I have to come with questions to lead a discussion for Jonathan Culler's Literary Theory Chapter 5.

In Chapter Five, Poetics, the author discusses the attempt to account for literary effects, as being closely related to rhetoric, which is the study of the techniques of language that can be used to create effective writing. Aristotle made a sharper distinction between the two, defining "poetics" as an imitative art and "rhetoric" as the art of persuasion. The Renaissance softened the distinctions by asserting "rhetoric" as the art of eloquence and "poetics" as a superior form of rhetoric. In modern times, rhetoric has become the study of the structuring powers of discourse.

Like rhetoric, poetry, through its imagery, has persuasive powers. Further, it can serve as a method for venting strong emotion. A rhetorical figure uses an ordinary word in a different more powerful way. "My love is like a red, red rose" does not mean the object of affection is a flower; rather the person is rare and precious, fragile and beautiful. Derrida asserts that the interpretation of a metaphor sometimes relies on another metaphor. Others claim that literal language is figurative in nature. One forgets the figurative descriptions in such expressions as "grasping a hard problem." The metaphor is a widely used, effective figure that has become basic to the coupling of imagination and language. It is powerful and makes the reader stop and think: Wordsworth's line "the child is father to the man" is a perfect example.

Several tropes that are the most commonly used in language are: The trope metonymy, which is considered by some to be basic and fundamental to language: "The Crown" means the Queen; "Capital Hill" means the Congress. Synecdoche, a substitution of part for the whole ("wheels" means an auto) or whole for a part (the "law" meaning a police officer). Irony, when events unfold opposite of what seemed certain are

Beyond words and meaning, the overarching element in a work is its genre. The reader knows generally what to expect if he is reading a suspense story, a romance or a historic novel.

The Greeks divided works into three main classes: Poetic or lyric where the narrator speaks in first person; narrative where the narrator speaks but characters do as well; and, drama where the characters do all the talking. Contemporary theorists look upon epic poetry as artistry that has little impact on culture.

In poetry, it is crucial to make the distinction between the voice that speaks from the work and that of its author—the words emanate from a figurative voice. Lyric poetry has been described as a somewhat voyeuristic act by the reader—listening in on the very private thoughts of someone. Some poetry has no relevance to the real world and can only be appreciated for its artistry and imagery: "Tiger, tiger burning bright | In the forests of the night" has no connection to anything in the real world. There is no meaningful interpretation for this hyperbole.

Extravagant lyric—i.e., rhetorical figures such as apostrophe, personification and prosopopoeia—are used in poetry that aspires to the sublime. That is, lyric exceeds human comprehension, evokes passion and gives the reader a glimpse at other-worldliness. Lyric presents a story through verbal patterning, i.e, rhythmic words. For example, the rhythmic beginning of a child's nursery rhyme: "Pease porridge, hot | Pease porridge cold. . . ." The reader or child being read to does not need to, or may not want to, know what "pease porridge" is but finds the rhythm pleasing. Poems should be read in the whole—not as a fragment of something else that needs further interpretation.