Thursday, January 18th

1. Watch and take notes on the two literary theory videos:
Explanation of WHAT IS LITERARY THEORY
Methodology: Introduction to Literary Theory

For Friday, we are going to begin to wade into Formalist Criticism by first practicing a bit and then reading an example of an individual who has mastered the school of theory.

1. You first need to read James Baldwin's short story "Sonny's Blues". As you are reading, I want you to be utilizing the questions from the Formalist school of theory. Jot down things that you notice in conjunction with doing a "Formalist" read. This is just the beginning, so any thing that you are noticing when it comes to form and structure and HOW a piece comes together is good!

Sonny's Blues TEXT PDF

2. When you are done, look over your notes. Are there any connections? Any theme running throughout the things you were noticing? Groupings? (Think like you are reviewing a Brainstorm). Jot down any informal conclusions that you have.. Just jot them down on the bottom of your notes.. side margins, etc.

3. Read "Light and Darkness in Sonny's Blues" by Michael Clark. This is an example of what is going to be our end result. Clark has developed a Formalist argument from the exact same literary text that you have read. I want you to look at the development of thinking. The manner in which he examines the text, not so much what we can learn about "Sonny's Blues".   How did he look at the short story? What kind of things did he notice?

Take notes on HOW Clark examined the literary text and be ready to talk about it on Friday.

"Light and Darkness in Sonny's Blues"- Michael Clark  (Starts on 2179)

SOCRATIC SEMINAR ON FRIDAY! BE READY!!