ILS1 - Introduction to textual analysis Seminar practice 4
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Activity 1: Jumbled Text 1
The Hobbit The eldest of these, and Bilbo's favourite, was young Frodo Baggins. When Bilbo was ninety-nine he adopted Frodo as his heir, and brought him to live at Bag End; and the hopes of the SackvilleBagginses were finally dashed. Bilbo and Frodo happened to have the same birthday, September 22nd. "You had better come and live here, Frodo my lad,“ said Bilbo one day. "And then we can celebrate our birthday-parties comfortably together." At that time Frodo was still in his tweens, as the hobbits called the irresponsible twenties between childhood and coming of age at thirty-three. 2
Activity 1: Jumbled Text 2 ď Ž ď Ž
Creating a Birthday Video Being away from family, loved ones or friends during their birthday doesn't mean that you can't send them a gift. Creating a sentimental and well thought of present will help them to connect back to you. If you are planning out a special presentation, then considering a birthday video is a simple way to send them wishes. This offers a new connection for the year to your friends and family while adding into the celebration. There are simple and easy ways to create a birthday video for those that you love. Following these steps will help you to send your best to someone that is far away. 3
Activity 2: Metaphor ď Ž
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A metaphor, in very simplified terms, is a covert comparison; a word or phrase from one semantic field is substituted with a word or phrase from another. There has to be at least one common characteristic between the two parts for the metaphor to work (common ground or tertium comparationis), but there can also be more than one. No particle of comparison is used. If those lexical marker do appear, the figuration is called a simile. 4
Constructing the Metaphor
Relevant metaphor terminology, distinguishes between
tenor – the meaning of the image, the image itself, the starting point of the comparison – and vehicle – the image which conveys the new meaning, or the meaning of the metaphor.
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Extended Metaphor ď Ž
A metaphor is extended if the comparison works at more than one level: ď ą
the tenor and the vehicle share more than one property.
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Example: The Fog The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes, The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes, Licked its tongue into the corners of the evening, Lingered upon the pools that stand in drains, Let fall upon its back the soot that falls from chimneys, Slipped by the terrace, made a sudden leap, And seeing it was a soft October night, Curled once about the house, and fell asleep.
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Answer the following questions ď Ž
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Identify the vehicle and the tenor in the metaphor used in the poem. Is this an extended metaphor? Why?
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Explanation: ď Ž
The shared properties of cats (the vehicle of the metaphor) and the fog (the tenor of the metaphor) are yellowness (if we are prepared to accept that cats may be yellow!), playfulness, wrapping around things, pressing against glass, wriggling into corners, moving silently and curling up to sleep.
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These are the grounds of the metaphor, which is extended because the comparison works at more than one level: the fog shares more than one quality with a cat.
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Activity 3 Stevie Smith’s poem ‘Not Waving But Drowning’ (1957) uses a range of pronouns to refer to a number of different people, and to create specific effects. Map out how these pronouns work, thinking particularly about the following: 1) Who are the various people in this poem? 2) Why did Stevie Smith choose to use pronouns to refer to people rather than their names? 11
‘Not Waving But Drowning’ Nobody heard him, the dead man, But still he lay moaning: I was much further out than you thought And not waving but drowning Poor chap, he always loved larking And now he’s dead It must have been too cold for him his heart gave way, They said Oh no, no, no, it was too cold always (Still the dead one lay moaning) I was much too far out all my life And not waving but drowning.
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Stevie Smith poem The poem concerns a tragi-comic misunderstanding—a drowning man was ignored because onlookers thought he was cheerily waving at them, when he was really calling for help. This is taken beyond the literal level of a physical drowning to suggest another reading: that we explain away other people’s difficulties in rather simplistic ways because we can’t face the implications—our own responsibilities, for example. The misunderstanding is presented by the use of two sets of voices: the ‘I’ of the dead man, and the ‘they’ of the onlookers; these voices are presented by a third voice—that of the narrator, who, unlike the onlookers, can hear the dead man speaking.
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