This week we more extensively explored the difference between literature and commercial fiction, practiced poem explication, and discussed our summer reading.
It seemed that the class was very split on the subject of commercial fiction v. literature. After reading the selection from "Reading the Story," many of my classmates seemed almost offended at the authors frank differentiation of the two types of novels. I understood their point, however, it seems that scholars in English and literature are a lot more seasoned in literature and what makes it supposedly superior to commercial fiction, and probably don't consider the view of the average consumer of commercial fiction. One of the most interesting exercises we did with this in mind was the short story reading. When choosing which selections to use as examples of literature and which to use as commercial fiction, I found myself having great trouble choosing which was which. What makes a certain phrase a literary one? Is is high vocabulary or the way it resonates with the reader? Is it commercial fiction to use terse prose, or does that indicate the reality often expressed in literature?
On the front of poem explication, we looked at "The Eagle" by Alfred Lloyd Tennyson. What struck me about this is the seemingly infinite ways one could interpret the meaning of the poem. When we first broke into groups to discuss its meaning, I heard that it was a power metaphor, America, JFK, Abe Lincoln, Kings, Queens, but what I discovered through this is that although the interpretations all had different initial meanings, they all had a similar theme: power. I wonder if more people tried to interpret the poem with us, we could narrow the meaning down even further.
It's getting easier to participate in class the more I learn about the setup. I look forward to next week.
Mia
It seemed that the class was very split on the subject of commercial fiction v. literature. After reading the selection from "Reading the Story," many of my classmates seemed almost offended at the authors frank differentiation of the two types of novels. I understood their point, however, it seems that scholars in English and literature are a lot more seasoned in literature and what makes it supposedly superior to commercial fiction, and probably don't consider the view of the average consumer of commercial fiction. One of the most interesting exercises we did with this in mind was the short story reading. When choosing which selections to use as examples of literature and which to use as commercial fiction, I found myself having great trouble choosing which was which. What makes a certain phrase a literary one? Is is high vocabulary or the way it resonates with the reader? Is it commercial fiction to use terse prose, or does that indicate the reality often expressed in literature?
On the front of poem explication, we looked at "The Eagle" by Alfred Lloyd Tennyson. What struck me about this is the seemingly infinite ways one could interpret the meaning of the poem. When we first broke into groups to discuss its meaning, I heard that it was a power metaphor, America, JFK, Abe Lincoln, Kings, Queens, but what I discovered through this is that although the interpretations all had different initial meanings, they all had a similar theme: power. I wonder if more people tried to interpret the poem with us, we could narrow the meaning down even further.
It's getting easier to participate in class the more I learn about the setup. I look forward to next week.
Mia