XUXRIMUXRI: переводы

→Now that you’ve noticed a lot of stuff, go back and take notes on what significance you think it has: that is, how does it affect our understanding of a character, the plot, whatever. Remember close reading is about using the how of narrative to come to a more in-depth understanding of what it narrates and why it does so in the way it does. Some of what you’ve noticed may have no braoder significance, or none that you can come up with. That’s fine; don’t try to wrench meaning out of a moment you genuinely believe has none.

→The first and most important technique of close reading is to think actively about all the elements of close reading on the sheet and the many I doubtless left out (enjambment, for example, or the prevalence of active vs. passive voice) as you read, closely, the text. Read it several times; read it out loud (several times); take notes on anything and everything that catches your eye as you read. Do not try to make the pieces add up to a coherent argument or even picture just yet; instead try to notice everything that is potentially interesting about how the text conveys meaning. This is the time to be capacious, not discriminating.

→Techniques of Close Reading

→Repetition: Especially in Homer, look for repeated words, phrases, and even entire passages. Sometimes these will be purely formulaic (e.g., “daughter of Zeus whose shield is thunder”), but don’t be afraid to argue for their significance if you feel it exists; think too about the effect of one character repeating verbatim what another said earlier.

→Metaphor, Simile, and Image: if a character is said to be “like” or do something “as” something else, pay close attention to what that is, especially in Homer, who invented the so -called “heroic simile,” a long, detailed comparison of a charater’s actions or thoughts to those of a raging lion, boundless ocean, tranquil sunset, or whatever. And always, always look for images or image-clusters (animals, weather phenomena, whatever) that particularly catch your eye or recur at various points.

→Rhythm and cadence: especially crucial in poetry, but not to be overlooked in prose; again, read out loud and take note of where the words flow especially smoothly, and where they don’t. Stuttering or awkward clusters of words (thickly bunched consonant groups of the str- thw- and –nch variety) or phrases (lots of brief phrases or incomplete, interrupted sentences) might indicate (for example) intensity of ill-controlled emotion.

→Sound (including alliteration and assonance): simply that, what the language sounds like; always read passages you’re working on out loud. Alliteration involves multiple words in the same sentence or phrase beginning with the same sound; assonance consists of internal rhyme or off-rhyme, as in “the consonants’ assonance affected their sense” (an extreme example). Think too about the potential effect of vowel- or consonant-heavy patches of language, and that of monosyllabic or polysyllabic ones.

→Syntax: broadly defined as “sentence structure,” namely how complex or simple, neatly parallel or wildly expansive, the sentences, clauses, and phrases of a given passage are. Complex sentences can enmesh and entrap the reader, which could be a deliberate strategy (e.g., the wiles of Odysseus) or the mark of an incompetent speaker; similarly, simple sentence sturctures might indicate noble clarity of character or dim-witted single-mindedness.

→Tone: diction (among other things) helps to create tone, our ability to describe a passage or speech as “bitter,” “heroic,” “wily,” or any of the other wonderful adjectives with which English is blessed. Sometimes tone is obvious (and correspondingly less interesting to focus on), other times much less so, and often it hovers or shifts between different or even opposed adjectives; always look at the cumulative effect of diction and issues below before arriving at a conclusion.

→Diction: also known as “word choice,” diction involves the decision to use one word or phrase – what’s actually on the page – as opposed to any of the nearly infinite other ways of saying roughly the same thing. “Vengeance” (for example) is not the same word as “retribution,” “payback,” “punishment,” or even “revenge,” and close attention to diction asks what effects an author achieves by picking that word as opposed to those others.

→Elements of Close Reading

→The document you present to me can be a finished essay or a series of close reading-based interpretations of scenes and speeches, with or without a larger provisional argument. Do not worry about form at this point: if you have read closely, analyzed creatively, and argued convincingly, you will be fine.

→The first draft of this exercise that is due on Friday does not need to be a sustained, coherent literary argument about Agamemnon’s character (though the revised version due two weeks later does, so any progress you can make toward such a document is all to the good). At this stage I am most interested in – read: will grade you on – how insight-fully, creatively, and convincingly you make arguments about how the subtleties of Homer’s language create nuance and complexity in the depiction of a principal though often overlooked character.

→Your analytic method will need to consider how all of the elements of close reading we have discussed intersect with what actually happens in the Iliad: what Agamemnon does and does not do; says and does not say; and how all of this compares and contrasts with the actions and words of other characters, mortal and divine. Bear in mind that I am an intelligent reader and do not need to be informed of the obvious: that it was foolish of Agamemnon to take Achilles’ concubine, for example. Rather I am interested in how the texture of the text – its diction, tone, syntax, and so on – reinforce or complicate Homer’s depiction of Agamemnon.

→Most readers of Homer’s Iliad have found Agamemnon an unsympathetic character, in a host of different ways and for a wide range of specific causes. Your assignment is to use the techniques of close reading we’ve discussed in class as a way of delving more deeply into just who this figure is: the war-leader of the Achaean host, yet in the dramatic architecture of the poem subordinate to Achilles, Hector, and a host of gods and goddesses. Why, precisely, and in what ways can he be read as unsympathetic? Do you agree with such assessments or not, and why? Does his character evolve over the course of the reading to this point? You have the entire first half of the Iliad to use as data, though with such a large range of material to explore, you will need to be strategic about which passages you focus on in depth.

→Close Reading Exercise, due by email 2 days after SES #3

→Homer/Virgil essay prompt (PDF)

→This substantial (eight-page) literary essay will make a detailed, textually based argument about one of the many ways in which Virgil's Aeneid enlarges upon, revises, or suggestively ignores prominent themes, images or characters from either or both of Homer's epic poems. Within this broad topic, you will have complete freedom to choose your specific area of focus and textual examples, although you should steer clear of aspects that have received more than passing attention in class discussion.

→Literary Essay on Homer/Virgil

→Techniques of close reading (PDF)