Critical Appreciation of a Poem & Stream of Consciousness

Literary Terms Critical Appreciation of a Poem & Stream of Consciousness

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How to Write Critical Appreciation of a Poem

Critical Appreciation simply means to evaluate and analyze a poem in order to have its better understanding. It includes two steps:

Step 1

In order to write a critical analysis of a poem, one is required to first evaluate the poetic techniques used by the poet. It includes analysis of the genre: Genre simply means category.

 

Every genre has its own distinct features. e.g. Sonnet has 14 lines divided into three quatrains and a couplet. Thus the poem could be a sonnet, ballad, elegy, ode, lyric, dramatic etc.

• the rhyme scheme: It could either be abba, aabb, abab etc. However, some poems are blank verse as well i.e. without any rhyme scheme (Background, Casually by Nissim Ezekiel)
• the figures of speech: it includes imagery, simile, metaphor, personification, repetition, pun, oxymoron, alliteration etc.
• the language style: It includes the use of figures of speech, rhythm, word length, number of lines, images, senses (e.g. in Happy Insensibility), etc.
• the tone of the speaker: tone can be mysterious, provocative, ominous, festive, fearful, exuberant, hopeful etc.
• the references to other works: it includes a reference to works of other authors (like Eliot’s reference to Murry in his work The Function of Criticism)

Step 2

Second, the reader should evaluate the meaning of the poem. It includes

• Speaker: Speaker could be the poet himself (like Wordsworth) or a hero (as in the poems of Keats) or a shepherd etc. Knowing about the speaker is important as every speaker speaks differently.
• Title: it includes the relevance of the title, its historical significance, etc.
• Denotation: the literal meaning of the words. It helps to get the basic idea of the poem. e.g. in the poem "The Good Morrow" by John Donne, the meaning of the words help to understand the diverse knowledge possessed by the Metaphysical Poets.
• Connotations: the ideas invoked by the words i.e. deeper meaning-the message or universal truth it conveys. This helps to understand the central theme of the poem. e.g. in the poem Ode to Autumn, the central idea is quite different from what the words perceive.
• Purpose of writing: The purpose of writing could be to inform with facts or to persuade with an appeal to reason or emotions or just to entertain the readers.
• Movements: A reader is required to have information about the movements that were trending during the time of the poet. The movements have a significant influence on the writing of a poet. e.g. Romantic Movement influenced the poets of the early 19th century.

Having done all the analysis and evaluation, the reader should first write a description of the poem and then its comprehensive interpretation in his own words.

Stream of Consciousness

Definition

In English Literature, Stream of Consciousness is a narrative device used by the novelist to make the reader know the thoughts and feelings of the characters present in the novel.

A number of people often wonder what is the other name for the stream of consciousness novel. As it focuses on the inner feeling of the characters, Stream of Consciousness is often known as internal monologue though both the terms have a slightly different meaning.

In Internal Monologue, the thoughts and feelings of the characters are often presented using logical progression from one idea to the other, whereas in Stream of Consciousness, the actual experience of thinking is presented in all its chaos and distress

Origin

The term ”stream of consciousness” was first used by William James in 1890 in his The Principles of Psychology. He used this term to explain the free flow of thoughts.

According to him “it is nothing jointed; it flows. A river  or a  stream  are the metaphors by which it is most naturally described. In talking of it hereafter, let's call it the stream of thought, consciousness, or subjective life. 

This term was first used by the novelist May Sinclair in a literary context while discussing Dorothy Richardson’s novels. However, it was three novelists Dorthy Richardson, Virginia Woolf and James Joyce who used this concept in their works.

Characteristics

Following are the main characteristics of the stream of consciousness novel:

1. The Stream of Consciousness is characterised by ample of thoughts and images. The technique lacks punctuation and associative leaps.
2. This technique is different from Dramatic Monologue and Soliloquy as in the latter the speaker addresses another person or audience whereas, in the former, the thoughts remain the mind of the character.
3. Dramatic Monologue and Soliloquy is associated with the poetry whereas Stream of Consciousness is associated with the novel.
4. Today it has also been used in drama and movies.
5. It emerged during the early twentieth-century modernist movement.

 

Literary Terms Critical Appreciation of a Poem & Stream of Consciousness