01 Thursday Feb 3

June Walker's English 295:01 Wiki Notes February 3, 2011

We began class with a quiz on Psychoanalysis. Dr. Mathur reminded us that Paper 1 is due on Tuesday February 8. After the quiz, we went over the quiz that we took last class. Dr. Mathur then showed us how to get to the “Introduction to Poetry” and “Writing Workshop” power points on Blackboard which we should use as references to help with the Paper. The external links to Purdue University’s Guide to Literary Theory and Oxford’s Reference Online (on Blackboard) were also mentioned as potential resources for the paper. After reviewing a few key terms such as modernism and dramatic monologue, Dr. Mathur read Robert Browning’s “My Last Duchess” aloud. We were then asked to pick one of the theoretical perspectives we have gone over so far and write a paragraph about the poem from that school of thought. Almost everyone chose to do a psychoanalytic reading of this poem, and the discussion was about themes such as the Duke embodying the superego as a father/divine figure, his repressed jealousy, his displacement, and the thought that he may be unconsciously trying to assert potency through art. A structuralist reading of this poem brought up binaries like Duke/Duchess, art/life, love/duty, tame/wild, true/false, pride/shame, favor/displeasure, and eternal/temporary. It was decided that the left side of these binaries was favored. A deconstructionist reading broke down the art/life binary because these two are blurred within the poem. After critiquing “My Last Duchess” as a class, we broke up into groups to criticize and create working outlines for the other poems that were assigned for homework. My group did a structuralist reading of William Butler Yeats’ “The Second Coming.” We came up with the following binaries: divinity/mortality, unity/disunity, light/darkness, originality/spirituality, falconer/falcon, and stability/instability. We thought that the left side of these binaries was privileged, and our working thesis was “The binaries in “The Second Coming” show that there is supposed to be a caring relationship between man and God that does not exist in reality or is not always positive.” Another group did a psychoanalytic reading of Poe’s “Annabel Lee” and found that the speaker’s id is childish and the angels could possibly represent a superego. The theory found from a structuralist reading of Emily Dickinson’s “Because I Could Not Stop For Death” was that immortality is only found in death. “Chicago” by Carl Sandburg was read from a structuralist perspective, and the binaries of us/them, wild/tame, and bestial/human were discussed with the fact that the poem turns seeming negatives into positives (the left of these binaries is again favored). An almost deconstructionist reading of Wallace Stevens’ “The Emperor of Ice-Cream” said that the poem showed poverty in death and that the funeral in the poem has a lack of typical markers. “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas was read from a structuralist perspective, with the binaries of life/death, light/darkness, and anger/tame found, with favor given to the left sides of these.

Tracy Frelk's Notes for February 4, 2011

Class on February 3, 2011 began with a PowerPoint distinguishing between structuralism, deconstructionalism, and psychoanalysis. Structuralism addresses hierarchies and binaries. Deconstructionalism is anti-hierarchical and addresses supplements and differences in literature. Psychoanalysis addresses the unconscious and repressed desires.

The modernist movement was introduced during this class. It was a break from traditional verse and structure in poetry and gave birth to the dramatic monologue in 19th c. British poetry.

We discussed Robert Browning’s dramatic monologue poem My Last Duchess. From the structuralist interpretation, it incorporates the binaries of art/life, true/false, love/duty, tame/wild, pride/shame, favor/displeasure, and eternal/temporary. The first half of each binary is, to the Duke, the good, as the portrait of his last duchess is art and true, loving, tame, etcetera. His live duchess was false, only dutiful and lacking in love, wild, etcetera. From the deconstructionalist perspective, several gaps appear in the poem. The Duke’s possible contributions to the Duchess’s unhappiness are not discussed. The reference to cherries, symbolizing promiscuity, juxtaposed with the white mule, symbolizing purity and/or sterility, is not clarified. The Duke’s responsibility for the Duchess’s death is hinted at and not viewed clearly by either the Duke or the reader. The line between life and death is blurred as the Duke speaks so passionately about his Duchess, as though she were still influencing him. Similarly, the line between life and art is blurred as the Duke confuses the Duchess’s portrait with the Duchess herself. Psychoanalytically, the Duke may be repressing sexual desires, represented by his jealous and his hurt at petty affronts. He therefore acts on his id, or the cranial center for bestial desires, as he unconsciously imposes his potency in the act of controlling and killing the Duchess. The Duke may also be the superego, being the Duchess’s rule-maker, and eventually restricting her freedom to the point of death.

Group work was done with individual poems. The group which discussed Sanburg’s Chicago read it in a structuralist light. Chicago includes the binaries us/them, wild/tame, wicked/well-behaved, blue collar/white collar, dirty/clean, bestial/human, poverty/wealth, pride (nationalism)/shame, uncertainty/certainty, and danger/safety. The thesis developed from this addresses the association of negative binaries with the protagonist natives of Chicago, and how this is representative of Sandburg’s definition of truly living.