1. Just as boring as this font
New Criticism
Just as boring as this font

2. What do you know about this text, the time/place it was written and the background of the author?
I, Too
I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong. Tomorrow, I'll be at the table When company comes. Nobody'll dare Say to me, "Eat in the kitchen," Then. Besides, They'll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed-- I, too, am America. 

3. Context Written by Langston Hughes and published in 1945
Hughes was an African American poet and playwrite, and credited as one of the leaders of the Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance pre-dated the modern Civil Rights era by about 30 years, but it was explosion of African American produced art and literature all coming out of New York City
Hughes’ America was one of segregation and racism
Hughes’ has many other famous works, including “Harlem (A Dream Deferred)”

4. Discuss: Now that you have some context for the poem, what would you say this poem is about?
I, Too
I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong. Tomorrow, I'll be at the table When company comes. Nobody'll dare Say to me, "Eat in the kitchen," Then. Besides, They'll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed-- I, too, am America. 

5. Using Context for analysis makes sense, right?
The New Critics have something they’d like to argue

6. New Criticism says that literature should be looked at only for what it is on the page
Literature should be understood and analyzed with only what’s on the page
“Close reading” is the only proper way to analyze literature
New Critics say a text exists detached from the world. This means the author’s biography and the context of when/where it was written shouldn’t be taken into account
The meaning of a text should not be confused with the author’s meaning for the text
Literature should be like a science: critics (readers) should use “a technical vocabulary” (Delahoyde) when discussing a work
Focuses more on how a piece “works,” it’s more like a mechanic checking under a car’s hood rather than trying to figure out where the car is going and where it’s been

7. Advantages Disadvantages
Critic doesn’t need to have contextual information to understand or analyze a text
Finally puts into practice all those words you learned in middle and high school, like “irony”, “point of view”, “narrative structure”, “paradox”, “meter”, “metaphor”, etc.
Works well for reading and analyzing poetry
Close reading is a useful teaching tool (think about how many teachers here use the phrase “what do you notice?”)
Despite it’s champions arguing the opposite, New Criticism removes the societal meaning from a text. (Imagine reading Of Mice and Men removed from the context of the Great Depression)
Removes the reader/critic’s own personal and emotional reaction to the literary work (Wimsatt)
Works well for analyzing poetry, however has limitations when applied to other texts

8. Look at structure, metaphor, repetition, etc.
Now, try reading this poem like a New Critic. Forget the context and just do a close reading
Look at structure, metaphor, repetition, etc.
Talk about it like you’re in a science or math class
I, Too
I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong. Tomorrow, I'll be at the table When company comes. Nobody'll dare Say to me, "Eat in the kitchen," Then. Besides, They'll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed-- I, too, am America. 

9. New Critic reading of Song of Solomon

10. Close reading of Song of Solomon (pages 1-2)

11. Word play at the beginning: “fly” for suicide and Lake Superior followed by “his little house” (1) and letters addressed to addresses on Doctor Street get sent to the Dead Letter Office, which represents miscommunication or a cutting off from friends and family. Macon Dead, who shares the same name, also represents a miscommunication or cutting off from family history and identity
Robert Smith’s note is uplifting (“I will take off from Mercy and fly away on my own wings”) and sad at the same time (“Please forgive me. I loved you all” (1))
Smith’s note foreshadows information Milkman will learn about later on during his own quest for identity
Irony: When the government decrees that the unofficially titled “Doctor Street” is not Doctor Street, the African American community starts calling it “Not Doctor Street” (2)
Form: Almost the entirety of the two pages is all one paragraph. Since a paragraph is a grouping of sentences around one idea, then that means all of this information about Not Doctor Street and the community is relevant to Mr. Smith’s leap

12. Discussion Time

13. Question 1
Think about the form and structure of the text such as the use of third person omniscient narration and anachronistic order of events. How does this form and structure make the content more (or less) powerful or aesthetically pleasing?

14. Question 2
What aspects of Song of Solomon make it worth analyzing/discussing/reading if we separate it from its historical and biographical context?

15. Question 3
What is lost when looking at a text through the New Criticism lens? Is this an effective way to analyze Song of Solomon?

16. Works Cited
Wimsatt, Jr., William K. and Beardsley, Monroe C.“The Intentional Fallacy.” Accessed 31 October, 2016.
Delahoyde, Michael. Washington State University. Accessed 31 October, 2016.
The Purdue OWL Family of Sites. The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and Purdue U, 2008, Accessed 31 October, 2016.