Place your order now for a similar assignment and have exceptional work written by our team of experts, At affordable rates
For This or a Similar Paper Click To Order Now
Question Set
Klages writes that “Condensation is when a whole set of images is packed into a single image or statement, when a complex meaning is condensed into a simpler one. Condensation corresponds to metaphor in language, where one thing is condensed into another” (64). Locate one instance of condensation in “Diary of a Madman,” and explain what it reveals about Madman’s unconscious?
Klages writes that “Displacement is where the meaning of one image or symbol gets pushed onto something associated with it, which then displaces the original image. Displacement corresponds to the mechanism of metonymy in language, where one thing is replaced by something corresponding to it or associated with it” (64-5). Locate one instance of displacement in “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” and explain what it reveals about Prufrock’s unconscious?
Klages writes that “For Lacan, the identification of ‘self’ is always in terms of ‘other.’ This is not the same as the binary opposition where ‘self’ is defined as ‘what is not other’ and ‘other’ is defined as ‘what is not self.’ Rather, ‘self’ is ‘other,’ in Lacan’s view; the idea of the self, that inner being we designate by ‘I,” is based on an image, an other. The concept of self relies on one’s misidentification with the image of an other” (81). What are the characteristics (signifiers) of the image or ‘other’ that designate Prufrock’s sense of ‘self’ or ‘I’dentity?
Klages writes that “The entity which inhabits the structure of language is subjected to the rules and limitations of language, and the concept of ‘self’ is a misrecognition of one’s position as a subject in language” (89). In what ways, if any, does the Madman, in “Diary of a Madman,” misrecognize his position as a subject in language?
Reading:
Mary Klages, Literary Theory: A Guide for the Perplexed, Chapter 5, “Psychoanalysis” and “Interlude: ‘Self’ to ‘Subject’.”
Writing in Literature: “Reading a Poem.”
Writing in Literature: “Poetry: Close Reading”
Writing in Literature: “Image in Poetry.”
Writing in Literature: “Images and Their Uses.”
Lu Xun’s “Diary of a Madman.”
T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.”
Tasks:
Complete all of the reading listed above.
Prepare written answers to all questions in Question Set Four.
Submit written answers in a word document.
Instructions:
Write a minimum of one well-organized, well-developed, five-sentence paragraph answer for each question.
Include the following in each paragraph:
A theoretically informed topic sentence that clearly answers the question;
A secondary sentence derived from or informed by Mary Klages’ Literary Theory: A Guide for the Perplexed that elaborates, explains, or expands the topic sentence;
A sentence that presents concrete details from the literary work as evidence for the topic sentence;
A sentence that presents a quotation from the literary work as support for topic sentence;
An analysis sentence(s) that unpacks the concrete details and quotations and explains how they support the topic sentence.
Format question set answers using MLA style.
Include a works cited page for the assignment.
