. Talk about the altrusim v. selfishness, one of the novel's key issues. How do the characters (or Rand) turn those qualities on their heads?
2. Discuss the portrayal of women in the novel, specifically Dominique and Catherine. How do they compare to the novel's male characters?
3. Consider Roark's bombing of the Cortlandt Complex. Are we supposed to approve or disapprove his use of violence?
4. What are the differences between the Dean's philosophy and Roark's? Consider, for instance, how the Dean believes in traditional architecture and the desires of the client rather than innovation and artistic freedom.
5. Toohey and Roark are alike in that they are driven by the belief in adhering to one's principles. How do they differ?
FOR BRILLIANT STUDENTS:
6. Read Book IV, Chapter 3 of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics (and as much of the rest of Aristotle's ethics as possible) and write an essay answering the question: Does Howard Roark qualify as an example of Aristotle's "proud man" (sometimes translated as "the great-souled man")?
7. Read Ayn Rand's novel, Atlas Shrugged. Both novels are about the role of the mind in man's life. In The Fountainhead, the focus is on the individualistic nature of the mind's functioning, while Atlas Shrugged emphasizes the mind as man's tool of survival. Compare Ayn Rand's understanding of the mind's role in human life as presented in The Fountainhead with the broader and deeper understanding in Atlas Shrugged.
8. Read Marx and Engels' The Communist Manifesto. Is the collectivist society envisioned by Ellsworth Toohey consistent with the communist state advocated by Marx and Engels?
9. Read Ayn Rand's The Virtue of Selfishness or Leonard Peikoff's Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand. How does Howard Roark's character and life illustrate Ayn Rand's theory of rational egoism?
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Fountainhead Part 3 Questions
Part Three
1.) Gail Wynand is a brilliant individual who rose out of the slums by means of his own talent and effort. But despite his reverence for man's noblest achievements, his newspaper presents lurid, loathsome values to the most vulgar people. Why does Wynand pander in this manner? What is the meaning of such a self-betrayal?
2.) Toohey presents Mallory's sculpture of Dominique to Wynand in an effort to bring Dominique and Wynand together. What is the purpose of Toohey's scheme? Why does he need something to distract Wynand's attention away from his newspaper?
3.) What is Toohey's overall purpose on The New York Banner? What is his overall purpose in regard to society in general? Dominique warns Wynand against Toohey, but he is too contemptuous of Toohey to heed her. Is Dominique correct in her assessment of Toohey's actual motives?
4.) What is Dominique's motive in marrying Wynand, for becoming "Mrs. Wynand Papers"? Does it bear any similarity to her reason for marrying Keating? Does she accomplish the goal she set out to reach? Tie this discussion to the quote from Nietzsche--that nobility of soul is not to be lost--that the author cites in the "Introduction" to the 25th anniversary edition
"It is not the works, but the belief which is here decisive and determines the order of rank--to employ once more an old religious formula with a new and deeper meaning,--it is some fundamental certainty which a noble soul has about itself, something which is not to be sought, is not to be found, and perhaps, also, is not to be lost.--The noble soul has reverence for itself." (Friedrich Nietzche, Beyond Good and Evil.)
5.) Why does Wynand fall deeply in love with Dominique? Do they share noble qualities in common? Have they made a similar mistake? Because of Wynand's undeniable virtues, do Dominique's feelings for him change?
6.) On her way to Reno to secure a divorce from Keating, Dominique stops in Clayton, Ohio to visit Roark. Why is Dominique willing to marry Roark only if he renounces architecture? What is the meaning of Roark's response that if he wanted to be cruel, he would accept her proposal? Aside from the obvious fact that she loves Roark, what does this visit show the reader about Dominique?
1.) Gail Wynand is a brilliant individual who rose out of the slums by means of his own talent and effort. But despite his reverence for man's noblest achievements, his newspaper presents lurid, loathsome values to the most vulgar people. Why does Wynand pander in this manner? What is the meaning of such a self-betrayal?
2.) Toohey presents Mallory's sculpture of Dominique to Wynand in an effort to bring Dominique and Wynand together. What is the purpose of Toohey's scheme? Why does he need something to distract Wynand's attention away from his newspaper?
3.) What is Toohey's overall purpose on The New York Banner? What is his overall purpose in regard to society in general? Dominique warns Wynand against Toohey, but he is too contemptuous of Toohey to heed her. Is Dominique correct in her assessment of Toohey's actual motives?
4.) What is Dominique's motive in marrying Wynand, for becoming "Mrs. Wynand Papers"? Does it bear any similarity to her reason for marrying Keating? Does she accomplish the goal she set out to reach? Tie this discussion to the quote from Nietzsche--that nobility of soul is not to be lost--that the author cites in the "Introduction" to the 25th anniversary edition
"It is not the works, but the belief which is here decisive and determines the order of rank--to employ once more an old religious formula with a new and deeper meaning,--it is some fundamental certainty which a noble soul has about itself, something which is not to be sought, is not to be found, and perhaps, also, is not to be lost.--The noble soul has reverence for itself." (Friedrich Nietzche, Beyond Good and Evil.)
5.) Why does Wynand fall deeply in love with Dominique? Do they share noble qualities in common? Have they made a similar mistake? Because of Wynand's undeniable virtues, do Dominique's feelings for him change?
6.) On her way to Reno to secure a divorce from Keating, Dominique stops in Clayton, Ohio to visit Roark. Why is Dominique willing to marry Roark only if he renounces architecture? What is the meaning of Roark's response that if he wanted to be cruel, he would accept her proposal? Aside from the obvious fact that she loves Roark, what does this visit show the reader about Dominique?
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Types of Literary Criticism
Overview
For all its shortcomings, literary criticism still provides the poet with the tools for self-evaluation and self-improvement. It introduces work of periods and cultures different in theme and treatment.
Literary criticism comes in various shapes and aims. At best it poses searching questions of the writer, and insists that he understands how the arts, the sciences and philosophy have different but coexisting concepts of truth and meaning. Art in the end cannot be divorced from contemporary life, and that consideration leads on to literary theory.
Introduction
Literary critics have many skills, {1} but those which the practising poet needs to acquire are close reading, explication and evaluation. And the first two because most poems fail through lack of care. The originating emotion still clots the lines or, in striving for originality, the work becomes muddled, pretentious or incoherent. The incomprehensible can always be taken for the profound of course, and no doubt much get published for that reason, but only the beginner will see publication as the sole purpose of writing. Poems take too much of the writer's time and emotional lifeblood not to be made as good as possible, and dishonesty will spoil even the best talents. Poems grow through evaluation, that dialogue between what has been written and what was originally hoped for, between what the poems say now and what they might with further work. Self appraisal is inescapable.
But the critic's eye is a rare gift, rarer than sainthood, Housman thought, and matters have lately become more controversial. Criticism is not fashionable, and has been replaced by literary theory in many university departments. {2} The criticism that continues to be written naturally concentrates on established figures. The remainder, the reviewing/criticism appraising the great torrent that pours off the small presses, is often partisan, shallow and/or doggedly optimistic. {3} Even the aims of criticism seem somewhat doubtful. {4} No single critical approach seems invariably successful, {5} and insights from differing approaches do not necessarily cohere. Nothing brings finality of judgement, moreover, and one critic's findings can be undone by another's ingenuity. Much more damaging, the premises even of literary theory have been uprooted by radical theory. {6}
Purposes of Theory
What does literary criticism hope to achieve? There are many schools of thought, {7} but all take as their starting point the analysis of the reader's or listener's response. Poems may be complex, requiring a good deal of explanation or even correction of corrupt scripts, but there has to be an immediate impact of some sort: not very strong, and not blatantly emotional necessarily, but something that allows the critic to ask: how is this obtained? how significant is it? how does it compare with similar works? No impact and there is nothing to analyze. The work has failed, at least where that particular reader is concerned, and no amount of critical cleverness, literary allusions and information will bully him into responding to what he cannot feel.
But who is the reader? Each and everyone, as Stanley Fish might claim {8}, or Milton's "select audience though few"? Poets may not make money but they still have markets to consider. Whom are they writing for — the editors of leading magazines, friends, society at large, or themselves? And to say something significant about the world around them, to resolve personal quandaries, to gain a literary reputation with those who count? In an ideal world all aims might be served by the one work, but the world is not ideal, and aims needed to be sorted out.
It is the original intention or purpose of writing, that much historical and sociological analysis attempts to understand. In Shakespeare or Chaucer, and much more so in the poetry of ancient Greece or China, there are different conventions to appreciate, and many words cannot be fully translated. {9} The difficulties afflict more than the professional translator or literary scholar, as modern poetry very much uses recherché imagery and far-flung allusion. A simple word like "faith" would be very differently appreciated in the church-going communities of small-town America and the Nietzsche-reading intelligentsia of London's Hampstead. The meaning, the literal meaning of the poem, might be the same but not the insights that gave the poem its real subject matter.
With conventions come the expectations of the audience. Sidney wrote for the great country house, Shakespeare for the public stage; Middleton for the City. Their work is different in rhetoric, diction and imagery, and had to be. Social distinctions may be much less marked today, but the intellectual traditions continue. Poets are very choosy about their venues. Writers who live in California will keep a Manhattan address. {10} Poems that work well on the page will not necessarily rise to a public performance. All this is obvious, what professional prose writers think about before accepting a commission, {11} but is commonly overlooked by the beginning poet.
Is Objectivity Possible?
Since poets love their creations, and must do to continue writing, how objective can they be? Again, there is much disagreement. {12}
Some poets, stunned by yet another wrong-headed review, come to believe that they alone, or at least a small circle of like-minded poets, have any real critical ability. Only they really know what is good and not so good in their own work. And anyone attending workshops regularly may well agree.
But few academic critics will accept that poets make the sounder judgements. {13} Not a demarcation dispute, they say, but simple experience and logic. Artists are notoriously partisan, and look at colleagues' work to learn and borrow. And consider a Beethoven sonata: we can all distinguish between the beginner and the accomplished pianist even though possessing no piano-playing skills of our own. True, but the analogy is not exact. Poems are written in a language we all read and speak. Even to use language correctly calls on enormously complex skills, so that poetry may be but a small addition, a thin specialization. On that scale the differences between good and bad in poetry may be analogous to deciding between two almost equally good pieces of piano-playing. That exceeds the competence of most of us, and we hand over to the usual competition panel of musicians and conductors.
Certainly we can accept that critics and poets intend different things, namely articles and poems. And that there is nothing to stop the poet becoming an excellent critic (many have {14}) or academic critics from the learning the difficult art of writing poetry. {15} The experience may well be enriching for both. But the question is more insidious. What exactly is it that the critic produces in his article, and how does it shape the reader's response? An earlier generation (much earlier, that encountered by I. A. Richards in his pioneering reading experiments at Cambridge {16}) sought to make poems out of their responses. Artists do influence each other, and imitation is no doubt the sincerest form of flattery. But Richard's examinees, and perhaps inevitably, without the time and skills to do a decent job, turned in very juvenile work; Richards could dismiss the approach as entirely wrong-headed. Analysis was what was wanted — not adroit phrases but method, the careful reductive method of the sciences. By all means write up the exercise engagingly afterwards, but first read with great attention, asking the right questions. So was born the New Criticism, and few doubt that this was a large step forward. {17}
But that does not invalidate the question. The New Critics were now doing what every good poet does or should do — examining and reexamining the work from every conceivable angle: diction, imagery, meaning, shape, etc. Previous critics had rushed to judgement without putting in the fundamental spade work. But what the New Critics produced, the journal article or book, had none of the attraction of the original poem, and indeed became increasingly technical, employing a jargon that only fellow specialists could enjoy. The general reader was not catered for, any more than poets, most of whom were writing in different styles anyway, with different problems to address. Criticism retreated to academia, and eventually bred a poetry that had academia for its readership. {18}
More than that, criticism became an end in itself. {19} The intellectual gymnastics currently performed by the great names of American criticism are not grounded in the poem being analyzed, but in the tenets of radical theory. The poem may serve as the original impetus, as something about which to parade their skills, {20} but the criticism has detached itself and become somewhat like a Modernist poem. It draws inspiration from literary theories, and these can be nebulous or plainly wrong. Speculative theory — self-referencing, and as enclosed as medieval scholasticism — will not help poets working in other traditions, but does underline an earlier question: what is the status, the ontological status, of the critical article?
Schools of Criticism
Suppose we bear that question in mind in surveying the various schools of criticism. There are many, but could perhaps be grouped as:
Traditional
Though perhaps Edwardian in style, this approach — essentially one of trying to broaden understanding and appreciation — is still used in general surveys of English literature. There is usually some information on the writer and his times, and a little illustration, but no close analysis of the individual work or its aims.
New Criticism
The poem (the approach works best for poetry, and especially the lyric) is detached from its biographical or historical context, and analyzed thoroughly: diction, imagery, meanings, particularly complexities of meaning. Some explanation of unfamiliar words and/or uses may be allowed, but the poem is otherwise expected to stand on its own feet, as though it were a contemporary production.
Rhetorical
Rhetoric is the art of persuasion, and the rhetorical approach attempts to understand how the content of the poem, which is more than intellectual meaning, is put across. How arguments are presented, attitudes struck, evidence marshalled, various appeals made to the reader — all are relevant.
Stylistic
Style is the manner in which something is presented, and this approach concentrates on the peculiarities of diction and imagery employed, sometimes relating them to literary and social theory.
Metaphorical
Metaphor enters into consideration in most approaches, but here the emphasis is deeper and more exclusive, attention focusing on the ways that metaphors actually work: metaphors are not regarded as supporting or decorative devices, but actually constituting the meaning.
Structuralist
Here the writing is related to underlying patterns of symmetry which are held to be common to all societies. Evidence is drawn from sociology and anthropology, and the approach attempts to place the work in larger context rather than assess its quality.
Post-structuralist
In contrast to the New Critics approach, which stresses interdependence and organic unity, the Poststructuralist will point to the dissonances and the non sequiturs, and suggest how the poem works by evading or confronting traditional expectations.
Myth Theory
The approach derives from Northrop Frye and attempts to place poems into categories or subcategories into which all literature is divide by archetypal themes — e.g. the myth of the hero, his subjugation of enemies, his fall. The approach somewhat anticipated structuralism, draws on various psychologies, and is less concerned with isolating what is special than showing what it has in common with works in a similar category.
Freudian
Not only is the diction examined for sexual imagery, but the whole work is seen through Freudian concepts: struggles of the superego, the Oedipus complex, with the repressed contents of consciousness, etc. The aim is illumination of psychic conflicts, not aesthetic ranking.
Jungian
Jungians search for recurring poetic images, symbols and situations in poems, but their aim is not to categorize poems as Northrop Frye does but to relate them to larger patterns in society, whether native peoples or high civilizations.
Historical
Poems are placed in their historical context — to explain not only their allusions and particular use of words, but the conventions and expectations of the times. The approach may be evaluative (i.e. the critic may suggest ways of responding to the poem once the perspective is corrected), or may simply use it as historical data.
Biographical
As with the historical approach, a poem may be used to illuminate the writer's psychology, or as biographic data. No less than the correspondence, remembered conversations, choice of reading matter, the poem is analyzed for relevance to its author.
Sociological
Here the focus is on society as a whole, and critics assess the social factors at work in a poem, which may be everything from the attitudes a writer inherits from his social background to the markets which supported his literary efforts.
Political
It may be the political movements the poet supported which interest the critic, but more commonly the poem is assessed on political lines: how fairly or effectively it promotes political action or attitudes.
Marxist
The poem may be assessed on its political correctness — on its support for workers against capitalist exploitation — but most Marxists praise work that analyses or describes the injustices which Marxist societies aim to overcome.
Moralist
Many poets have strong ethical or religious convictions, but the moralist critic usually has a broader interest. Literature has a humanizing or civilizing mission, and the critic values work which furthers that end: promotes tolerance, social justice, sensitivity to individual wishes and talents, etc.
Cognitive Scientific
In contrast to others, which generally possess an humanities orientation, that of cognitive science attempts to relate poems to patterns of brain functioning. The approach is in its infancy, but holds some promise in the fractal self-similarity exhibited by works of art.
Testing the Approaches
Which approach is best? That which proves the most illuminating is the usual answer. The various approaches are not entirely distinct, and one can aim for a wise eclecticism {21}, incorporating several approaches in the one article. Certainly this adds length and multiple perspectives to the critical article, but are the individual approaches sound in themselves? They may provide more matter to ponder, but that is surely no proof of value.
Suppose that the critical approach employed was not only shaky but fatuously offensive. An extreme example might be a Nazi appraisal of German writers which graded them crudely on their genetic makeup, from blonde Aryans (good) to eastern Jews (atrocious). Would we add this approach to the others? If we say emphatically not, then we must accept that critical approaches need support that we can independently assess. And this innocuous request raises the ominous problems of truth and meaning.
These are real and important. If literature had no truths to convey, there would be nothing to distinguish it from recreation or entertainment. Governments might support the arts to keep a restless society off the streets, but truth would remain the province of science, where bureaucrats went for information to back policy decisions. But in fact art, logic and science all have truths, different and no doubt wary of each other, but not fundamentally at loggerheads. Art aims at fullness and fidelity to human experience, and therefore includes the wider social spectrum.
No doubt, to return to Germany, we could argue that our example would not happen in practice. The Nazi article would not in any way clarify our responses to German writers. But suppose it did? A critic appealing to nationalist sentiments might very well have been plausible to his contemporary audience. We ourselves might even find some merit in the judgements. Unless we were very insensitive to Jewish problems in thirties Germany, and lumped all German writers together, we would not be able to help noticing differences in setting and outlook which had a material bearing on the writing. It might be a fearfulness or hopelessness in the outlook or actions of the main protagonists, and we should have to ask ourselves whether the work presented a true view of humanity, or was simply an historical aberration. Wider issues always obtrude, and we have either an ethos to defend, or to find a theory independent of time and context.
The latter was one hope of radical theory, which undercut the varied and apparently successful criticism of the nineteen fifties and sixties by adopting the approaches of philosophy and science. Not only cutbacks in university tenure, or the end of the publishing boom, {22} but an unexamined belief in its right to exist, led to the downfall of traditional literary study. Of course it is possible to argue for a liberal, pluralist, democratic approach, but the argument leads through to philosophical, political and sociological matters, and here the radical critics seized the armoury. The New Critics had dismissed the larger context of literary criticism, and the moralists carried little weight. The radicals demanded that poetry represent its age, and that age they viewed through the spectacles of left-wing and continental philosophic concerns.
Their arguments, though perhaps not the tactics, were certainly needed. Approaches do matter, and they must justify themselves before a wider tribunal if art is to be more than make-believe. Hence the Theory Section of this guide. A descriptive critic may simply note the characteristics of the new poetry capturing academic interest, {23} even its declining readership, but the practising poet needs to examine the theories underlying and supporting new work. If simply faddish and incoherent, then the poems are unlikely to possess any lasting value.
Is Criticism a Sham?
But does criticism really work? Do we analyze carefully and consult our books on theory before responding to a work? Not usually. Impressions come first. But we then have to think why and how we are responding in a certain way. Is the poem strained, hackneyed, overworked, etc.? And if so, by what criteria? In setting out thoughts on paper, and then attempting to substantiate them, we are honing essential skills.
Perhaps a good deal of academic criticism is suspect. The goal is already known: certain authors are to be esteemed, and criticism has simply to find additional support. Often the canon intervenes crudely. Literature is divided into essential writers (which all students must read, and other works be compared to), the acceptable (enjoyable but not to be taken too seriously) and the bad (which no one will confess to liking). The canon is consulted, and reasons found for praising or condemning the writer concerned. Literary guides are replete with examples, and argument is often puerile — the dismissive sneer, the appeal to the knowledgeable, right-thinking majority, the comparison of a poor poem by the despise author with a good one by the favoured. But the inanities only underline the need for sharper and independent reading skills. Background and temperament ensure that there will be some writers we shall never like, but we do not have to concoct false reasons for our own tastes.
Practical Critiquing
Now a change of tone. Suppose we look at criticism in practice, at what a young poet might be told, who's pleased with his poem, and doesn't need analysis to know it's good. Tactfully and more modestly than in these notes, we might have to say:
But have you checked — got a colleague to read it through, asked a tutor, presented the piece at a poetry workshop? Readers are perverse creatures, and will cavil in strange ways. Anticipate. Criticize the piece yourself, in your own time, from all angles, before the wounding remarks bring you up short. Remember that evaluation is not a handing down of judgments, but a slow acquisition of essential writing skills.
Appraisal needs honesty and independent judgment, plus a whole battery of techniques that literary critics have developed over the centuries. The better libraries will have long shelves devoted to literary criticism, which you must read and absorb. Indeed you must put pen to paper yourself, and write your own notes and essays. As in everything literary, perception develops with your ability to express and reflect on that perception.
What are the techniques of poetry analysis, and which are worth acquiring? Even on a simple poem you will find a wide range of comments, many of them perplexing if not downright daft. Which critics can you trust for sensible and enlightening comment?
You must make your own judgments. That is the nature of literary criticism. Moreover, until you can appraise the various critical attitudes, weighing up the strengths and shortcomings of each approach, you are not evaluating but just borrowing undigested material for the student essay. That may win you good grades, but it won't help with unfamiliar work, or develop the skills needed to rescue your own productions.
Writers and critics develop at their own pace, and the more precocious are not always the more lasting. Talented authors commonly write from something buried deep within, from something that is ungraspable but troubling, and which seems not to fit any of the established criteria. Progress in such cases is bound to be slow, and perhaps should be if the issues are being properly addressed. But you're not working against a stopwatch: you have a lifetime to appreciate the great writers, and to understand what you are attempting yourself.
:Suggestions
1. Start with the literary criticism of poems you know and love. You will be more engaged by the arguments, and start to understand how criticism can open unsuspected levels of meaning and significance.
2. Read literary criticism of contemporary work and, if at all possible, of poems similar to your own, which will at least help you anticipate the reception likely from editors and workshop presentations.
3. Research has moved from literary criticism to literary theory, which is not written for ready comprehension. Nonetheless, you will need to know where critics are coming from, and therefore the theoretical bases of their remarks.
4. Don't despise the elementary grounding provided by schoolbooks. University texts have much to do with academic reputations and tenure, but those for younger students aim more to help and encourage.
5. Be severe but not over-severe with your creations. You enjoyed writing them, and that pleasure must still be on the page to enthuse, challenge and enchant your readers. The merely correct has little to commend it.
6. Use a checklist. For example:
title — appropriate to subject, tone and genre? Does it generate interest, and hint at what your poem's about?
subject — what's the basic situation? Who is talking, and under what circumstances? Try writing a paraphrase to identify any gaps or confusions.
shape — what are you appealing to: intellect or emotions of the reader? What structure(s) have you used — progressions, comparisons, analogies, bald assertions, etc.? Are these aspects satisfyingly integrated? Does structure support content?
tone — what's your attitude to the subject? Is it appropriate to content and audience: assured, flexible, sensitive, etc.?
word choice — appropriate and uncontrived, economical, varied and energizing? Do you understand each word properly, its common uses and associations? See if listing the verbs truly pushes the poem along. Are words repeated? Do they set mood, emotional rapport, distance?
personification — striking but persuasive, adds to unity and power?
metaphor and simile — fresh and convincing, combining on many levels?
rhythm and metre — natural, inevitable, integrate poem's structure?
rhyme (if employed) — fresh, pleasurable, unassuming but supportive?
overall impression — original, honest, coherent, expressive, significant?
Conclusions
Why practise criticism at all? Because it's interesting, and opens the door to a wider appreciation of poetry, particularly that in other languages.
It's also unavoidable. Good writing needs continual appraisal and improvement, and both are better done by the author, before the work is set in print. Most academics write articles rather than poems, but there seems no reason why their skills should not deployed in creating things which by their own submission are among the most demanding and worthwhile of human creations. Nor should poets despise professional literary criticism. In short, the approaches of this section should give poets some of the tools needed to assess their work, and to learn from the successful creations of others.
References
1. Parts 2 and 3 of David Daiches's Critical Approaches to Literature (1981).
2. Chapter 6 of Wendell Harris's Literary Meaning: Reclaiming the Study of Literature (1996), and p.187 of Bernard Bergonzi's Exploding English: Criticism, Theory, Culture (1990).
3. pp. 6-12 in Dana Gioia's Can Poetry Matter: Essays on American Culture (1992).
4. p. 206 in George Watson's The Literary Critics (1986).
5. pp. 396-398 in Daiches 1981, and p. 204 of Watson 1986.
6. Catherine Belsey's Critical Practice (1980).
7. M.H. Abrams's Poetry, Theories of entry in Alex Preminger's (Ed.) The Princeton Handbook of Poetic Terms (1986).
8. Stanley Fish's Is There a Text in the Class? (1980).
9. Chapter 16 of Daiches 1981.
10. pp. 63-64 in Gioia 1992.
11. D. Crofts's How to Make Money from Freelance Writing (1992).
12. Chapter 15 in Daiches 1981..
13. pp. 13-14 in Watson 1986.
14. pp. 15-17 in Gioia 1992.
15. p. 194 of Bergonzi 1990.
16. pp. 177-182 in Watson 1986, and I.A. Richard's Practical Criticism: A Study of Literary Judgement (1929).
17. Chapter 15 in Daiches 1981.
18. p. 2 of Gioia 1992.
19. Chapter 7 of Bergonzi's 1990.
20. Imre Salusinszky's Criticism in Society (1987).
21. p. 204 in Watson 1986.
22. pp. 214-215 in Watson 1886.
23. Chapter 15 of Alastair Fowler's A History of English Literature (1987).
Internet Resources
1. The State of Literary Criticism. Roger Shattuck. Oct. 1995. http://www.mrbauld.com/Shatuck1.html. A plea to return to the study of literature as literature.
2. Approaches to Reading and Interpretation. http://www.assumption.edu/users/ady/HHGateway/ Gateway/Approaches.html. Brief but useful overviews.
3. Keeping the Faith: The Limits of Ideological Criticism. Ray Carney. 1995. http://people.bu.edu/rcarney/acad/skep.htm. Excerpts from Ray Carney's review of The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism.
4. Poetry Criticism: What is it for? Mar. 2000. http://www.poetrysociety.org/journal/offpage/ vendler-perloff.html. PSA symposium with Vendler, Perloff and others.
5. Quarterly Literary Review of Singapore. http://www.qlrs.com/. Non-partisan and free online.
6. The Constant Critic. http://www.constantcritic.com/. Tri-weekly poetry reviews.
7. Contemporary Poetry Review. http://www.cprw.com. Excellent reviews of poetry both sides of the Atlantic.
8. Romanticism and Contemporary Poetry and Poetics. Lisa Steinman (Ed.) http://www.rc.umd.edu/praxis/poetics/index.html. Detailed and contemporary literary criticism.
9. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. http://www.bartleby.com/cambridge/. 1907-21, but still useful.
10. Schools of Literary Criticism. Brian Bauld. http://www.mrbauld.com/litcrits.html. Short listing: traditional.
11. Perspectives in American Literature. Paul P. Reuben . Oct. 2003. http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/table.html. Searchable database of bibliographies.
12. Literary Encyclopedia. http://www.litencyc.com/. Author profiles.
13. Introduction to Modern Literary Theory. Kristi Siegel. Jan. 2003. http://www.kristisiegel.com/theory.htm. Introduction to types, bibliographies and Internet listings.
14. Literary Criticism & Critical Theory. T. Gannon. Apr. 2002. http://www.usd.edu/~tgannon/crit.html. Very extensive listing of sites under main categories of literary criticism.
15. General Literary Theory and Criticism Guides. John Phillips. http://courses.nus.edu.sg/course/elljwp/ literarytheorylinks3.htm. Listings for course.
16. Literary History. Jan Pridmore. Jan. 2004. http://www.literaryhistory.com/index.htm. Index of critical articles.
17. Guide to Literary Theory. Michael Groden and Martin Kreiswirth. http://www.press.jhu.edu/books/guide/. Johns Hopkins online guide: free access limited.
18. Literary Criticism. http://www.libraryspot.com/litcrit.htm. Library Spot's listing.
19. Comparative Literature and Theory. Stephen Hock and Mark Sample . Jun. 2003. http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/Complit/Eclat/. Essential listings.
20. Literary Resources on the Net. Jack Lynch. Jun. 2003. http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/%7Ejlynch/Lit/. Extensive as usual.
21. Internet Public Library. Jun. 2002. http://www.ipl.org/div/litcrit/. Listing of critical and biographical websites.
22. Voice of the Shuttle. Alan Liu et al. http://vos.ucsb.edu/browse.asp?id=2718. Literary theory section.
23. English Literature on the Web. Mitsuharu Matsuoka. http://www.lang.nagoya-u.ac.jp/ %7Ematsuoka/EngLit.html. Very extensive listings.
24. Literature Webliography. Mike Russo. Jul. 2003. http://www.lib.lsu.edu/hum/lit/lit.html. LSU Libraries useful listings.
25. General Resources for Literary Criticism. Anthony D. Maite. 2003. http://www.maitespace.com/englishodyssey/Resources/litcrit.htm. Select list.
26. Feminist Literary Criticism and Theory. http://www.cddc.vt.edu/feminism/lit.html. Essentially booklists, little online.
27. A Glossary of Literary Criticism. May 1996. http://web.mac.com/radney/humanities/litcrit/litcrit.htm. Brief but useful.
28. Narrative Theory & Literary Criticism. James R. Elkins. Dec. 2003. http://www.wvu.edu/~lawfac/jelkins/ lawyerslit/theories.htm. Eclectic but useful listings.
© C. John Holcombe 2007. Material can be freely used for non-commercial purposes if cited in the usual way.
http://www.textetc.com/criticism.html
For all its shortcomings, literary criticism still provides the poet with the tools for self-evaluation and self-improvement. It introduces work of periods and cultures different in theme and treatment.
Literary criticism comes in various shapes and aims. At best it poses searching questions of the writer, and insists that he understands how the arts, the sciences and philosophy have different but coexisting concepts of truth and meaning. Art in the end cannot be divorced from contemporary life, and that consideration leads on to literary theory.
Introduction
Literary critics have many skills, {1} but those which the practising poet needs to acquire are close reading, explication and evaluation. And the first two because most poems fail through lack of care. The originating emotion still clots the lines or, in striving for originality, the work becomes muddled, pretentious or incoherent. The incomprehensible can always be taken for the profound of course, and no doubt much get published for that reason, but only the beginner will see publication as the sole purpose of writing. Poems take too much of the writer's time and emotional lifeblood not to be made as good as possible, and dishonesty will spoil even the best talents. Poems grow through evaluation, that dialogue between what has been written and what was originally hoped for, between what the poems say now and what they might with further work. Self appraisal is inescapable.
But the critic's eye is a rare gift, rarer than sainthood, Housman thought, and matters have lately become more controversial. Criticism is not fashionable, and has been replaced by literary theory in many university departments. {2} The criticism that continues to be written naturally concentrates on established figures. The remainder, the reviewing/criticism appraising the great torrent that pours off the small presses, is often partisan, shallow and/or doggedly optimistic. {3} Even the aims of criticism seem somewhat doubtful. {4} No single critical approach seems invariably successful, {5} and insights from differing approaches do not necessarily cohere. Nothing brings finality of judgement, moreover, and one critic's findings can be undone by another's ingenuity. Much more damaging, the premises even of literary theory have been uprooted by radical theory. {6}
Purposes of Theory
What does literary criticism hope to achieve? There are many schools of thought, {7} but all take as their starting point the analysis of the reader's or listener's response. Poems may be complex, requiring a good deal of explanation or even correction of corrupt scripts, but there has to be an immediate impact of some sort: not very strong, and not blatantly emotional necessarily, but something that allows the critic to ask: how is this obtained? how significant is it? how does it compare with similar works? No impact and there is nothing to analyze. The work has failed, at least where that particular reader is concerned, and no amount of critical cleverness, literary allusions and information will bully him into responding to what he cannot feel.
But who is the reader? Each and everyone, as Stanley Fish might claim {8}, or Milton's "select audience though few"? Poets may not make money but they still have markets to consider. Whom are they writing for — the editors of leading magazines, friends, society at large, or themselves? And to say something significant about the world around them, to resolve personal quandaries, to gain a literary reputation with those who count? In an ideal world all aims might be served by the one work, but the world is not ideal, and aims needed to be sorted out.
It is the original intention or purpose of writing, that much historical and sociological analysis attempts to understand. In Shakespeare or Chaucer, and much more so in the poetry of ancient Greece or China, there are different conventions to appreciate, and many words cannot be fully translated. {9} The difficulties afflict more than the professional translator or literary scholar, as modern poetry very much uses recherché imagery and far-flung allusion. A simple word like "faith" would be very differently appreciated in the church-going communities of small-town America and the Nietzsche-reading intelligentsia of London's Hampstead. The meaning, the literal meaning of the poem, might be the same but not the insights that gave the poem its real subject matter.
With conventions come the expectations of the audience. Sidney wrote for the great country house, Shakespeare for the public stage; Middleton for the City. Their work is different in rhetoric, diction and imagery, and had to be. Social distinctions may be much less marked today, but the intellectual traditions continue. Poets are very choosy about their venues. Writers who live in California will keep a Manhattan address. {10} Poems that work well on the page will not necessarily rise to a public performance. All this is obvious, what professional prose writers think about before accepting a commission, {11} but is commonly overlooked by the beginning poet.
Is Objectivity Possible?
Since poets love their creations, and must do to continue writing, how objective can they be? Again, there is much disagreement. {12}
Some poets, stunned by yet another wrong-headed review, come to believe that they alone, or at least a small circle of like-minded poets, have any real critical ability. Only they really know what is good and not so good in their own work. And anyone attending workshops regularly may well agree.
But few academic critics will accept that poets make the sounder judgements. {13} Not a demarcation dispute, they say, but simple experience and logic. Artists are notoriously partisan, and look at colleagues' work to learn and borrow. And consider a Beethoven sonata: we can all distinguish between the beginner and the accomplished pianist even though possessing no piano-playing skills of our own. True, but the analogy is not exact. Poems are written in a language we all read and speak. Even to use language correctly calls on enormously complex skills, so that poetry may be but a small addition, a thin specialization. On that scale the differences between good and bad in poetry may be analogous to deciding between two almost equally good pieces of piano-playing. That exceeds the competence of most of us, and we hand over to the usual competition panel of musicians and conductors.
Certainly we can accept that critics and poets intend different things, namely articles and poems. And that there is nothing to stop the poet becoming an excellent critic (many have {14}) or academic critics from the learning the difficult art of writing poetry. {15} The experience may well be enriching for both. But the question is more insidious. What exactly is it that the critic produces in his article, and how does it shape the reader's response? An earlier generation (much earlier, that encountered by I. A. Richards in his pioneering reading experiments at Cambridge {16}) sought to make poems out of their responses. Artists do influence each other, and imitation is no doubt the sincerest form of flattery. But Richard's examinees, and perhaps inevitably, without the time and skills to do a decent job, turned in very juvenile work; Richards could dismiss the approach as entirely wrong-headed. Analysis was what was wanted — not adroit phrases but method, the careful reductive method of the sciences. By all means write up the exercise engagingly afterwards, but first read with great attention, asking the right questions. So was born the New Criticism, and few doubt that this was a large step forward. {17}
But that does not invalidate the question. The New Critics were now doing what every good poet does or should do — examining and reexamining the work from every conceivable angle: diction, imagery, meaning, shape, etc. Previous critics had rushed to judgement without putting in the fundamental spade work. But what the New Critics produced, the journal article or book, had none of the attraction of the original poem, and indeed became increasingly technical, employing a jargon that only fellow specialists could enjoy. The general reader was not catered for, any more than poets, most of whom were writing in different styles anyway, with different problems to address. Criticism retreated to academia, and eventually bred a poetry that had academia for its readership. {18}
More than that, criticism became an end in itself. {19} The intellectual gymnastics currently performed by the great names of American criticism are not grounded in the poem being analyzed, but in the tenets of radical theory. The poem may serve as the original impetus, as something about which to parade their skills, {20} but the criticism has detached itself and become somewhat like a Modernist poem. It draws inspiration from literary theories, and these can be nebulous or plainly wrong. Speculative theory — self-referencing, and as enclosed as medieval scholasticism — will not help poets working in other traditions, but does underline an earlier question: what is the status, the ontological status, of the critical article?
Schools of Criticism
Suppose we bear that question in mind in surveying the various schools of criticism. There are many, but could perhaps be grouped as:
Traditional
Though perhaps Edwardian in style, this approach — essentially one of trying to broaden understanding and appreciation — is still used in general surveys of English literature. There is usually some information on the writer and his times, and a little illustration, but no close analysis of the individual work or its aims.
New Criticism
The poem (the approach works best for poetry, and especially the lyric) is detached from its biographical or historical context, and analyzed thoroughly: diction, imagery, meanings, particularly complexities of meaning. Some explanation of unfamiliar words and/or uses may be allowed, but the poem is otherwise expected to stand on its own feet, as though it were a contemporary production.
Rhetorical
Rhetoric is the art of persuasion, and the rhetorical approach attempts to understand how the content of the poem, which is more than intellectual meaning, is put across. How arguments are presented, attitudes struck, evidence marshalled, various appeals made to the reader — all are relevant.
Stylistic
Style is the manner in which something is presented, and this approach concentrates on the peculiarities of diction and imagery employed, sometimes relating them to literary and social theory.
Metaphorical
Metaphor enters into consideration in most approaches, but here the emphasis is deeper and more exclusive, attention focusing on the ways that metaphors actually work: metaphors are not regarded as supporting or decorative devices, but actually constituting the meaning.
Structuralist
Here the writing is related to underlying patterns of symmetry which are held to be common to all societies. Evidence is drawn from sociology and anthropology, and the approach attempts to place the work in larger context rather than assess its quality.
Post-structuralist
In contrast to the New Critics approach, which stresses interdependence and organic unity, the Poststructuralist will point to the dissonances and the non sequiturs, and suggest how the poem works by evading or confronting traditional expectations.
Myth Theory
The approach derives from Northrop Frye and attempts to place poems into categories or subcategories into which all literature is divide by archetypal themes — e.g. the myth of the hero, his subjugation of enemies, his fall. The approach somewhat anticipated structuralism, draws on various psychologies, and is less concerned with isolating what is special than showing what it has in common with works in a similar category.
Freudian
Not only is the diction examined for sexual imagery, but the whole work is seen through Freudian concepts: struggles of the superego, the Oedipus complex, with the repressed contents of consciousness, etc. The aim is illumination of psychic conflicts, not aesthetic ranking.
Jungian
Jungians search for recurring poetic images, symbols and situations in poems, but their aim is not to categorize poems as Northrop Frye does but to relate them to larger patterns in society, whether native peoples or high civilizations.
Historical
Poems are placed in their historical context — to explain not only their allusions and particular use of words, but the conventions and expectations of the times. The approach may be evaluative (i.e. the critic may suggest ways of responding to the poem once the perspective is corrected), or may simply use it as historical data.
Biographical
As with the historical approach, a poem may be used to illuminate the writer's psychology, or as biographic data. No less than the correspondence, remembered conversations, choice of reading matter, the poem is analyzed for relevance to its author.
Sociological
Here the focus is on society as a whole, and critics assess the social factors at work in a poem, which may be everything from the attitudes a writer inherits from his social background to the markets which supported his literary efforts.
Political
It may be the political movements the poet supported which interest the critic, but more commonly the poem is assessed on political lines: how fairly or effectively it promotes political action or attitudes.
Marxist
The poem may be assessed on its political correctness — on its support for workers against capitalist exploitation — but most Marxists praise work that analyses or describes the injustices which Marxist societies aim to overcome.
Moralist
Many poets have strong ethical or religious convictions, but the moralist critic usually has a broader interest. Literature has a humanizing or civilizing mission, and the critic values work which furthers that end: promotes tolerance, social justice, sensitivity to individual wishes and talents, etc.
Cognitive Scientific
In contrast to others, which generally possess an humanities orientation, that of cognitive science attempts to relate poems to patterns of brain functioning. The approach is in its infancy, but holds some promise in the fractal self-similarity exhibited by works of art.
Testing the Approaches
Which approach is best? That which proves the most illuminating is the usual answer. The various approaches are not entirely distinct, and one can aim for a wise eclecticism {21}, incorporating several approaches in the one article. Certainly this adds length and multiple perspectives to the critical article, but are the individual approaches sound in themselves? They may provide more matter to ponder, but that is surely no proof of value.
Suppose that the critical approach employed was not only shaky but fatuously offensive. An extreme example might be a Nazi appraisal of German writers which graded them crudely on their genetic makeup, from blonde Aryans (good) to eastern Jews (atrocious). Would we add this approach to the others? If we say emphatically not, then we must accept that critical approaches need support that we can independently assess. And this innocuous request raises the ominous problems of truth and meaning.
These are real and important. If literature had no truths to convey, there would be nothing to distinguish it from recreation or entertainment. Governments might support the arts to keep a restless society off the streets, but truth would remain the province of science, where bureaucrats went for information to back policy decisions. But in fact art, logic and science all have truths, different and no doubt wary of each other, but not fundamentally at loggerheads. Art aims at fullness and fidelity to human experience, and therefore includes the wider social spectrum.
No doubt, to return to Germany, we could argue that our example would not happen in practice. The Nazi article would not in any way clarify our responses to German writers. But suppose it did? A critic appealing to nationalist sentiments might very well have been plausible to his contemporary audience. We ourselves might even find some merit in the judgements. Unless we were very insensitive to Jewish problems in thirties Germany, and lumped all German writers together, we would not be able to help noticing differences in setting and outlook which had a material bearing on the writing. It might be a fearfulness or hopelessness in the outlook or actions of the main protagonists, and we should have to ask ourselves whether the work presented a true view of humanity, or was simply an historical aberration. Wider issues always obtrude, and we have either an ethos to defend, or to find a theory independent of time and context.
The latter was one hope of radical theory, which undercut the varied and apparently successful criticism of the nineteen fifties and sixties by adopting the approaches of philosophy and science. Not only cutbacks in university tenure, or the end of the publishing boom, {22} but an unexamined belief in its right to exist, led to the downfall of traditional literary study. Of course it is possible to argue for a liberal, pluralist, democratic approach, but the argument leads through to philosophical, political and sociological matters, and here the radical critics seized the armoury. The New Critics had dismissed the larger context of literary criticism, and the moralists carried little weight. The radicals demanded that poetry represent its age, and that age they viewed through the spectacles of left-wing and continental philosophic concerns.
Their arguments, though perhaps not the tactics, were certainly needed. Approaches do matter, and they must justify themselves before a wider tribunal if art is to be more than make-believe. Hence the Theory Section of this guide. A descriptive critic may simply note the characteristics of the new poetry capturing academic interest, {23} even its declining readership, but the practising poet needs to examine the theories underlying and supporting new work. If simply faddish and incoherent, then the poems are unlikely to possess any lasting value.
Is Criticism a Sham?
But does criticism really work? Do we analyze carefully and consult our books on theory before responding to a work? Not usually. Impressions come first. But we then have to think why and how we are responding in a certain way. Is the poem strained, hackneyed, overworked, etc.? And if so, by what criteria? In setting out thoughts on paper, and then attempting to substantiate them, we are honing essential skills.
Perhaps a good deal of academic criticism is suspect. The goal is already known: certain authors are to be esteemed, and criticism has simply to find additional support. Often the canon intervenes crudely. Literature is divided into essential writers (which all students must read, and other works be compared to), the acceptable (enjoyable but not to be taken too seriously) and the bad (which no one will confess to liking). The canon is consulted, and reasons found for praising or condemning the writer concerned. Literary guides are replete with examples, and argument is often puerile — the dismissive sneer, the appeal to the knowledgeable, right-thinking majority, the comparison of a poor poem by the despise author with a good one by the favoured. But the inanities only underline the need for sharper and independent reading skills. Background and temperament ensure that there will be some writers we shall never like, but we do not have to concoct false reasons for our own tastes.
Practical Critiquing
Now a change of tone. Suppose we look at criticism in practice, at what a young poet might be told, who's pleased with his poem, and doesn't need analysis to know it's good. Tactfully and more modestly than in these notes, we might have to say:
But have you checked — got a colleague to read it through, asked a tutor, presented the piece at a poetry workshop? Readers are perverse creatures, and will cavil in strange ways. Anticipate. Criticize the piece yourself, in your own time, from all angles, before the wounding remarks bring you up short. Remember that evaluation is not a handing down of judgments, but a slow acquisition of essential writing skills.
Appraisal needs honesty and independent judgment, plus a whole battery of techniques that literary critics have developed over the centuries. The better libraries will have long shelves devoted to literary criticism, which you must read and absorb. Indeed you must put pen to paper yourself, and write your own notes and essays. As in everything literary, perception develops with your ability to express and reflect on that perception.
What are the techniques of poetry analysis, and which are worth acquiring? Even on a simple poem you will find a wide range of comments, many of them perplexing if not downright daft. Which critics can you trust for sensible and enlightening comment?
You must make your own judgments. That is the nature of literary criticism. Moreover, until you can appraise the various critical attitudes, weighing up the strengths and shortcomings of each approach, you are not evaluating but just borrowing undigested material for the student essay. That may win you good grades, but it won't help with unfamiliar work, or develop the skills needed to rescue your own productions.
Writers and critics develop at their own pace, and the more precocious are not always the more lasting. Talented authors commonly write from something buried deep within, from something that is ungraspable but troubling, and which seems not to fit any of the established criteria. Progress in such cases is bound to be slow, and perhaps should be if the issues are being properly addressed. But you're not working against a stopwatch: you have a lifetime to appreciate the great writers, and to understand what you are attempting yourself.
:Suggestions
1. Start with the literary criticism of poems you know and love. You will be more engaged by the arguments, and start to understand how criticism can open unsuspected levels of meaning and significance.
2. Read literary criticism of contemporary work and, if at all possible, of poems similar to your own, which will at least help you anticipate the reception likely from editors and workshop presentations.
3. Research has moved from literary criticism to literary theory, which is not written for ready comprehension. Nonetheless, you will need to know where critics are coming from, and therefore the theoretical bases of their remarks.
4. Don't despise the elementary grounding provided by schoolbooks. University texts have much to do with academic reputations and tenure, but those for younger students aim more to help and encourage.
5. Be severe but not over-severe with your creations. You enjoyed writing them, and that pleasure must still be on the page to enthuse, challenge and enchant your readers. The merely correct has little to commend it.
6. Use a checklist. For example:
title — appropriate to subject, tone and genre? Does it generate interest, and hint at what your poem's about?
subject — what's the basic situation? Who is talking, and under what circumstances? Try writing a paraphrase to identify any gaps or confusions.
shape — what are you appealing to: intellect or emotions of the reader? What structure(s) have you used — progressions, comparisons, analogies, bald assertions, etc.? Are these aspects satisfyingly integrated? Does structure support content?
tone — what's your attitude to the subject? Is it appropriate to content and audience: assured, flexible, sensitive, etc.?
word choice — appropriate and uncontrived, economical, varied and energizing? Do you understand each word properly, its common uses and associations? See if listing the verbs truly pushes the poem along. Are words repeated? Do they set mood, emotional rapport, distance?
personification — striking but persuasive, adds to unity and power?
metaphor and simile — fresh and convincing, combining on many levels?
rhythm and metre — natural, inevitable, integrate poem's structure?
rhyme (if employed) — fresh, pleasurable, unassuming but supportive?
overall impression — original, honest, coherent, expressive, significant?
Conclusions
Why practise criticism at all? Because it's interesting, and opens the door to a wider appreciation of poetry, particularly that in other languages.
It's also unavoidable. Good writing needs continual appraisal and improvement, and both are better done by the author, before the work is set in print. Most academics write articles rather than poems, but there seems no reason why their skills should not deployed in creating things which by their own submission are among the most demanding and worthwhile of human creations. Nor should poets despise professional literary criticism. In short, the approaches of this section should give poets some of the tools needed to assess their work, and to learn from the successful creations of others.
References
1. Parts 2 and 3 of David Daiches's Critical Approaches to Literature (1981).
2. Chapter 6 of Wendell Harris's Literary Meaning: Reclaiming the Study of Literature (1996), and p.187 of Bernard Bergonzi's Exploding English: Criticism, Theory, Culture (1990).
3. pp. 6-12 in Dana Gioia's Can Poetry Matter: Essays on American Culture (1992).
4. p. 206 in George Watson's The Literary Critics (1986).
5. pp. 396-398 in Daiches 1981, and p. 204 of Watson 1986.
6. Catherine Belsey's Critical Practice (1980).
7. M.H. Abrams's Poetry, Theories of entry in Alex Preminger's (Ed.) The Princeton Handbook of Poetic Terms (1986).
8. Stanley Fish's Is There a Text in the Class? (1980).
9. Chapter 16 of Daiches 1981.
10. pp. 63-64 in Gioia 1992.
11. D. Crofts's How to Make Money from Freelance Writing (1992).
12. Chapter 15 in Daiches 1981..
13. pp. 13-14 in Watson 1986.
14. pp. 15-17 in Gioia 1992.
15. p. 194 of Bergonzi 1990.
16. pp. 177-182 in Watson 1986, and I.A. Richard's Practical Criticism: A Study of Literary Judgement (1929).
17. Chapter 15 in Daiches 1981.
18. p. 2 of Gioia 1992.
19. Chapter 7 of Bergonzi's 1990.
20. Imre Salusinszky's Criticism in Society (1987).
21. p. 204 in Watson 1986.
22. pp. 214-215 in Watson 1886.
23. Chapter 15 of Alastair Fowler's A History of English Literature (1987).
Internet Resources
1. The State of Literary Criticism. Roger Shattuck. Oct. 1995. http://www.mrbauld.com/Shatuck1.html. A plea to return to the study of literature as literature.
2. Approaches to Reading and Interpretation. http://www.assumption.edu/users/ady/HHGateway/ Gateway/Approaches.html. Brief but useful overviews.
3. Keeping the Faith: The Limits of Ideological Criticism. Ray Carney. 1995. http://people.bu.edu/rcarney/acad/skep.htm. Excerpts from Ray Carney's review of The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism.
4. Poetry Criticism: What is it for? Mar. 2000. http://www.poetrysociety.org/journal/offpage/ vendler-perloff.html. PSA symposium with Vendler, Perloff and others.
5. Quarterly Literary Review of Singapore. http://www.qlrs.com/. Non-partisan and free online.
6. The Constant Critic. http://www.constantcritic.com/. Tri-weekly poetry reviews.
7. Contemporary Poetry Review. http://www.cprw.com. Excellent reviews of poetry both sides of the Atlantic.
8. Romanticism and Contemporary Poetry and Poetics. Lisa Steinman (Ed.) http://www.rc.umd.edu/praxis/poetics/index.html. Detailed and contemporary literary criticism.
9. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. http://www.bartleby.com/cambridge/. 1907-21, but still useful.
10. Schools of Literary Criticism. Brian Bauld. http://www.mrbauld.com/litcrits.html. Short listing: traditional.
11. Perspectives in American Literature. Paul P. Reuben . Oct. 2003. http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/table.html. Searchable database of bibliographies.
12. Literary Encyclopedia. http://www.litencyc.com/. Author profiles.
13. Introduction to Modern Literary Theory. Kristi Siegel. Jan. 2003. http://www.kristisiegel.com/theory.htm. Introduction to types, bibliographies and Internet listings.
14. Literary Criticism & Critical Theory. T. Gannon. Apr. 2002. http://www.usd.edu/~tgannon/crit.html. Very extensive listing of sites under main categories of literary criticism.
15. General Literary Theory and Criticism Guides. John Phillips. http://courses.nus.edu.sg/course/elljwp/ literarytheorylinks3.htm. Listings for course.
16. Literary History. Jan Pridmore. Jan. 2004. http://www.literaryhistory.com/index.htm. Index of critical articles.
17. Guide to Literary Theory. Michael Groden and Martin Kreiswirth. http://www.press.jhu.edu/books/guide/. Johns Hopkins online guide: free access limited.
18. Literary Criticism. http://www.libraryspot.com/litcrit.htm. Library Spot's listing.
19. Comparative Literature and Theory. Stephen Hock and Mark Sample . Jun. 2003. http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/Complit/Eclat/. Essential listings.
20. Literary Resources on the Net. Jack Lynch. Jun. 2003. http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/%7Ejlynch/Lit/. Extensive as usual.
21. Internet Public Library. Jun. 2002. http://www.ipl.org/div/litcrit/. Listing of critical and biographical websites.
22. Voice of the Shuttle. Alan Liu et al. http://vos.ucsb.edu/browse.asp?id=2718. Literary theory section.
23. English Literature on the Web. Mitsuharu Matsuoka. http://www.lang.nagoya-u.ac.jp/ %7Ematsuoka/EngLit.html. Very extensive listings.
24. Literature Webliography. Mike Russo. Jul. 2003. http://www.lib.lsu.edu/hum/lit/lit.html. LSU Libraries useful listings.
25. General Resources for Literary Criticism. Anthony D. Maite. 2003. http://www.maitespace.com/englishodyssey/Resources/litcrit.htm. Select list.
26. Feminist Literary Criticism and Theory. http://www.cddc.vt.edu/feminism/lit.html. Essentially booklists, little online.
27. A Glossary of Literary Criticism. May 1996. http://web.mac.com/radney/humanities/litcrit/litcrit.htm. Brief but useful.
28. Narrative Theory & Literary Criticism. James R. Elkins. Dec. 2003. http://www.wvu.edu/~lawfac/jelkins/ lawyerslit/theories.htm. Eclectic but useful listings.
© C. John Holcombe 2007. Material can be freely used for non-commercial purposes if cited in the usual way.
http://www.textetc.com/criticism.html
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Fountainhead guiding questions part 1 and 2
Part 1
1 Keating goes to work for Guy Francon, the most successful and prestigious architect in the country. What are the methods by which Francon has achieved commercial success? Does he have anything in common with Keating? In what ways do they both differ from Roark?
2 Roark gains employment with Henry Cameron. Cameron, though a genius, is a commercial failure. Why has society rejected his work? Why does Roark nevertheless revere him? What qualities do Roark and Cameron share in common? What is the fundamental difference between them and Francon and Keating?
3 Citing specifics from the story, describe the means by which Keating seeks to rise to the top of Francon's firm? Explain the meaning of Keating's methods. Why do they work at Francon's? Would Keating's methods work similarly well at Cameron's? Why?
4 Though Keating often leaves Catherine Halsey waiting weeks for him to call, the author makes it clear that Catherine is special to him. How does the author show Keating's love for Catherine? In contrast to Keating's motive for pursuing his other values (in work, for e.g.), what personal significance does his relationship with Catherine have? What fate will befall Peter if he betrays his love for her?
5 The design of the Cosmo-Slotnick Building establishes Keating's fame. What is the nature of Keating's relationship with Roark at this point in the story? Why does Keating both approach him for advice and help and take pleasure in making him perform menial tasks while an employee at Francon's? Why does Keating feel a need to degrade the man who is his meal ticket?
6 Cameron and Roark, though brilliant designers, get few commissions. At one point, Cameron urges Roark to surrender his principles and design conventionally. Given that Cameron himself neither did nor would do such a thing, what is the meaning of that scene? What does Ayn Rand stress about the price paid by great creative thinkers in a society that does not recognize the merit of their new ideas?
7 Austen Heller hires Roark to build a private home, giving him his first commission. What qualities does Heller possess that enable him to recognize the merit of Roark's work when virtually the entire society does not? Despite the professional differences between Heller and Roark's other supporters, e.g., Mike, Mallory, Enright, et. al., what fundamental attribute do they share in common? What point does the author make regarding the ability to recognize genius?
8 The character of Dominique Francon is introduced in this section. Dominique criticizes the work of her own father in her newspaper column and recognizes the fraudulent nature of Keating's work and character, though many admire him. What does Ayn Rand thereby show the reader about Dominique? Why is this important for the reader's ability to understand her coming relationship with Roark?
9 Despite extreme poverty, Roark refuses the lucrative commission for the Manhattan Bank Building rather than permit the adulteration of his design. When the Board asserts that he is "fanatical and selfless," Roark responds that his action was "the most selfish thing you've ever seen a man do." Given that Roark has just turned down a major commission in order to protect the integrity of his design, what is "selfish" about this? What is Ayn Rand's view of "selfishness" and "selflessness"? Contrast her view to that of Christianity and of Socialism.
10 Compare Howard Roark and Lois Cook. Are they both individualists? Why or why not?
Part 2
1. At the granite quarry, Dominique is deeply attracted to the red-headed worker who stares at her insolently. She pursues him aggressively, but resists him in the moment of her triumph. Given that Dominique is eager to make love to Roark, why does she physically resist? Ayn Rand once stated regarding this scene that, if it is rape, “ then it is rape by engraved invitation.” What does she mean? Is this actually rape, i.e., is Dominique an unwilling victim?
2. Though strongly attracted to Roark, Dominique both pursues and fights him. Is this inner conflict regarding her love representative of some deeper aspect of her character? How does this ambivalence relate to her destruction of the Greek statuette that she loves? To joining forces with Ellsworth Toohey in an effort to wreck Roark’s career? To refusing to pursue a serious career in spite of her great intelligence? Are Dominique’s motives for thwarting Roark the same as Toohey’s?
3. At this point of Roark’s career he is hired by Roger Enright, Anthony Cord and Kent Lansing to construct major buildings. What kind of men are Enright, Cord and Lansing? Do they share some fundamental characteristic in common with each other and with Austen Heller? What does Lansing mean when he tells Roark that “ the shortest distance between two points is not a straight line--it’s a middleman?"
4. At Kiki Holcolmbe’s party, Keating gives advice to Roark. He says: “ Always be what people want you to be.” What is the meaning of such a statement? Why does Keating believe this? What does such an approach to life reveal about the soul of Keating and of people like him?
5. At the same party, Dominique thinks of Roark’s as “ the face of a god.” What is she responding to in Roark? In seeing such beauty in Roark’s face, an evaluation not shared by the rest of society, what does Dominique reveal about her own soul?
6. Dominique begins to write about Roark’s buildings in her column. She words them in such a way as to give the appearance of criticism while actually offering extravagant praise. Why does she hope that Roark’s buildings will be destroyed in a future air raid? What is her view of human society, and of the possibility of great men succeeding in it?
7. Toohey convinces Hopton Stoddard to hire Roark to build the Stoddard Temple. What is Toohey’s purpose? Why does he seek to brand Roark an enemy of religion? What is Toohey’s deeper reason for attempting to end Roark’s career?
8. Though Dominique testifies for the plaintiff at the Stoddard Temple trial, she praises the building and criticizes both Toohey and society. Why does she want the building torn down? How do her motives differ from Toohey’s? In what way is the trial Dominique’s worst nightmare come true?
9. Roark hires Mallory to do the sculpture for the Temple, but Mallory, despite his youth, is already bitter and disillusioned. What is the cause of Mallory’s nascent cynicism? What does Roark do that helps Mallory overcome his disillusionment? Are there similarities between Mallory’s early career and the life of Henry Cameron?
10. After the trial, Dominique accepts Keating’s earlier proposal and marries him. Given her undying love for the integrity of Roark’s buildings and person, and her recognition that Keating is the antithesis of everything she reveres, it is appropriate to ask what Dominique seeks in such a marriage. For what purpose does she marry the man she considers society’s most despicable representative?
At the end of Part Two, Roark’s career is again at low ebb and it appears that Toohey’s scheming has been successful. Toohey seeks him out to ask what Roark thinks of him. What does this question reveal about Toohey’s soul? Roark answers in simple honesty that he does not think of him. What does such an answer reveal about Roark’s soul? These two characters represent the fundamental antipodes in the universe of the novel. What is the primary difference between them?
1 Keating goes to work for Guy Francon, the most successful and prestigious architect in the country. What are the methods by which Francon has achieved commercial success? Does he have anything in common with Keating? In what ways do they both differ from Roark?
2 Roark gains employment with Henry Cameron. Cameron, though a genius, is a commercial failure. Why has society rejected his work? Why does Roark nevertheless revere him? What qualities do Roark and Cameron share in common? What is the fundamental difference between them and Francon and Keating?
3 Citing specifics from the story, describe the means by which Keating seeks to rise to the top of Francon's firm? Explain the meaning of Keating's methods. Why do they work at Francon's? Would Keating's methods work similarly well at Cameron's? Why?
4 Though Keating often leaves Catherine Halsey waiting weeks for him to call, the author makes it clear that Catherine is special to him. How does the author show Keating's love for Catherine? In contrast to Keating's motive for pursuing his other values (in work, for e.g.), what personal significance does his relationship with Catherine have? What fate will befall Peter if he betrays his love for her?
5 The design of the Cosmo-Slotnick Building establishes Keating's fame. What is the nature of Keating's relationship with Roark at this point in the story? Why does Keating both approach him for advice and help and take pleasure in making him perform menial tasks while an employee at Francon's? Why does Keating feel a need to degrade the man who is his meal ticket?
6 Cameron and Roark, though brilliant designers, get few commissions. At one point, Cameron urges Roark to surrender his principles and design conventionally. Given that Cameron himself neither did nor would do such a thing, what is the meaning of that scene? What does Ayn Rand stress about the price paid by great creative thinkers in a society that does not recognize the merit of their new ideas?
7 Austen Heller hires Roark to build a private home, giving him his first commission. What qualities does Heller possess that enable him to recognize the merit of Roark's work when virtually the entire society does not? Despite the professional differences between Heller and Roark's other supporters, e.g., Mike, Mallory, Enright, et. al., what fundamental attribute do they share in common? What point does the author make regarding the ability to recognize genius?
8 The character of Dominique Francon is introduced in this section. Dominique criticizes the work of her own father in her newspaper column and recognizes the fraudulent nature of Keating's work and character, though many admire him. What does Ayn Rand thereby show the reader about Dominique? Why is this important for the reader's ability to understand her coming relationship with Roark?
9 Despite extreme poverty, Roark refuses the lucrative commission for the Manhattan Bank Building rather than permit the adulteration of his design. When the Board asserts that he is "fanatical and selfless," Roark responds that his action was "the most selfish thing you've ever seen a man do." Given that Roark has just turned down a major commission in order to protect the integrity of his design, what is "selfish" about this? What is Ayn Rand's view of "selfishness" and "selflessness"? Contrast her view to that of Christianity and of Socialism.
10 Compare Howard Roark and Lois Cook. Are they both individualists? Why or why not?
Part 2
1. At the granite quarry, Dominique is deeply attracted to the red-headed worker who stares at her insolently. She pursues him aggressively, but resists him in the moment of her triumph. Given that Dominique is eager to make love to Roark, why does she physically resist? Ayn Rand once stated regarding this scene that, if it is rape, “ then it is rape by engraved invitation.” What does she mean? Is this actually rape, i.e., is Dominique an unwilling victim?
2. Though strongly attracted to Roark, Dominique both pursues and fights him. Is this inner conflict regarding her love representative of some deeper aspect of her character? How does this ambivalence relate to her destruction of the Greek statuette that she loves? To joining forces with Ellsworth Toohey in an effort to wreck Roark’s career? To refusing to pursue a serious career in spite of her great intelligence? Are Dominique’s motives for thwarting Roark the same as Toohey’s?
3. At this point of Roark’s career he is hired by Roger Enright, Anthony Cord and Kent Lansing to construct major buildings. What kind of men are Enright, Cord and Lansing? Do they share some fundamental characteristic in common with each other and with Austen Heller? What does Lansing mean when he tells Roark that “ the shortest distance between two points is not a straight line--it’s a middleman?"
4. At Kiki Holcolmbe’s party, Keating gives advice to Roark. He says: “ Always be what people want you to be.” What is the meaning of such a statement? Why does Keating believe this? What does such an approach to life reveal about the soul of Keating and of people like him?
5. At the same party, Dominique thinks of Roark’s as “ the face of a god.” What is she responding to in Roark? In seeing such beauty in Roark’s face, an evaluation not shared by the rest of society, what does Dominique reveal about her own soul?
6. Dominique begins to write about Roark’s buildings in her column. She words them in such a way as to give the appearance of criticism while actually offering extravagant praise. Why does she hope that Roark’s buildings will be destroyed in a future air raid? What is her view of human society, and of the possibility of great men succeeding in it?
7. Toohey convinces Hopton Stoddard to hire Roark to build the Stoddard Temple. What is Toohey’s purpose? Why does he seek to brand Roark an enemy of religion? What is Toohey’s deeper reason for attempting to end Roark’s career?
8. Though Dominique testifies for the plaintiff at the Stoddard Temple trial, she praises the building and criticizes both Toohey and society. Why does she want the building torn down? How do her motives differ from Toohey’s? In what way is the trial Dominique’s worst nightmare come true?
9. Roark hires Mallory to do the sculpture for the Temple, but Mallory, despite his youth, is already bitter and disillusioned. What is the cause of Mallory’s nascent cynicism? What does Roark do that helps Mallory overcome his disillusionment? Are there similarities between Mallory’s early career and the life of Henry Cameron?
10. After the trial, Dominique accepts Keating’s earlier proposal and marries him. Given her undying love for the integrity of Roark’s buildings and person, and her recognition that Keating is the antithesis of everything she reveres, it is appropriate to ask what Dominique seeks in such a marriage. For what purpose does she marry the man she considers society’s most despicable representative?
At the end of Part Two, Roark’s career is again at low ebb and it appears that Toohey’s scheming has been successful. Toohey seeks him out to ask what Roark thinks of him. What does this question reveal about Toohey’s soul? Roark answers in simple honesty that he does not think of him. What does such an answer reveal about Roark’s soul? These two characters represent the fundamental antipodes in the universe of the novel. What is the primary difference between them?
Monday, August 24, 2009
Batch 3
D: Language
• How clear is the candidate’s written expression?
• How well has the candidate observed the conventions of written work?
(The conventions of written work relate to elements such as paragraphing, grammar, spelling, citation of references.)
• How appropriate is the register selected by the candidate for the particular assignment?
(Register refers, in this context, to the candidate’s sensitivity to elements such as the vocabulary, tone, sentence structure and idiom appropriate to the task.)
Achievement Level
0 The candidate has not reached level 1.
1 Little use of appropriate language
generally inappropriate register for the assignment selected
frequent lapses in the conventions of written work.
2 Some use of appropriate language
generally appropriate register for the assignment selected
some lapses in the conventions of written work
some consistency or clarity of expression.
3 Adequate use of appropriate language
appropriate register for the assignment selected
the conventions of written work are generally followed
consistency and some clarity of expression.
4 Good use of appropriate language
the register is effective and appropriate for the assignment selected
the conventions of written work are closely followed
clarity, consistency and general fluency of expression.
5 Excellent use of appropriate language
the register is highly effective and appropriate for the assignment selected
careful attention is given to the conventions of written work
clarity, consistency and fluency of style.
• How clear is the candidate’s written expression?
• How well has the candidate observed the conventions of written work?
(The conventions of written work relate to elements such as paragraphing, grammar, spelling, citation of references.)
• How appropriate is the register selected by the candidate for the particular assignment?
(Register refers, in this context, to the candidate’s sensitivity to elements such as the vocabulary, tone, sentence structure and idiom appropriate to the task.)
Achievement Level
0 The candidate has not reached level 1.
1 Little use of appropriate language
generally inappropriate register for the assignment selected
frequent lapses in the conventions of written work.
2 Some use of appropriate language
generally appropriate register for the assignment selected
some lapses in the conventions of written work
some consistency or clarity of expression.
3 Adequate use of appropriate language
appropriate register for the assignment selected
the conventions of written work are generally followed
consistency and some clarity of expression.
4 Good use of appropriate language
the register is effective and appropriate for the assignment selected
the conventions of written work are closely followed
clarity, consistency and general fluency of expression.
5 Excellent use of appropriate language
the register is highly effective and appropriate for the assignment selected
careful attention is given to the conventions of written work
clarity, consistency and fluency of style.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Batch 1 English A1: quotes from Pygmalion
1. "If the play makes the public aware that there are such people as phoneticians, and that they are among its most important people in England at present, it will serve its turn." Preface, pg. 9
2. "Nah then, Freddy: look wh' y' gowin, deah," Act 1, pg. 15
3. "Garn! Oh do buy a flower off me, Captain. I can change a half-a-crown." Act 1, pg. 19
4. "copper's nark." Act 1, pg. 21
5. "A woman who utters such depressing and disgusting sounds has no right to be anywhere - no right to live. Remember that you are a human being with a soul and the divine gift or articulate speech: that your native language is the language of Shakespear and Milton and The Bible; and don't sit there crooning like a bilious pigeon." Act 1, pg. 27
6. "He is, in fact, but for his years and size, rather like a very impetuous baby 'taking notice' eagerly and loudly, and requiring almost as much watching to keep him out of unintended mischief." Act 2, pg. 34
7. "It's almost irresistible. She is so deliciously low - so horribly dirty" Act 2, pg. 40
8. "The moment I let a woman make friends with me, she becomes jealous, exacting, suspicious, and a damned nuisance. I find that the moment I let myself make friends with a woman, I become selfish and tyrannical. Women upset everything. When you let them into your life, you find that the woman is driving at one thing and youre driving at another." Act 2, pg. 50
9. "Only this morning you applied it to your boots, to the butter, and to the brown bread." Act 2, pg. 51
10. "I'm willing to tell you. I'm wanting to tell you. I'm waiting to tell you." Act 2, pg. 55
11. "Well whats a five-pound note to you? And whats Eliza to me?" Act 2, pg. 57
12. "genteel poverty." Act 3, pg. 70
13. "Walk! Not bloody likely [Sensation]. I am going to take a taxi." Act 3, pg. 78
14. "You have no idea how frightfully interesting it is to take a human being and change her into a quite different human being by creating a new speech for her. It's filling up the deepest gulf that separates class from class and soul from soul." Act 3, pg. 82
15. "It was a silly notion: the whole thing has been a bore." Act 4, pg. 98
16. " Higgins: [formally] Damn Mrs. Pearce; and damn the coffee; and damn you; and [wildly] damn my own folly in having lavished my hard-earned knowledge and the treasure of my regard and intimacy on a heartless guttersnipe. [ He goes out with impressive decorum, and spoils it by slamming the door savagely.]" Act 4, pg. 105
17. "The constable shakes his head, reflecting on his own courtship and on the vanity of human hopes." Act 4, pg. 106
18. "the most original moralist at present in England, to the best of [his] knowledge, was Alfred Doolittle, a common dustman?" Act 5, pg. 115
19. "you took the money for the girl; and you have no right to take her as well." Act 5, pg. 117
20. "You find me cold, unfeeling, selfish, don't you? Very well: be off with you to the sort of people you like. Marry some sentimental hog or other with lots of money, and a thick pair of lips to kiss you with and a thick pair of boots to kick you with." Act 5, pg. 130
21. "Remember that you are a human being with a soul and the divine gift of articulate speech: that your native language is the language of Shakespeare and Milton and The Bible; and don't sit there crooning like a bilious pigeon."
22. "Women upset everything. When you let them into your life, you find that the woman is driving at one thing and you're driving at another."
23. "But you have no idea how frightfully interesting it is to take a human being and change her into a quite different human being by creating a new speech for her. It's filling up the deepest gulf that separates class from classand soul from soul."
24. "I sold flowers. I didn't sell myself. Now you've made a lady of me I'm not fit to sell anything else."
25. " . . . the difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves, but how she's treated."
"The great secret, Eliza, is not having bad manners or good manners or any other particular sort of manners, but having the same manner for all human souls: in short, behaving as if you were in Heaven, where there are no third-class carriages, and one soul is as good as another."
26. "I have to live for others and not for myself: that's middle class morality."
27. "Happy is the man who can make a living by his hobby!"
28. "What is life but a series of inspired follies?"
29. "Would the world ever have been made if its maker had been afraid of making trouble? Making life means making trouble."
2. "Nah then, Freddy: look wh' y' gowin, deah," Act 1, pg. 15
3. "Garn! Oh do buy a flower off me, Captain. I can change a half-a-crown." Act 1, pg. 19
4. "copper's nark." Act 1, pg. 21
5. "A woman who utters such depressing and disgusting sounds has no right to be anywhere - no right to live. Remember that you are a human being with a soul and the divine gift or articulate speech: that your native language is the language of Shakespear and Milton and The Bible; and don't sit there crooning like a bilious pigeon." Act 1, pg. 27
6. "He is, in fact, but for his years and size, rather like a very impetuous baby 'taking notice' eagerly and loudly, and requiring almost as much watching to keep him out of unintended mischief." Act 2, pg. 34
7. "It's almost irresistible. She is so deliciously low - so horribly dirty" Act 2, pg. 40
8. "The moment I let a woman make friends with me, she becomes jealous, exacting, suspicious, and a damned nuisance. I find that the moment I let myself make friends with a woman, I become selfish and tyrannical. Women upset everything. When you let them into your life, you find that the woman is driving at one thing and youre driving at another." Act 2, pg. 50
9. "Only this morning you applied it to your boots, to the butter, and to the brown bread." Act 2, pg. 51
10. "I'm willing to tell you. I'm wanting to tell you. I'm waiting to tell you." Act 2, pg. 55
11. "Well whats a five-pound note to you? And whats Eliza to me?" Act 2, pg. 57
12. "genteel poverty." Act 3, pg. 70
13. "Walk! Not bloody likely [Sensation]. I am going to take a taxi." Act 3, pg. 78
14. "You have no idea how frightfully interesting it is to take a human being and change her into a quite different human being by creating a new speech for her. It's filling up the deepest gulf that separates class from class and soul from soul." Act 3, pg. 82
15. "It was a silly notion: the whole thing has been a bore." Act 4, pg. 98
16. " Higgins: [formally] Damn Mrs. Pearce; and damn the coffee; and damn you; and [wildly] damn my own folly in having lavished my hard-earned knowledge and the treasure of my regard and intimacy on a heartless guttersnipe. [ He goes out with impressive decorum, and spoils it by slamming the door savagely.]" Act 4, pg. 105
17. "The constable shakes his head, reflecting on his own courtship and on the vanity of human hopes." Act 4, pg. 106
18. "the most original moralist at present in England, to the best of [his] knowledge, was Alfred Doolittle, a common dustman?" Act 5, pg. 115
19. "you took the money for the girl; and you have no right to take her as well." Act 5, pg. 117
20. "You find me cold, unfeeling, selfish, don't you? Very well: be off with you to the sort of people you like. Marry some sentimental hog or other with lots of money, and a thick pair of lips to kiss you with and a thick pair of boots to kick you with." Act 5, pg. 130
21. "Remember that you are a human being with a soul and the divine gift of articulate speech: that your native language is the language of Shakespeare and Milton and The Bible; and don't sit there crooning like a bilious pigeon."
22. "Women upset everything. When you let them into your life, you find that the woman is driving at one thing and you're driving at another."
23. "But you have no idea how frightfully interesting it is to take a human being and change her into a quite different human being by creating a new speech for her. It's filling up the deepest gulf that separates class from classand soul from soul."
24. "I sold flowers. I didn't sell myself. Now you've made a lady of me I'm not fit to sell anything else."
25. " . . . the difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves, but how she's treated."
"The great secret, Eliza, is not having bad manners or good manners or any other particular sort of manners, but having the same manner for all human souls: in short, behaving as if you were in Heaven, where there are no third-class carriages, and one soul is as good as another."
26. "I have to live for others and not for myself: that's middle class morality."
27. "Happy is the man who can make a living by his hobby!"
28. "What is life but a series of inspired follies?"
29. "Would the world ever have been made if its maker had been afraid of making trouble? Making life means making trouble."
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