in society since it is a way of knowing. It is a medium used to teach individuals how to make sense of the world around them. Not only does literature reflect society's values and beliefs, but it also plays a role in shaping it. Feminist literary criticism aims to bring the reader’s attention to how women are presented in literature. It makes them question how a male author would present a female character and whether this was due to a patriarchal…
6 Thinking Hats Personal Narrative “GOD’S NOT DEAD HE’S SURELY ALIVE!”, I sing along with my church. I go to Mission Community Church where we say, “Do justice. Love mercy. Walk humbly,” based off of Micah 6:8 in the Bible. I have been at Mission for 2.5 years. The current Pastor, Joel Thomas, is not teaching straight from the Bible and is not clear on his teachings. He also focuses too much on grace. My family is contemplating whether or not to stay at Mission. I will be using the…
King Schultz”, and what does he want with a shackled slave in the middle of a dark forest. With a neutral tone, the author then begins to discuss Tarantino’s use of characters, and the proclaimed “dues”, nonetheless this is done without criticism, allowing the reading to make their own judgement about the use of a “god like character to guide the plot wherever it must go”. Continuing with an unbiased tendency, the author guides the reader through thoughts of unease, Ebert even stated that…
when you do, and I’m not interested in what lame internet sites say. I want to know what you think. To analyze anything, consider its function (purpose) and form (design), and how the function and form work together. To apply this to literary criticism: Ask yourself what purposes the author has for writing -- what is he/she trying to show, or argue, or criticize, or question? Ask yourself how the author has formed the work -- what structures and techniques do you see him/her using? Ask…
How do I Love to Stop All the Clocks “Stop all the Clocks, Cut off the Telephone” by W.H. Auden and “How do I Love Thee?” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning are both poems that are expressing the author’s love for someone. However, with the aforementioned poems, the poets are in a different point in their experience of love. While Browning is writing for someone in that moment, Auden is writing in mourning for someone. Together, these poems show the power of love through life and after death. In…
In critique of my bible lessons, I must first address the issues of studying and preparing the lessons. I experienced difficulty in properly studying the Book of Philippians using the inductive study method, particularly gaining the information that I needed out of the text to develop a lesson. I am now aware that I rushed into the study of the Bible, without properly seeking God and tuning into what he would have me to learn from his word. I was so concerned about developing a lesson and…
Mutability and Permanance: An Analytical Exploration of Epigrams 4-6 in Spenser’s Translations of Theatre for Worldlings Reading literature by Edmund Spenser requires a keen eye and a willingness to investigate beyond the text. You are not simply able to read Spenser and somehow acquire what each line means as a first-time reader of his works. Reading Spenser peaks ones’ interest to explore common themes, similarities, imagery, and the allusions which bring forward the meaning behind the text.…
Fiction reflects the thoughts, aspirations, and struggles of its author. Through literary works, one can come to understand a cultural consciousness previously unbeknownst to them. With this in mind, historians have learned to use rather than ignore literature as an aid in their studies. Vernacular and modern tales of the Congo region capture both the fantastical and factual elements. Epics, like The Mwindo Epic, echo the foundation of Congolese culture form which thereafter conflict has arisen…
After our class discussion with Dr. Greenberg—regarding William Blake’s background and the societal context that influenced his poetry—I began to form various connections between Blake’s Introduction to the Songs of Innocence and Jean-François Lyotard’s The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge. With regard to The Postmodern Condition, I was intrigued by Lyotard’s argument that examined the method by which individuals acquire knowledge through their own societal perspectives. Lyotard’s…
Gender Performativity: Reading Mahasweta Devi?s Draupadi and Luisa Valenzuela?s Other Weapons In this paper I propose to read and discuss two short stories, Luisa Valenzuela?s Other Weapons and Mahasweta Devi?s Draupadi under a comparative spectrum. This apparent unlikely comparison from two distinct social, political, linguistic and cultural paradigms, as diverse as Latin America (Cuba?) and Bengal, is the result of my curious attempt to decipher Laura and Dopdi on the lines of Judith…