Sinta Jimenez Owens' literature and

1. LITERARY FORM
• Literary Form
• The architecture of words arranged in specific ways to create meaning
• The structure of a piece
• May be analyzed visually
– Many ellipsis, exclamation points, etc.
– Long paragraphs
• Example: A Letter
– What are the conventions and components of a letter?
» Salutation, body, closing
• Discussion
– A fairytale?
– News articles?
– Journal entries?
– Contracts?

2. LITERARY CONTENT
• What is a genre?
– Poetry
– Fiction
– Essay
– Parable
• Setting
– Environment
– Time period
• Protagonist
• Antagonist
• Problem
– Plot
– Events
– Man vs Nature
– Man vs Man
– Man vs Self
• Imagery
• Metaphor

3. CRITICAL READING
• Reading critically is a process of constantly
judging between form and content
• In literature, because it is creative, there is a
great deal of uncertainty
• Critically analyzing literature requires a
thorough analysis of form and content in
order to understand the FULL meaning of a
piece

4. Pre-Reading
• Jot down notes
• Personal expectations – have you ever heard
of the author?
• What does the title say to you?
• What is the genre?

5. Reading
• What doesn’t make sense? Take note of words
or ideas you don’t understand
• What is unexpected and striking?
• Recognize and analyze patterns, repeated
words, or obvious themes.
• What is your reaction to the piece?

6. Critical Analysis
• Look up everything which had puzzled you like
the words you didn’t know etc.
• Process your pre-reading expectations to your
post-reading conclusions.
• Re-read
• Go through the images and metaphors one at a
time and determine what they may mean
• What is the emotional intent?
• What is the analysis?

7. Sylvia Plath’s Metaphors
I'm a riddle in nine syllables,
An elephant, a ponderous house,
A melon strolling on two tendrils.
O red fruit, ivory, fine timbers!
This loaf's big with its yeasty rising.
Money's new-minted in this fat purse.
I'm a means, a stage, a cow in calf.
I've eaten a bag of green apples,
Boarded the train there's no getting off.
CRITICAL READING QUESTIONS
• Make a chart of the images
• Plath believed she was pregnant when she wrote this poem
• What is her attitude towards the pregnancy?
• What associations are negative? Are positive? Are ambivalent?
• How do her chose images interact with each other?
• What is the conclusion?

8. “I Hate Trees”
• Read Rosa Ehrenreich Brooks - Page 33 "I Hate
Trees” essay.
• Summarize Brooks' essay and then analyze
your summary.
• What was most difficult about writing the
summary?
• What is the difference between summarizing
an essay and a creative piece like fiction or
poetry?