Literary Theories From Class

Throughout the term we went over a few literary theories with which we could use to criticize different texts that we were reading. The main theories we focused on include marxist literary theory, feminist theory, and post-colonial theory.

Marxist theory suggests that all productions, be it a song, a play, a novel, etc, are political in nature. Marxist theory deal with economics, social class issues, power divisions, and ideologies. A Marxist critic would argue that readers will not fully understand a literary work until the relationship between economics and social class are understood. Some Marxist author's the we covered in class include Pablo Neruda and Richard Wright (though only for a short time).

Feminist literary theory contends that males use literature as a means to ensure that females remain subordinate. Feminist authors include Nawal El Saadawi, Anita Desai (the "reluctant" feminist), and Virginia Woolf. These authors are now considered part of the literary canon whereas before the canon was solely male.

Post-colonial literary theory looks at works produced by colonial powers or by those who were colonized. Post-colonial theory looks at issues of politics, power, economics, culture, and history. A post-colonial author we look at in class is Chinua Achebe, who wrote Things Fall Apart. The novel looks at the impact of British colonization on preexisting Nigerian societies and cultures, and documents what took place during colonization.

World Classics

I came into this class thinking it would be a welcome challenge during which I would get a little feel for some famous non-western authors and literature. I'm pleased to say that class was just that. Every day we would discuss we were assigned to read and the discussion were always intellectual and interesting. My classmates were all very interesting as well. 

I enjoyed doing the assignments given to us and it never felt like real work because it was always intriguing. The two papers we wrote were a challenge, but they were fun to write. The exam was also a good challenge! There were a couple questions I was kind of iffy on, but I think I did relatively well and I'm very pleased with myself. I'm most happy about my essay. I chose to write about the texts we read in class being called revolutionary in that they challenged authority in some way. 

I don't think there's anything I would change about the way the class was run, it was very well organized and I feel I've learned a lot. I definitely do not regret taking this course one bit! It's been a really fun term with all you guys and I hope you have a fun summer! See you next year!! :D

Poetry Day Pt. 2!

So poetry day in class turned out to be a lot better than I thought it would be. I was dreading having to write poetry, because being creative on the spot is difficult! But I ended up really enjoying hearing other people's poems (diarrhea burning like the heat of a thousand suns!) and I even liked most of my own :)


For the first poem we wrote about something abstract: time.

Flowing as a river
Whisping as the wind
Round and around
the arms they spin


The second poem we wrote about something concrete: a chair.

Climb the mountain
and you'll come to a plateau
Where you'll find my cat,
It's her favorite place to go


The third and fourth poems we chose what to write about and then everybody tried to guess what it was!

Thunderous and daunting
Purple, black, and blue
Your tears escape
And your voice cracks
But soon it passes and
Your face again, pleases the masses

--In this one I describing like the sky/a passing thunderstorm


You cry, I'll calm you
You fall, I'll catch you
You giggle, I'll smile
You stand, I'll encourage you
Put one foot before the other
You and I, together we'll wander

--In this one I was describing my baby brother!


Overall, poetry day was a success I think!

Tomorrow is Poetry Day!

yayyy! Who doesn't love poetry?

When told that we had to bring in a favorite poem, I immediately thought of either "Sick" by Shel Silverstein or "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost. Throughout grade school I was never really exposed to any poets, so my favorite poem is fairly juvenile. But, I am a kid a heart so I suppose it's only fitting.

Sick by Shel Silverstein

'I cannot go to school today'
Said little Peggy Ann McKay
'I have the measles and the mumps,
A gash, a rash and purple bumps.
My mouth is wet, my throat is dry,
I'm going blind in my right eye.
My tonsils are as big as rocks,
I've counted sixteen chicken pox
And there's one more - that's seventeen,
And don't you think my face looks green?
My leg is cut - my eyes are blue-
It might be instamatic flu.
I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke,
I'm sure that my left leg is broke-
My hip hurts when I move my chin,
My belly button's caving in,
My back is wrench, my ankle's sprained,
My 'pendix pains each time it rains.
My nose is cold, my toes are numb.
I have a sliver in my thumb.
My neck is stiff, my voice is weak,
I hardly whisper when I speak.
My tongue is filling up my mouth,
I think my hair is falling out.
My elbow's bent, my spine ain't straight,
My temperature is one-oh-eight.
My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear,
There is a hole inside my ear.
I have a hangnail, and my heart is-what?
What's that? What's that you say?
You say today is...Saturday?
G'bye, I'm going out to play!'


I love this poem because it reminds me of dreading school when I was younger, and rejoicing when it was the weekend :)

Literary Analysis!

So I have decided that I am going to write the last essay for this class on Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart." While reading this novel and the other African folk stories that we read, I realized how much I love African folk literature. I love the way it reads and the wisdom I feel it exudes. There is also a lot of symbolism in Achebe's novel and I'm excited to dive into the criticism that's out there. When we discussed in class I wrote down some ideas that I address in my paper. Here are some:

• Okonkwo seems to represent the "old" ways, and Nwoye seems to represent the "new"
• with this, we can enter into how exactly Okonkwo symbolizes the tribes old ways with his personality traits, and the way he dies. I also want to see whether most critics are satisfied with the Okonkwo's fate
• Why did Achebe choose to write this novel in English?
• The significance of the final paragraph
• The significance of the way the novel is divided into three parts -- could it be where Okonkwo is and how his resolve gradually diminishes?
• The similarities and differences between the two religions in the novel, and the theme of cultural identity present in the novel
• and of course, the examination of the novel using post-colonnial criticism.

Thankfully, I have a good amount of ideas to fill 6-7 pages.

Child's Play

Higuchi Ichiyo was born in 1872 in Japan.  Her brother died when she was 15, and her father died when she was 17, leaving her, her mother, and her sister to fend for themselves. Her father had always supported her education; he would get her trasnlated, abridged version of classic novels and made her memorize his favorite poems. During her lifetime, Japan was leaving it's "secluded" age and Western customs were taking over Japanese culture, this included education. Men were sent to schools and received a "western" education, but women were not allowed. Ichiyo herself went to an all girls school because of this. She soon taught at the same school, and wrote poems and short stories to supplement the income.

When her father died, she moved her little family to the outskirts of the red-light district. This was an area of extreme poverty, but also an area where western culture had not penetrated and traditional Japanese culture was present. The neighborhood of minstrels, fortune tellers, jugglers, merchants, and day laborers provided Ichiyo with a much grander setting for her fiction, including her most famous piece, "Child's Play."

Ichiyo was largely unknown until this short story was published. It's main characters are a group of children about 13 or 14. A major present in the short story is a loss of innocence as the children grow up. This can be reflected to Japan losing it's "innocence," in a sense; when the US came charging in with it's gunboat diplomacy, forcing industrial civilization on a previously secluded Japan. It can also be reflected in Ichiyo's own life; when her father died, she was forced to grow up and get a job to support her mother and sister, not only at a young age, but also at a time when that was traditionally the man's role.

This theme of growing up can be tied to another short story we read call "The Man Who Was Almost a Man" by Richard Wright. But in this story, rather than the adult world thrusting itself upon the young boy, the young boy tries to thrust himself into the adult world. He believes he is a man when he is still just a boy, and when he tries to act like a man he ends up killing a mule. Rather than face his problems and take the consequences, he runs from them, further proving that he's still just a boy with more growing up to do.

Wole Soyinka

The Cotton Club; famous Black club during
the Harlem Renaissance

Today in class, we learned a little bit about negritude. Negritude was a literary movement among black writers in Paris that began in the 1930's and 40's. Inspired the Harlem Renaissance, the movement became an assertion of the writers' cultural identity. They sought to give black people around the world an identity of their own. Politically, the movement was a response to, and a refusal of, French colonialism, and affected how those who were colonized viewed themselves. We learned in class that Achebe was a supporter of the negritude movement, but Soyinka was not.

Wole Soyinka was born in Nigeria and educated in England. There's no doubt that he experienced racism and complete disregard of his culture by the English. "Death and the King's Horseman" is one of Soyinka's more famous works. It is about a minor chief, Elesin, is destined to follow his dead king to the afterlife. To do this, he must commit ritual suicide. But the Englishmen, who are attempting to colonize and westernize the tribe, ruin the ritual in order to save the Elesin's life (they don't understand how important the ritual is to the tribe). In the end, they only succeed in causing more trouble because he committed suicide in his cell after seeing that Olunde, his son, had commit suicide to take his place in the afterlife. I guess the intentions of the English were good, but they were ignorant to the beliefs and customs of the tribe and deliberately disrespected their culture.

Wole Soyinka

Soyinka himself said that this play was not about culture clash, but this perplexes me because that's all it seems to be about. If we take his word for it, though, it leaves us wondering what it is really about. Discord among the many cultures present runs rampant throughout the play and it's hard to imagine that Soyinka's overall meaning is not something to do with that discord. My first impression after reading the play was that it is about oppression of the black people by the white, and the consequences it has. The play could also be about moving on and letting past occurrences go; at the end, a woman says "Now forget the dead, forget even the living. Turn your mind only to the unborn." Here Soyinka seems to say just focus on the future because you can't change what's happened.

"I've got a joke for you."

"Women's rights."

How many times have you heard a man say that one?

Jane Addams, famous suffragette
from the Progressive Era
Owner of the Hull House

Feminism, as defined by the Oxford Dictionary, is "the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men." We've discussed a few authors in class that could be considered feminist, including Virginia Woolf, Alfonsina Storni, Anita Desai, Nawal El Sadaawi, and even Rabindranath Tagore (even though he was a dude!).

In "A Room of One's Own," by Virginia Woolf, she enters a library with the intent of reading about women. What she finds is an overwhelming amount of books, about women, all written by men. She says it's as if men are automatically qualified to write about women simply because they are men. She also gives an example of "Judith" Shakespeare, William Shakespeare's "sister." Woolf goes on to explain that, had Shakespeare been a woman, he would not have been as successful, and more than likely would have killed himself. The message of her short story was that all a woman needed to be a successful writer was a quiet room of her own, and money.

Alfonsina Storni was a feminist poet. Her poems have an almost accusatory tone, and seem to tell a story of a woman over-powering a man. Take her poem "Little Bitty Man" for example:

Little bitty man, little bitty man
let your canary loose that wants to fly away.
I'm that canary, little bitty man,
let me go free.

I was in your cage, little bitty man,
little bitty man who gives me a cage.
I say little bitty because you don't understand me
and never will

Nor do I understand you, but meanwhile
open up the cage, for I want to be free.
Little bitty man, I love you half an hour.
Ask no more of me.

Anita Desai's short story "Rooftop Dwellers," is the story of a woman in India who chooses to leave her cushy life with her parents for a life of independence in the big city. The main character, Moyna, had a job and a home and supported herself. She was a very strong and independent woman whose goal seemed to be to prove people wrong, people who thought women couldn't make it on their own. In the end, the journal she works for is going under and she has trouble deciding whether to go home or not. Though Desai leaves the ending a little open, I personally got the impression that Moyna chose to continue her independent life. This gave me a sense of empowerment.

Nawal El Sadaawi (left) wrote a short story that sounds curiously similar to her life. It involves a woman who is sent to jail for speaking ill against her people's leader. In the jail she is torture by being raped. At one point during her torture, one of the men said, "This is the way we torture you women - by depriving you of the most valuable thing you posess." To which she replied, "You fool! The most valuable thing I possess is not between my legs." This is an extremely powerful moment in the story for the woman.

In Rabindranath Tagore's "Punishment," a man kills his wife out of sudden rage. His brother, in an attempt to save him, tells his wife to take the punishment, for it was no secret that the two women constantly fought. The wife was dumbfounded, she could not believe that someone who loved her so would ask her to do such a thing. When the man realized what he had done and tried to tell the truth, she continued to take the blame, as if to tell him 'this is what you wanted, isn't it?' At the end of the story as she sits in jail she is told that he wants to see her, to which she replies "To hell with him." More feminine empowerment!

In all honesty though, I'm not that big of a feminist. Crazy, right? I am a girl, after all. I should be a feminist. I mean it's grand that we can vote and all, I am all for that! And who doesn't want equality of the sexes, that's important. But I'm not the type to go picket somewhere or write some strongly worded essays or short stories just to try and change some man's mind. I am more the type of person to go out and actually do what they say/think I can't do. Actions speak louder than words after all.  :P

Pablo Neruda

Pablo Neruda was a Latin American poet of nature, love, and common things who lived during the time of the Spanish Civil War. He had an enormous impact on Spanish literature by offering an American way of seeing, a Latin American way that is.

Three poems of his in particular that I enjoyed include "Walking Around," "Tonight I Can Write..." and "I'm Explaining a Few Things," with my favorite being "I'm Explaining a Few Things." In it he begins with a sort of disclaimer in which he explains that this poem will not be like the others. But as he continues, the reader wonders what his first stanza could mean, because the stanzas that follow beautifully describe a suburb of Madrid where he once lived. He describes his home, often referred to as the house of flowers, with geraniums bursting from every crack. He also fondly describes the busy market overlooking the ocean. In the next stanzas the tone changes, though, and he begins to allude the Spanish Civil War and the horror it has brought to his beautiful Spain. He paints a dreadful scene that opposes the enchanting picture conjured in the previous stanzas, a scene of children dying and Spain burning down. The final two stanzas are the most powerful, in my opinion:

"And you will ask: why doesn't his poetry
speak of dreams and leaves
and the great volcanoes of his native land?

Come and see the blood in the streets.
Come and see
the blood in the streets.
Come and see the blood
in the streets!"

Here, it's as if Neruda is saying he can't write of the things he usually does because his homeland is in ruins, even he can find no beauty.


This poem stood out to me because, as he said, it's quite different from his usual modus operandi. "Tonight I Can Write..." is an indecisive poem of love lost. He seems to fight with his feelings and in the end concludes that he is indeed over the woman and will never again feel pain from her memory. In "Walking Around," Neruda talks of common objects like his feet, nails, and shadow, coffee pots, mirrors, and umbrellas. He uses nature metaphors to combat industrialism and seems to channel the Emerson and Thoreau inside of him. Though nature and feelings of love are present in "I'm Explaining a Few Things," the tones of the poems contrast sharply and he seems to get more serious.

"Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far."

- Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States

As a president, Roosevelt is remembered for many things such as the "trust busting" Sherman Anti-trust act and also his extensive work in contributing to forest conservation in the US. Roosevelt thrust America into world politics when he aided the mediation of the Russo-Japanese War, and also when he administered what is known as the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine.

Roosevelt with a
hunted lion 

The Monroe Doctrine, the work of James Monroe, fifth president of the United States, was somewhat of a "warning" to the French, British, Spanish and other world leaders that the United States of America is to be taken seriously. It also stated that the Western Hemisphere was soon to be ours, so they might as well not even try to colonize it, for we would surely win. At the time, the US was just a baby country, newly freed from British control and vying to be among the other top countries of the world; the Monroe Doctrine was a sort of formal declaration that the United States was a country now, not a colony, and not to be taken lightly. The Roosevelt Corollary reasserted this statement and even went so far as to say that US intervention in the southern colonies of the western hemisphere might be justified. This eventually led to the construction of the Panama Canal and a connection between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (a shortcut such as this was critical to more efficient trade). He's also known for his heroism as a Rough Rider during the Spanish-American War, and also for his post-presidency African safari. Teddy Roosevelt is remembered for being a tough, no-nonsense kind of man, and an avid hunter.

Ruben Dario

Roosevelt believed that as the president, he was the "steward of the people" and should, therefore, do everything he possibly can for the good of the people, unless explicitly forbidden by the law. For this reason he is also known for expanding the use executive power. The US grew in regards to world power during his presidency and Teddy was not afraid to show the world that we mean business with his "Great White Fleet".

This did not sit well with everyone, as you can imagine. Take Rubin Dario, for example. The contemporary Spanish-language poet lived from 1867 to 1916 and is credited with being a leading figure of the Spanish-American Modernismo movement. Though he wasn't very interested in politics, he was honored with a couple different position in the arena of world politics and is remembered for, among other things, his poem "To Roosevelt," which brought pride and unity to Spanish America:

To Roosevelt 

The voice that would reach you, Hunter, must speak

in Biblical tones, or in the poetry of Walt Whitman.

You are primitive and modern, simple and complex;

you are one part George Washington and one part Nimrod. You are the United States

future invader of our naive America

with its Indian blood, an America

that still prays to Christ and still speaks Spanish.

You are a strong, proud model of your race;

you are cultured and able; you oppose Tolstoy.

You are an Alexander-Nebuchadnezzar,

breaking horses and murdering tigers.

(You are a Professor of Energy,

as the current lunatics say).

You think that life is a fire,

that progress is an irruption,

that the future i wherever

your bullet strikes.

                          No.

The United States is grand and powerful.

Whenever it trembles, a profound shudder

runs down the enormous backbone of the Andes.

If it shouts, the sound is like the roar of a lion.

And Hugo said to Grant: "The stars are yours."

(The dawning sun of the Argentine barely shines;

the star of Chile is rising...) A wealthy country,

joining the cult of Mammon to the cult of Hercules;

while Liberty, lighting the path

to easy conquest, raises her torch in New York.

But our own America, which has had poets

since the ancient times of Nezahualcoyotl;

whiche preserved the footprints of great Bacchus.

and learned the Panic alphabet once,

and consulted the stars; which also knew Atlantis

(whose name comes ringing down to us in Plato)

and has lived, since the earliest moments of its life,

in light, in fire, in fragrance, and in love--

the America of Moctezuma and Atahualpa,

the aromatic America of Columbus,

Catholic America, Spanish America,

the America where noble Cuauhtemoc said:

"I am not on a bed of roses"--our America,

trembling with hurricanes, trembling with Love;

O men with Saxon eyes and barbarous souls,

our America lives. And dreams. And loves.

And it is the daughter of the Sun. Be careful. 

Long live Spanish America!

A thousand cubs of the spanish lion are roaming free.

Roosevelt, you must become, by God's own will,

the deadly Rifleman and the dreadful Hunter

before you can clutch us in your iron claws.

And though you have everything, you are lacking one thing:

God! 

This poem says a lot. Dario compliments and insults the US and Roosevelt in the same sentence and still sounds eloquent and poetic. His poem also seems to say to the US that "his" America (Latin America) is stronger and better than ours and will not lay down and accept defeat. He recognizes that the United States is a powerful and grand nation, but he also knows that it is corrupt and wrong in it's use of power. He boasts of Latin America's extraordinary history when he mentions the Aztecs and the Incas, of their intelligence when he talks of Greek mythology and Plato, of their culture, rich with passion and religion, yet without sounding boastful.

One of the first things I noticed is Dario's brilliant juxtaposition throughout much of the poem. Dario is very talented in this and seems to pinpoint Roosevelt's personality and policies with amazing accuracy, making the images that much more vivid. My favorite contrast is in line four when Dario says Roosevelt is "one part George Washington and one part Nimrod..". This line is pure genius in my opinion. Dario compliments Roosevelt on his being a great leader and politician by comparing him to our nation's first president, but then sneaks in a little insult when he compares him to Nimrod. Nimrod is mentioned in the Bible as a "mighty hunter before God" in the Book of Genesis, and in the Books of Chronicles he is characterized by his foolish rebellion towards God. By telling Roosevelt he is part Nimrod, he cleverly alludes not only to Roosevelt being a hunter (which Dario seems to regard with disgust), but also accuses him of being without God, as he does again in the last line of the poem.

Another important point to make, I think, is the physical structure of the poem and how that adds to what Dario is trying to say. The beginning is separated into relatively short stanzas as he describes Roosevelt. After a strong "No," comes a very large and intimidating stanza with an stronger tone. You can almost see Dario's words putting Roosevelt in his place and simultaneously uplifting Latin Americans.