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Questions and Answers
What is the main function of language in literature?
What is the main function of language in literature?
The dominant function of language in literature is the poetic function, according to Roman Jakobson.
What are the two levels of poetry analysis?
What are the two levels of poetry analysis?
The two levels of poetry analysis are the level of the enounced (what is said - content) and the level of enunciation (how it is said - form)
What is the main difference between an Italian sonnet and a English sonnet?
What is the main difference between an Italian sonnet and a English sonnet?
The Italian sonnet is structured as an octave (eight lines) followed by a sestet (six lines), while the English sonnet is structured as three quatrains (four lines each) followed by a couplet (two lines).
What does a volta in a sonnet signify?
What does a volta in a sonnet signify?
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In the poem "Sonnets from the Portuguese 43: How do I love thee? Let me count the ways," What is the author's primary message?
In the poem "Sonnets from the Portuguese 43: How do I love thee? Let me count the ways," What is the author's primary message?
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Study Notes
Seminar Structure
- Three sessions on literature and literary studies
- Poetry: key concepts
- Midterm exam (terminology)
- Christmas break
- AI-poetry & social media
- Poetry forms
- Wrap-up
- Final exam (poem analysis)
- Four sessions on different levels of poetry analysis
Key Concepts
- What is literature? Defining features of literature
- Function of language (Jakobson) dominant in literature
- What is genre? Different genres
- Literary canon
- Literary interpretation
- Methodology for studying poetry in the class and reasoning
"The Lamb" - Blake (1789)
- Little Lamb, who made thee?
- Dost thou know who made thee?
- Gave thee life & bid thee feed, By the stream & o'er the mead;
- Gave thee clothing of delight, Gave thee clothing wooly bright;
- Gave thee such a tender voice, Making all the vales rejoice!
Fundamental Features of Poetry
- Relative brevity
- Compression, condensation, and reduction of subject-matter
- Increased subjectivity
- Musicality and lyricism (proximity to songs)
- Structural and phonological complexity
- Morphological and syntactic complexity
- Deviation from everyday language + increased artificiality
- Increased aesthetic self-referentiality
Communication Model for Poetry
- Extratextual level: production and reception
- Intratextual level: literary text/poem
- Addresser: real (historical) author
- Fictive speaker: lyric persona (lyric 'I')
- Subject-matter of speech
- Fictive addressee: 'lyric thou'
- Addressee: real reader
Communicative Situation in the Poem
- Describes how a poem communicates
- Answers wh-questions: who, what, whom, when, where, why
- Speaker motivation
- Remember: addressee and speaker can be implicit or explicit
Level of the Enounced vs. Level of Enunciation
- Level of the enounced = content of the poem (what is said)
- Level of enunciation = form of the poem (how it is said)
- Analyzing literature usually involves both content and form
Starter-Pack Poetry Terminology
- Stanza: group of lines
- Verse: line of verse (poetic composition in metre)
- Metre: basic rhythmic structure
-
Rhyme scheme: patterns of rhyming words
- Rhyming couplets (Aa bb cc),
- Alternate/cross rhyme (Abab cdcd)
- Embracing rhyme (ABBA cddc)
- Chain/interlocking rhyme (Aba beb ede)
- Tail rhyme (Aab ccb)
- Couplet: 2 line stanza
- Tercet, triplet: 3 line stanza
- Quatrain: 4 line stanza
- Sestet: 6 line stanza
- Octet/octave: 8 line stanza
Petrarchan/Italian Sonnets
- Named after Petrarch (14th century)
- Developed by Renaissance poets
- Il Canzoniere: collection of poems often addressed to beloved Laura
- Standardized structure: octave + sestet (e.g., abbaabba cdecde/cdcdcd)
- Strict Italian sonnets usually don't end with a couplet
- Octave introduces conflict; quatrain explains problem/provides exposition
- Sestet begins with a volta (turn)
"Sonnets from the Portuguese 43" - Browning
- How do I love thee? Describes different aspects of love: with passion, faith, old griefs, and childhood's faith.
English/Shakespearean Sonnets
- Continuation of the sonnet tradition
- Shakespeare often deviates or mocks Petrarchan conventions
- His quarto with 154 sonnets published in 1609
- Three quatrains + rhyming couplet (abab cdcd efef gg)
- Volta after third quatrain
- Rhyming couplet concludes/resolves the poem
- Topics: passage of time, love, infidelity, jealousy, beauty, mortality
- First 126 addressed to a young man; last 28 to a woman (or she is referred to)
Tasks in Class
- Close read Shakespeare's Sonnet 130
- Describe communicative situation (who, what, to whom, when, where, why)
- Consider levels of enounced (what is said) and enunciation (how it's said)
- Analyze how form and content contribute to meaning
### Additional Analysis
- Different stanza forms described and examples provided
- Communication model explained (Addresser, subject-matter, Fictive Addressee, Addressee)
- Poem analysis in more detail provided.
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Description
This quiz covers essential concepts in literature and poetry, including key features, genres, and methodologies for literary interpretation. It also focuses on a detailed analysis of William Blake's poem, 'The Lamb', emphasizing the fundamental characteristics of poetry. Prepare to test your knowledge and understanding of the topics discussed throughout the seminar.
