’s Ars Poetica
In your groups, discuss the following passage and be prepared to paraphrase it for the rest
of the class.
1) Page 122, paragraphs 1, 2, 3, 4, beginning, “Imagine a painter”
2) Page 122, paragraphs 2, 3, and the first sentence of 4, beginning, “You writers
must choose”
3) Page 124-125, last paragraph, beginning “either follow tradition” and ending
“with the middle”
4) Page 126, section entitled “Some Rules for Dramatists.
5) Page 128, section entitled “The Need for Technical Perfection”
6) Page 130, paragraphs 5, 6, 7, 8 beginning “once this rust and care”
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English 300
Critical Approaches to Literature
Dr. Steven Frye
Horace’s Ars Poetica
Didacticism – The Horatian Platitute: Poetry’s purpose is to “instruct and delight”
Systematic and practical approach to poetry as “craft” or “ars”
Poetry is not an inspired madness as previously in Plato or later in the Romantics
Poetry is an art (craft) with rules, conventions, structures, and forms that require
learning and painstaking effort
Decorum – the intellectual quality possessed by the poet that allows him to exercise
discernment in the selection of words, phrases, forms, and other medium. Decorum
allows for appropriateness, proportion, propriety, and unity in the arts
The argument against the “purple patch,” what we call purple prose, which are overly
ornate passages that are inappropriate and violate decorum.
All of these principles reflect many of the values we associate with Classicism, in
Horace’s case the later Classicism of the Romans
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English 300
Critical Approaches to Literature
Dr. Steven Frye
Discussion Questions for Alexander Pope’s An Essay on Criticism
As a group, read and discuss the following lines and be prepared to paraphrase and
discuss them with the class.
1) Pages 349 and 350, lines 1-4, 11-18, 23-25, 46-51.
2) Pages 351, 443, 444, and 445, lines 68-73, 82-99.
3) Pages 352 and 353, lines 243-266.
4) Pages 353 and 354, lines 289-304, 315-319.
5) Page 355 and 356, lines 362-366, 374-383.
6) Page 359 and 360, lines 631-658.
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English 300
Critical Approaches to Literature
Dr. Steven Frye
Alexander Pope’s An Essay on Criticism
The Era
The Neoclassical Period
The Age of Reason
The Enlightenment
Principles of the Era
Reason and Rationality are the highest order faculties of mind
Knowledge is achieved through Positivism, through the rational evaluation of the data of
experience
Central Enlightenment Assumptions from Donald Meyer’s The Scientific
Enlightenment
Nature’s workings are not unknowable or mysterious
Human beings possess mastery over matter
The political and social aspects of the universe are testable
Human behavior displays predictable traits and patterns
Rejection of a God-centered universe toward one created by God but centered on
mankind
Pope’s Essay
Form: The Long Poem in Heroic Couplets
Central Expression of Neoclassical Aesthetics, which emphasize:
Models from the Greek and Roman Classical Period
Nature as a guide to artistic representation
Art as didactic and expressive of proper moral conduct
Balance, harmony, unity, simplicity, and proportion in art
Knowledge, Judgment, and Wit in the critic
“True Wit is Nature to Advantage drest
What oft was Thought, but ne’er so well Exprest
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English 300
Critical Approaches to Literature
Dr. Steven Frye
Discussion Questions for Samuel Johnson’s “Preface to Shakespeare”
1) Discuss Johnson’s idea of canon formation (the process by which our pantheon of
great works is formulated). Is this a reasonable and rational process that leads to
legitimate conclusions? What various attitudes lead to a work being included?
2) For Johnson, what essential and basic characteristics typify the “great work” and
the “great” author? In what sense does Shakespeare demonstrate these attributes?
3) What are some of Shakespeare’s inadequacies?
4) Discuss Johnson’s response to Shakespeare’s violation of the Aristotelian unities.
5) Consider Johnson’s mind. How does it work? What intellectual values does his
thinking portray?
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English 300
Critical Approaches to Literature
Dr. Steven Frye
Samuel Johnson’s “Preface to Shakespeare”
Neoclassicism and Augustan Humanism
Human beings are distinctive and unique creatures worthy of study and artistic
exploration
Human beings possess predictable traits and characteristics. In other words, there is such
a thing as a “human nature,” which transcends time, place, culture, social forces, and
cultural norming
The role of art is to effectively and profoundly explore and portray human nature
Johnson’s “Preface”
Aesthetic Absolutism – There is such a thing as a “great work,” and greatness is not
subject to the relative values of time, place, and culture
Canon formation, while subject to “prejudices” in the short term, occurs by comparison,
examination, and evaluation over time. In this process, rational and legitimate consensus
is achieved regarding a work’s value
The great works of antiquity are not great simply because they emerge from the classical
age, but because they have emerged as great through this process of consensus
Didacticism, Universalism, and Moralism – What defines the great work is its capacity
to teach us essential truths about human nature and moral issues. These truths are most
effectively communicates by pleasing us
“Nothing can please many, and please long, but just representations of a general
nature”
“Shakespeare is above all writers, at least above all modern writers, the poet of nature;
the poet that holds up to his readers a faithful mirrour of manners and of life.”
In the writings of other poets a character is too often an individual; in those of
Shakespeare it is commonly a species.”
“The end of writing is to instruct; the end of the poetry is to instruct by pleasing.”
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English 300
Approaches to Literature
Dr. Steven Frye
Group Discussion Questions for Shakespeare’s Macbeth
Discuss all these questions with Johnson’s notions of “just representations of a general
nature” and didacticism through pleasure in mind.
1) Consider Macbeth’s evolution from hero to villain.
 What motivates it?
 How is it brought to full fruition?
 To what extent, if any can we sympathize with him?
 How is the issue of evil configured in his character? (think about other
figurations of evil in Shakespeare, such as Iago in Othello and Richard
in Richard III)
2) Discuss Lady Macbeth, focusing both on her monologue on page 17 (Act 1, Scene
5, lines 37-51) and her interwoven speeches near the doctor and the gentlewoman
on page 70 (Act 5, Scene 2, lines 27-59).
 How do these passages complicate her character? Or do they?
3) Scan Macbeth’s monologue on page 72 (Act 5, scene 3, lines 1-10), identifying
stressed and unstressed syllables, line forms, etc.
 How would you describe the speech formally?
 What technical poetic terms would you use and how would you qualify them?
4) Discuss Macbeth’s final monologue on page 76-77 (Act 5, Scene 5, lines 17-28).
 What is the worldview expressed?
 Is this Shakespeare’s worldview at this time, or is it the perspective of
Macbeth, a character under duress?
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English 300
Critical Approaches to Literature
Dr. Steven Frye
Discussion Questions for William Wordsworth’s Preface to the Lyrical Ballads
1) In what specific ways does Wordsworth respond to the classical and neo-classical
aesthetics that we have explored thus far?
2) Discuss in detail the first compete paragraph in page 650, beginning, “The
principle object, then, which I proposed to myself. . .” What new aesthetic
precepts are being articulated here, regarding the appropriate subject of poetry,
the role of nature, and the essential features of poetic language.
3) Explore the role of feeling and memory in Wordsworth’s notion of the process of
poetic creation.
4) Explore Wordsworth’s treatment of the distinction between poetry and prose.
What essentially distinguished them, if anything? Why or is that distinction
important?
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English 300
Critical Approaches to Literature
Dr. Steven Frye
William Wordsworth’s Preface to the Lyrical Ballads
English Romanticism
Imagination (insight, intuition, vision, spirit, soul)
Symbol
Nature
The Preface
Common life as the appropriate subject matter for poetry
Rejection of Neo-Classical rules
Self-exploration and self-expression
Feeling or emotion as the well-spring of poetry
Memory’s centrality in recalling powerful feelings
Memory and feeling as the shaping influence on thought
Poetic language as the most philosophical language
Physical nature as the source of language and truth
Meter emerging from the “Language of [common] men”
Important Quotes
“The principle object, then, which I proposed to myself in these Poems was to chuse [sic]
incidents and situations from common life, and to relate or describe them, throughout,
as far as possible, in a selection of language really used by men; and, at the same time, to
throw over them a certain colouring [sic] of imagination, whereby ordinary things
should be presented to the mind in an unusual way.”
“I have said that poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its
origin from emotion recollected in tranquility; the emotion is contemplated till by a
species of reaction the tranquility disappears, and an emotion, kindred to that which was
before the subject of contemplation, is gradually produced, and does itself actually exist
in the mind. In this mood successful composition really begins. . .”
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English 300
Critical Approaches to Literature
Dr. Steven Frye
Discussion Questions on Edmund Burke’s A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of
Our Ideas of the Sublime and the Beautiful
1) In Section VII, how does Burke define the sublime?
 What does he mean by the term?
 What are the emotional conditions that lead to its creation in art?
 What emotional conditions should it cause when we experience it in art?
2) In what way does Burke distinguish between the sublime and the beautiful?
 What are the physical features of objects of beauty as they contrast with
the sublime?
 How do we respond emotionally or psychologically to the beautiful as
compared to the sublime?
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English 300
Approaches to Literature
Dr. Frye
Discussion Questions for Edgar Allan Poe’s The Poetic Principle
1) Explore Poe’s consideration of the length of poetry and the relationship of length
to effect. What does he mean by effect? How does the length of a poem function
to orchestrate that effect?
2) Consider Poe’s notion of the “heresy of the Didactic.” How does he define this
heresy? In this context, what is the purpose of poetry?
3) Discuss Poe’s division of the mind: Pure Intellect, Taste, and the Moral Sense.
How well do these divisions work to reinforce his sense of the purpose of poetry?
4) Consider his notion of Supernal Beauty. What does he mean by this? How is it
different than the other ways in which beauty has been defined by other authors,
poets, and critics?
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English 300
Critical Approaches to Literature
Dr. Steven Frye
T. S. Eliot’s “Tradition and the Individual Talent”
Historical sense
Tradition as a central aspect of the poet’s art
Tradition and living and dynamic
Depersonalization in the creative act
Extinction of personality
Distinction between feeling and emotion
“. . . the historical sense compels a man to write not merely with his own generation in
his bones, but with a feeling that the whole of the literature of Europe from Homer and
within it the whole of the literature of his own country has a simultaneous existence and
composes a simultaneous order. This historical sense, which is a sense of the timeless as
well as of the temporal and of the timeless and of the temporal together, is what makes a
writer traditional.” (1093)
“What happens is a continual surrender of himself as he is at the moment to something
which is more valuable. The progress of an artist is a continual self-sacrifice, a continual
extinction of personality.” (1094).
“. . . the more perfect the artist, the more completely separate in him will be the man who
suffers and the mind which creates.” (1095)
“Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion; it is not the
expression of personality, but an escape from personality.” (1097)
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