introduction to the Reason Rhyme exercises
“The Conversation” by the sculptor Etienne, donated by France to the city of Havana in 2012. Bronze on a marble plinth (which contains French and Cuban coins and a time-capsule). In conversation, the figures have spaces left to interpretation. This is a set of exercises on filling in spaces.
Overview
Robert Frost said poetry “begins in delight and ends in wisdom.” What lies between are the inferences we make. This is a set of exercises on making inferences about life using verse. There are dozens of original works and reflective questions to develop skills in making strong interpretive inferences.
Just as the first mystery was how a poem could have a tune in such a straightness as metre, so the second mystery is how a poem can have wildness and at the same time a subject that shall be fulfilled. It should be of the pleasure of a poem itself to tell how it can. The figure a poem makes. It begins in delight and ends in wisdom.
Robert Frost, “The Figure a Poem Makes,” 1939
Why verse? Interpreting verse—whether lyrics or poetic narrative—is a lot like interpreting life. You are part of the story. You make meaning. You also develop communication and critical thinking skills. You’ll develop a rich sense of what is said, in words and in subtle context.
In Verse as In Life
“Does this dress make me look fat?” may have nothing to do with a dress. It may have to do with acceptance, the need to be heard, or a wish to be re-assured.
These are the kind of inferences that clarify life, taking into account factors beyond what is said. Factors such as figures of speech, symbols, and the characters themselves. Unspoken elements that contribute to the content where words alone cannot go.
Weak or Strong
Interpretations aren’t right or wrong. They’re weak or strong. They’re weak or strong in a two-step test.
- Are there factors relevant and sufficient to believe an interpretation?
- Is there no over-riding reason to believe a different interpretation?
For instance …
First drops turn steady on both figures
breaking to run to the farmhouse porch.
Holding a pace behind, she drops a fist.
A singular bounce, a glint of gold forged.
The screen door slams and rain persists.
That seems consistent with: he proposed and she accepted with remorse. Feeling trapped, she “lost” the ring. Supporting factors: gathering storm, holding back, dropped fist, screen door slam. No better alternative interpretation; no suggestion that they are actors, for instance.
Textualism
Textualism is based on the ordinary meaning of the text without taking into account external sources, such as what the author intended. For example, according to Harry Styles, his song “Sign of the Times” is about a mother dying after childbirth. By the lyrics, the song could be about a criminal’s regret to reform. Contextualism, by comparison, takes into account the intention of the author or the social context of when and where a composition was written.
In each exercise, construct a textualist interpretation that is consistent with the text and meets the two-step test above. Ask not what the author meant. Rather, ask what the composition says. For it is the message that you interpret that inspires, not the intention of the author. The verse is a jumping-off point for the questions. Respond to the questions according to your interpretation. The verse begins in delight—the questions end in wisdom.
Modules
- Discovery
- Identity
- Freedom
- Perception
- Pragmatism
- Interaction
- Imagination
- Expectation
- Understanding
- Belief
- Purpose
- Emergence
Goals
- Explore themes relevant in life as in literature, such as Identity, Freedom, Belief, and Purpose.
- Construct strong inductive interpretations of dozens of original works
- Explore questions intended to evoke — even provoke — an interpretation
- Draw realistic inferences from imaginative situations
- Experience how poetry, as Frost says, ends in a clarification of life, in a momentary stay against confusion