Elegy in a Country Courtyard, by Thomas Gray, can be looked at through two different methods. First the Dialogical Approach, which covers the ability of the language of the text to address someone without the consciousness that the exchange of language between the speaker and addressee occurs. (HCAL, 349) The second method is the Formalistic Approach, which allows the reader to look at a literary piece, and critique it according to its form, point of view, style, imagery, atmosphere, theme, and word choice. The formalistic views on form, allow us to look at the essential structure of the poem.
“Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” by Thomas Gray shows aspects of both Dialogical and Formalistic Approaches. Gray’s uses dialogic opposition, the way the author chooses to form his work so that the reader can interpret the characters’ actions and words without the direct intervention of the author. (HCAL, 354) Gray lists the lifestyles of many different people in lines 32- 60. These stanzas cover all the different types of people that are buried in the churchyard. We can interpret the lifestyle and actions of the other characters because we have the ability to associate and connect what the narrator is telling us. By using the dialogic opposition, this allows the reader to identify the multiple types of characters in the poem, even if they don’t all have dialogue.
Bakhtin’s definition points toward a parallel between issues of knowledge and power among the characters and those between the author and the reader. In both cases, knowledge is best thought of as dialogic rather than monologic, as open to the other rather than closed, as addres…
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…defining words. The symbolism is to show the reader and the audience that life is only for so long. Once that old age is reached your youth is over. Try and accomplish all that you can when you have the time and the energy, because we are all going to be in the same place as all the characters in the churchyard before we know it. Gray uses imagery and symbols very well, and smoothly pulls the attention of his readers in to the poem.
Gray’s use of language and other literary devices allows readers to look at the poem from two different aspects. Dialogical and Formalistic, two completely different types of critiques. However, both let the reader look at the poem in completely different ways and see the many different aspects of the writing. Thomas Gray’s “Elegy in a Country Churchyard”, is a fine example of showing the dialogical and formalistic approach in a poem.
Psychoanalytic Approach to Corona
Psychoanalytic Approach to Corona
The psychoanalytic approach applied to Corona can determine the state of minds of the characters Buddy, Lee, and Big Foot. At the end of the story, Buddy’s super ego represses his id, thus proving that although his simple mind has always relied on his id, his super ego turns his character into a hero. Lee depends on her id and super ego throughout the story. Finally her ego balances out the other two. Big Foot’s character does not change. His super ego is in charge of his life. Big Foot will never be able to see reality or pleasure because of his over-used super ego.
What first catches our eye is the title of the story. Corona could mean, “The sun’s outer atmosphere that is visible during total eclipses of the sun.”, or the “nation’s first photo reconnaissance satellite system, operating from 1960-1972.”. Either description will fit the story considering the way the song, Corona makes everyone feel. When Buddy loses his eyesight, the song Corona is his light that helps him escape from the pain. The song is also an escape for Lee, whose body and mind needs sunlight to relax and feel like a normal nine year old.
In the first paragraph, the three mental processes mold a perfect outline to what we should expect throughout the story. The id tells us that Buddy’s mother is an alcoholic. She drinks in self pity because Buddy’s father left before Buddy was born. Her alcohol does for her as Corona does for Buddy. Id is also the reason Buddy attempts to steal a helicopter with a girl named Delores-Jo. Buddy’s ego lied about his age when caught and is why he must go to prison instead of reform school. His superego helps him to repress those feelings left by penitentiary life by deciding to move to New York to start over, instead of dealing with his problems, including a child on the way by a waitress.
Buddy and Lee come from different backgrounds, but their life struggles bring them together. Buddy, comes from lower class. He has grown up in an single parent, alcohol abusive home. He has gone to prison and is now a blue collar worker. Lee has suffered from her parents recently divorcing. Her telepathy has brought her misery instead of insight. Buddy is simple minded and Lee is very intelligent.