INTRODUCTION

OUTLINE Course requirements & Class rules Literature Poetry & Elements of poetry Introduction to early 17 th century, restoration and Neoclassicism Metaphysical Poetry- John Donne’s “Good Morrow”

COURSE REQUIREMENTS Home preparation Class participation Group discussion Weekly quizzes & assignments Midterm exam Skills: Read Think Analyze

LITERATURE Artistic written works such as novels, poetry and plays that are the result of imaginative skills and are characterized by excellence of style and expression Categorization: A- Contextual factors : (history) 16 th century literature, 19 th century literature (cultural) American literature, Japanese literature B- formal textual features (genre): poetry, drama, fiction

WHY DO WE HAVE TO READ LITERATURE?  Literature enables us to experience difficult situations in all their complexity and to look at them from different point of view.  The study of literature enhances our command of language making us sensitive to its effect.

POETRY It is a literary work in which the expression of feelings and ideas is given intensity by the use of distinctive style and rhythm.

ELEMENTS OF POETRY:  Speaker  Theme  Shape and Form (Pattern)  Tone  Language 1- figurative language 2- diction 3- imagery

1. Speaker The poem’s speaker is the person who is addressing the reader. Sometimes, the speaker is the poet, who addresses the reader directly or another person. The poet reveals the identity of the speaker in various ways. Choice of words, focus of attention and attitudes will indicate the age, perspective and identity of the speaker.

2. Content & theme Content is the subject of the poem. It answers the question “what?” What is the poem all about? What happens in the poem? The theme of the poem is the meaning of the poem – the main idea that the poet is trying to communicate. The theme may be stated directly or it may be implied.

3. Shape and Form (Pattern): In poetry, you will encounter two forms: structured and free verse. Structured poetry has predictable patterns of rhyme, rhythm, line- length and stanza construction. Some examples are the sonnet and the haiku. In free verse, the poet experiments with the form of the poem. The rhythm, number of syllables per line and stanza construction do not follow a pattern.

4. Mood or Tone The mood or tone of a poem is the feeling that the poet creates and that the reader senses through the poet’s choice of words, rhythm, rhyme, style and structure. Poems may express many moods – humorous, sarcastic, joyous, angry or solemn.

5. language (figurative lang., imagery, & diction): - Figurative language: It is the language that uses figures of speech and that cannot be taken literally. Simile He is like a lion Metaphor He is a lion Personification The grass speaks Symbol Rose

- Imagery Imagery refers to the “pictures” which we perceive with our mind’s eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin, and through which we experience the “duplicate world” created by poetic language. This is a device by which the poet makes his meaning strong, clear and sure.

FROM T. S. ELIOT’S PRELUDES The winter evening settles down With smell of steaks in passageways. And at the corner of the street A lonely cab-horse steams and stamps.

- Diction Diction is the poet’s choice of words. The poet chooses each word carefully so that both its meaning and sound contribute to the tone and feeling of the poem. The poet must consider a word's denotation - its definition according to the dictionary and it’s connotation - the emotions, thoughts and ideas associated with and evoked by the word.

HOW TO READ A POEM ? 1- read the title 2- read the syntax literally 3- use your dictionary 4- figure out who, where, when, and what happens. 5- consider how the poem’s form contributes to its effect.

INTRODUCTION TO 17 TH C

1- INTRODUCTION TO EARLY 17 TH C. It extends from the accession of James I in 1603 to the coronation of Charles II in At the center of this period lies:  The Puritan Revolution A group of protestants who wanted to purify the English church by eliminating everything of the Catholic influence. They encouraged direct personal religious experience

STRUCTURE OF ENG. SOCIETY Before  Court was the center of national authority, power & influence.  London was the center of the kingdom.  Literature was courtly.  Courtiers valued the heroic passions (love, warfare, devotional piety). After  Court was no longer the center of intellectual and literary influence.  London city & the parliament were centers of powers.  Political & religious conflicts  The puritan art forms of the age were sermon and the religious tract.  writers wrote in a new direction.

POETIC SCHOOLS:  Metaphysical Poets (Donne, Herbert, Marvell)  “Sons of Ben” or Cavalier poets (Jonson, Herrick, Lovelace)  Restoration Poetry (Milton)  The Neoclassical (Pope) Literary forms: Lyric & sonnet form

2- RESTORATION PERIOD   It began when the exiled king, Charles II, came back from France and was restored to his throne.  English society saw a complete rejection of the Puritan way of life.  The result was a style of poetry, as represented in the works of John Dryden, that emphasized moderation, reason and realism.

 Religious & satirical themes  Epic e.g. Milton’s Paradise Lost  Restoration poetry is considered moderate in the way it emphasizes precision, or the economical use of language and words.

3- NEOCLASSICISM  Neoclassicism is a revival of the styles and spirit of classic antiquity inspired directly from the classical period.  They substituted Renaissance view of man with their view of man as sinful.  They substituted Renaissance emphasis on imagination with their emphasis on order, reason, & philosophy.

 Important poetic form is the rhymed couplet – Pope’s heroic couplet  Satire

METAPHYSICS  Meta- beyond the physical world  A branch of philosophy that deals with the abstract, the ultimate reality.

METAPHYSICAL POETS  coined by the poet and critic Samuel Johnson  a group of English lyric poets of the 17th century, whose work was characterized by the use of conceits, and by speculation about topics such as human experience, love, and religion.  Their work relies on images and references to the contemporary scientific or geographical discoveries. These were used to examine religious and moral questions.  They use argumentative style blending passion and thought.

MAJOR POETS John Donne (1572–1631)John Donne George Herbert (1593–1633)George Herbert Andrew Marvell (1621–1678)Andrew Marvell

JOHN DONNE  An English poet and a clerk at church  His works include sonnets, love poems, religious poems, elegies, and sermons.  Donne's style is characterized by abrupt openings and various paradoxes, ironies and dislocations.  He is a restless and an adventurous character (He converted his religion).

“THE GOOD MORROW”  1633-Songs and Sonnets  I wonder, by my troth, what thou and I Did, till we loved? Were we not weaned till then? But sucked on country pleasures, childishly? Or snorted we in the Seven Sleepers' den? 'Twas so; but this, all pleasures fancies be. If ever any beauty I did see, Which I desired, and got, 'twas but a dream of thee.

 And now good-morrow to our waking souls, Which watch not one another out of fear; For love, all love of other sights controls, And makes one little room an everywhere. Let sea-discoverers to new worlds have gone, Let maps to other, worlds on worlds have shown, Let us possess one world, each hath one, and is one.

My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears, And true plain hearts do in the faces rest; Where can we find two better hemispheres, Without sharp north, without declining west? Whatever dies, was not mixed equally; If our two loves be one, or, thou and I Love so alike, that none do slacken, none can die.

THEMES:  The relationship between lovers.  ( conception of love) - A movement from the physical love to the spiritual love.  The truth and the unity of their love that make it immortal

 Speaker  Setting

FORM  It is divided into three stanzas (21 lines)  Donne used a unique rhyme scheme that splits each stanza into a quatrain (a set of four lines rhyming ABAB), followed by a triplet (a set of three lines rhyming CCC). Each letter stands for the end rhyme sound for that particular line (so line 1 would have the same end rhyme as line 3). Look at stanza three to see how it pans out:rhyme schemestanzaquatrainend rhyme […] appears (15) A […] rest B […] hemispheres A […] west B […] equally C […] I C […] die (20) C

LANGUAGE:  Allusion- seven sleepers  Imagery- geography & philosophy  Metaphor- seven sleepers, two hemisphere

Literature Circle