Gabriel Civita IB Candidate 0353­___ Written Task 2: Part 4, Literature, Critical Response Question 5, Text and genre: How does the text conform to, or deviate from, the conventions of a particular genre or for what purpose? Text: E.E. Cummings’ “in Just­” Word Count: 901 Key Ideas in this critical response: ● Cummings’ experimentation with typography and syntax had the intent of breaking away from past literary practices, given the historical context behind his works. ● Cummings’ also deviates from the conventions of the poetic genre by making typography and syntax complement the content of his poems. ● Typography: the idea of spring as a season of contrasts is reflected in the poem’s changes in speed, which is created by a number of techniques. ● Syntax: the incorporation of neologisms with the line break technique in “in Just­” implies the idea of spring as a season of contrasts. Gabriel Civita IB Candidate 0353­___ The reader does not need to scrutinize “in Just­” to recognize E.E. Cummings wrote it. As soon as the reader’s eyes are set on the paper, Cummings’ signature look is identified: an almost complete lack of punctuation coupled with fragmented typography. But while it might be easy to identify his work visually, understanding why his poems look the way they look goes well beyond the surface of the paper. At a superficial level, Cummings’ alternative typography and syntax have the purpose of deviating from the convention, considering his unorthodox typography and syntax were ­ in itself ­ unusual at the time. But perhaps more interestingly, Cummings’ broke away from the genre in another, deeper level. His experimentation with typography and syntax, as seen in “in Just­”, complements the content of his works ­ a technique that was unique to him. Given the historical context, it is evident that Cummings’ experimentation with form had the intent of breaking away from past literary practices. Around the year 1910, there was a sudden surge in creativity in every area of the arts. With the fresh uprush of ideas came the desire to break away from the past, and American poets, in particular, were instrumental in achieving such aspiration. While World War One hampered the creation of new artwork, the ideas behind the Modernist movement, previously catalyzed by American poets, had already deeply embedded themselves in contemporary society. Some experimented with recently developed composition techniques, poetic imagery, but Cummings was one of the few who experimented with ‘the surface’ of a poem: form and syntax. He adopted ideas and techniques from avant­garde writers like Gertrude Stein and Ezra Pound ­ whose works are very much visual ­ creating his unique style. His concern with the visual aspect of poetry was also a reflection of his considerable interest in painting, a medium with a great emphasis in form. 1 Gabriel Civita IB Candidate 0353­___ E.E Cummings’ unusual style also helps aid the content of his works, which set him even further apart from other poets of his time. The fragmented, yet rhythmical structure of “in Just­”, for instance, reflects the idea of spring as a season of contrasts. The poem’s format is best described as one that resembles a lively dance marked by changes in speed. Cummings makes the reader slow down or speed up their reading through a number of techniques, the most noticeable one being the absence of end stops throughout the poem. By purposefully choosing to omit end stops, Cummings speeds up the poem’s reading while also emphasizing the non­stop vitality of spring. To produce the same result, Cummings merges two proper nouns in lines 6 and 14 to form unique, compound names: “and eddieandbill come (…) and bettyandisbel come dancing”. Not only does this speed up the reading, but Cummings implies that “eddie” and “bill” (and “betty” and “isbel”) are not two distinct characters, but a unified body. This unison is analogous to the feeling of ‘togetherness’ spring often brings to people. For the opposite effect, Cummings creates enjambment by abruptly ending a line with a hyphen, forcing the reader to slow down. This line break effect is exclusive to the first stanza of the poem: “in Just­ spring when the world is mud­ luscious the little lame balloonman” Note that the reader would have read the stanza at a quicker pace if the compound words had been composed in a single line, as seen here: “in Just­spring when the world is mud­luscious(…)”. By using this technique (which slows down the reading) in conjunction with the others (which speeds up the reading) mentioned above, Cummings draws a parallel. The 2 Gabriel Civita IB Candidate 0353­___ changes in speed are analogous to the season’s various polarities: life and death, sun and rain, among others. Additionally, Cummings complements content with form, deviating from the poetic genre, by incorporating neologisms with the line break technique. By doing so, he expresses the idea of contrast in spring. Splitting the neologism “mud­luscious” (connected by a hyphen) into two different lines leads to ambiguity in interpretation. Mud isn’t described as something that is luscious, yet Cummings merges these words to argue that mud can be an alluring material. After all, children literally shape mud to fit their desires. Already, the idea of contrast is intrinsic in the compound term considering the words “mud” and “luscious” usually don’t go together. Additionally, splitting the neologism into separate lines allows for different interpretations, implying contrast. The same could be argued for the word “Just­spring”. It is evident that Cummings coined the term “Just­spring” to emphasize spontaneity, assuming the word “just” is defined as “a moment or a short time ago”. Interestingly, the word “spring” can, too, emphasize spontaneity. “spring” functions as a double entendre. It can be interpreted as both season and action ­ noun and verb ­ in the first stanza, given the aid of the line break technique detailed above. In sum, while it might be tempting to presume Cummings’ unusual poetic conventions had only the intent of breaking away from literary tradition, this impression is only half true. Cummings’ visually atypical approach to poetry also served the useful purpose of ‘enhancing’ the content of his works. Not only does it ‘enhance’ but it ‘depends’. In a Cummings poem, what is being ​
said​
and what is being​
seen​
are one in the same thing. E.E. Cummings truly democratizes poems, allowing shape and content to have equal say. 3 Gabriel Civita IB Candidate 0353­___ Bibliography Cummings, E.E.. ​
100 Selected Poems. ​
New York: Grove Press, 1954 "E.E. Cummings." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2015. "A Brief Guide to Modernism." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2015. 4