Interpreting Literature
NOTE: PLEASE FOLLOW ALL INSTRUCTIONS.
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR DISCUSSIONS: Your contributions should be thoughtful and developed. Answer all parts of the question and use concepts from the course materials. Use a professional style of communication, with attention to grammar, spelling, and typos; cite your sources.
Unless your instructor specifies otherwise, choose ONE of the following questions, and give a substantive response to at least two other students.
1. FICTION & FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
Choose three of the pieces of fiction in the Learning Resources, identify the use of specific literary language in each, and explain how it expresses one of the character’s feelings or thoughts, functions to convey the mood of a character, or conveys the overall tone or theme of the story.
Make sure to include a specific quote from each piece of fiction and to use one interpretative tool from the Learning Resources or Module introduction that refers to figurative language in your analysis for each (for example, metaphor, simile, hyperbole etc.) in your analysis. Underline or bold any interpretative tools in your post.
2. POETRY & IMAGERY
For each of the three poems in the Learning Resources (“Far Memory,” “You,Doc Martin,”, “A Bride in the 30s”) identify some specific imagery used by the poet and explain how this imagery conveys additional meaning about the subject or creates a unique perspective on the subject through appealing to the senses.
Make sure to include a specific quote or line from each poem and in your analysis, and to use at least one interpretative tool from the Learning Resources or Module introduction in your analysis. Underline or bold any interpretative tools in your post.
3. POETRY & FICTION THEMES
Pick one of the poems or stories from the Learning Resources and identify a key theme of the work. Using the tools you have gathered in Discussion 1.1 about literary language, imagery etc. carefully analyze and interpret your poem or story as an expression of this theme. Choose three specific quotes or lines from the piece of work and show how each exemplifies this theme through its use of literary language.
Make sure to use an interpretative tool that refers to figurative language for each (for example, metaphor, simile, hyperbole, imagery etc.) in your analysis. Underline or bold all of the interpretative tools in your post.
