Assignment #3

Over the past couple of weeks we have been talking about the word 'genre' and how it can assist a reader in understanding the central theme of the story. By reading Daniel Chandlers two pieces we see how his viewpoints about genre can relate to one of the pieces we read this week. In Stanley Fish's "How to Recognize a Poem When You See One" he uses many similar techniques that we have seen Chandler talk about in both of his pieces.
In "How to Recognize a Poem When You See One" Fish tries to come up with a plan or a way for his students to realize what they are reading is a poem. Fish then came up with a plan very similar to what we saw Chandler do. Chandler told his readers the main genre of what they were about to read before they actually read it. It enabled his readers to look for main ideas that were related to the main genre of the story focusing there thoughts on one main idea. In Fish's case he wrote names on the blackboard with a frame around it and Pg. 43 above that. To him they were just names of authors, but to his students it was a religious poem similar to ones they have been studying. They immediately began to interpret what was on the board in religious terms. Fish states "It was almost as if they were following a recipe- if its a poem do this, if its a poem see it that way, and indeed definitions of poetry are recipes for directing readers as to what to look for in a poem." So by telling students it was a poem it changed all their viewpoints about something so simple to understand. As you can see Chandler and Fish both had similar techniques in analyzing a piece.
In "Literary Theory", Terry Eaglaton talks about what literature is and talks about what the exact meaning of the word. He also talks about how literature can not be categorized by one certain aspect. There are a numerous different categories for the term Literature. Who actually determines what literature is? Is it good or is it bad? These are all questions he addresses in his essay.
An example of a social expectation that you can see in life is going to a wedding. You expect to wear a nice suit go to a nice reception. Enjoy good food, drinks, and have a great time dancing and seeing family that you haven't seen in a long time. However when you get there you see its outside and people are wearing shorts, Shirts, and sneakers. You then ask yourself what is going on? So by interpreting my viewpoint of a wedding like many others would your social expectation for this wedding was completely wrong.