Analyze This! notes for 6/23

(I'm taking the course Analyze This! from thepottersschool.org. Here are my notes from the 6/23/14 class meeting. I'll also post the essays and notes about the readings. No classes next week.)

“Good Country People” by Flannery O’Conner

            According to Mrs. Hopewell, who are “good country people?”

            Why does Mrs. Hopewell invite Manley Pointer to dinner?

            List Joy’s character qualities. Why does she leave home at 21? Why is she back? What does her leg             represent to her?

            Why can’t any of the women see through Manley Pointer?

            Identify the conflict in the story. How is it resolved?

            O’Connor said she wrote her stories as parables. How does this story work as a parable?

            O’Connor also said “God often uses violence to break down a person to be able to receive                           the grace of God.” Does this observation apply to this story?

“Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe

            How reliable is the narrator?

            How would you describe the narrator’s attitude about himself and his actions?

            Is there anything attractive or likeable about the narrator?

            How does the narrator use verbal and non-verbal strategies to gain the trust of Fortunado

            Do any of Fortunado’s words or actions support the narrator’s belief that he is worthy of hatred?

            Why does the narrator go to such lengths for revenge?

            Is the narrator a fully developed character?

            What is the theme of this story and how does it relate to the characters?

Analyze This! notes for 6/18/14

(I'm taking the course Analyze This! from thepottersschool.org. Here are my notes from the 6/16/14 class meeting. I'll also post the essays and notes about the readings.)

Literary Critical Analysis

            Analysis—breaks up story into parts and examines one aspect and relates the elements to the central meaning of the story.

            Evidence provided with specific and concrete examples from text.

Characterization

            Direct—exposition, narration, other characters’ words

            Indirect—shows us characters in action without telling the reader what to think. Dialogue can indirectly reveal character as well as action.

            Flat or round?

            Static or dynamic?

“Everyday Use” by Alice Walker

            Characterize the speaker and evaluate her reliability as a reporter and interpreter of events

            Where does she refrain from making judgments?

            Where does she present less than the full truth? Does it undercut her reliability?

            Describe as fully as possible the lives of the mother, Dee, and Maggie prior to the events   of the story.

“Roger Malvin’s Burial” by Nathanial Hawthorne

            Why does Roger Malvin tell Reuben Bourne to leave him in the wilderness?

            What sort of man is Reuben Bourne when he returns to the settlements?

            What does Reuben feel so guilty about? Should he be?

            How is the shocking death of the son mean in the story and to Reuben?

            How should we interpret Reuben’s new-found ability to pray at the end of the story?

Analyze This! notes for 6/16/14

(I'm taking the course Analyze This! from thepottersschool.org. Here are my notes from the 6/16/14 class meeting. I'll also post the essays and notes about the readings.)

(Most of the class was policies and how to use the software.)

What is literary critical analysis?

            Explains a work of literature through interpretation.

            An interpretation is an individual response that addresses meaning with the goal to deepen understanding.

            Areas for examination: character, theme, setting, conflict, tone, mood, symbolism, point of view, author’s style. (Talking about character and theme in this class.)

            A strong analysis offers evidence from the text itself.

Analyzing characters

            What they say

            What they do

            What others say about them

“A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” by Ernest Hemingway

            What the old man says

1.      “Another brandy.”

2.      “A little more.”

3.      “Thank you.”

4.      “Another brandy.”

5.      “Another.”

            What the old man does

1.      sits up late

2.      tries to commit suicide by hanging

3.      does not die because his niece cuts the rope

4.      raps his saucer with his glass

5.      drinks brandy

6.      motions with his finger

7.      looks across the square

8.      looks at the waiters

9.      points at his glass

10.  stands up

11.  counts the saucers

12.  pays for the drinks

13.  leaves half a peseta for a tip

14.  walks unsteadily but with dignity down the street

            What other people say about the old man

1.      “Last week he tried to commit suicide.”

2.      “He was in despair...[about] nothing.”

3.      “He has plenty of money.”

4.      “The guard will pick him up.”

5.      “You’ll be drunk.”

6.      “He’ll stay all night.”

7.      “He’s drunk now.”

8.      “He’s drunk every night.”

9.      “He hung himself with a rope.”

10.  “He’s got plenty [of money].”

11.  “He must be eighty years old.”

12.  “Anyway I should say he was eighty.”

13.  “He stays up because he likes it.”

14.  “He’s lonely.”

15.  “He had a wife once.”

16.  “He might be better with a wife.”

17.  “His niece looks after him.”

18.  “This old man is clean.”

19.  “He drinks without spilling. Even now, drunk.”