"Literary criticism is the study, discussion, evaluation, and interpretation of literature."
I wrote these for AP English for the poem "Richard Cory" by Edwin Arlington Robinson. It was difficult at first, but when I finally found the rhythm, I was actually finding it interesting. These are three separate pieces. I did not space them out while writing them individually, so it should be easy to tell them apart.
J.C. Levenson writes a literary criticism for the poem "Richard Cory" by Edwin Arlington Robinson. Levenson is rather harsh in his judgment of the townspeople. His discussion of the poem focuses more on the townspeople's senselessness and less on forming assumptions to explain why Cory took his own life. Levenson says, "those who count over what they lack and fail to bless the good before their eyes are truly desperate." I agree with that statement, although the adverb "truly" could be a bit of an exaggeration when paired with desperate. I believe that both the townspeople and Richard Cory were desperate, to determine the degrees and differences in degrees of their desperation only opens up for excess debate. Levenson uses exaggerated writing, and he can sometimes be clumsy in his analysis. It makes it easy to argue his points because they are sometimes written to an extent that's ridiculous. He is correct when he says that, "the blind see only what they can covet or envy." The townspeople fail to see beneath Cory's exterior, they fail to recognize his despair as they absent-mindlessly isolate him as they idolize him. Levenson, although he is not the clearest in his writing, his points can be recognized by his exaggeration, so it is effective in that way. But it takes careful reading to reach that point.
In a literary criticism written by Wallace L. Anderson concerning his thoughts on the poem "Richard Cory" by Edwin Arlington Robinson, he introduces a whole new level of understanding, an understanding that underlies the context of the poem. Anderson argues that the townspeople are better off than Cory. So far, I cannot see anything amiss with his perception of the authors point of view. In the first three stanzas the poem, Cory seems far better off than the townspeople. He was a "gentleman from sole to crown," he was "rich." Anderson cites many of the townspeople's observations of Richard Cory, soon after concluding that all these descriptions derive from external qualities only, "even his manner is not a manifestation of something innate but only a characteristic that has been acquired." The critic also concludes, in the very last sentence of his literary criticism, that the things that gave Cory his regal status also revealed "the inner emptiness that led him to take his own life." His argument there I cannot challenge, if it were not for the external traits that the townspeople admired and equally envies, it would be nearly impossible to form a conclusion that explained Cory's suicide. What I don't agree with is the critics method of over-emphasizing the word "light." Robinson writes "so on we worked, and waited for the light." To wait for the light, automatically suggests that the people believe in the light. Anderson says that, "light suggests a spiritual sustenance of greater value." The critic attributes Cory's sudden death to his lack in spiritual value, explaining that his life was meaningless and that he "lived only on a material level." to assume that Cory was deprived of spirituality is an unfair assumption that favors the townspeople. I cannot justly affirm whether or not Anderson speaks of a religious spirituality or one dealing with the human spirit. Either way it discredits Cory, and possibly over-credits the townspeople. This criticism is an example of effective writing because Anderson explains his observations well using direct evidence from the poem by choosing excerpts and quoting them in his literary criticism. He fails to define the grounds of spirituality, but offers a definition of his own when he relates it to the word "light." He is easy to understand, his thoughts are clear and he is contemplative in his perception.
Charles Sweet Jr. writes a literary criticism for Edwin Arlington Robinson's poem, "Richard Cory". He presents many thoughtful observations in his criticism. He sees deeper than any other critic, for this poem, that I have read so far. He focuses on the narrator of the poem, one of the townspeople before explaining his reasoning for favoring Cory as the main character. There is much to read into, much to discover when you read the point of view of one of the townspeople. Reading Charles Sweet Jr.'s literary criticism made me realize this. Although I understand that there is more to the narrating, Sweet allowed for me to go beyond my limited understanding. Sweet states that in the first stanza, it introduces the narrator and his limited view of Cory. The narrator focuses greatly on Cory's status and wealth, a conclusion that can be inferred by the speaker's imagery. Sweet realizes that in "stanza two, however, appears to contrast and even contradict the previously established viewpoint." "Sole to crown," can infer that the townspeople regarded Cory regally and then the "lines five and six of a different wording from lines as 'and he was always...' contrast with '(And) he was always...." "Cory seems at times like a king the narrator admits he is always 'quietly arrayed' and 'human.'" So, the narrator contradicts himself, as Sweet sys. Sweet recognizes that Cory attempts to communicate with the townspeople whenever he "went down town," but they "erected a barrier around themselves and their only reaction to Cory is stasis and silence." The critic says, "it matters not that it is Cory who pulls the trigger since the people have pointed a weapon at his temple." I admire his insight and am awed by the phrasing. There is nothing that Charles Sweet Jr. has said in his literary criticism that I can argue, because I agree completely with his reasoning. He put my own initial thoughts and inferences into a whole new perspective that I admire for it has also shown me new levels of understanding. This criticism is a very good example of effective writing. It is very well written, very well explained and formatted. It introduces a new way of questioning, where not only the common excerpts in "Richard Cory" are analyzed but also the words and teh tone of the narrator are somehow translated into new meaning, superior (in my opinion) in comparison to the other two liteary citicisms that I read.
It's Saturday, the stamp-date for this post clearly reads Friday but I'm typing this a day later. I had a game on Thursday. I wasn't able to post anything about it that day; I was exhausted and I just completely forgot. I tried to write something about it yesterday (on Friday). I went as far as creating a post for it, along with a title, but I never got to writing up the content. Now that I finally feel a genuine obligation, I will write for two days, if not three.
On Thursday, we had our first real soccer game. We were against this school. Our game was away, while the Varsity had theirs on the turf at our school. Before taking the 45-minute bus ride to the school where the JV team would be playing at, I played around with Christine's Nikon D40. I was immediately in love. Well, I suppose love is a bit exaggerated. I was awed by the quality of the pictures. I can't say I want a Nikon D40, though I told my friend that I did while I carefully snapped shots of a few stepped on (and completely disgusting) yellow mushrooms. I want the Nikon D90. It's over 1,000 dollars. It's very prestigious and I'm foolish for wanting it in the first place. Oh well.
The ride to to the school wasn't that interesting. I fell asleep and then coach was slightly annoyed when she realized that I hadn't put on my gear during the bus ride.
They scored 2 goals on us within the first 10 minutes. I was out of it the first half of the game. I don't know why I wasn't being as aggressive as I could have been and going in for the ball. I could easily come up with excuses: our team wasn't spreading out, 2 or 3 people from our team would go after for the ball at a time. I couldn't go in and send the ball far outfield as my position requires. I would most likely be interfering and that would only worsen the situation. I found myself sprinting back often because the offense on the opposite team would somehow get the ball past me. I didn't go for the balls as I should have, even when there wasn't anyone on my team near. I just watched as they got closer - and watched as they got passed me.
I want to say the second half was better, I guess it was, but it wasn't really an improvement.
I don't know what the final score was, I just know that we didn't score any goals, and they scored numerous goals on us.
There was no practice on Friday for JV, even though the rain had stopped by the time that I arrived home. Yesterday, I went home early for the first time this year. True, it's only been a few days, but oh Lord, did it feel great! Then I was so bored. I probably should have done school work, instead of complaining about it and telling numerous people that I would do it, when I actually did NOTHING. Sitting at the computer, I was almost wishing that there was practice. It gives me something to do. It gives me something to pass my time. Even though it's torturous sometimes, I really like it.
Today was our second game. I can't remember who it was against, but the turn out wasn't as devastating as the other game. I arrived at the school at 10 AM (earlier than I had expected), then I remembered that I forgot to put in my contacts. We turned around and drove to the house so I could do that. If it were a practice, I wouldn't have cared, but it was a game, so yeah... I needed them. I ended up arriving on time, 10:15.
We were in an evenly matched game. Whatever goals they did score on us, it was just out of pure chance. They were somewhat more impressive when it came to passing, but nothing compared to the other team. That team was BADASS. I made a lot of mistakes during the game, but we all did. I just have a habit for focusing more on my mistakes than what I did good. I kneed the ball towards the goal twice (terrible mistakes, THANK GOD those slip-ups of mine never gave the opposing team a goal). I missed a header. A lot of offensive players got passed me with the ball, so I always found myself chasing after them at a full sprint. I don't know how I managed it, but I was always so winded afterward. Overall, I think I did a good job, though. I passed the ball off the side often, although sometimes it would come back right at me. I despise goal kicks! I have to practice them. They always end up in the center or absolutely no where. I managed to do one header. It wasn't entirely successful, well, I suppose it was. I cleared the ball off to the side, but I could have managed one that stayed up in the air, rather than bouncing down onto the ground before returning to the air. I was aggressive throughout the game. I pressured and often got the opponent to slip-up.
At one point in the game, I was pressuring a girl who caused me a lot of trouble on the other team (I was always going after her, and often she would get the ball by me). This one time while I was up against her, she kicked the ball into my thigh and it fell onto the ground. It fell between my feet, but I wasn't aware of that. So, I turned circles once, maybe twice before realizing the ball was underneath me. I could hear the other team laughing. It was so embarrassing.
In the end, the score was 0 to 2. We were so close!
