Aaron D . Graham | Ohio Northern University (original) (raw)

Uploads

Videos by Aaron D . Graham

Eliot Criticism by Aaron D . Graham


C'è solo disgrazia e la morte iv!

TBA, 2020

This paper looks at the manner in which Eliot finds an expression of his philosophical precepts, ... more This paper looks at the manner in which Eliot finds an expression of his philosophical precepts, an embodiment of the philosophic theory of point-of-view, in the practice of poetic allusion exemplified by Dante. To begin, this examination will consider Eliot's philosophy of the point-of-view as expressed his dissertation and graduate essays. Then, we will move to consider how Eliot found the expression of these precepts in Dante’s poetry—particularly in the craft tactics, he employs to construct the allusions in The Devine Comedy. Next, we will consider, as a case study, the specific example of the Ulysses episode in “Canto 26,” for it’s use of the point-of-view to structure its allusive content. Finally, we will touch on how Eliot identified this method, relates it to his philosophic studies and incorporates it as a poetic craft practice in his early poetry.

Philosophy and Literature by Aaron D . Graham

UWYO HONORS THESES, 2011

It is prudent to begin my discussion of the poem itself by treating the deep seeded existential a... more It is prudent to begin my discussion of the poem itself by treating the deep seeded existential and pseudo- Bradlian undertones of The Waste Land’s epigraph. Perhaps it is best to say here both of the epigraphs, as I here contend that the Conrad bit from the facsimile manuscript and the Cumaean Sibyl excerpt from Petronius, which heads the finished poem, are inextricably linked. Both excerpts express the same anxiety over the absurdity of existence and the inescapable contradictions of reality. Moreover, when coupled with Eliot’s letters to Pound discussing their content, Eliot emphasizes the importance of the epigraph to the tone and theme of the rest of his poem.

In his afterword to the 2009 printing of Miss Lonleyhearts and The Day of the Locust, John Sanfor... more In his afterword to the 2009 printing of Miss Lonleyhearts and The Day of the Locust, John Sanford recounts that West "bragged that he could improve Dostoyevsky with a pair of shears". 1 While this observation may seem no more than a modernist hyperbole, it accurately describes West's literary project. Sanford's recollection provides new insight into how West viewed his stylistic approach. More significantly, it directs our critical attention to the style West sought to master and the genre in which it participates: narrative aphorism. Aphoristic narrative has many structural elements in common with the manifesto-as-genre, in which West had an interest, and utilized in previous authorial efforts. Despite its powerful immediacy and imperative tone, few Euro-American modernists employed Aphorism as a genre/style. In the age of Ulysses, The Waste Land, and Hugh Slewn Mayberly literature began subverting monologic discourse and in all genres the epic-the ad nauseam epic-became the vehicle for subversion.

While Verdi obviously taps into Shakespeare’s literary trappings and legacy to pull forth the cha... more While Verdi obviously taps into Shakespeare’s literary trappings and legacy to pull forth the character Falstaff for his opera of the same name, the libretto of this opera reveals a more interesting and far reaching understanding and reliance on the Shakespearian cannon to effectively execute its dramatic action on stage. From his appearance in Henry IV I, subsequently throughout the Henriod, and finally in The Merry Wives of Windsor Falstaff remains ones of the bard’s most beloved characters. Yet, this character simultaneously exists as beloved icon and a profound paradox of representation.

UWYO HONORS THESIS DATABASE, 2011

It is prudent to begin my discussion of the poem itself by treating the deep seeded existential a... more It is prudent to begin my discussion of the poem itself by treating the deep seeded existential and pseudo-Bradlian undertones of The Waste Land's epigraph. Perhaps it is best to say here both of the epigraphs, as I here contend that the Conrad bit from the facsimile manuscript and the Cumaean Sibyl excerpt from Petronius, which heads the finished poem, are inextricably linked. Both excerpts express the same anxiety over the absurdity of existence and the inescapable contradictions of reality. Moreover, when coupled with Eliot's letters to Pound discussing their content, Eliot emphasizes the importance of the epigraph to the tone and theme of the rest of his poem. The Waste Land: a Facsimile and Transcript reveals Eliot's original intention to use an epigram from Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. The passage is significant because it directly addresses the condition of existential nausea that I argue pervades the entirety of the journey in The Waste Land.

Critical Theory by Aaron D . Graham

Literary Journals by Aaron D . Graham

Papers by Aaron D . Graham

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism, 2013

Academia Letters, 2021

De Profundis presents a discursive genealogy of the experience the trials, conviction, and impris... more De Profundis presents a discursive genealogy of the experience the trials, conviction, and imprisonment of Oscar Wilde and gives a specific curation of his personal trauma and, writ large, provides insight into the nature of the silence that is characteristic of certain traumatic experiences. Wilde's observations in De Profundis do not flow from the excess of epicurean pleasure and commitment to performativity that characterize his artistic and critical programé or philosophy of life. In De Profundis, Wilde addresses the reader, in a knowingly decentered and intentionally marginalized first person that attempts to relay a level of wisdom acquired though through life experience, despite its having discovered where it was "hidden in the heart of pain" (13). During Wilde's per-prison life, the Dubliner very eagerly performed and even expressed pride in donning mantles such as dandy, poet, and playwright in both public and private circles. The care Wilde takes in his early works to present a speaker that is distinct from himself and cannot be ethically totalized or exists in a space to present and vivid to be reachable by or subject to universal codes of truth or morality. The authorial persona Wilde possessed is best characterized by the sort of impersonality, which came to be considered among the hallmarks of the modernist authorial position. However, this identity was never too far distanced from the exuberant, controlling, consciousness that generated it. In De Profundis, however, this distance and the persona itself evaporate. The sudden, jarring dissolution of Wilde's unavoidably performative "I"-which seemed to exist at the intersection of bacchanal, carnival, and hippodrome-is intimately tied up with a double silencing, a twice inflicted exile from the communicable, the relatable, what had always been to Wilde, the pleasurable kingdom of language. The transcript of the sentencing and verdict from Wilde's third trial presents this removal from the world of language and falling off into silence.

Creative Writing by Aaron D . Graham

Book Reviews by Aaron D . Graham

Books by Aaron D . Graham

Politics by Aaron D . Graham

Teaching Documents by Aaron D . Graham

Syllabus, 2019

The prosecuting attorney, in his plea to the jury, accused me of saying on a public platform at a... more The prosecuting attorney, in his plea to the jury, accused me of saying on a public platform at a public meeting, "To hell with the courts, we know what justice is." He told a great truth when he lied, for if he had searched the innermost recesses of my mind he could have found that thought, never expressed by me before, but which I express now, "To hell with your courts, I know what justice is," for I have sat in your court room day after day and have seen members of my class pass before this, the so-called bar of justice. I have seen you, Judge Sloane, and others of your kind, send them to prison because they dared to infringe upon the sacred rights of property. You have become blind and deaf to the rights of man to pursue life and happiness, and you have crushed those rights so that the sacred right of property shall be preserved. Then you tell me to respect the law. I do not. I did violate the law, as I will violate every one of your laws and still come before you and say "To hell with the courts." The prosecutor lied, but I will accept his lie as a truth and say again so that you, Judge Sloane, may not be mistaken as to my attitude, "To hell with your courts, I know what justice is." Jack Wobby

Videos by Aaron D . Graham


C'è solo disgrazia e la morte iv!

TBA, 2020

This paper looks at the manner in which Eliot finds an expression of his philosophical precepts, ... more This paper looks at the manner in which Eliot finds an expression of his philosophical precepts, an embodiment of the philosophic theory of point-of-view, in the practice of poetic allusion exemplified by Dante. To begin, this examination will consider Eliot's philosophy of the point-of-view as expressed his dissertation and graduate essays. Then, we will move to consider how Eliot found the expression of these precepts in Dante’s poetry—particularly in the craft tactics, he employs to construct the allusions in The Devine Comedy. Next, we will consider, as a case study, the specific example of the Ulysses episode in “Canto 26,” for it’s use of the point-of-view to structure its allusive content. Finally, we will touch on how Eliot identified this method, relates it to his philosophic studies and incorporates it as a poetic craft practice in his early poetry.

UWYO HONORS THESES, 2011

It is prudent to begin my discussion of the poem itself by treating the deep seeded existential a... more It is prudent to begin my discussion of the poem itself by treating the deep seeded existential and pseudo- Bradlian undertones of The Waste Land’s epigraph. Perhaps it is best to say here both of the epigraphs, as I here contend that the Conrad bit from the facsimile manuscript and the Cumaean Sibyl excerpt from Petronius, which heads the finished poem, are inextricably linked. Both excerpts express the same anxiety over the absurdity of existence and the inescapable contradictions of reality. Moreover, when coupled with Eliot’s letters to Pound discussing their content, Eliot emphasizes the importance of the epigraph to the tone and theme of the rest of his poem.

In his afterword to the 2009 printing of Miss Lonleyhearts and The Day of the Locust, John Sanfor... more In his afterword to the 2009 printing of Miss Lonleyhearts and The Day of the Locust, John Sanford recounts that West "bragged that he could improve Dostoyevsky with a pair of shears". 1 While this observation may seem no more than a modernist hyperbole, it accurately describes West's literary project. Sanford's recollection provides new insight into how West viewed his stylistic approach. More significantly, it directs our critical attention to the style West sought to master and the genre in which it participates: narrative aphorism. Aphoristic narrative has many structural elements in common with the manifesto-as-genre, in which West had an interest, and utilized in previous authorial efforts. Despite its powerful immediacy and imperative tone, few Euro-American modernists employed Aphorism as a genre/style. In the age of Ulysses, The Waste Land, and Hugh Slewn Mayberly literature began subverting monologic discourse and in all genres the epic-the ad nauseam epic-became the vehicle for subversion.

While Verdi obviously taps into Shakespeare’s literary trappings and legacy to pull forth the cha... more While Verdi obviously taps into Shakespeare’s literary trappings and legacy to pull forth the character Falstaff for his opera of the same name, the libretto of this opera reveals a more interesting and far reaching understanding and reliance on the Shakespearian cannon to effectively execute its dramatic action on stage. From his appearance in Henry IV I, subsequently throughout the Henriod, and finally in The Merry Wives of Windsor Falstaff remains ones of the bard’s most beloved characters. Yet, this character simultaneously exists as beloved icon and a profound paradox of representation.

UWYO HONORS THESIS DATABASE, 2011

It is prudent to begin my discussion of the poem itself by treating the deep seeded existential a... more It is prudent to begin my discussion of the poem itself by treating the deep seeded existential and pseudo-Bradlian undertones of The Waste Land's epigraph. Perhaps it is best to say here both of the epigraphs, as I here contend that the Conrad bit from the facsimile manuscript and the Cumaean Sibyl excerpt from Petronius, which heads the finished poem, are inextricably linked. Both excerpts express the same anxiety over the absurdity of existence and the inescapable contradictions of reality. Moreover, when coupled with Eliot's letters to Pound discussing their content, Eliot emphasizes the importance of the epigraph to the tone and theme of the rest of his poem. The Waste Land: a Facsimile and Transcript reveals Eliot's original intention to use an epigram from Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. The passage is significant because it directly addresses the condition of existential nausea that I argue pervades the entirety of the journey in The Waste Land.

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism, 2013

Academia Letters, 2021

De Profundis presents a discursive genealogy of the experience the trials, conviction, and impris... more De Profundis presents a discursive genealogy of the experience the trials, conviction, and imprisonment of Oscar Wilde and gives a specific curation of his personal trauma and, writ large, provides insight into the nature of the silence that is characteristic of certain traumatic experiences. Wilde's observations in De Profundis do not flow from the excess of epicurean pleasure and commitment to performativity that characterize his artistic and critical programé or philosophy of life. In De Profundis, Wilde addresses the reader, in a knowingly decentered and intentionally marginalized first person that attempts to relay a level of wisdom acquired though through life experience, despite its having discovered where it was "hidden in the heart of pain" (13). During Wilde's per-prison life, the Dubliner very eagerly performed and even expressed pride in donning mantles such as dandy, poet, and playwright in both public and private circles. The care Wilde takes in his early works to present a speaker that is distinct from himself and cannot be ethically totalized or exists in a space to present and vivid to be reachable by or subject to universal codes of truth or morality. The authorial persona Wilde possessed is best characterized by the sort of impersonality, which came to be considered among the hallmarks of the modernist authorial position. However, this identity was never too far distanced from the exuberant, controlling, consciousness that generated it. In De Profundis, however, this distance and the persona itself evaporate. The sudden, jarring dissolution of Wilde's unavoidably performative "I"-which seemed to exist at the intersection of bacchanal, carnival, and hippodrome-is intimately tied up with a double silencing, a twice inflicted exile from the communicable, the relatable, what had always been to Wilde, the pleasurable kingdom of language. The transcript of the sentencing and verdict from Wilde's third trial presents this removal from the world of language and falling off into silence.

Syllabus, 2019

The prosecuting attorney, in his plea to the jury, accused me of saying on a public platform at a... more The prosecuting attorney, in his plea to the jury, accused me of saying on a public platform at a public meeting, "To hell with the courts, we know what justice is." He told a great truth when he lied, for if he had searched the innermost recesses of my mind he could have found that thought, never expressed by me before, but which I express now, "To hell with your courts, I know what justice is," for I have sat in your court room day after day and have seen members of my class pass before this, the so-called bar of justice. I have seen you, Judge Sloane, and others of your kind, send them to prison because they dared to infringe upon the sacred rights of property. You have become blind and deaf to the rights of man to pursue life and happiness, and you have crushed those rights so that the sacred right of property shall be preserved. Then you tell me to respect the law. I do not. I did violate the law, as I will violate every one of your laws and still come before you and say "To hell with the courts." The prosecutor lied, but I will accept his lie as a truth and say again so that you, Judge Sloane, may not be mistaken as to my attitude, "To hell with your courts, I know what justice is." Jack Wobby