Our Objectives

•  We get the students to think more deeply about who and

what the human being is •  We teach the students to

read •  We teach the students to write

Three Levels of Reading

•  To read the lines •  To read between the

lines •  To read beyond the lines

Three Types of Questions Teachers Ask

• Questions of “facts” • Questions of interpretation • Questions of evaluation

To read the lines: demanded by questions of “facts”

To read between the lines: demanded by questions of

interpretation To read beyond the lines: demanded

by questions of evaluation

Facts and interpretations remain within the world of the text; evaluation steps

beyond it

Two Approaches to the World of the Literary Work

•  The Film Director’s •  The Stage Actor’s

The Film Director’s Approach

You describe the literary work’s world as though watching a movie.

Everything and everyone is described: setting and characters,

lighting and music.

The Stage Actor’s Approach

You enter the world of the literary work as one of the major

characters. The inner world of the character is captured, and

everything else is viewed from that character’s perspective.

The common path of the two approaches is the text.

Two types of evaluation

•  Apprehending the form of the work •  Apprehending the meaning of the

work

To read the lines

•  Grammar •  Syntax •  Words and idioms •  Figures of speech

To read between the lines

•  Implied content •  Second meanings (e.g., irony) •  Motivations and intentions

Sample questions of interpretation from the Iliad

•  (a) Why was Achilles angry at Agammemnon? •  (b) Why did Achilles refuse to fight despite the

losses of the Greeks? •  (c) Why did Achilles seek revenge for Patroclus’

death? •  (d) Why did Achilles give in to Priam’s request? •  (e) To what extent do the gods control human

beings? •  (f) What is Homer’s view of fate?

To read beyond the lines = To evaluate

The location of Wisdom

Focuses on the author’s view of •  The human being

•  Human life •  Society

•  God

The meaning of a piece of literature comes

above all from its form.

Apprehending the form •  Direction of movement of events

•  Relationship of events to one another •  Relative importance of events

•  Role of characters in relation to movement of the plot

•  The interrelationships of characters •  The way the work develops

Apprehending the Meaning

Getting the meaning of a work is a task of coordination of all the elements of the form, together with isolated passages that

reveal or hint at the meaning of the work

Any claim regarding the meaning of a work of literature must

•  Have textual support, whether explicit or implicit (page no.,

paragraph no.) •  Not contradict any other part of the

literary work

Three Levels of Classes

1.  What happens (plus structure) [hg = 2.25]

2.  Motivations and intentions (texts) [hg = 1.5]

3.  Meaning: [hg = 1] a.  Hypothesize on the basis of plot and

characters b.  Verify by turning to text

4.  NOTE: DANTE A SPECIAL CASE

The Rhythm of the Course

q First half: finish reading entire work (9 weeks)

q Third quarter: motivations and intentions (4 weeks)

q Fourth quarter: meaning (4 weeks) Shared Inquiry

Questions of evaluation

– What’s the author doing? (to us

readers) – What’s he saying? (through the plot

and characters) –  Is it a valid point he’s making?

(Shared Inquiry!)

Guiding the Students toward a Work’s Form

•  Identify the units of a book/canto/act/chapter (bcac)

•  Identify the crucial unit(s) in the bcac •  Group bcac into larger units •  Identify crucial bcac •  All this time identify where the plot is going (“what

is the story about?”) •  Identify the unstated or hidden motivations and

intentions of major characters •  AS USUAL, DANTE A SPECIAL CASE

Guiding Students toward Meaning

Teacher as helmsman •  Know parts and characters of work inside

out •  Guide by means of objections (but be

open) •  Guide through encouragement

Sample questions of evaluation from the Iliad

•  (a) Is there a characteristic of Achilles, Hector, and Patroclus that Homer seems to condemn in particular?

•  (b) Could there be a particular reason why Homer devotes so much space to describing the shield of Achilles?

•  (c) Comment on Homer’s remark about the lust of Paris and the consequent enmity of Hera and Athena (cf. book 24).

•  (d) Could there be any particular purpose for the three confrontations of Achilles with Lycaon, Hector, and Priam?

•  (e) What particular perspective of the gods does the Iliad have? •  (f) Why does Homer spend time describing the death of individual

Greeks and Trojans?

Two Implications

•  We have to go slowly ≈ one work per semester

•  If the students are not ready to reach the third level

intellectually, an alternative strategy is needed

Possible Alternative Strategy

Opportune digressions +

a Socratic speech at the end

The Christian Reading of the Classics

ý Moralism þ An evaluation of the work’s

meaning from a Christian point of view

Three Perspectives of the Human Being

•  Pre-Christian Man: Homer and Virgil

•  Christian Man: Dante and Shakespeare

•  Post-Christian Man: Dostoyevsky and Flannery O’Connor

Classical Literature: the anticipation of Christ Contemporary Literature:

the rejection of Christian revelation

Christian Literature: the acceptance of

Christian revelation

The Iliad Signs that we are in a pre-Christian world:

q Melancholy accompanying reports of deaths q Resignation to fate (limited free will) q Resignation before the arbitrariness and

capriciousness of the gods q Happiness in this life determined by chance q The best way of living life is for the polis

The Pre-Christian Person

Bedevilled by questions regarding freedom and

happiness—the amount of control we have over our

lives

The Christian Person

Hamlet and the Divine Comedy go over exactly the same themes,

but with different answers.

The focus of pre-Christian and Christian literature is human

action: of this they have diverging views of scope and

responsibility.

Sample Questions of Interpretation from Hamlet

•  What does each of Hamlet’s soliloquies reveal about him? •  How would you explain Hamlet’s behavior with Ophelia in her

dressing room? •  What was the reason for Hamlet’s outburst at Ophelia? •  Did Hamlet know Claudius was listening while he was talking to

Ophelia? •  How would you explain Hamlet’s familiar tone with Ophelia just

before the play, considering that he had stormed at her in the previous scene?

•  How would you explain the King’s reaction to the play, considering that he knew what it contained through the mime show? Take his comments into account.

•  Is the Ghost a ghost or a devil? •  What was Gertrude guilty of according to Hamlet? •  What do Ophelia’s songs reveal? •  When Hamlet claims before Laertes in act 5 that he has been

suffering from bouts of “distraction,” is he lying or telling the truth?

Sample Questions of Evaluation from Hamlet

•  Come up with an alternative distribution of scenes among acts 3, 4, and 5.

•  Is there a pattern to the way characters die in Hamlet?

•  What is the strongest argument that Hamlet is not about revenge?

•  What role do Rosencrantz and Guildenstern play in developing the theme of the play?

•  What point is Shakespeare making with the Prayer Scene?

ACT ONE 1. The Ghost of Hamlet’s father appears before Hamlet’s friend and two guards 2. Appraised of this, Hamlet decides to make contact with the Ghost 3. Polonius tells Ophelia to reject Hamlet’s courtship 4. Hamlet sees the Ghost and follows it away from the others with him. 5. The Ghost reveals that he had been murdered by his brother, who is now king. He enjoins Hamlet to revenge his death. Hamlet agrees. Hamlet will pretend to be mad ACT TWO 1. The King engages the assistance of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to determine the causes of Hamlet’s madness. Polonius thinks it is because Ophelia has rejected him. He invites the King to spy on Hamlet while he arranges a chance meeting between Ophelia and Hamlet. 2. Hamlet asks a traveling theater troupe to put on a play whose plot is similar to the murder of his father. He will watch the King for his reaction to judge whether or not the King is guilty. ACT THREE 1. Polonius and the King spy on Hamlet during the rigged meeting with Ophelia. The King does not think Hamlet is mad, but rather bothered by something that could prove dangerous if made public. He will send him to England. Polonius requests the King to have the Queen ask Hamlet about his madness, while Polonius eavesdrops. 2. The play is presented. The King interrupts it at the murder. Hamlet is convinced the King is guilty. Polonius informs Hamlet that his mother wishes to talk to him. ACT FOUR 3. The King tells Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to take Hamlet to England as soon as possible. Alone, he attempts to beg God forgiveness for his sin. Hamlet chances upon him and is about to kill him, when he considers that he might send the king to heaven by killing him at that moment. He decides to wait for a better time. 4. Hamlet kills Polonius behind the curtain in his mother’s chamber, thinking he is the King. He chides his mother for her unfaithfulness to his father and enjoins her to repent. She agrees. 1. The King, learning of Polonius’ death, decides to send Hamlet to England as soon as possible. 2. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern attempt to detain Hamlet. 3. As Hamlet leaves for the ship, the King informs the audience that he has instructions for the King of England to execute Hamlet. ACT FIVE 4. Fortinbras travels through Denmark on the way to Poland. 5. Ophelia goes mad upon learning of her father’s death; Laertes returns from France and seeks to avenge his father. 6. Hamlet returns to Denmark. 7. Ophelia dies. Laertes and the King plot to kill Hamlet. 1. Hamlet learns about Ophelia’s death. 2. The king arranges a fencing bout between Laertes and Hamlet. Laertes’ sword will be treacherously poisoned. The plans of the King and Laertes misfire: Hamlet is poisoned, but so are the Queen and Laertes. Hamlet executes the King before he himself dies. Fortinbras arrives and claims the throne of Denmark.

A Digression on Teaching Shakespeare in a Christian Spirit

•  Hamlet is unabashedly Christian –  There is the belief in Purgatory –  There is the constant reference to confession (King Hamlet,

Claudius, Gertrude) –  There is the overt reference to the Gospel in act 5

•  But it may be taught glossing over these references •  Teaching Hamlet in a Christian spirit means

–  Giving these references the importance they deserve, neither more nor less

–  Evaluating Hamlet’s worth as a play from a Christian perspective

The focus of contemporary literature with post-Christian

characters is (a) the rejection of the moral law or (b) the denial of

God’s existence.

In effect, the focus is on freedom itself, now considered absolute.

Contemporary Works Valued for Wisdom

•  War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy •  Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

•  Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

•  The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

•  The Devils by Fyodor Dostoyevsky? •  The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky? •  A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Everything That Rises Must

Converge by Flannery O’Connor •  The Violent Bear It Away by Flannery O’Connor

The Meaning of Wisdom

Wisdom is knowledge that answers the following questions, or at least orients us

to the answers to them: “What is a human being? What is the meaning and purpose

of our life? What is goodness, and what, sin? What gives rise to our sorrows and to what intent? Where lies the path to true happiness? What is the truth about death,

judgment and retribution beyond the grave? What, finally, is that ultimate and unutterable mystery which

engulfs our being, and from which we take our origin and towards which we move?”

Shakespeare Plays Valued for Wisdom

• Hamlet • King Lear • Macbeth