APPROACHING LITERATURE THROUGH NEW HISTORICISM (POETRY IN CONTEXT)
Assignment Information
2. The Sea of Faith
Arnold’s “Dover Beach” is calling into question faith and structures of religion by representing the popular metaphor of “sea of faith.” How does Arnold illustrate this metaphor and theme in his poem? Why is this such an important question? What larger questions of religion is he engaging and why are these questions so important during this historic moment? What is Arnold saying about religion?
This will be a two-step essay. I want you to do a close reading of the text and look at the literary language. Then I want you to take use this close reading approach the questions Arnold is asking about religion. You will have to do some research to support your answers and to understand the social, economic, and political context that informed the poem.
• ALWAYS HISTORICIZE! Keep your analysis in context.
• Use 2-3 outside sources (quoting directly) to explain your position
• Use close reading methods to unpack the text
• MLA Format
• 2-3 pages
• Topic: Approaching literature through New Historicism
Readings:
• “Dover Beach”
• Matthew Arnold, an Overview: (Read/Skim selections from the following areas on the website)
o Biography
o Political History
o Social History
o Genre
o Religion
• “Culture Studies”
• Video Lecture #2 – Will post by Wednesday.
Research Suggestions
5. Look at the images of the shoreline in Dover, England. Think critically about the shape of the cliffs…
6. Using scholar.google.com, perform a research query about themes of religion in “Dover Beach”
7. Find a helpful summary of the poem that will allow you to better understand broad strokes concepts.
•
Paper #4: Poetry in Context
•
Matthew Arnold. “Dover Beach”
•
“Matthew Arnold an Overview”
•
Culture Studies
•
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
•
Ian Hamilton Finlay
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