Crtica literaria e investigacin contempornea en lengua inglesaProf. Mara Goicoechea de Jorge

The Literary Canon and Popular Literature:Exercises:1. Write a list of the books you have read over the last six months. Sort them into Literature and other kinds of reading.

LiteratureOther

-Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens-Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Towsend Warner-If I Stay by Gayle Foreman-Where She Went by Gayle Foreman- No culpes al Karma de lo que te pasa por gilipollas by Laura Norton- Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett- Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis- Looking for Alaska by John Green- Between the Acts by Virginia Woolf- Si tu me dices ven lo dejo todo pero dime ven by Albert Espinosa- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee- While were far apart by Lynn Austin- The Richest Caveman by Doug Batchelor- Yo pensaba que by Samuel Gil Soldevilla - The Desire of Ages by Ellen G. White- Too busy not to pray by Bill Hybels- The Gift of Imperfection by Bren Brown- The Me I Want to Be: Becoming God's Best Version of You by John Ortberg- Know Doubt: The Importance of Embracing Uncertainty in Your Faith by John Ortberg- Metaphors we live by by George Lakoff

Now, think about how you decided which category each book should go in. Comment.Personally, I believe that books that could fit into the self-help book category or the ones that inform you about a certain subject, such as language or science, should not be considered as pure literature. They are very helpful and enjoyable for the reader, indeed, but in a way they limit the creativity of the author.-Enumerate the main genres of popular literature. Provide some examples:1. Poetry: Songs to Myself by Walt Whitman2. Prose: Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain3. Drama: Hamlet by William Shakespeare 4. Nonfiction: The Richest Caveman by Doug Batchelor2. Revise Harold Blooms Appendixes to The Western Canon, in the following link:http://home.comcast.net/~dwtaylor1/theocraticcanon.html What is your reaction towards these lists of authors and works?My first reaction was Wow, this list is so long and there are so many names I havent even heard about, I should find out who they are and what have they written. Then I thought about the time that Harold Bloom has invested in making this list, he definitely deserves a medal.

Have you noticed relevant absences?I have looked twice through the list and I havent seen C.S. Lewis s name. Maybe I am wrong and he is on the list.

Which authors and works would you include? C.S. Lewis, if he is not included, and I would add some contemporary authors such as J.K. Rowling (maybe they were books for children and the reasons for which it was written were wrong but the Harry Potter saga is definitely a master piece). And also Ellen G. White (if people would try to cope and not criticize the religious message they would find out that she was a genius).

3. Terry Eagleton is a Marxist critic and a writer about literary theory who teaches at Oxford University. Read the following poem and discuss the underlying assumptions it projects regarding the role of the great author: The Ballad of English Literature [Sung to the tune of "Land of Hope and Glory"]Chaucer was a class traitorShakespeare hated the mobDonne sold out a bit laterSidney was a nob

Marlowe was an elitistBen Jonson was much the sameBunyan was a defeatistDryden played the game

There's a sniff of reactionAbout Alexander PopeSam Johnson was a ToryAnd Walter Scott a dope

Coleridge was a right wingerKeats was lower middle classWordsworth was a cringerBut William Blake was a gas

Dickens was a reformistTennyson was a blueDisraeli was mostly pissedAnd nothing that Trollope said was true

Willy Yeats was a fascistSo were Eliot and PoundLawrence was a sexistVirginia Woolf was unsound

There are only three namesTo be plucked from this dismal setMilton Blake and ShelleyWill smash the ruling class yet

Milton Blake and ShelleyWill smash the ruling class yet.

in Against the Grain, Essays by Terry Eagleton, Verso Books.As I understand it, this poems hidden message regarding to the role of the great author is that he/she should not only write and create literature but also be aware of his/hers importance in society and have healthy political and social ideas. In other words, to be a proper role model.

4. Now read this poem by Emily Dickinson and comment on her attitude regarding the role of literature and publication:(788)Publication is the AuctionOf the Mind of Man Poverty be justifyingFor so foul a thing

Possibly but We would ratherFrom Our Garret goWhite unto the White Creator Than invest Our Snow

Thought belong to Him who gave it Then to Him Who bearIt's Corporeal illustration sellThe Royal Air

In the Parcel Be the MerchantOf the Heavenly Grace But reduce no Human SpiritTo Disgrace of Price

I am a little confused by this poem. At the beginning she says that publication is wrong, but then she contradicts that argument by claiming that literature comes from God and publishing it is the only way to spread what He gives to people. Maybe this poem could mean that if an author wants to publish his/her work he/she should do it because he/she wants to give people a message, not in order to become wealthy.