Critical Intro. to Literature

Critical Introduction to Literature

English 2600

This class, Critical Introduction to Literature, is mainly a Formalist approach to analyzing literature. In our study we were required to limit our analysis to just the text, largely setting aside outside influences and authorial intent. The class challenged my existing analytic style of situating any text within its societal context- my default arguments rely heavily on how this text came out of its culture and what it has to tell us about its time. While I don’t believe I will ever move completely beyond this style, this class strengthened my Formalist analytic thinking. In sticking only to the text my critiques became more thorough, more detailed and more supported because my entire argument was created from the reading.

The attached assignment, Canonical Membership through Participation in the American Project, which argues for Bob Dylan’s “Desolation Row’s” literary worth, demonstrates how my Formalist analytic skills have been strengthened: I pay close attention to the poetic aspects of the poem and make larger arguments for its literary worth based on these fine details. My arguments for the text’s literary worth allow me to participate in the larger academic conversation of what literature should be taught and why. Ultimately I am participating, in a small degree, in the dialogue surrounding canon formation- which over the past few years at SLCC has become a favorite focus of my English degree.

The assignment successfully built on analytic strategies and attention to detail taught in Critical Intro to Literature, but also built on the arguments of Canon theory I developed in Introduction to Critical Theory, English 2700. The common threads throughout the higher level English classes I have taken have introduced me to an ongoing debate in the English Literature world, Canon formation, and for this I am both grateful and excited. I find the debate fascinating and ironic and I am eager to become a more educated participant in the discussion.

To complete this assignment I first did research on the song’s history. I pulled the text and started with a Formalist close-reading of the text, unpacking its poetic form and function of those forms. However, once I began writing I struggled significantly. I found, after several false starts on the paper, that I did not understand the text as thoroughly as I thought I had.  I had to return to basic idea development strategies such as free writing and outline creation. It took several more hours of close analysis of just the text before I was able to fame my argument for its literary worth.

This paper demonstrates my progress in the course and college goals through combination of higher-level analysis, synthesis and evaluation. I’ve been able to cohesively collect and analyze information and “engage in principled and vigorous dialogue” as it pertains to my field of study.

Literary criticism is the bread-and-butter of my English degree; in my progress at the college I have become a more attentive reader, a better critical writer and have gained clearer insight into my own responses to texts.