New Critical/ Formalist Approach Analysis for Hope by Lisel Mueller

Literature
Topic: New Critical/ Formalist Approach Analysis for Hope by Lisel Mueller

7 pages required, 1750 word minimum , Use scholarly sources. Your paper will have three parts. There will be a thorough definition and explanation of the critical approach you are focusing on, informed by research; a deep critical interpretation of one piece of literature from the course, interpreted through the critical theory you researched; and an explanation of why it is worthwhile to interpret the text you selected with the critical approach you used. Please use subtitles to divide the three sections of your paper. I attached 3 files below including an essay on the poem Hope I did earlier in the semester.

Name
Professor
English 1600.22
Date
“Hope”
A poem is a piece of writing that is often metaphorical, rhythmical, and exhibits formal elements such as rhyme, stanzaic structure, and meter. It is always beautiful and therefore arouses strong emotions to the readers. In Poetry, human linguistic is used because of its aesthetic makings instead of or in addition to its semantic and notional content. It largely consists of literary or oral works where language is used in a way that the audience and users consider different from the ordinary prose. Poems are usually in a compressed or condensed form and utilize repetition, and assonance to achieve incantatory or musical effects. Mueller is a poet who utilizes metaphor and imagery in her works. Her work is actually deeply reflective and imaginative subtle. In her poem “Hope,” Mueller uses a protracted metaphor and actually anthropomorphizes it to show how inspirational and special it is. In fact, in almost every line, she recognizes where to find hope. Therefore, this poem “Hope” is wonderful due to the manner in which Mueller demonstrates hope rolling from entirely concealed to completely overshadowing our being via the utilization of metaphors, assuring us that hope can be found and maintained even in hard times.
In the poem “Hope,” Mueller accentuates that hope is always present. It exists in most circumstances and events. Hope surrounds people, as it is pragmatic, existential, and spiritual. She portrays that we as human beings can find hopefulness in ourselves and also we can get enthused by factors, which are outside ourselves. Therefore, “Hope” is a striking poem as it depicts that hope is always everywhere even where is seems not to be available “It lives in each earthworm segment” (Mueller 11). Mueller tries to tell the audience that hope is often alive even at the time when it may be really tough to find. She acknowledges that when something tragic is happening, it may be hard to find hope but still portrays that hope is at all times alive though people do not realize it. The message in this poem is enhanced by the use of tremendous count of metaphors.
The first three lines in the poem “Hope” illustrates how hope may hide sometimes “It hovers in dark corners / before the lights are turned on, / it shakes sleep from its eyes” (Mueller 1-3). I understand that when a tragic event happens, it may be extremely hard to stay hopeful concerning the situation’s outcome or generally about the life. At this moment, people may only feel that nothing will get better or life is going to be always hard. This means that people cannot find hopefulness in such situations. Hopefulness is not an object and therefore cannot “hover”. However, the statement perfectly describes how distinct hope may be. Thus in an impossible situation, hope can’t be like a miracle that is instant.
In the next stage of the poem, Mueller tries to compare hope and nature. Nature may be subdued but very noticeable at the same time. “It explodes in the starry heads / of the dandelions turned sages” (Mueller 5-6). Though many people may view dandelions as a pest or weed, Mueller considers dandelions as a sign of hopefulness that could be looked up by things. She also portrays a kind of nature that many people consider as less important “It sprouts from each occluded eye / of the many-eyed potatoes” (Mueller 9-10.). To most persons, a potato can be an issue of death and life. For example, a farmer who plants the potato and have had several bad years then eventually the production increases, he or she will have hope. This hope will make his or her family live with no fear and therefore the same hope will make the family prosper just because of that simple potato. Thus, though some forms of nature appear less important to most people, they eventually turn to be very important.
Pets and babies are a constant part of the lives of people. Even when individuals lack some of their own, they always hear or see them during the day. Therefore, it is until something is close to an individual’s life that he or she can understand it. Thus Mueller is talking about hope when she says “It is the motion that runs / from the eyes to the tail of a dog, /it is the mouth that inflates the lungs / of the child that has just been born” (Mueller 13-16). Therefore, people can easily understand things when they are closer to their life. Thus, a rich person may not be able to understand what being homeless means. It is until such a person gets the first-hand experience of being homeless. Thus I believe that Mueller is talking about hope in this statement. Therefore, in Mueller’s poem, she talks about finding hope in an individual’s life. She then reveals that hope is part of people always “It is the singular gift / we cannot destroy in ourselves” (Mueller 17-18). Thus, though it may be hard sometimes to find hope, it is always a portion of human beings.
Therefore, in this poem, as I have explained, it can be divided into three stages. In stage one the poem talks about hiding and hardly existent, stage two it talks about nature where people are capable of finding hope and stage three which is about finding hopefulness in the life of an individual. In historical context, I can strongly associate Mueller’s poem with colonialism era “It hovers in dark corners”(1) meaning that people were in darkness under the powers of colonial rulers. But when people got independence, they were able to see the light “The lights are turned on” (2). The poem also has elements of cultural beliefs that shows a society that is God fearing, and with dignity and ethics to extend that they cannot betray each other “All we know of God / It is the serum which makes us swear / not to betray one another” (Mueller 21-23).

Hope by Lisel Mueller
Use formalist/ new critical approach
It hovers in dark corners
before the lights are turned on,
it shakes sleep from its eyes
and drops from mushroom gills,
it explodes in the starry heads
of dandelions turned sages,
it sticks to the wings of green angels
that sail from the tops of maples.
It sprouts in each occluded eye
of the many-eyed potato,
it lives in each earthworm segment
surviving cruelty,
it is the motion that runs
from the eyes to the tail of a dog,
it is the mouth that inflates the lungs
of the child that has just been born.
It is the singular gift
we cannot destroy in ourselves,
the argument that refutes death,
the genius that invents the future,
all we know of God.
It is the serum which makes us swear
not to betray one another;
it is in this poem, trying to speak.

Critical Interpretation Paper
You will compose a paper, which interprets and analyzes one piece of literature we have read this semester. Your paper will be informed by and include your own research. Your interpretation and analysis will take one of the following critical approaches:
topical/historical
new critical/formalist
structuralist
feminist
Marxist
psychoanalytic
archetypal/symbolic
deconstructionist
reader-response

Each of these critical approaches is briefly explained on pages 1916-1927 of Jacobs’s Literature. Select one to use for your paper. Begin researching the critical approach you select so that you can understand it more deeply and see how it has been applied by other critics. You are required to have a total of five sources for the paper. Save the research you do. This is the research for the paper.
Also, select any piece of literature we have read in the class to focus on. It may be Candide, Hamlet, Before Breakfast, or any short story or poem from our class. Select a piece to focus on that you think lends itself well to the critical approach you select.
Your paper will have three parts. There will be a thorough definition and explanation of the critical approach you are focusing on, informed by research; a deep critical interpretation of one piece of literature from the course, interpreted through the critical theory you researched; and an explanation of why it is worthwhile to interpret the text you selected with the critical approach you used. Please use subtitles to divide the three sections of your paper. Consider the sample headings below for a feminist reading of Hamlet:
1. Feminist Critical Theory Defined
In this section of your paper, use your research to define and explain the
critical theory you are focusing on.
1. A Victim of the Times: The Plight of Ophelia
In the second section of your paper, interpret one text from the course
using the critical approach you’ve selected.
III. A Defense of Feminist Interpretations of Hamlet
The final section of your paper is an argument which defends your interpretations. In this section of the paper, explain to your reader why it is worthwhile to look at the text you’ve discussed from the critical approach you used.

Complete paper must be 7 to 10 pages and include a works cited.
Sample Topics
You may use these approaches and these texts, or choose your own.
Critical Approach Text
Feminist Hamlet
Marxist Candide
Psychoanalytic “The Necklace”
Reader-Response “I Felt a Funeral In My Brain”
Grading Criteria—150 points possible
Section 1—Researched explanation of a critical approach—60 points:
30 Accuracy—writing and synthesized research demonstrates a clear understanding of the basic principles of whichever critical theory you are working with.
15 Research—sources are referred to in paraphrase and quotation to explain the critical approach.
15 Defining elements—at least three key characteristics of the literary approach are highlighted.
Section 2—Critical Interpretation of a text—65 points:
15 to -40 Specific interpretive thesis that approaches the text from the critical theory you explained in section 1.
10 to -10 Properly cited evidence from text(s).
40 Thorough analysis of the text, proving your thesis.
Section 3—Defense of your own critical interpretation—25 points:
10 Section offers at least two reasons why it is worthwhile to interpret the text you have selected from the critical standpoint you have adopted.
15 Reasons are supported with logically sound arguments, using evidence or examples
Expectations:
0 to -50 Five or more credible sources (SCHOLARLY)
0 to -20 Correct MLA internal documentation for all direct quotations and paraphrases.
0 to -10 Essay must have three distinct sections; each must have a subtitle.
0 to -50 Seven page minimum. (1750 words).
0 to -25 Correct grammar and spelling.
0 to -10 Clear, precise, style. Avoid passive voice. Proofread for clarity of meaning.
0 to –
30 Works cited in correct MLA style.

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