1st Edition
Making Sense of Literary and Cultural Texts Tools, Lenses, Methods, Strategies, Protocols
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Conceptual Metaphors, Interpretation, and the Point of It All
On Difficulty: Exploring Sources of Resistance
Part I: Strategies for Reading Within a Text
1. Themes: Identify What a Text is Really About
2. Plot: Reveal Implications of Cause-and-Effect Relationships
3. Binaries: Explain Functions of Coded Juxtapositions
4. Parts and Wholes: Investigate Relationships Among Unique Parts
5. Figures: Describe How Writers Use Language to Create Special Effects
6. Point of View: Describe How Orientation Shapes Understanding and Response
7. Rhyme: Demonstrate How Sound Patterns and Schemes Enable Meaning
8. Rhythm: Show How Stress Patterns Create Strategic Effects
9. Sounds: Reveal How Sound Devices Enhance and Generate Meaning
10. Syntax: Describe How Word Order Shapes Meaning, Tone, and Rhythm
11. Imagery: Explain How Images Convey Meaning, Significance, and Effects
12. Metacommentary: Analyze Acts of Self-Interpretation and Auto-Analysis
13. Performatives: Identify How a Text Enacts Its Own Argument
Part II: Strategies for Connecting a Text
14. Allusions: Recognize Connections Between Texts
15. Authorial Reflections: Use an Author’s Non-Literary Commentary
16. Biography: Research the Author’s Life
17. Historicize: Situate Texts in Cultural Conversations
18. Body of Work: Read Deeply in an Author’s Canon
19. Appropriations: Explore Effects of Textual Poaching
20. Adaptations: Investigate Relationships Between Adaptations and Their Source Texts
21. Genre and Categories: Classify and Recategorize Texts
22. Literary and Artistic Peers: Be Aware of an Author’s Peer Group
23. Paratexts: Pay Attention to What Surrounds a Text
24. Theory: Apply a Theory-Concept to a Text
25. Against the Grain: Identify Contradictions and Unspoken Assumptions
Part III: Strategies Beyond Close Reading and Contextual Analysis
26. Textual Studies: Trace the Process and Production of a Text
27. Digital Humanities: Use Technology to Generate Insights and New Presentation Modes
28. Imitation: Follow an Author’s Lead
29. Quality: Judge Literary and Artistic Merit
Index
Biography
Barry Laga is Professor of English at Colorado Mesa University, USA, where he teaches literary theory, American literature, film studies, and composition. He is also author of Using Key Passages to Understand Literature, Theory, and Criticism (2019).
