How Does Literature Mean What It Means

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How Does Literature Mean What It Means?
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Mary Had a Little Lamb What Does It Mean?

• Marys Lamb
• Mary had a little lamb,Its fleece was
  white as snowAnd everywhere that Mary went,The
  lamb was sure to go.It followed her to school
  one dayThat was against the ruleIt made the
  children laugh and playTo see a lamb at school.
• And so the teacher turned it out,But still
  it lingered near,And waited patiently about
• Till Mary did appear.

• And then he ran to her and laid
• His head upon her arm,
• As if he said, Im not afraid
• Youll keep me from all harm.
• "Why does the lamb love Mary so?"The eager
  children cry."Why, Mary loves the lamb, you
  know,"The teacher did reply.
• And you each gentle animal
• In confidence may bind,
• And make them follow at your call
• If you are always kind.
• Sarah Josepha Hale

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How to Figure Out Anything, Even Your Friends
The Set Analysis

• If you complete a set analysis chart, the secret
  of whatever youre analyzing will be yours!
• Yes, its called a Set Analysis, and I will be
  asking you to do this often.
• The idea comes from a workshop given by Marie
  Ponsot and Rosemary Dean. They based their
  approach on a technique developed by Kenneth
  Burke. I have expanded upon these ideas.
• One of the best things about this is that you can
  construct meaningful meanings for yourself that
  you can check for accuracy. Works of value
  always have multiple meanings. Just like your
  friends!

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Part I Scene

• This is one of the easy ones. Decide where and
  when the action is occurring. In other words,
  provide a setting, even if the detail clues are
  sort of sketchy.
• What is the SCENE of Mary Had a Little Lamb?
• Write this down in your notebook. Be prepared to
  share your responses.

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Part 2 Action

• This is usually just one word long. It names the
  main action of the work in question.
• Always write this as an ing word.
• What is the ACTION of Mary Had a Little Lamb?
• Write this in you notebook and be prepared to
  share.

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Part 3 Agent

• Name who is doing the action.
• Do not use the word speaker or poet or
  novelist. What do you think you could use
  instead? Use narrator if a discernable agent
  is not present.
• Who is the AGENT in Mary Had a Little Lamb?
• Write this in you notebook and be prepared to
  share.

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Part 4 Agency

• This is going to be a rather long list (try for
  at least 5 items).
• Answer the question, How is the action being
  completed?
• Its crucial in this section to use the exact
  diction of the work in question, altering it only
  by adding ing when necessary and prefacing each
  entry with the word by.
• What are the AGENCIES in Mary Had a Little
  Lamb?
• Write these out in your notebook and be prepared
  to share.

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Part 5 Purpose

• Answer the question, For what reason or end is
  the action done?
• You must use an exact quoted detail from the work
  in question, usually one phrase or one sentence.
• The purpose is the purpose of the agent, not the
  purpose of the author.
• Preface the phrase or sentence with the word
  to.
• What is the purpose of Mary Had a Little Lamb?
• Write this in your notebook and be prepared to
  share your response.

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The Point-of-View, or Meaning, Sentence

• Review the set analysis that youve constructed
  and then use the following format to construct a
  meaning sentence
• In name of work by author, the author
  develops the meaning that your point of view.

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So, What Is the Meaning of Mary Had a Little
Lamb?

• Maybe you have something that looks like this
• Your meaning sentence might look like this
• In the poem Mary Had a Little Lamb by
  Sarah Josepha Hale, the author develops the
  meaning that we can only intensely love those who
  make us feel safe.

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Heres Another

• Design
• Robert Frost.
• I found a dimpled spider, fat and white,On
  a white heal-all, holding up a mothLike a white
  piece of rigid satin cloth--Assorted characters
  of death and blightMixed ready to begin the
  morning right,Like the ingredients of a witches'
  broth--A snow-drop spider, a flower like a
  froth,And dead wings carried like a paper
  kite.What had that flower to do with being
  white,The wayside blue and innocent
  heal-all?What brought the kindred spider to that
  height,Then steered the white moth thither in
  the night?What but design of darkness to
  appall?--If design govern in a thing so small.

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And Yet Another

• Fallen sick on a journey,In dreams I run
  wildlyOver a withered moor.
• A haiku by Basho

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So Now What?

• Basically, you just have to keep practicing and
  practicing. Try to determine the meaning of the
  following items by using a set analysis.

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Three Flags, Jasper Johns, 1958
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