F08250_ddarley

= "Venison" by Karen Chase (2000)   =  Danielle Darley Paul set the bags down, told how they had split the deer apart, the ease of peeling it simpler than skinning a fruit, how the buck lay on the worktable, how they sawed an anklebone off, the smell not rank. The sun slipped into night.

//Where are you// I wondered as I grubbed through cupboards for noodles at least. Then came venison new with blood, stray hair from the animal's fur. Excited, we cooked the meat.

Later, I dreamt against your human chest, you cloaked me in your large arms, then went for me the way you squander food sometimes. By then, I was eating limbs in my sleep, somewhere in the snow alone, survivor of a downed plane, picking at the freshly dead. Whistles of a far-off flute-legs, gristle, juice. I cracked an elbow against a rock, awoke. Throughout the night, we consumed and consumed.  ** Way 1: First Impressions **   After reading this poem, I was a little taken back because of the tone and the details within the poem. This is a narrative poem made up of three stanza all different in length. The first stanza is about a hunter skinning a dead but fresh buck. From line 5, which states "the smell not rank" leads me to believe that the buck was just killed because it wasn't making a horrible smell yet. The second stanza is talking about the hunter or cook looking through his cupboards for the right ingredients to cook the meat that he was excited for. However, in the third stanza, the hunter then rapped the fur around them to keep warm. In the very last line it states, "Throughout the night, we consumed and consumed." It raises the question that this isn't just about one person, it is about at least two. Also, why did the offer use consumed repeatly? I think it might have to do with two lovers' body and them consumed and consumed throughout the night. ** Way 2: Engaging with the Text **  The text and choice of words is very free verse, random, and no rhythm or rhyme in this poem. However the choice of words at first took me back, but after reading it a couple of times I have found that the words are quiet beautiful when you understand the true meaning. The line that throughs me off the most is line 7, "//Where are you,//" it is the only words that are in italic. Why? I think it might have to do with the person looking for their lover so they aren't lonely any more because it then goes on looking through cupboards for the right ingredients. The words that stand out the most to me are "grubbed, gristle, juice and consumed."

**  Way 3: A Point about Form and Its Relationship to Content **      The form and content in the poem please a big effect in setting the outline and mood for the poem. "Venison" by Karen Chase is a free verse poem. The poem has no rhyme or rhyme to the poem. Instead it is a three stanza poem with 6 lines in the first, five lines in the second, and nine lines in the third stanza. None of the lines rhyme with one another even in the different stanza. It also doesn't have any fixed metrical patterns.  This is also a narrative a poem that tells a story about herself. I know this because the author often uses "I" and "we" that are found in line 6,10, 11,14, etc.

** This is also a narrative poem that tells a story about herself. We know this because the author often uses "I, we, me, etc." It is much more than that though. Due to the vivid description of the animal the comparing it to making love it means it is a romance narrative. Romanticism poems are about love while having emphasis on the authors personal experiences.  ** Way 4: Unpacking an Instance of Figurative Language **
 * Way 3: Another Point about Form and Its Relationship to Content

Figurative language is when the author describes something by comparing it with something else. Any language that goes beyond the literal meaning of words in order to furnish new effects or new insights into an idea or subject. The most figurative language that I can see being used is imagery found throughout the poem as a whole and in line 13 where it states, "you cloaked me in your large arms, then." It is describing how she felt wrapped in his arms that night. It not only creates an image in your head but also makes you feel the warmth and love that she is feeling being with him. The other figuratibve language that caught me eye is the metaphors that are used within the poem.

 ** Way 4: Unpacking Another Instance of Figurative Language **

The other figerative language is metaphor which I found in line 13-14 which states, "then went for me the way you squander food sometimes." Here Karen Chase is using the metaphor of Paul "squandering" or loose food if he doesn't go after it. This is a metaphor for Paul going after her because he is afraid if he doesn't he is going to loose her.   **Way 4: Unpacking Another Instance of Figurative Language**  Another metaphor that I found to be the most interesting of all is lines 15-18 which state, "By then, I was eating limbs in my sleep, somewhere in the snow alone, survivor of a downed plane picing at the freshly dead. Whistles of a far off flute legs, gristle, juice." The writer is having a dream and describing her devouering the deer. This is a metaphor for making love to Paul. She wants to make love to him so bad that she wants to devouer him like she devowered the deer. Without him she feels alone and lost, she needs him to survive. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The first metaphor in the poem is found in line 2-3 which is saying how it is like skinning a fruit and this is a metahpor for skinning the deer. They are saying that it is easier. The last metaphor in the poem is line 20 which states, "Throughout the night, we consumed and consumed." The writer is using the word "consumed" as a metaphor for them making love all night. <span style="font-size: 90%; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> ** Way 5: Analysing the Setting ** <span style="font-size: 90%; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">  The setting is a powerful part of the piece of literature that most over look. The setting can have a big impact on the readers response to the work. The setting could indicate the genre, theme, or set the tone for the work. In the “Venison” by Karen Chase The first stanza starts off in a shop or out side with a work bench. Then it moves to her in the kitchen looking through the cupboards. This is a conflict between the two because the women calls out more than just things to go with the meet. Then it moves into the bedroom with her having warm in his arms and they make love all night and it reminds her of eating the buck and how excited that made her      <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">  <span style="font-size: 90%; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> ** <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">  Way 6: Identigying and Analyzing Point of View     **  <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
 * Way 4: Unpacking Another Instance of Figurative Language **

This poem is in first person we can tell this because the author is being narrative to what is happing to herself. She is using “I, we, me, etc." and describing how she dreamt which we wouldn’t be able to know this insight to her dreams if it was in any other point of view. In stanza three she talks about her feelings towards the deer and this man Paul that she is with.         <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">         ** <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">   Way 7:     ** <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">      ** Analyzing Cmplexity, Ambiguity, & Difficulty **

<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">    Ambiguity is two or more interpretations of a word, line, phrase, stanza, or the over all poem. In this poem you will find most ambiguity in stanza 3. The dream that she is having could either be interpret as her just having a dream about devourig a deer or you could interpret it as being a discription of her and Paul making love. That also goes with the whole poem. You could just see it as Paul came home and they skinned and ate the deer then later that night she had a horrible dream about her trying to survive and eatting the deer. Another opinion is that when Paul comes home and skins that deer the narrator sees him as this big "manly" man that she loves. She trys to be a good wife and helps him hurry and cook the food and eat it. Then that night she laid in his warm arms and made love all night. She needed him to survive she didn't want to be alone. **<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">  Way 8:    **<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">    **Considering Canonicity** I do not think that this poem has canonicity for many reasons: First of all, it needs to relate to the different types of readers and make them want to read it. For this poem I don’t think it does because most people don’t like to compare sex to eating a deer. Even though there is an animal like features in all of us when it comes to sex. Most literature works that are canon offers, wisdom, entertainment, history, morals, etc. I would not consider this to be a must read for educational or entertainment. It is a very different and interesting poem, I have never read anything quite like it. <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: #ff3399; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> ** Way 9:  **  <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">    **Biographical Context** Karen Chase lives in the Berkshire mountains in Massachuetts and is an out doors person. I think this is where she got her imagery for this poem because it has a lot to with the outdoors and hunting. Chase taught patients at a large psychiatric hospital outside of New York City and because of this she is not afraid to write about anything especially romance. Chase struggled with polio as a child and I think that is where she gets from writing about one extreme to the next. She writes about love in a way no one else would or is afraid to. The poem also states how the narrator doesn't want to be alone and needs Paul to survive. I think that is how Chase felt much of her life. She is very detailed in her work. <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: red; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> ** Way 10:  **  <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">    **Historical and Cultural Contexts**

Historical and cultural contexts was very hard to find on this poem because it was written in the year 2000 and in the United States. However in the United States culture people started to be less conservative about the topic of "sex." She did get appraised for the imagery she used in this poem and the details she put into it like devouring the deer. I think she did this because she also wanted to emphasize that finally people were letting themselves be open about this topic. In a way letting the "beast" out that is inside all of us. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> **Way 11: Theoretical Application**

One theoretical application I found in this poem is psychological criticism. Psychological criticism is a way that you look at the poem that only draws on psychological theories. To look at the poem which should try to understand the characters' unconscious thoughts, their impulses, desires, feelings, emotions, behavior etc. Someone who is looking at it from a psychological criticism stand point might ask: how is the woman and paul feeling? Why is she relating sex to eating the deer? Why is she looking through the cupboarded and yelling out where are you? By looking at the poem from a psychological stand point I think the poem has a lot to do with her feelings towards Paul and how she doesn't want to be alone. That is why in line 7, she yells out "Where are you," then in her dream she is trying to survive and doesn't want to be alone. She loves Paul so much and doesn't want to loose him. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> **Way 12: Another Theoretical Application**

However by looking at the poem from a feminist criticism stand point will give you a new meaning to the poem. Feminist criticism is looking at how the male is treated and how the female is treated in the poem. In this poem Paul goes out hunting while the woman stays home and waits for him just like the typical stereo type. Then he brings the deer home and skins it and then she is scrambling through the cupboards trying to look for a way to prepare it. In stanza 3 is where it gets really interesting because the poem never desribes how Paul feels. It states that she needs Paul around or she won't survive just because she is a women. <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: green; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> ** My over all interpretation of the poem is that due to this poem has a lot with how she feels towards Paul. In the first stanza it talks about how Paul came home and she is so happy that her "manly" man brought her home a deer. She however didn't feel like she was prepared in stanza two so she went looking through the cupboards. Unconsciously though she is thinking to herself how much she missed him because she stated "Where are you" like she wanted him to stay. In stanza three is where everything comes together. She is wrapped in his arms where she feels safe and not alone. Then he went for her as if he didn't go after her that second he was going to loose her and same for her. She unleashed the beast inside of her to survive and we know this by the way she compared them making love to her dream where she had to devour a deer to stay alive. Then the last line states again, "Throughout the night, we consumed and consumed." They made love all night and they knew that inorder to survive they need each other. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">**Work cited:** Brown, James S., and Scott Yarbrough. A Practical Introduction to Literary Study. New Jersey: Pearson Education, 2005 <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Chase, Karen. __Karen Chase__. 2008. 1 Oct. 2008 http://karenchase.com/about.htm. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> __Karen Chase__. The Bookloft. 1 Oct. 2008 <http://www.thebookloft.com/NASApp/store/ <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> IndexJsp;jsessionid=abcP7NvKjrCmy4g-5ku1r?s=storeinfo&page=313601>. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> __ Land ____ of ____ Stone ____ Breaking Silence through Poetry. __ 1 Oct 2008. <[|http://www2.wsupress]. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Wayne.edu/book.php?id=40/chaseb.html>
 * Way 13: Unifying Interpretation

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