LITERARY JOURNAL

Purpose: This journal assignment has been designed to allow you frequent opportunities for
close reading of texts while you
Apply your understanding of literary devices
Review and practice what you know about genre, literary periods, and literary devices
Develop independent reading and thinking skills
repare for both multiple choice and essay portions of the A test!s"
Guidelines: #our journal entries may be based on close reading of poetry, fiction, drama, or
nonfiction, but we recommend a balance in terms of genre$ Do not borrow from other sources
!friends, literary handbooks, or the internet"% &ach original entry will be comprised of four
sections'
($ )iterary device*term
+$ Definition of literary device* term
,$ A brief passage that illustrates the use of the device*term
-$ #our critical reading of the passage focusing primarily on the device and its
functional relationship to meaning, tone, and*or style or how the use of the device
creates a more effective or significant meaning in the piece of literature$
Assessment: The entries will be evaluated according to the following standards'
($ Accuracy of definition and application !not plagiari.ed from other sources"
+$ Thoroughness of explication !including the significance of your observations"
,$ Originality of thought and reading !Apply what you know to works you have
studied"
The examples included below have some meaningful qualities, but also include aspects that are
not perfect$ Read to discern the positive and negative aspects$
Format: /ollow the examples included below$
Examples:
spondee: a strong non0standard poetic foot which consists of two syllables equal in stress'
1as% 1as% 2uick, boys%3An ecstasy of fumbling,
/itting the clumsy helmets just in time4
5ut someone still was yellow out and stumbling
And flound6ring like a man in fire or lime7
from 8Dulce et Decorum &st9 by :ilfred ;wen
The conventional use of end rhyme in this poem is virtually lost because ;wen6s use of meter is
so stark, so irregular that it dominates the sound of the poem$ The first two feet of the first line
are spondaic, and those that follow resist a natural iambic pattern open with a stressed syllable$
The consonance and alliteration in 8<omeone still was yelling out and stumbling9 are also muted
by the irregular meter, a meter that clearly contributes to ;wen6s characteri.ation of war as ugly,
violent, and anything but 8sweet$9
allusion: a reference to a person, place, event, or literary work that a writer expects the reader to
recogni.e and respond to$
5ut, at my back, = always hear
Time6s winged chariot hurrying near'
And yonder, all before us lie
Deserts of vast eternity$
Thy beauty shall no more be found4
>or in thy marble vault shall sound
?y echoing songs4 then worms shall try
That long preserved virginity'
And your quaint honor turn to dust4
And into ashes all my lust'
The grave6s a fine and private place,
5ut none = think do there embrace$
from 8To @is Aoy ?istress9 by Andrew ?arvell
?arvell6s allusion to Apollo in these lines is interesting because it reflects the classical nature of
his poetry and, in this way, he can be compared to other (B
th
century neoclassicists like Conson
and @errick4 however, ?arvell has equally as much in common with the metaphysicals, like
Donne and @erbert$ @is very unorthodox image of worms that 8try9 virginity presents an
argument for carpe diem that is far from 8classical9 in nature$
Note: These examples are not perfect$ lease analy.e what6s good, what6s missing, and how the
responses could be improved$ Adhere to guideline D- in the directions$ :e will look at these in
class together$