Critiquing a Critique

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Zombies: A Summary and Reflection

After having read the literary critique, I feel affirmation in the fact that the zombie craze in the media continues to do nothing for me. I see so much evidence that zombies have caught on, and American viewers are paying attention. It is interesting how influxes of zombie movies have correlated with war time, and I think patterns like this make for zombies being a valid subject to research, report, and critique. But I still question, am I the only one who doesn’t care?

Jerrold Hogle presents readers with a full report on zombies and their history, but also breathes life into the reasons why zombies have captured the attention of Americans in the last seventy years. They’re the newest monster; they transitioned to film straight from folklore, skipping major literature. I think that one of the reasons that Americans devour zombie movies the way they do is because they wish to find more answers to their questions. There doesn’t seem to be a “bible” for zombie facts, or at least if there is, it’s a modern publication. All these films create a hodgepodge of ideas for how zombies look, how they act, and what a zombie apocalypse would look like.

Another reason why zombies have become such an interesting monster to Americans is because of the post 9/11 paranoia. As Hogle points out, movies as of late have frequently shown scenes of empty, deserted cities: the modern world amounting to nothing. September 11^th instilled a fear in Americans- a fear of destructive powers out of their control. I think zombies probably are the ultimate representation of humans turning on humans and wreaking destruction.

Though it makes sense that Americans are interested, I just don’t feel that same level of intrigue. It makes me want to find out how many others out there look at this fad (or has it become a trend?) to be boring, annoying, silly. Are we outnumbered, or are there just as many people feeling disinterested as there are people feeling intrigued? I wonder how to find that out.

-I do sort of enjoy the zombie movies from the 70's just because I enjoy viewing popculture and movie technology from the time. Here's a link to the 1978 Dawn of The Dead trailer.

Annotated Bibliography

Breslin, James E. "Whitman and the Early Development of William Carlos Williams." PMLA. 82.7 (1967): 613-621. Print.

   In this article are many details about Williams’ life which influenced him as a poet. This article is where I am pulling most of my biographical information from for my paper, because Breslin has already done the work of choosing events that pertain to Williams’ poetry. The article is also describes how Williams was heavily influenced by the poetry of Walt Whitman among other poets, and the idea that in his poetry he was attempting to keep a similar spirit alive.

Myers, Neil. "Sentimentalism in the Early Poetry of William Carlos Williams." American Literature. 37.4 (1996): 458-270. Print.

`  This piece is almost in defense of William Carlos William’s style- the sentimentalism which does sometimes overwhelm his poetry. The defense is something I can relate to and support, and I will write about this in my paper. Myer’s references past negative criticism of Williams with grace, but describes how this style worked for him and the world of poetry. Included are prime examples of sentimental poems. I believe this article will be very helpful with supporting my thesis.

Pinsky, Robert. Ed. Selected Poems/ William Carlos Williams. New York: Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., 2004. xv-xxviii. Print.

The pages I used for research in this book make up the Introduction. Editor Robert Pinsky effectively describes the personality of William Carlos Williams, using support from William’s life and his poetry. Pinsky points out the quirky, smart, and spunky poet that was Williams during his time. This source is a concise article that I will refer to in my paper. When I am working on describing how Williams’ personality directly influenced his poetry it will help me a lot.  It also details a few different themes and tones within Williams’ poetry, which will add content and complexity to my paper.