After reading “Everyday Use” and “Everything that Rises…” and the Purdue OWL overview of Literary Theory and schools of
After reading “Everyday Use” and “Everything that Rises…” and the Purdue OWL overview of Literary Theory and schools of criticism,
complete the handout below (A, B, and C).
Submit as an attachment, properly formatted (see the Homework Format information in the syllabus).
Please label your components (so I know what you’re answering) and respond in complete sentences.
A. Review:
1. Using your own words, explain what in general, is a “school of literary theory”?
2. What do we use them for and how are they helpful to us as we discuss literature?
B. Respond:
Following are questions from three schools of literary theory that we can apply to “Everyday Use.” The questions that follow each school of theory are adapted from Purdue’s OWL.
a) Responding in complete sentences, answer each by applying it to “Everyday Use.”
b) In all answers, note which passages or dialogue we can point to as evidence.
1) New Historicism / Cultural Studies:
What characters / events present in the work reflect the current events of the author’s day?
Are there words in the text that have changed their meaning, (that are used differently, or not used at all) from the time of the writing? How might they change how we experience the events in the story?
How does the literary text function as part of a continuum with other historical/cultural texts from the same period? (Consider other texts we’ve read this semester: how does this story fit in; how does it continue the discussion?)
How are events’ interpretation and presentation a product of the culture of the author?
2) Marxist Criticism:
Whom (group, demographic, organization) does it benefit if the work or effort is accepted / successful / believed?
Which social / economic class does the work claim to represent?
What values does it reinforce?
Describe the power balance in the story: who has it and who doesn’t? How does the story operate to comment on that balance?
3) Feminist Critique:
What constitutes masculinity and femininity?
Do characters appear to embody any of these traits? Explain.
Do characters take on traits from other genders? How so? How does this change others’ reactions to them?
What does the work imply about the possibilities of sisterhood as a mode of resisting patriarchy? (Consider the relationships and bond between Mama, Maggie, and Dee; how do they support each other? What evidence is there that they are working together to garner power?)
C. Consider “Everything that Rises Must Converge”:
Choose two (2) schools of theory from the Literary Theory document that you feel would best apply to “Everything
that Rises…”
That is, which two schools of literary theory would help the reader better understand and gain insight into the
story? Consider choosing a school of theory NOT used in the handout above for “Everyday Use.”
For EACH school of theory you choose for “Everything that Rises…”,
1. Using your own words, write one paragraph that explains the theory
2. AND in a second paragraph choose two questions from the end of the theory descriiption that apply to the story,
3. list the questions,
4. and answer them, giving the specific insights that the theory allows into the story.
5. You will need examples of your insights, taken from the text, explaining what these examples highlight in terms of the theory, and not just tell me, for instance, that Psychoanalytic Theory will help psychoanalyze the characters.
6. What, specifically, do we learn from the application of this school of theory?
7. Repeat numbers 1 – 6 with the second school of theory you’ve chosen.
*Remember: You will need to complete the above 6 steps twice, once for each school of theory you’ve chosen.
READ TEXT (EVERYDAY USE)IN ATTACHMENT
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