Aesthetic Analysis and Literary Response

At the beginning of class on Thursday, August 29th, students who did the homework assignment (read the Aesthetic Analysis) took 5 minutes to summarize it and comment on its characteristics.  Students who did not do the homework assignment were asked to explain why and then to begin reading it.

After these responses were collected, the class was separated into five groups.  Dr. Benton reminded us not to check our cellphones in class because it is distracting to him and demoralizing to other students.  Each group then discussed the characteristics of the aesthetic analysis.  After about five minutes, each group sent an ambassador to the board to write down some of their group's ideas.

Traditional Poetry?
"A Reading from Homer" (1885) by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema

Some students pointed out how the analysis noted the stylistic differences between this poem and poetry of earlier generations, which often features ornate vocabulary and observes strict formal requirements (such as the sonnet with its line count, rhyme scheme, and meter).  Other students commented on the analysis's blow-by-blow description of the reader's experience of reading it.  Other students comments on the the aesthetic analysis's reference to the poem's technical aspects, including its word choices, its genre, its tone, the arrangement of the words on the page, its punctuation, and its grammar.  Other students pointed out that the aesthetic analysis went beyond the literal meaning of the poem in order to consider its figurative meaning, noting, for instance, that the poem illustrates the phenomenon of the epiphany.  Students also noted that the analysis as a whole was structured in a way that gave it coherence by likening the experience of reading the poem to the experience of riding an actual bus.

Dr. Benton asked students in the class to discuss valuable comments that were not submitted by their own groups.  As we discussed the qualities of the poem that make it unique, Dr. Benton told us he believed the most important thing you can learn in college is to get in the habit of asking the question, "As opposed to what?"  He pointed out that whether you are deciding to vote for a political candidate or deciding to buy a steak from a door-to-door salesperson, it will be difficult for you to make a wise choice unless you know what the alternatives are.

What are the Alternatives?
'The Judgement of Paris" (1986) by  Charles Bell

When it comes to the aesthetic analysis of a poem, it is also important to ask how it is different and similar in to other poems. With respect to its style, for example, "On this Bus," might be compared to Imagist poetry of the early 20th century which employed a "less is more" philosophy, in contrast to wordier, often moralizing poems of an earlier generation.

As an illustration, Dr. Benton showed us the 1913 poem "In a Station of the Metro" by Ezra Pound and a "literary response" to it in the form of a short video. Dr. Benton pointed out that the power of the poem depends on readers who "finish the work" of responding to it, by reflecting on its meaning, its significance, and its art. He likened it to a Lego set waiting for readers to "build meaning" out of it (not the new Lego sets that give specific step-by-step instructions, but those that required builders to be more imaginative).

With respect to its theme, "On this Bus" might be profitably compared to the passage in Genesis which comments on a similar theme.  In book three, verse seven,  Adam and Eve--like the speaker in Masten's poem--become aware of their nakedness. In our discussion of two different translations of the verses in Genesis (click here to read them), we talked about how little decisions by the translators can make significant differences in meaning (did Adam and Eve feel "shame" about their nakedness?).

To illustrate how an aesthetic analysis can show how dissimilar texts may have similar technical qualities, Dr. Benton showed us a clip from the end Star Wars (1977), which he juxtaposed with a clip from the 1933 Nazi documentary Triumph of the Will.  The scenes from both films employed similar camera angles and editing techniques. Star Wars can be analyzed as a response (a tribute?) to Triumph of the Will.  "In a Station of the Metro" also compares unlike things:  cherry blossoms and the faces of people on the subway.

Finally, we talked about how literary responses can offer variations on the theme, the characters, the techniques, or the scenarios employed in other texts.  To illustrate the point, we looked at several literary responses to Masten’s poem, including “First Day Poet,” by Jim Benton, and several untitled poems written by Dr. Benton.

Homework assignment:  

Read the ideological analysis of "On this bus" titled "Riding Naked on Ric Masten’s Bus" by Jim Benton, before class on Tuesday, September 3rd.

Erin Dorsett and Taylor Johnston contributed to this report.