English 5000: Topics for First Short Paper
Choose
your topic from the list given below. Refer
to at least two theoretical works.
You may agree or disagree with any of the
theorists listed (including me). The
reasoned character of your arguments will be the primary criterion for
assessing the quality of your essay. The
quality of reasoned discussion, not agreement or disagreement, is what will
count.
The topics are
the sentences in bold-face. The
subsequent comments in each topic are meant only to stimulate your thinking and
suggest possible aspects. They are not
meant as an outline or guide to your essay.
It would NOT be a good idea merely to answer each question posed, in
sequence. You need to formulate the
topic in your own way, formulate a set of propositions (thesis) about the
topic, and construct a coherent essay.
You may
illustrate your ideas with reference to any literary texts you like, including
those we have read for this class, but be sure not to slip into an extended
interpretation or exposition of any literary text. The main focus for these essays must be on
the theoretical topics designated here.
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1. Formulate what you yourself think
is the whole scope, character, and purpose of literary criticism and literary
theory. (Remember, you must refer to
the formulations of at least two other theorists.) Be as specific as possible about the
character of literature and the content of literary theory. That is, what are the central, elementary
characteristics of literature, and what, accordingly, are the central
principles of literary theory? Some of
the issues you might wish to consider are the relation of literature to life,
to nature, to any spiritual order (if you think there is one), to the
personality of the individual writer, to the culture in which the writer
writes, and to science or philosophy or religion. You might wish to consider the issue of
whether criticism is or can be a systematic, objective ("scientific")
study, or whether it is, rather, one of the fine arts, a matter of taste and
intuition and spontaneous, ad hoc description and evocation. You might want to consider the relation of
objective knowledge and subjective response or evaluation.
2. What are the constituents of
historical period, with (if you like) specific reference to Romanticism, or to
some other period? Is it possible to
define a period as a coherent entity? If
not, why not? If so, what are the
characteristics--philosophical, moral, imaginative, psychological, etc.--that
distinguish any one period from another?
Are there shared ideas or ways of feeling that animate a wide spectrum
of writers at a given time and that are sharply different from those of another
time? Is socioeconomic context a
determining factor? Are intellectual
history or the development of new literary forms decisive? What are the literary manifestations of
period quality? That is, what literary
forms or styles or characteristics help to distinguish a period? Do literary forms interact with intellectual
history and with changing social and socioeconomic forces in such a way as to
create distinctive periods? Are periods
in any way cyclical or dialectical? That
is, do we find repetitive patterns, or is there rather a unidirectional
movement such that any one period has a unique historical character? In what way do previous periods impinge on
later? That is, in what way is the
definition of any one period dependent on its relation to earlier periods? Is literary history in any way cumulative?
3. Discuss the issue of realism and
symbolism. Is literature
representational? Does it reflect the
author's personality or point of view?
Does it reflect the cultural order in which it is written? What, if any, is the relation between
scientific and literary realism? What
are the alternatives to realism? Is there a way (Frye's, for example) to treat of symbolism
from a religious or transcendental perspective?
What relation does symbolism have to Jungian archetypal psychology? Are introversion and extraversion relevant to
the dichotomy between realism and symbolism?
Are the two forms of representation antithetical, complementary, or
essentially unrelated? Do they form a
continuum or a contrast? What kind of
differences would they produce in characterization, setting, or plot? If this dichotomy is radically faulty or
inadequate, what better conceptual construct could be devised to explain the
literary phenomena it is designed to explain?
4. Compare the conception of
literature in two or more theorists (for example, Abrams, Culler, Wellek,
5.
Is it possible to define literature? If so, how?
If not, what characteristics place it beyond description and distinguish
it from everything else in the dictionary that can be defined? (You can of course argue that definition is
itself inherently impossible or illusory, but if so you will need to explain
how what errors of conception animate those who write dictionaries or otherwise
make definitions.) What are the
components of literature? How wide a
range of kinds or genres does it encompass?
How can it be distinguished from non-literary works? What relation, if any does it bear to life
and experience? What is its nature and
purpose? How does it fit, if at
all, within the total structure of knowledge
(if there is such a total structure)?
6.
What order can be discerned in the relations among literary genres? Is there any “natural” generic order or are
all systems of genre merely conventional?
Would a theory of genres have to be situated within some deeper or
broader theory of the origins and functions of literature, or is genre itself
an ultimate and irreducible category of literary understanding? What do tone, point of view, and subject
matter have to do with genre? How is
emotional quality factored in? What of
characteristic plot structures, specific life phases (for example, growing up,
getting married)? Can any of these
factors be correlated with larger natural rhythms, for example, day and night,
the four seasons, the phases of the life cycle?
Does the development of genres have any discernible parallels with
biological forms of development in the individual (ontogeny) or the species
(phylogeny)? Do genres change over
time? Is ancient tragedy basically
similar or basically different from Renaissance tragedy? from modern tragedy?
7. Discuss one or more of the parodies
in Postmodern Pooh. If
you like, you could compare the parody with one or more of the theory texts, or
you could compare two or more of the parody chapters. How do the parodies work? What is their underlying criticism of the
views they depict? What is being
mocked? How is the mockery made
effective? Is there any norm or standard
against which the subject of the parody is being measured? If implicit norms do exist and can be
detected, would it be possible to construct an essay about Pooh based on
these implicit norms? Could you write
that essay? If so, that’s an option.
8. Is there a paradigm in literary
theory at the present time? If so,
what is it? What are its common features? What are its elementary assumptions and
characteristic attitudes? What is its
relation to other forms of mental activity or other academic disciplines? What are its motives or purposes? What is its rationale or justification? If there is not a paradigm, what set
of dispersed, heterogeneous practices and doctrines does exist? Is this heterogeneity right or at least
necessary and inevitable? Is it a
peculiarity of the historical moment? Is
it a reflex of the incomplete or indeterminate character of all knowledge?