Today, we’ll introduce some ways of thinking about close reading.
Then, we’ll get into close reading via annotation: just the act of marking up a text itself can be a great way to start interacting with it and analyzing it. This is a strategy you can use with each text we read throughout the semester.
PS – If you’re interested in hearing Mistral read her own poems, check out this link.
We’ll break into small groups, and each group will get a poem or a piece of a “Locas mujeres” (“Crazy Women”) poem to close read. Please use the markers we’ll provide (or any you may have) to mark up the text in whatever way you see fit. For example, you could color-code repetitions or rhymes or alliterations (similar consonant sounds) in the same color, underline or box important phrases or elements, track the use of line breaks or punctuation, etc.— it’s up to you! Feel free to read the poem aloud to think about sound, and also to compare the Spanish and the English versions. As you work, try to also jot down key questions, reflections, areas of inquiry, or themes that you think are important to consider (these can just be words or phrases in the margins).
We’ll give each group about 15 minutes to work on their section, and then we’ll have a gallery walk, where we can move around the room to see what others’ annotations look like and add to them.
Then, we’ll reconvene as a group to think about the following:
- What are some of the patterns that you see emerging across these poems and the others you read for today? What did other groups notice in their poem that was different from your own?
- What are some of Mistral’s poetic resources and strategies?
- When do these resources and strategies occur in the poems? What effects do they have, and how do they relate to the themes or narratives of the poems?
- What are some of the links and/or tensions between what the poems are saying and how they say it?
- Why do you think “Locas mujeres” (“Crazy Women”) is the title of this section of the Mistral’s collection Lagar (Winepress)? (Like, are the women really crazy? What makes them seem crazy, or not? What’s the relationship between “crazy women” and poetry?)
- What did you think of Le Guin’s translator’s notes? What did you learn about Mistral, and what do you make of Le Guin’s discussion of translation?
Homework:
- Read Clarice Lispector’s short story “Os laços de família” (“Family Ties”) (from Os laços de família, 1960) (course reader)
- If you read Portuguese and want a copy of the original, let us know!
- Read Katrina Dodson’s translator’s note, available here. (And consider: how does it compare to Le Guin’s notes on translating Mistral?)
- Read Writing Analytically Chapter 1: Five Analytical Moves (excerpt, will be distributed in class)
- Read Writing Analytically Chapter 3: A Toolkit of Analytical Methods (course reader)
Translating Women 