literary criticism opinion piece

When asked my opinion of literary criticism, the first thought that entered my mind is " Psh, critics are lazy good-for-nothings, who can’t produce anything worth reading so they criticize!". This view of course, is supported by countless others. How easy it must be to sit back and analyze into obliteration another man's baby. His hard work. What exactly makes a critic the authority of any given subject?

But I digress. In the interest of satisfying my ever optimistic mind I’ve decided to look at the positive aspects of literary criticism. Perhaps people pointing out weaknesses in a work can provide the author with a goal. A way to strengthen his writing…

Although a good critic (oxymoron?) can probably find something wrong even in a masterpiece, when the author agrees with a critique it can only serve as a benefit to him. He will be able to recognize bad habits and areas that need strengthening. Putting aside the feeling of attack that comes with reading a critique of your work can help in sifting through and finding the gold for you to cash in through your next piece.

All in all-as with anything in life-I suggest to anyone who might be subject to critique on a regular basis, Take it with a grain of salt! Use it as a means of growth!

MLA citation

"The fact that all three of Hunter's books had grown out of magazine assignments meant that every magazine assignment was a potential book. Whether it would become the entire book or just a portion of it, was his frequent dilemma."(Cowan, 73)

mescalin footnote

* Mescalin is a hallucinogen drug. Its users often go on 'trips' during their time on the drug where they see and hear things that aren't necessarily there. This is an example experience of a person on mescalin: "The cherry tree says it feels happy.
The cherry tree is radiating happiness like I have never seen before. I go
over to it and it starts going on and on about different things. I realize
that like with animals, the trees are much more hyper and talkative when
they are younger. I listened to the tree and talked to it for a long time.
When I walked away I felt the residual happiness of the tree for a very long
time.
(note, the next year the tree produced record amount of cherries)
I went and looked over the fence off unto the horizon.
He saw a little pixy house. It disappeared and reappeared. And disappeared
again.
The pixie house appeared and blinked out.. the reappeared for a long time.
It was in a state of temporal flux or something. Not completely in any
plane. An existence between planes, or maybe between realities not so much as
planes." http://www.clearwhitelight.org/hatter/mescalinetrips.htm (Accessed September 24,2009)

Abstract

Abstract: Research determined that consuming urine cures acne. Fifty boys with moderate acne were observed for this study over a period of ninety days. All of the youths were given three daily meals of greasy foods to develop maximum facial acne ontogeny. Urine was heated to eighty degrees farenheit, and each young man drank thirty two ounces. Upon cessation of observation, urine proved to completely relieve all acne when consumed.

Cubism

Upon its inception around the 1907, Cubism did not immediately attract the following it deserved. An avant-garde artistic style born to fathers Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque it was an initialy neglected artform due to the impression inhereted by most artists of the time. Through its the introduction Cubism allowed artists to emphasize two-dimensionality in their art through geometric forms and fractured pieces of the subject being placed back together. It was commonly assumed during this period that art should be closely modeled to how things are viewed in nature. This assumption misrepresented the entire freedom art allows by allowing artists to create their pieces based on their own perspectives and perceptions of beauty. Picasso and Braque by understood the importance of maintaining the beauty of art through thought and newer and grander standards, created a new artistic style which sparked several other branches of Cubism into the artistic movement.