SA1: Article Analysis
Due: 2:00 p.m. (in class) on Thursday 1/18
Purpose
Purpose
I have changed the name of this SA from “summary” to “analysis.” Think of it as a summary in parts. When we meet on Thursday, I will divide
the class into two groups for the introduction of Case #1, and I'll ask
you to use this article analysis, which should give you some confidence
about Barthes's main claims and how they can be brought into
conversation with Fish's notion of “interpretive community.”
Assignment
Please write in response to the following tasks, which are intended to help you critically unpack Barthes's essay, where “unpack” means to discuss something in its component parts.
Write as much as you can in response to each task, but be sure
that what you write is meaningful. This is an exercise intended to help
you read; it is not a test of how well you understand.
Format
Plan ahead and start early. Send any questions my way in advance.
- Identify at least 5 new (or unfamiliar to you) terms that are used in Barthes's essay, and provide your own summative definitions using a peer-reviewed dictionary: Webster’s Collegiate; American Heritage; Wiktionary; Merriam-Webster; or the OED Online (highly recommended). These terms can be anything: concepts, objects, actions, or descriptions. Of those 5 terms, which one do you think is most useful for understanding Barthes's essay and why? Do not just copy and paste the definitions. Instead, incorporate them into your own discussion of each term.
- Barthes's essay argues for what will later become known as Reader-Response Criticism. But it is foundational and intertextual--that is, it has been influenced by or carries reflections of other arguments and other texts. Identify at least 2 or 3 other concepts, figures, writers, or critics that Barthes draws on in his definition of “text.” In what context does he mention them, and how does he use them or take them up? How has his definition been influenced by them? What do they contribute or add?
- Identify what you think is his main or overarching claim (a.k.a. thesis) and point to at least 2 passages in the essay to back this up. You might discuss Barthes's implicit and explicit reasons for defining “text,” if you find them.
- Reflect on your understanding of Barthes's definition. What complicates it for you? What simplifies it for you? Do you find yourself agreeing with what he has written? Why or why not?
- Discuss the relevance of Barthes' understanding of “text” vs. “work” to Fish's “utterance.” Do you see any connections or resemblances between the two essays? Or, how does one writer remind you of the other in something that he writes? Or, if you feel like you have a really good handle on both texts, then you might discuss how some argument in Barthes's essay actually extends, complicates, or challenges something in Fish's.
- What questions do you have about this essay that you’d like to discuss in class?
Format
- Hard/print copy in class
- Include a short "Works Cited" list at the end of your document with the full MLA citation for Barthes's essay and for the print or online dictionary that you used. If you cite from Fish, please include his citation as well.
- You can find the citation for our readings at the back of your syllabus. If you're uncertain how to cite a dictionary entry, you can find the citation pattern at this page on the Purdue OWL (scroll down to "Article in a Reference Book").
Plan ahead and start early. Send any questions my way in advance.