Critical Reading of a Poem or Play: This call for papers invites a critical reading of one of the 14 assigned poems or the play Trifles by Susan Glaspell (page 123-134 in your textbook). This essay’s thesis will also be informed by one of the critical theories described in Chapter Nine of your text (pages 173-186): Formalism or new criticism, feminist and gender criticism, queer theory, Marxist criticism, cultural studies, postcolonial criticism, historical criticism and new historicism, psychological theories, reader-response criticism, structuralism, poststructuralism/deconstruction, or ecocriticism. As you prepare to write this paper, read your selected poem or the play repeatedly, thinking also of these various critical “lenses” through which the work can be read and understood. Does one theory fit better than another? Do interpretive ideas flood your mind once you start re-considering your poem or play through a particular lens? Another theory might seem less evocative at first, but open rich new readings upon reflection. Think about it for a while, re-reading through the primary text and the different critical perspectives until you find a promising match and a way of interpreting the work and its central theme(s).You may also want to conduct secondary research about your poem or play (its author, text, cultural context, audience, etc.) and/or information relevant to a particular critical perspective–though you must also remember to keep the focus tight, as you only have two pages to explain your ideas. For example, this is a helpful source if you are writing about Trifles and so is the International Susan Glaspell Society. It is also wise to do a little research on your own about the theory you’re applying, its history and tenets, and how it can influence an audience’s experience of a given text (or any cultural artifact related to the humanities). This entry on “Literary Theory” from the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy might be useful for starting such research, as is Wikipedia’s entry on the topic (though you should cite neither in formal academic papers) and several other sources linked under Course Materials.As with the explication in the fourth call for papers (which was actually an application of formalist or new critical literary theory), summarize the text you’re discussing, but do so very briefly to allow more space for your analysis. Back up your claims with specific references to the text and highlight the poetic or dramatic elements that the author uses to convey the text’s overall theme(s).If you accept this call, please give your mini-essay a two-part title like this (these are common in humanities): “Some Descriptive and Unique Title: A (critical theory you’re applying) Reading of (‘Title of your Primary Text’).” Remember, even paraphrased ideas and lines of reasoning must be cited if they go beyond “common knowledge.” Save quotes for especially important or well-put passages. Keep those quotes as brief as possible and know that paraphrasing (putting an author’s ideas in your own words) is usually better than quoting. Consider also the point-evidence-analysis way of integrating sources with your own ideas. The point-evidence-analysis approach, say a healthy paragraph for each, is also a good overall organizational pattern for such a brief essay. Chosen poem – Sonnet 73 by William Shakespeare
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