literature prof Essay

Submitted By ashramurz
Words: 468
Pages: 2

“…Or the Bible”

Milk

and

honey

Fatted

calves

Slavery

and

escape

Denial

Betrayal

40 days

Fishes

Loaves

Parting

of

waters

Flood

Plagues

Serpent

Garden

?

Chapter 7
“…Or the Bible”

•“The devil, as the old saying goes, can quote Scripture.” (48) •“So can writers.” (48)

Chapter 7
“…Or the Bible”

•Resonance Test…what it is?
•“If I hear something going on in a text that seems to be beyond the scope of the story’s or poem’s immediate dimensions, if it resonates outside itself, I start looking for allusions to older and bigger texts.” (54)
◾Titles
◾Situations
◾Poetry
◾Names
◾Quotations from Scripture

Chapter 7
“…Or the Bible”

•A 20th century story that is rich with allusions “resonates with the richness of distant antecedents, with the power of accumulated myth…it becomes timeless and archetypal, speaking of the tensions and difficulties that exist always and everywhere…that story never grows old.”

(56)
Before the mid 20th century, writers could count on people being very familiar with Biblical stories, a common touchstone a writer can tap
b. Common Biblical stories with symbolic implications i. Garden of Eden: women tempting men and causing their fall, the apple as symbolic of an object of temptation, a serpent who tempts men to do evil, and a fall from innocence ii. David and Goliath—overcoming overwhelming odds iii. Jonah and the Whale—refusing to face a task and being “eaten” or overwhelmed by it anyway. iv. Job: facing disasters not of the character’s making and not the character’s fault, suffers as a result, but remains steadfast v. The Flood: rain as a form of destruction; rainbow as a promise of restoration vi. Christ figures (a later chapter): in 20th century, often used ironically vii. The Apocalypse—Four Horseman