English 1 & Perspectives

While listening to my peers talk about English 1 and the subsequent English classes here at DHS, I couldn't help but think how lackluster my English education has been. Here I am, as a senior unable, to tell the difference between a clause and a phrase. Pretty pathetic in my opinion. On the flip side, there are some things about English 1 that I did like. I enjoyed reading Romeo and Juliet and The Outsiders. There are references to these book everywhere you look. "Stay golden Ponyboy" is one of the most famous quotes in all of literature. By reading The Outsiders, I am able to understand what the quote means. Understanding this saying and the book itself has allowed me to converse about the quote and the novel so I don't sound uneducated. Romeo and Juliet is the pinnacle of Shakespeare's plays as it is the most reproduced and revered work. Countless movies have stolen themes from this famous play. I am happy I know the main storyline of Romeo and Juliet because how often it surfaces.

I am really looking forward to dissecting each text we look at with the different critical perspectives. I hope by using all these different viewpoints, I will be able to appreciate literary works in a different light. I really liked Ecclesiastes due to all the various ways the class looked at the meaning. I'm hoping these critical perspectives will shed some light on why the author wrote what they wrote. This will hopefully lead to a better appreciation for literary works.

Critical Perspective Notes

Formalist Perspective

·      FORM = MEANING

·      The formalist perspective looks at how the text is constructed

·      Imagery, setting, character, plot, diction, structure, etc.

Biographical Perspective

·      Meaning come from the author’s experiences

·      The work reflects things that have happened in the author’s life

·      Must keep the focus on the text, but use the author’s background to clarify understanding

·      Benefits:

Ø  Readers can better appreciate a literary work by understanding the author’s struggles writing it

Ø  Readers understand literary works better since the facts about the author can help interpretation

Ø  Readers can better assess writers’ preoccupations by studying they ways they modify and adjust their actual experience in the work

Historical Perspective

·      Looks at what was going on during the time of publication as an influencing factor on the author

·      What was going on culturally during that time that could have lent itself to the meaning behind the text?

·      Examples are the Roaring 20’s and Prohibition for the Great Gatsby

·      Remember to use the history to illuminate the text rather than focus solely on the time period the novel was written

·      When was the work written? What social attitudes and cultural practices related to the action of the work were prevalent during the time the work was published?