tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425514987715337437.post7306507692913299699..comments2024-03-26T22:47:45.276-07:00Comments on Intro to Critical Reading: Influence and Change in WritingAdamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16302919444091859459noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425514987715337437.post-41168923333806879652011-02-21T11:51:57.284-08:002011-02-21T11:51:57.284-08:00While I didn't actually double-check to see ho...While I didn't actually double-check to see how long this essay is, it *seems* short. Why is that? You begin with a pretty vague introduction, which makes a bold claim (Butler was influenced by Whitman) without really explaining why that influence matters. Then you launch into a pretty straightforward reading of Whitman - your earlier material was fine, of course, but a lot of the rest of it seems to be a simple repetition of things that were said in class. I'm not totally opposed to repetition, but toward what end? Curiously, even though your ostensible focus is religion, you're not even really working with the numerous verses which focus on religion themselves.<br /><br />Your discussion of Butler doesn't go much beyond the obvious. It's pretty clear from early in the novel that it is, at least in an indirect way, some kind of critique of Christianity. But what kind? For what end? Your response to these questions is unambitious, vague, and bordering on obvious. This is a whole novel about a new religion, written in verse - if you really wanted to prove that she was writing it out of an inspiriation from Whitman, sure you could have *started* with some kind of comparison of the religion content (or style?) of some set of those verses?Adamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16302919444091859459noreply@blogger.com