Introduction to Literature
Conclusion
What have we learned
together?
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1. close analysis of the form and content of a
literary text (from part to whole; from notes to
organized analysis) –one note and two journals as
examples
2. reading and taking notes of a longer text – one
discussion entry as an example
3. different literary genres & movements (comedy
of manners, dramatic monologue; metaphysical
poetry, sonnet, medieval ballad, tragedy)
4. themes: love seen from different perspectives;
the influences of class, human mortality, capitalism
and American Dream
5. final exam
From part to whole:
Annotating Textual Details
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And out of his grave grew a red, red
rose/And out of hers, a briar.
It's very interesting, rose stands for the
man's love, briar stands for the woman's
love also. Briar is not as beautiful as rose,
however, rose also has thron. They will not
hurt each other. I think the interesting
combination also reflect their love, seems
not match, however, a couple born to be
together.(?)
Annotating Textual Details -addition
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And out of his grave grew a red, red rose/And out of hers, a
briar.
They grew and grew in the old churchyard,
Till they couldn't grow no higher,
They lapped and tied in a true love's knot.
The rose ran around the briar.
It's very interesting that rose stands for the man's
love, and briar stands for the woman's love. Briar
has sharp thorn and it is not as beautiful as rose;
however, rose also has thorn. They will not hurt
each other; instead, they form “a true lover’s knot.” I
think the interesting combination also reflect that
although their love seems not to match each other’s
when they are alive, they become a couple after
death. Also, in death, the man is presented as more
beautiful and active in possessing his love.
Annotating Textual Details -extension
The different endings of different versions of Barbara Allen reveal
different attitudes to women’s independence. In the version 1 and
version 2 we read, Barbara Allen turns down the young man
either because she is slighted, or because she obeys her parents.
At the end of the two versions, then, they get transformed
respectively into a briar and a rose which are intertwined to form
“a true lover’s knot.” Although their love seems not to match when
they are alive, they become a couple after death.
When their mismatch is caused by the parents’ intervention, the poem
does not specify who is the rose, and who, the briar. However, in
version 1, where Barbara Allen misunderstands the man, Barbara
is compared to the briar with sharp thorn, while the young man, a
beautiful rose. Also, in death, the man is active in possessing his
love. The ending thus seems to be a compensation more for the
man than for Barbara Allen.
In the Child’s ballad version 2, Barbara Allen is presented as a hardhearted woman who refuses the young man for no reason. The
ending, then, just shows how she repents and dies, without any
sense of compensation.
Journal (1) on Comparison between
“Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day”
& “To his Coy Mistress” (1)
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In both poems, the speakers revealed their
strong passion to those who they admired,
both in physics and in minds(?). For
instance, in “To His Coy Mistress”, the
speaker revealed his strong passion by
comparing her with the width of the earth
and the time(?).
In another hand, “Shall I Compare Thee to a
Summer’s Day?” is more temperate. (“Thou
art more lovely and more temperate.”) Still,
the speaker compared the woman with the
nature.
Comparison (2)
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Although the both poems are all about strong
admiration about beauties, what they believed in
love is quite different. In the “To His Coy Mistress”,
the speaker believes in short but passionate love.
[. . .]
In the “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?”
the speaker focused more about the eternal beauty
(preserved by what?). [. . .]
Two same passion to woman but expressed in
different ways, even I could be moved and touched
by those extreme but firm words; nearly ridiculous
but shocking sentences (of both poems?).
Journal on Comparison between
“Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s
Day” & “To his Coy Mistress” –rev
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The two poems are different in many ways: in their
use of nature and their attitudes toward love.
However, they show the same concern with human
mortality. In both poems, the speakers revealed
their love for their lovers through images of nature
of different kinds. For instance, in “To His Coy
Mistress”, the speaker reveals the strength of his
love with hyperbole: claiming that he will be patient
with their distance across the continent (between
Ganges and Humber) and that he will use the time
of the whole human history to praise her.
Nature in “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s
Day?” is presented as seasonal changes, or the
summer which is transient. The speaker claims that
his lover is more “temperate and lovely” than
summer, which . . .
Rev (2)
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Although both poems express the speakers’
admiration of beauties, their main point is quite
different. In “To His Coy Mistress”, the speaker
believes in seizing the day with their passionate and
sensual love. He suggests to the lover that they
“roll [their] sweetness up into one ball/And tear
[their] pleasures with rough strife/Thorough the iron
gates of life.” If the “ball” here suggest physical
union, it is used also to fight against and experience
mortality (“the iron gates of life”). The intensity of
life is further suggested in the idea that they will
make the sun (meaning time) run, since they cannot
stop it.
In the “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?”
the speaker focuses on the eternal beauty
preserved in the speaker’s poem..
Rev (3)
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Despite their differences in the use of
nature images and their attitudes
toward love, both poems share the
concern with human mortality, one with
graphic images of the tomb and the
worms, while the other, more moderate
images of the decline of the fair and
rough winds.
Journal (2) on –
(1)be text-specific
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“She Walks in Beauty” “To His Coy
Mistress” the courting sonnet
When studying the three poems, I find
that the speakers are all males.  no,
Juliet responds actively.
Journal (2) on –
(2) free association vs. careful
analysis
“I see an interesting idea from the Internet that “the
lady in this poem makes me think she is not a real
person. Instead, she is more like a beautiful ghost in
Chinese mythology,” which makes me think of “倩女
幽魂” since it’s in the dark and the girl’s beauty is
so unbelievable. ”Why is it unbelievable?”
 SHE WALKS IN BEAUTY, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes;
Thus mellow'd to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.
(mind, cheek, brow, smile, goodness inside, mind at
peace and heart with innocent love.)
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Journal (2) on –
(1)avoid [sweeping generalization]
Love, the greatest pursuit for everyone in the
world, is sometimes hard to achieve.
Thought the speakers in the chosen three
materials use different ways to shoe their
affection, the intensity of their love is of no
doubt. The courage (like “To his coy
mistress”) to be after love, or the passion to
use the greatest way (? In terms of
perfection? With sophistry詭辯 ? ) to praise
one’s lover, is to be remembered forever.
(personal response vs. analysis)
Reading a Longer Text
Like reading your own life, you need to
 (1) experience it yourself, instead of
depending on plot summary, study
guides or Chinese translation;
 (2) take notes and re-read the text with
the help of the notes (and study
guides).
Q1
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Pay attention to the things the stage
directions mention to make the transition
(e.g. the woman’s laughter, Bernard’s
words, the flute, etc.) Why? If we see the
whole play as dominated by Willy’s stream
of consciousness (the original title of the
play is Inside his Head), what importance do
these words and gestures and object have
in his mind?
A:
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In this play, the music of a flute can be heard many
times, and actually it serves a very important function in
this play—it's a symbol of Willy's dream—his dream of
being a successful traveling merchant like his father,
who made flute by himself and sold them across the
country. [end of this par] The author used the sound of
the flute to begin and end this play, suggesting that
Willy's dream composed the whole play and continued
after his death. At the end of the play, on page 1265,
Linda said that she was still expecting him, and she
made the last payment on their house—they were free
eventually. (relevance?) But Willy had died, being too
late to see his dream of being free realized.
(contradictory?)
[another par] As to the woman's laughter,
[end] The voices of the woman and Bernard can be seen
as reminders of Willy's pain past, some reality that he
didn't want to face that had ruined the future and life of
himself and his son Biff.
A: rev. – Be more organized—
give introd and conclusion
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In this play, the music of the flute, the woman’s
laughter and Bernard’s words can be heard many
times, suggesting Willy’s dream and sense of guilty
respectively.
Flute – at the beginning (“small and fine, telling of
grass and trees and the horizon”)  occurs when Willy
thinks of his father and talks to Ben.
[another par] As to the woman's laughter,
[the third] Bernard’s
[conclusion] One way or another, reality is not
escapable while dream, to be remembered. The
Woman’s and Bernard’s sound also drive Willy to face
the past reality, while the flute is a permanent reminder
of Willy’s dream. [. . . ] At the end, the music of the
flute signals Willy’s feeble influence after his death,
lingering in the darkened small house set against
background of the large apartment buildings.
Genre Definitions and Analysis
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dramatic monologue– where, when, how and why
 the monologist’s mentality and purpose, and the
dramatic ironies implied.
metaphysical poetry –metaphysical conceit;
concept of love; an argument presented.
Sonnet – also an argument (in three quatrains and
a couplet or in octave and sestet)
medieval ballad – language, use of symbol and
repetition, structure (start with climax, etc), versions,
Tragedy – Miller’s concept of Modern Tragedy;
Expressionism – rending (thru’ symbol or some
other formal device) of subjective feelings but
not/more than objective reality.
Theme(1): love seen from
different perspectives
More realistic views
 Extremes—Love and
Death “Porphyria’s
 Pride and Prejudice;
Lover” “My Last
Pygmalion; “Yellow Sky”
Duchess” “A Rose for
& “A&P”  impossibility
Emily”
of romance
“Barbara Allen” & “Edward”
 Romance made
possible by money
 The ritual of love—
“1,000,000”
courtship and
persuasion
 Romance frustrated by
environment “A Rose for
Emily” “Araby”
Theme (2): human mortality
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Love vs. Human Mortality – the
transience of life presented through
seasonal changes, twilight, fire/ember.
Spiritual Love vs. Physical Separation
(“Valediction: Forbidding Mourning”)
Love & Death – to possess by killing is
futile, just as union in death is only a
myth of the past.
Theme (3): class, capitalism
and American Dream
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Class distinction – more subtle, not by land,
but by (1) one’s cultivation; (2) abstract
signs (recorder, car, etc.)
Money – relative values, in the form of
banknote, credit card or mortgage.
Commodities – endless desire for them
“Appearance” vs. Reality—of one’s abilities,
of the ugly fights or of how little freedom we
have.
Final Exam
* Altogether you should answer 6 questions.
Close Analysis-- Choose 2 (24 %)
Essay Questions: Choose 3 (60 %, 20 each)
Essay Question (2) (16%) : Show what you have
learned more creatively!!!
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Write up a different ending to a story/novel or poem
(which involves a story) we have read, and explain why
you want to change the ending.
What is literary analysis? How is form related to
content? Use one text we have read in this semester to
illustrate your points.
Except for Death of a Salesman, do not repeat in
your use of examples.
Enjoy learning and good luck!