Close Reading
Read
- John Donne's "Song: Go and Catch a Falling Star"
- Blythe, Hal and Charlie Sweet. "Eliot's 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.'" Explicator 62.2 (2004) 108-110. (The full text of this article is available through the SHU library website. Last time I gave you a link to the exact page, but this time I'm asking you to demonstrate you can find the article on your own. You can start by going to the Reeves Library Home Page and clicking the "Find Articles" button.)
Blythe and Sweet make a specific argument -- an non-obvious claim about Eliot's poem (and they bring in Donne's work for comparison).
In English, we defend our claims by quoting evidence (usually from the literary work we are studying) in order to SHOW the point we want to make.
But some observations don't count as non-obvious claims. Let's imagine a story about a protagonist who uses ice cream flavors to sort out all her relationships.
- Ice cream is mentioned a lot in this story.
- There is foreshadowing in this story.
- Lucinda's mild surprise at learning that her aunt ("the craziest, freeest woman" in Lucinda's life) eats only vanilla ice cream prepares the reader to understand Lucinda's total shock at learning "Aunt Vivian punched a time clock and paid her bills" just like all the other unimaginative and barely distinguishable members of her family.
Your agenda item can be any passage from Blythe and Sweet's article, but your reflection paper should:
- Quote the main claim or argument (the thesis) that Blythe and Sweet set out to prove.
- Quote at least one important piece of evidence the authors use to support their claim.
- Find an important
paragraph in Blythe and Sweet's article, and analyze it. Note that Blythe and Sweet don't summarize the works they discuss, or discuss whether they agree with the opinions presented in the poems.
- What do
Blythe and Sweet spend their time talking about?
- How do they work
their own opinions into their article?
- How do they communicate the
idea that their claim is worth arguing -- that it's not so obvious that
everyone would automatically see it their way?
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Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Close Reading.
"The parallel between the two poems, then, seems so close that, rather than simply an allusion used for contrast, Donne's seventeenth-century "Song" may be a source of Eliot's twentieth-century "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" (Blythe and Sweet).
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/AngelaPalumbo/2008/02/balderdash.html
“Donne’s use of the mermaid image to suggest the danger women pose to men most probably alludes to The Odyssey, in which only the wily Odysseus survived hearing the siren’s song. The persona’s placing of the possibility of hearing these femme fatales sing among the impossible tasks enumerated in stanza one of ‘Song’ sets the mood for the entire poem” (Blythe and Sweet).
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/GretaCarroll/2008/02/mermaids_do_not_equal_unfaithf.html
“Although Prufrock is not as worldly as Donne's persona, Eliot's character also sees himself in the tradition of courtly love, as a poet lover, he tries to sing his "love song." (Blyth, and Sweet)
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/AngelicaGuzzo/2008/02/more_than_just_a_common_theme.html
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/KayleyDardano/2008/02/what_a_debate_that_is_between.html
“ His internal monologue begins with the ‘you’ and ‘I’ the two sides of Prufrock’s personality, debating whether or not to confront a female…. One side wants to believe in the possibility of a relationship with a woman; the other, doubts the possibility.”
"Though she were true, when you met her,
And last, till you write your letter,
Yet she
Will be
False, ere I come, to two or three." (John Donne Sonnet)
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/AndreaNestler/2008/02/though_she_were_true_when.html
"One part of the courtly lover yearns to believe in female virtue; he desires to 'ride ten thousand days and nights' (12) and on that sweet pilgrimage find one who is true. The more worldly self, however, rejects such a possibility for fear of disappointment." (Blythe & Sweet)
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/MadelynGillespie/2008/02/my_heart_screams_yes_even_as_m.html
A very simiJohn Donne's "Song: Go Catch a Falling Star vs Eliot's The Love Song of J. alfred Prufrockhttp://blogs.setonhill.edu/MarshaBanton/2008/02/john_donnes_song_go_catch_a_fa.html
"Both poems are 'love songs' (obviously both Donne and Eliot use song in their titles) uttered in the courtly love tradition by personas who view male-female relationships warily" (Blythe and Sweet).
What really makes a love song? Go here: http://blogs.setonhill.edu/LaurenMiller/2008/02/these_are_not_love_songs.html
"Both poems are 'love songs' (obviously both Donne and Eliot use song in their titles) uttered in the courtly love tradition by personas who view male-female relationships warily"
"Both poems are 'love songs' (obviously both Donne and Eliot use song in their titles) uttered in the courtly love tradition by personas who view male-female relationships warily"
The key word within this passage is "warily." The writers are not viewing love as safe and something completely positive; they know that they need to watch themselves from fear of being hurt or rejected. Maybe they are love songs, maybe they're not. I don't think that we should just assume they are because the word song is in the titles. Let's say that they are love songs. A love song doesn't always have to be happy. A love song can involve a heartbreak, confusion, or conflicts. I'm not sure that I agree with the fact that they are for sure love songs, but I do agree that both writers are looking at love defensively.
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/AllisonHall/2008/02/sirens_to_warn_men.html
"Donne's persona pictures women as adversaries to be treated with caution. Donne's use of the mermaid image to suggest the danger women pose to men most probably alludes to The Odyssey, in which only the wily Odysseus survived hearing the sirens' song" (Blythe and Sweet).
Rather than write a sperate agenda item and reflection, I decided to combine them. This saved me from writing the same thing twice. Hopes this works out okay. Read on at my blog if you so dare:
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/JeanineONeal/2008/02/the_women_of_prufrocks_life.html
"Eliot borrows the same technique. His internal monologue begins with the "you" and "I," the two sides of Prufrock's personality, debating whether or not to confront a female. One side wants to believe in the possibility of a relationship with a woman; the other, doubts the possibility. (Blythe and Sweet)"
Check out my blog at:
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/StephanieWytovich/2008/02/stuck_in_the_middle_with_no_wh.html
From John Donne's Song:
Go and catch a falling star
"Go and catch a falling star,
Get with child a mandrake root,
Tell me here all past years are,
Or who cleft the devil's foot,
Teach me to hear mermaids singing,
Or to keep off envy's stinging,
And find
What wind
Served to advance an honest mind."
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/EricaGearhart/2008/02/from_john_donnes_song_go.html
Eliot borrows the same technique. His internal monologue begins with the "you" and "I." the two sides of Prufrock's personality, debating whether or not to confront a female. (Blythe and Sweet)
"Eliot borrows the same technique" (Blythe and Sweet).
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/KaitlinMonier/2008/02/influences.html
"Although Prufock is not as worldy as Donne's persona, Eliot's charcacter also sees himself in the traciditon of courtly love, as a poet lover, he tries to sing his 'love song'." (Bltyhe and Sweet)
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/TiffanyGilbert/2008/02/blythe_and_sweetsong_and_song.html
“The parallel between the two poems, then, seems so close that, rather than simply an allusion used for contrast, Donne’s seventeenth-century “Song” may be a source of Eliot’s twentieth-century “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.” Both poems show allusions and reference to other works."
"Donne's seventeenth-century 'Song' may be a source of Eliot's twentieth-century 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" (Blythe and Sweet 109).
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/JulianaCox/2008/02/inspiration.html
"Donne's persona pictures women as adversaries to be treated with caution. Donne's use of the mermaid image to suggest the danger women pose to men most probably alludes to The Odyssey, in which only the wily Odysseus survived hearing the sirens' song."
(Blythe and Sweet)
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/JessieFarine/2008/02/donne_and_prufrock_walk_into_a.html