Problem
In this close reading exercise, you are invited to put the reflections on society and community offered by Virginia Woolf in To the Lighthouse into dialogue with society depicted in modernist and WWI poetry - An Irish Airman Foresees his Death by William Butler Yeats. "Society" and "community" are loosely defined here, and can vary in size from the world at large, to nation, to community, to family, and even to an individual representative of a particular type, class, or profession.
I. Select a short passage (no more than 10-15 lines) from To the Lighthouse that encapsulates a governing principle, perspective, or critique, or that showcases an especially puzzling or intriguing detail of the society Woolf portrays. Then select an excerpt (no more than 10-15 lines) from the poem. Think about why you are pairing your chosen texts and what you hope to show through that pairing.
II. Spend some time with both of passages, reading through them carefully and finding as many noteworthy elements as possible - content, style, etc.. What words or imagery strike you as important? How would you describe the structure of your chosen texts? For the poem, pay attention to form (if any), rhyme scheme (if any), stanza structure (if any), sections (if any), and so on. Remember that modernist poetry often works within and against a tradition at the same time. Read both texts aloud. Seriously, read them aloud. The sound can help you understand the sense. What stylistic features (e.g. alliteration, changes in rhythm, emphasis, or pace) do you notice? What figurative devices (e.g. similes, metaphors)? What rhetorical features? For example, is the passage constructing a logical argument? a philosophical or personal opinion? a memory? Is it asking rhetorical questions? What kind of persona(lity) emerges, and how is that effect achieved? Mark and/or write down all the elements you notice directly on the text - but only if you own the book! If you need or want to keep your book clean, make a photocopy or type up the passages. Feel free to color-code (different categories: sounds, keywords, imagery, repetition, rhyme etc.) and use any visual cues (circles, arrows) that work for you.
III. Now step back from those observations and write down some preliminary conclusions about what you have discovered. Which of the structural and stylistic elements you highlighted seem especially significant for your texts, and why? How do your observations about each text compare? Do you notice any overarching patterns? Is there a tentative thesis or argument that you can articulate about each text?
IV. Make a clean copy of the two texts (typed up or photocopied) and visually notate the major patterns and stylistic or structural elements you have noticed and designated (in step 3) as especially significant. This step is a more concentrated version of the brainstorming you did in step 2, and will provide a visual "map" for your close reading. You can use any visual cues you like (colors, circles, arrows) to mark and differentiate your chosen elements, but your "charting" of each passage should make sense to an outside reader.
V. Write one response paper (seven hundreds and fifty words) that draws on the details of your close readings that emerged in steps 2, 3, and 4, showing how the analytical mapping you have done influences your understanding of the two passages. Your response should present an argument with a thesis statement and use specific details from your chosen passages as evidence. Any structural and stylistic elements that support your thesis are fair game.