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Usenet Posted 21 years ago
Learning
Question about registry usage/shift in poems&literature
Hello everybody,
I am studying for my exams in English Literature, and I have bit of a trouble to understand fully the registry usage. Reading through the "Ways of Reading", by M. Montgomery (Surely a known book for English Literature students out there) I can't say that I find much explanations.
The examples shown are rather simple. I mean, I do understand that it's one kind of register to use "scientific" language and another to use "commerce" language, for example. But when we have a poem ("One perfect rose", by Dorothy Parker, for instance, that is included as an activity in the 1992 print of "Ways of reading") then it gets bit complicated, as I really have hard time to realize when a register shifts.
Another interesting example. Searching through the internet, I found the following haiku poem:
"winter
in a world of one color
the taste of peaches"
In the commentary accompanying it, it was mentioned that from the first
2 lines to the 3d, there is "a register shift from seeing to taste,winter to summer, white to peach, external to internal" I do more or less comprehend what the commentary implies, but in this case, isn't it so that practically every poem we know has a register shift every 2-3 lines? I mean, it can't be called a register shift the slightest variation, right?
My question. Can you recommend any site in the internet in which I could find more information about register usage? I really need to start from the basics, it seems.
Thank you in advance,
Chris
I am studying for my exams in English Literature, and I have bit of a trouble to understand fully the registry usage. Reading through the "Ways of Reading", by M. Montgomery (Surely a known book for English Literature students out there) I can't say that I find much explanations.
The examples shown are rather simple. I mean, I do understand that it's one kind of register to use "scientific" language and another to use "commerce" language, for example. But when we have a poem ("One perfect rose", by Dorothy Parker, for instance, that is included as an activity in the 1992 print of "Ways of reading") then it gets bit complicated, as I really have hard time to realize when a register shifts.
Another interesting example. Searching through the internet, I found the following haiku poem:
"winter
in a world of one color
the taste of peaches"
In the commentary accompanying it, it was mentioned that from the first
2 lines to the 3d, there is "a register shift from seeing to taste,winter to summer, white to peach, external to internal" I do more or less comprehend what the commentary implies, but in this case, isn't it so that practically every poem we know has a register shift every 2-3 lines? I mean, it can't be called a register shift the slightest variation, right?
My question. Can you recommend any site in the internet in which I could find more information about register usage? I really need to start from the basics, it seems.
Thank you in advance,
Chris
Top answer
No clue on Internet help. However, you should be aware that it is a proven fact that men have more problems in understanding appropriate register than women, according to David Crystal. Haiku poetry written in English is notorious for attracting admirers who like to produce oodles of commentary that basically tries to justify a literary form that should go gently into that good night.
- No clue on Internet help.
- However, you should be aware that it is a proven fact that men have more problems in understanding appropriate register than women, according to David Crystal.
- Haiku poetry written in English is notorious for attracting admirers who like to produce oodles of commentary that basically tries to justify a literary form that should go gently into that good night.
- English Haiku has much in common with white-boy-written gangsta rap that way.
- My own first degree is in English Literature and I don't think I have ever read a book or an article written by M.
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5 Answers
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No clue on Internet help. However, you should be aware that it is a proven fact that men have more problems in understanding appropriate register than women, according to David Crystal.
Haiku poetry written in English is notorious for attracting admirers who like to produce oodles of commentary that basically tries to justify a literary form that should go gently into that good night. English
Haiku poetry written in English is notorious for attracting admirers who like to produce oodles of commentary that basically tries to justify a literary form that should go gently into that good night. English
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Poetry, music and the Mormon Faith prove that if you ever find a constant, hold on (or let go) for dear life. The register metaphore is badly chosen rather like adopting French cuisine for a McD clientale. Violinists could build a family on the concept of register alone. But in poery, the sags are too much to bear.
And you left out the magic trump card ... semantics. That's syntax with an
And you left out the magic trump card ... semantics. That's syntax with an
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I agree. The register exercise, applied to poetry, seems contrived. I think the professor is trying to give you an opportunity to be clever.
Leisha
Leisha
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[nq:1]I agree. The register exercise, applied to poetry, seems contrived. I think the professor is trying to give you an opportunity to be clever. Leisha[/nq]
Or he's one of those professors who think coming up with new "ideas" that aren't necessary somehow makes them seem smarter. I had an art professor who once asked us to turn in a "portfolio concept" by the end of the quarter. When I asked
Or he's one of those professors who think coming up with new "ideas" that aren't necessary somehow makes them seem smarter. I had an art professor who once asked us to turn in a "portfolio concept" by the end of the quarter. When I asked
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[nq:2]I agree. The register exercise, applied to poetry, seems contrived.I think the professor is trying to give you an opportunity to beclever. Leisha[/nq]
[nq:1]Or he's one of those professors who think coming up with new "ideas" that aren't necessary somehow makes them seem ... that we should turnin a portfolio, he said yes. But the word "concept" made it seem so much hipper! dmh[/nq]
F
[nq:1]Or he's one of those professors who think coming up with new "ideas" that aren't necessary somehow makes them seem ... that we should turnin a portfolio, he said yes. But the word "concept" made it seem so much hipper! dmh[/nq]
F
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