Eng2800, Close Reading Assignment 1, Due Monday, March 23

Submission guidelines: Paper is due in class AND by email to . The paper will not be considered “submitted” until I have a hardcopy of it—so you need to be in class with your paper on the due date or you will lose 2 points per day until I receive the hardcopy.

Late papers will lose two points per day.

**PLEASE TRANSCRIBE THE PASSAGE AT THE TOP OF EACH CLOSE READING. Please also keep in mind that the passage itself does not count toward your page count.

What is a close reading?

In a close reading, you are closely analyzing the language, themes, structure and meaning of a short passage. In a close reading you must pay attention to the particular in the text rather than the general. Questions you will want to consider: What is the author’s tone in this passage? Does the passage conjure a particular image? Does the author use any literary devices—i.e. metaphor, simile, repetition, subtext, irony, symbolism etc. And what is the purpose of such a device or devices? If this is a passage from a larger text then you should also address how the passage relates to the rest of the text. This is an important question, and you will need to look closely at the rest of the text in order to do your close reading. However, remember that the most important thing is that your paper primarily addresses the meaning of the passage itself and also makes some connection to the larger text. Things to consider when looking at the rest of the text: Does the passage sound at all like other passages in the text? Why might this be the case? How does the passage’s meaning relate to the text as a whole?

Be SPECIFIC and rigorous in your analysis—leave yourself enough time to really think through your ideas. You do not need a formal intro or conclusion, although the paper should still use formal language and should be broken down into paragraphs. Although this isn’t a standard paper, plagiarism rules do apply – any student found plagiarizing will fail the assignment with possible further action taken.

Requirements: You are selecting TWO passages and/or poems and writing TWO 2-page double-spaced close readings—one of each passage. Think of this assignment as two short papers, rather than one long paper. The passage analyses do not have to be in any way related, though they can be if you would like. Therefore it is not required that each passage come from the same text—though again they can if you would like. Each close reading must be at least 2 full pages in length. Your paper MUST be in MLA style (points will be deducted if it is not): MLA style consists of 12-point Times New Roman font with 1-inch margins all around.

Options: You may write on any of the poems we read for class and/or any of the passages below. You may do a passage of your choosing if I’ve approved it. You may send me an email in which you’ve transcribed the entire passage that you would like to write on, or if you come to my office hours to discuss it.

Passage Option 1:

From Agamemnon, beginning at line 732 (page 131 in the Fagles edition): Slashes indicate line breaks:

Chorus:

And the first sensation Helen brought to Troy…/call it a spirit/shimmer of winds dying / glory light as gold / shaft of the eyes dissolving, open bloom / that wounds the heart with love. / But veering wild in mid-flight / she whirled her wedding on to a stabbing end, / slashed at the sons of Priam—hearthmate, friend to the death, / sped by Zeus who speeds the guest, / a bride of tears, a Fury. / There’s an ancient saying, old as man himself: / ‘men’s prosperity / never will die childless, / once full-grown it breeds, / Sprung from the great good fortune in the race / comes bloom on bloom of pain-- / insatiable wealth! But not I, / I alone say this. Only the reckless act / can breed impiety, multiplying crime on crime, / while the house kept straight and just / is blessed with radiant children. / But ancient Violence longs to breed, / new violence comes / when its fatal hour comes, the demon comes / to take her toll—no war, no force, no prayer / can hinder the midnight Fury stamped / with parent Fury moving through the house.

Option 2: Agamemnon, page 105 (Chorus speaking, beginning line 45):

Ten years gone, ten to the day/our great avenger went for Priam--/Menelaus and lord Agamemnon, / two kings with the power of Zeus, / the twin throne, twin scepter, / Atreus’ sturdy yoke of sons / launched Greece in a thousand ships, / armadas cutting loose from the land, / armies massed for the cause, the rescue--/ the heart within them screamed for all-out war!/ Like vultures robbed of their young, / the agony sends them frenzied, / soaring high from the nest, round and / round they wheel, they row their wings / stroke upon churning thrashing stroke, / but all the labour, the bed of pain / the young are lost forever. / Yet someone hears on high—Apollo, / Pan or Zeus—the piercing wail these guests of heaven raise, / and drives at the outlaws, late / but true to revenge, a stabbing Fury! / So towering Zeus the god of guests / drives Atreus’ sons at Paris, / all for a woman manned by many / the generations wrestle, knees / grinding the dust, the manhood drains, / the spear snaps in the first blood rites / that marry Greece and Troy. / And now it goes as it goes / and where it ends is Fate. / And neither by singeing flesh / nor tipping cups of wine / nor shedding burning tears can you / enchant away the rigid Fury.

Option 3: (Cassandra speaking, page 149 beginning line 1180):

Then off with the veils that hid the fresh young bride--/we will see the truth. / Flare up once more, my oracle! Clear and sharp / as the wind that blows towards the rising sun, / I can feel a deeper swell now, gathering head / to break at last and bring the dawn of grief. / No more riddles. I will teach you. / come, bear witness, run and hunt with me. / We trail the old barbaric works of slaughter. / These roofs—look up—there is a dancing troupe / that never leaves. And they have their harmony / but it is harsh, their words are harsh, they drink / beyond the limit. Flushed on the blood of men / their spirit grows and none can turn away / their revel breeding in the veins—the Furies! / They cling to the house for life. They sing, sing of the frenzy that began it all, / strain rising on strain, showering curses / on the man who tramples on his brother’s bed. / There. Have I hit the mark or not? Am I a fraud, / a fortune-teller babbling lies from door to door? / Swear how well I know the ancient crimes / that live within this house.

Option 4: From The Eumenides Athena (line 915, pg 271), speaking to the Furies:

Nothing that strikes a note of brutal conquest. Only peace—/ blessings, rising up from the earth and the heaving sea,/ and down the vaulting sky let the wind-gods breathe/ a wash of sunlight streaming through the land,/ and the yield of soil and grazing cattle flood/ our city’s life with power and never flag / with time. Make the seed of men live on,/ the more they worship you the more they thrive. / I love them as a gardener loves his plants, / these upright men, this breed fought free of grief. / All that is yours to give. / And I, / in the trials of war where fighters burn for fame, / will never endure the overthrow of Athens—

all will praise her, victor city, pride of man.