Tell all the Truth but tell it slant

Emily Dickinson

Tell all the Truth but tell it slant---
Success in Cirrcuit lies
Too bright for our infirm Delight
The Truth's superb surprise
As Lightening to the Children eased
With explanation kind
The Truth must dazzle gradually
Or every man be blind---

*Types of Poetry
There are three types of poetry:
1) Lyric: is a relatively short poem which expresses the thoughts or feelings of a single speaker.
2) Narrative: is a type of poetry that tells a story. Milton’s Paradise Lost is a narrative poem.
3) Dramatic poetry: is the term used for the verse encountered in for instance, a Shakespeare play.

A short criticism of a poem by Anne Bradstreet (ca. 1612-1672).
To my Dear and Loving Husband


1 If ever two were one, then surely we.
2 If ever man were lov'd by wife, then thee.
3 If ever wife was happy in a man,
4 Compare with me, ye women, if you can.
5 I prize thy love more than whole Mines of gold
6 Or all the riches that the East doth hold.
7 My love is such that Rivers cannot quench,
8 Nor ought but love from thee give recompetence.
9 Thy love is such I can no way repay.
10 The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray.
11 Then while we live, in love let's so persever
12 That when we live no more, we may live ever.
Notes

1] we: Anne's husband was Simon Bradstreet (1603-97). They were married in England in 1628.

6] the East: East Indies.

11] persever: likely accented on the second syllable.


The first three lines of the poem start with the words “If ever” to emphasize speaker’s assertion that her experience of unity, love and happiness scores the highest point amongst human beings. The third line is presented as a challenge to all other women telling them no matter how happy they may be with their husbands, their happiness will fall short of the one experienced by the speaker. There is no mention of what makes her experience extraordinary and no specific instances of what is so unique about her relationship with her spouse. Then the poem proceeds to describe the feeling of love through the use of an image which is usually considered the symbol of material possession, i.e. that of gold. The words “riches that the East” “repay”, “recompense” also amplify this picture presented in the poem where emotional is evaluated in terms of trade and monetary exchange. The price tag (mines of gold, and riches of the East) albeit the highest the speaker can think, weakens the poem and fails to stir the reader. The word ‘persevere’ in the penultimate line which shows a way to immortality through constancy brings to mind the image of an endurance test and a determination to hold on to the finish rather than any emotional strength informed by the greatness of love.


*“Information is endlessly available to us; where shall wisdom be found?”

Harold Bloom


*“A blank page is actually a whitewashed wall with no door and no window. Beginning to tell a story is like making a pass at a total stranger in a restaurant. Remember Chekhov’s Gurov in “ the Lady with the dog”? Gurov beckons to the little dog, wagging his finger at it over and over again, until the lady says, blushing, “ He doesn’t bite”, whereupon Gurov asks her permission to give the dog a bone. Both Gurov and Chekhov have now been given a thread to go by; the flirtation begins and story takes off.
The beginning of almost every story is actually a bone, something with which to court the dog, which may bring you closer to the lady.”

Amos Oz

Modus Operandi
Approach:

The emphasis of the course will not be on information, but on finding our critical individual voice for evaluating and understanding the American literary experience that spans over five centuries. Genuine American literature has been to a large extent a pioneer experience. It has been the expression of a necessity to arrive at a unique personal account vis à vis the surrounding universe. Emerson in his famous essay Self Reliance exhorts his readers to “judge for yourself” and Emily Dickinson promotes the individual “house” of human consciousness that is able “to support itself”. This attitude is at the core of American experience. To thoroughly come to terms with this viewpoint one needs at the end to stand on one’s own intellectual feet and judge for oneself.


Evaluation:

1) Diary: An ongoing record based on a short summary of authors and concepts discussed in the class plus one or two paragraphs of personal comments and criticism at the end of each entry. Neatness and legibility is important.


2) Seminar: Every student will be responsible for presenting one seminar per semester. Students should choose a topic ahead of time (a list will be provided) and offer an oral presentation to the class lasting between ten to fifteen minutes. A team of two students can work together on a topic and offer a joint presentation.


3) One short essay around 500 words.


4) Regular attendance and active participation in the discussions.


4) Use of secondary material without providing the source will be considered plagiarism.


Recommended Texts:

1) An Outline of American Literature by Peter B. High, Longman, 1986
2) An Introduction to American Literature: time present and time past by Françoise Grellet, Hachette
3) La Littérature américaine par Dominique Lescanne, Langues Pour Tous, 2004

*Practical Criticism
Practical Criticism is a close reading of a text and writing an evaluation of that text based on first hand evidence.