Week 8 Discussion Questions

Since we are in the “thick” of our theory study, a lot of the discussion questions from here on out will invoke a lot of these ideas.


1.Choose one of the poems assigned this week. Examine it in a New Critical light – consider that New Critics believe that good/great literature hinges on internal contradictions (in words, larger ideas, themes, etc.) that create the poem’s complexity and thus its beauty and communicative ability. Keep in mind that what’s meant here by “contradiction” means that two contradicting words, ideas, or themes are suggested in the poem. Ultimately, this contradiction is resolved, creating “organic unity” in the poem. These are the elements you are looking for to complete this discussion. Consider how, for instance, in Robert Frost’s well-known and acclaimed poem “The Road Less Traveled” the speaker wrestles throughout with the decision to take on path versus another. Because the speaker in this poem is explicitly talking about this contradiction, it’s pretty easy to identify (many times, a poem’s contradictions are implied, not stated directly). The title here actually “resolves” this contradiction (but the poem itself does, too, and very explicitly). Ultimately, our speaker chooses “The Road Less Traveled”, resolving his internal conflict. You’re looking for something similar in these poems. I have chosen these for a number of reasons; one of those involves the high level of emotion and conflict exhibited by the speakers – I think you will be able to sense and identify some level of contradiction here pretty easily.

2. Having read “From Protean to Poetic: The Poetry of Sylvia Plath”, in your text, choose one of the Plath poems available in your text or find one online. Explain how the poem you have selected conforms to or rejects the analysis in the critical essay.

3. Approach Plath’s “Daddy” from a reader-response perspective. Here’s a simple “method” for using some of the ideas put forth in this criticism. Before reading the poem, identify your expectations for the poem based on knowledge of the author or poem, the title, and anything else that strikes you (but the not the text itself). Analyze a section (you decide what this looks like), just as you would in any other objective analysis, then briefly discuss why you think you interpreted the section in this manner – what about your beliefs, experiences, likes, dislikes, familiarity with poetry analysis or Plath, etc. contribute to your analysis? Before moving on, “make a prediction” about what you expect to happen next based on your analysis thus far (“horizons of expectation). Continue reading until you find a good stopping point. Does the text at this point meet those expectations or reject them? How does the fact that the poem has met (or has not) your expectations change your approach, if it does? Repeat these steps until you reach the end of the poem.

4. Using the method above, do a reader-response analysis of one of the other three poems assigned for the week.

***You may do only of “each type” of analysis – one New Critical, one reader-response, in your answers.

5. Consider the play “The Glass Menagerie”. It would be difficult, very difficult, to do a reader-response critique of something this long and complex, so we’ll stick here with reader-response criticism. Again, follow the steps outlined in Question 3. As you negotiate such analysis, keep in mind that your response should be comprised of part textual analysis and part personal analysis – you + the text = the text. What does this text come to mean, ultimately, when analyzed in such a way?