Tcnicas de estudio y anlisis en literatura ingles

Exam 2
Dpto. de Filologa Inglesa

Name and suername______________________________________

Date___________________________________________________

I. Anwer the following brief questions. Please, left a wide left margin for the corrector to
add notes. (5 points each)
1. 1.1. Discuss the notion of literature as belles lettres.
To start with, we may consider formal properties. A literary text is an artistic text, i.e,
belles lettres, i.e., a text which is aesthetic, i.e., which creates beauty and provokes
emotions using words in a like manner as other arts do with other materials to achieve
the same: painting, using forms and colours on a plane; sculpture, using three
dimensional materials such as marble or bronze; music, through pitch an rhythm;
architecture, with bricks, stones, mortar, slates, columns, etc.
Resorting again to the OED, we could define literature in a second approach of our
discussion as: writing which has claim to consideration on the ground of beauty of
form or emotional effect.
2. 1.2-3 In which sense do text such as the excerpt from John Donnes The Canonization
distinguish themselves from other literary texts such as Pride and Prejudice? (5)
Here we can observe a great density of literary resources: similes, parallelisms,
anaphoric references, ellipsis, rhymed verse with end-stopped and run-on lines, etc. at
the level of microstyle, i.e., in the domain of the sentence, the paragraph, or the short
poem.
However, other texts, especially narrative texts such as realistic novels, show little
density of literary resource at this level. Their artistry resides, notwithstanding, in
features of macrostyle (the domain of text and discourse). i.e., in the way they handle
macrostructural elements such as authorial tone, plot construction, character study,
society study, orchestration of plot(s), characters, social description, etc.
3. 1.3. Discuss the openness to interpretation of literary texts.
The fictive nature of literary texts has an appended consequence: they are open to
interpretation. This is something that characterizes literary texts. They may have
different intentions and general meaning for different readers, provided that their
interpretations are coherently grounded in the text. Thus, for instance, there is not
general accord in the specialized criticism as what the general meaning of great pieces
of literature. How to interpret literary pieces such as Don Quixote or Hamlet? Are
Cervantes and Shakespeare proposing an appreciative view or man or are they being
pessimistic about human nature? Are they conservative or progressive? Does really
Don Quixote stand for the idealist side of mankind and Sancho Panza for the utilitarian,
egotistical and realistic drive? [etc.]
4. 1.6. Which nineteenth novel century, which appeared first in a serialized version,
exemplifies the case of no direct (simultaneous) contact between the ADDRESSER
and the ADDRESSEE. Who is its author? When did it appear in its serialized
version? When did it appear as a book?
In literary communication there is usually no direct (simultaneous) contact between the
ADDRESSER and the ADDRESSEE. The author, for instance, Thomas Hardy, wrote
his novel Tess of the dUbervilles in a serialized version in a newspaper in 1891, it
reached his first readers, chapter by chapter, between July and December of that year;
Thomas Hardy did not know most of his readers at the time (though it is true that
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relatives and friends may well have discussed the novel with him and ordinary readers
may have corresponded with him); then it appeared in book in 1892, and we can
presume that most reader of this new edition did not know Hardy, personally at least,
nor did Hardy know most of them either. Hardy died in 1928 and, after that year, his
novel would follow its own path meeting a great number of different readers without
the presence of the author.
5. 1.6. Which are the six stages of literary appreciation according to Correa Caldern
and Lzaro Carreter (1969)?
1. Close and attentive reading of the text.
2. Try to locate the text within the period, author, and works.
3. Determine the theme and motifs.
4. Determine the structure (macrostyle)
5. Analyze the form trying to elucidate in which way it contributes to enhance the
theme (macro and microstyle)
6. Give a final conclusion.
6. 2.1. As part of ones communicative experience, which are the skills necessary for the
successful reception of written texts of the kind that have traditionally been called
literary?
a) The area of linguistic and textual competence, which includes the knowledge about
the features and rules of the language concerning pronunciation, sentence formation
and vocabulary and the way they can be used to convey a specific meaning.
b) The area of discursive competence, which concerns the ability to relate aspects of
textual meaning to specific communicative situations.
c) The area of sociocultural competence, which is defined by the ability to recognize
the context of interpersonal relations where communication takes place and the
context of referential relations between the text and other discourses.
7. 2.2 Explain the reasons why not all interpretations of literary texsts are equally
acceptable?
Neither any reading response nor any response is then admissible. An acceptable
response must go beyond the surface or literal meaning of a text and capture the
indirect ways through which the literary text expresses itself in such things as themes,
motifs, atmosphere, the harmony of the whole, and the relationship of literary devices
to themes or the social insertion of reality (social, political or cultural) in the text. When
readers lack literary competence, i.e., use their own little reading experience as the
basic source of information to elicit and explain the nature of the linguistic mechanisms
that govern meaning, the results may be faulty.
8. 2.5. What does Post-Colonial theory consists in?
A way of reading and rereading texts of both metropolitan and colonial cultures to draw
deliberate attention to the profound and inescapable effects of colonization on literary
production. It is a form of deconstructive reading most usually applied to works
emanating from the colonizers (but may be applied to works by the colonized) which
demonstrates the extent to which the text contradicts its underlying assumptions
(civilization, justice, aesthetics, sensibility, race) and reveals its (often ultimate)
colonialist ideologies and processes
9. 3.1. Discuss the relation of verse to poetry. Give the names of authors and works to
illustrate your statement.
But we must not forget that verse, important as it is for poetry, is not all the poetry.
Much of historical verse in literature is not poetry, but narrative (Chaucers
Canterbury Tales, Spensers Faery Queen), or drama (medieval drama in diverse
verse forms or Elizabethan drama mainly in iambic pentameter). And we must not
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forget either that there is a great deal of poetry interspersed in many overcoded
stretches of narrative or drama. There are even modalities of poetry in prose
(poetical prose) or even dramas which are mainly poetical (Yeats, Garca Lorca).
10. 3.2. Give a definition of poetry based on the criteria given in the classnotes.
1. Poetry is a highly overcoded variety of literary language usually, but not necessarily,
formalized, in the first instance, through verse.
2. In a second instance, it is formalized through a high density of other literary
resources: rhyme, schemes, tropes and figures of thought.
3. The central or core component of poetry as a system is the lyric.
4. The attitude of the narrator (poetic-I) as seen in the lyric, is internal-intimate.
5. The main concern of poetry is the expression of emotions.
11. 3.3. Give the rhyming patterns, using A B C, D, etc, of the following stanzas:
Tercet: three lines with one rhyme AAA, BBB, CCC, etc.
Terza rima: a triple group of lines consisting of interlocking triplets, rhyming ABA
BCB CDC, etc.
Sonnet: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG (Shakesperean) / ABAB BCBC CDCD EE
(Spenserian) / ABBAABBA CDECDE (Petrarchan).
Ottava rima: eight line rhyming ABABABCC
12. 3.3. What is the difference between tropes and figures of thought?
Tropes have to do with content. They are devices involving alteration of the normal
meaning of an expression; they foreground irregularities of content.
Figures of thought are more concerned with psychological strategy of developing a
theme. They deal with emotional appeals and techniques of argument.
13. 4.1. In an I-narration novel such as Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, Mr
Lockwood writes to himself in what apparently is a diary:
1801 - I have just returned from a visit to my landlord the solitary neighbour that I shall be troubled with.
This is certainly a beautiful country!
This narration itself contains long passages reporting Nellie Dean's narration of the events of
the story to Mr Lockwood:
About twelve o'clock, that night, was born the Catherine you saw at Wuthering Heights: a puny, seven
months' child; and two hours after the mother died, having never recovered sufficient consciousness to
miss Heathcliff, or know Edgar. [Ch 16]
Draw the scheme representing the discursive situation of the narrative in this novel.

14. 4.4. Explain and discuss the case of the unreliable narrator.
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But there are cases where the standards of judgement on one level contrast with those
on another level.
One of these cases is the so-called 'unreliable narrator, an exemplary case of which
being represented by Chaucers the pilgrim (the narrator different from Chaucer the
author), who in the presentation of the characters of The Canterbury Tales navely
approves of all them no matter the moral faults they evince, so that the reader is able to
see beyond his uncritically approving point of view to their serious faults.
In this case the reader produces a double response: one to the (questionable) actions of
a character and another regulated by their participation as implied readers on the
implied authors judgement.
15. 4.7. Explain what informants are.
Informants serve to identify, to locate in time and space.
In contrast to indices, which involve an activity of deciphering and in which the reader
is to learn to know a character or an atmosphere; informants bring ready-made
knowledge, their functionality, like that of catalysers, is thus weak without being nil.
Whatever its 'flatness' in relation to the rest of the story, the informant (for example, the
exact age of a character) always serves to authenticate the reality of the referent, to
embed fiction in the real world. Informants are realist operators and as such possess an
undeniable functionality not on the level of the story but on that of the discourse.
16. 4.10-11. There are up to 12 different types of characters such as protagonist,
antagonist, anti-hero, foil, or symbolic. Give five different more types of characters
and briefly explain them.
Major or central characters: are vital to the development and resolution of the
conflict. In other words, the plot and resolution of conflict revolves around these
characters.
Minor characters: serve to complement the major characters and help move the
plot events forward.
Dynamic: A dynamic character is a person who changes over time, usually as a
result of resolving a central conflict or facing a major crisis. Most dynamic
characters tend to be central rather than peripheral characters, because resolving
the conflict is the major role of central characters.
Static: A static character is someone who does not change over time; his or her
personality does not transform or evolve.
Round: A rounded character is anyone who has a complex personality; he or she
is often portrayed as a conflicted and contradictory person.
Flat: A flat character is the opposite of a round character. This literary personality
is notable for one kind of personality trait or characteristic.
Stock: Stock characters are those types of characters who have become
conventional or stereotypical through repeated use in particular types of stories.
Stock characters are instantly recognizable to readers or audience members (e.g.
the femme fatale, the cynical but moral private eye, the mad scientist, the geeky
boy with glasses, and the faithful sidekick). Stock characters are normally one-
dimensional flat characters, but sometimes stock personalities are deeply
conflicted, rounded characters (e.g. the "Hamlet" type).
17. 5.1. Which are the features of drama in Contradistinction to Other Genres?
Mimesis vs. diegesis.
Ostension: the showing of objects and events (and the performance at large) to the
audience, rather than describing, explaining or defining them.
Link between text and performance. Drama is meant to be performed. There are
traits of this genre that can be appreciated only when the text is performed.
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Importance of the audience: its reaction.

Coexistence of various communicative codes: extra-linguistic vs. verbal codes.
Collective genre: reading a poem may be an individual act, but a play is received by
an audience.
A play is independent, self-sufficient.
Double communicative system:
o Characters-character
o Play-audience
o Dramatic irony. Presence of the audience. Characters say or
Importance of dramatic dialogues: it is the only way in which action and description
develop in drama.
18. 5.2 In which ways does the playwright communicate the setting to his/her audience:
Through the characters words (and sometimes names), dress, and behaviour.
Through the sets produced by the set designer.
Through the knowledge the audience bring to the performance, our cultural or
encyclopedic knowledge.
19. 5.4. What elements does the performance text as sound include?
Perfomance text. Sound.
o Noises
o The actors voice
o Music
o Both the actors voice and music includes:
Pitch5
Stress
Volume
Tempo
Duration
Quality
o Kind of music according to use:
Incidental songs
Background music
Integrated songs
Integrated instrumental accompaniment.
o Purpose of noises, actors voice and music:
To establish mood
To characterize
To suggest ideas
To compress characterization
To compress expositio
To lenda variety
To add pleasure
20. 5.5. What are adjacency pairs and what do they consist of?
o Adjacency pairs are the basic scheme breaking down conversation in
stimulus-response or question-answer units of interaction.
o Adjacency pairs are composed of opening moves (the initiation of a
conversation) and responding moves (the basic response to initiation moves).
The latter could be supporting or challenging (ignoring or refusing the
content of the opening move)
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II. Make a comments as requested of three of the following passages below. Please, left a
wide left margin for the corrector to add notes.

1. Give the title and author of this poem. Make a short commentary stating the
subject, and the theme or themes, the most salient literary resources to support the
theme(s):
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,

Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright

Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,

And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight

Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

2. Give the title and the author of the following excerpt. Explain what is happening.
Make a commentary on the technique and the following cultural, topical or
encyclopedic elements underlined:
He took up a page from the pile of cut sheets. The model farm at Kinnereth on the lakeshore
of Tiberias. Can become ideal winter sanatorium. Moses Montefiore. I thought he was.
Farmhouse, wall round it, blurred cattle cropping. He held the page from him : interesting :
read it nearer, the title, the blurred cropping cattle, the page rustling. A young white heifer.
Those mornings in the cattlemarket the beasts lowing in their pens, branded sheep, flop and
fall of dung, the breeders in hobnailed boots trudging through the litter, slapping a palm on a
ripemeated hindquarter, theres a prime one, unpeeled switches in their hands. He held the
page aslant patiently, bending his senses and his will, his soft subject gaze at rest. The
crooked skirt swinging whack by whack by whack.

3. What can you say about discursive situation of the narrative, discoursal point of
view, point of view according to the grammatical person of the narrator, report
modes of this excerpt? Is it or part of it (which?) a nuclei of the whole narration?
Are there catalyzers, indices and informants in this fragment?
Go and visit grandmother, who has been sick. Take her the oatcakes I've baked for her on
the hearthstone and a little pot of butter.
The good child does as her mother bids - five miles' trudge through the forest; do not leave
the path because of the bears, the wild boar, the starving wolves. Here, take your father's
hunting knife; you know how to use it.
The child had a scabbby coat of sheepskin to keep out the cold, she knew the forest too
well to fear it but she must always be on her guard. When she heard that freezing howl of a
wolf, she dropped her gifts, seized her knife, and turned on the beast.
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It was a huge one, with red eyes and running, grizzled chops; any but a mountaineer's
child would have died of fright at the sight of it. It went for her throat, as wolves do, but she
made a great swipe at it with her father's knife and slashed off its right forepaw.
The wolf let out a gulp, almost a sob, when it saw what had happened to it; wolves are less
brave than they seem. It went lolloping off disconsolately between the trees as well as it
could on three legs, leaving a trail of blood behind it. The child wiped the blade of her knife
clean on her apron, wrapped up the wolf's paw in the cloth in which her mother had packed
the oatcakes and went on towards her grandmother's house. Soon it came on to snow so
thickly that the path and any footsteps, track or spoor that might have been upon it were
obscured.
She found her grandmother was so sick she had taken to her bed and fallen into a fretful
sleep, moaning and shaking so that the child guessed she had a fever. She felt the forehead, it
burned. She shook out the cloth from her basket, to use it to make the old woman a cold
compress, and the wolf's paw fell to the floor.
But it was no longer a wolf's paw. It was a hand, chopped off at the wrist, a hand
toughened with work and freckled with old age. There was a wedding ring on the third finger
and a wart in the index finger. By the wart, she knew it for her grandmother's hand.
She pulled back the sheet but the old woman woke up, at that, and began to struggle,
squawking and shrieking like a thing possessed. But the child was strong, and armed with her
father's hunting knife; she managed to hold her grandmother down long enough to see the
cause of her fever. There was a bloody stump where her right hand should have been,
festering already.
The child crossed herself and cried out so loud the neighbours heard her and come rushing
in. They know the wart on the hand at once for a witch's nipple; they drove the old woman, in
her shift as she was, out into the snow with sticks, beating her old carcass as far as the edge of
the forest, and pelted her with stones until she fell dead.
Now the child lived in her grandmother's house; she prospered.

4. Analyze the presence of the two kinds of text of drama as well as turn-taking, moves
and adjacency pairs, topical sequences, principles of conversation, and principles of
politeness and how all this adds signification to the excerpt.
Two ELIZABETHANS passing time in a place without any visible character.
They are well-dressed - hats, cloaks, sticks and all.
Each of them has a large leather money bag.
GUILDERSTERN's bag is nearly empty.
ROSENCRANTZ's bag is nearly full.
The reason being: they are betting on the toss of a coin, in the following manner:
GUILDERSTERN (hereafter 'GUIL') takes a coin out of his bag, spins it, letting it fall.
ROSENCRANTZ (hereafter 'ROS') studies it, announces it as "heads" (as it happens) and
puts it into his own bag. Then they repeat the process. They have apparently been doing it for
some time.
The run of "heads" is impossible, yet ROS betrays no surprise at all - he feels none. However
he is nice enough to feel a little embarrassed at taking so much money off his friend. Let that
be his character note.
GUIL is well alive to the oddity of it. He is not worried about the money, but he is worried by
the implications; aware but not going to panic about it - his character note.
GUIL sits.
ROS stands (he does the moving, retrieving coins).
GUIL spins. ROS studies coin.
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ROS: Heads.
(He picks it up and puts it in his money bag. The process is repeated.)
Heads.
(Again.)
ROS: Heads.
(Again.)
Heads.
(Again.)
Heads.
GUIL (flipping a coin): There is an art to the building up of suspense.
ROS: Heads.
GUIL (flipping another): Though it can be done by luck alone.
ROS: Heads.
GUIL: If that's the word I'm after.
ROS (raises his head at GUIL): Seventy-six love.
(GUIL gets up but has nowhere to go. He spins another coin over his shoulder without
looking at it, his attention being directed at his environment or lack of it.)
Heads.
GUIL: A weaker man might be moved to re-examine his faith, if in nothing else at least in the
law of probability.
(He slips a coin over his shoulder as he goes to look upstage.)
ROS: Heads.
(GUIL, examining the confines of the stage, flips over two more coins, as he does so, one by
one of course. ROS announces each of them as "heads".)
GUIL (musing): The law of probability, as it has been oddly asserted, is something to do with
the proposition that if six monkeys (he has surprised himself)... if six monkeys were...
ROS: Game?
GUIL: Were they?
ROS: Are you?
GUIL (understanding): Games. (Flips a coin.) The law of averages, if I have got this right,
means that if six monkeys were thrown up in the air for long enough they would land on their
tails about as often as they would land on their -
ROS: Heads. (He picks up the coin.)
GUIL: Which at first glance does not strike one as a particularly rewarding speculation, in
either sense, even without the monkeys. I mean you wouldn't bet on it. I mean I would, but
you wouldn't... (As he flips a coin.)
ROS: Heads.
GUIL: Would you? (Flips a coin.)
ROS: Heads.
(Repeat.)
Heads. (He looks up at GUIL - embarrassed laugh.) Getting a bit of a bore, isn't it?
GUIL (coldly): A bore?
ROS: Well...
GUIL: What about suspense?
ROS (innocently): What suspense?
(Small pause.)
GUIL: It must be the law of diminishing returns... I feel the spell about to be broken.
(Energising himself somewhat.)
(He takes out a coin, spins it high, catches it, turns it over on to the back of his other hand,
studies the coin and tosses it to ROS. His energy deflates and he sits.)
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Well, it was a even chance... if my calculations are correct.

ROS: Eighty-five in a row - beaten the record!
GUIL: Don't be absurd.
ROS: Easily!
GUIL (angry): Is that it, then? Is that all?
ROS: What?
GUIL: A new record? Is that as far as you prepared to go?
ROS: Well...