Rhetoric among the IlliteratesSay no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Gregerson's article "Rhetorical Contract in the Lyric Poem" sets out the purpose of lyric poetry. It posits that there is a relationship between reader and speaker that extends beyond utilitarian or superficial goals, asserting that a contract is formed between these two parties. Throughout the article, Gregerson applies the notions of subtext and hidden meaning to various lyric poems. She states that a lyric poem tells a story, but in a roundabout way. Instead of perfectly describing a plot, the reader must delve into the space between words and decipher the true meaning of the poem. In particular, Gregerson's reflections on Meredith's The Illiterate add complexity to his superficial reading. She claims that Meredith constructs a conception of self in a way that uses the actual words of the poem rather than simply the basic meanings they possess. Choices of syntax, grammar, and content provide clues to the poem's deeper personality. The reader must carefully examine Meredith's syntax and question her every word choice and punctuation. The reader attempts to enter Meredith's thought process, creating a unique and close bond between the poet and the reader. As small details gain importance, the meaning of the poem transforms. One important thing to note is that this poem is a conceit. The speaker is not an illiterate man, but rather uses this simile to describe his state of mind. His inability to understand is not about words but rather about love. He uses the image of the illiterate man to express his inexperience with this situation regarding the "goodness" of the nameless "you". In the poem, Meredith states that just because there is unfamiliar writing on the letter does not mean the man cannot read it. Rather, the experience of receiving a letter itself is unfamiliar ("And you might think it was because the hand/Wasn't familiar but, in truth, the man/N' never received a letter from anyone"). This corresponds to the speaker's experience in the poem. He's not distraught because he's starting a relationship with a new person but has actually never had a relationship at all, or at least no such relationship. This raises the question of what type of relationship this is. East. It describes a state of virginity, the act of embarking on a new experience without knowing what to expect. Gregerson moves the reader away from the idea of ​​heteronormative, youthful virginity toward the concept of virginity in homoerotic encounters. She asserts that “the black girl may also be a delicate allusion to Shakespeare's black lady, and therefore a coded key to the primary passion – the homoerotic passion – in which the poem is grounded” (Gregerson 175). These sonnets contain explicit professions of homoerotic love. Seen in this light, the speaker hopes that the man who has scorned her homoerotic desire will change his mind and become the object of her affection. This is a point that Gregerson fails to prove absolutely, but which nevertheless draws attention to an alternative interpretation of the poem: that of homoerotic desire. As a homosexual himself, Meredith may have placed the speaker in a position of unrequited homosexual love. The reader has expended energy to discover where the poet is coming from, and at this point the poet turns to the reader and conveys a message. The self in the poem becomes a vehicle of the message, an instrument of the poet to tell atruth or emotion to the audience. One of the characteristics of Gregerson's lyric poetry is the symbiosis between love and an obstacle to this love. She asserts that sonnets are necessarily dichotomous in their content, because they are written about this paradoxical existence. She states: “Obstacles were as central to the sonnet as love was. The obstacle produced the lyrical voice. Without hindrance, the lover would have no need to resort to poetry” (Gregerson 167). If the man had been literate or if the love had been mutual, there would have been no need for the poem. These obstacles constitute a reason for writing the poem in the first place and create tensions within its content. Yet the meaning of the poem extends beyond the practicality of the physical poem or the meaning of its words. One of the most intriguing aspects of this poem is the rhyme scheme. It is incredibly simple, either with words in a monosyllabic direct rhyme with the same word (means, means), or with a polysyllabic rhyme with the same ending (anyone, someone). As Gregerson points out, this almost juvenile way of rhyming seems to suggest a lack of creativity on the poet's part. (Gregerson 176) Since Meredith, as the winner of major poetry prizes, including the Pulitzer, is a poet with little lack of talent or vocabulary, the reader concludes that Meredith intentionally simplifies his rhyme scheme to describe poor mastery of the language used by the illiterate man. . These words are the kinds of things that children first encounter when learning to read, but even these are unintelligible to the illiterate man. He has no baseline to go from, nor any way of finding out the contents of the letter other than asking someone. Another reason for Meredith's method is that the repetition of rhymes adds to the other repetitive aspects of the poem. The illiterate turns the letter over in his hands, without opening it or putting it down or taking it out of his mind. The whole poem has a static feel. We don't see the man receive the letter, the initial reaction to it, or how he decides to handle it. Is he consulting someone else or trying to figure it out on his own? The reader is unaware of this information and only sees the man's circuitous thoughts, all the possibilities that could be contained in the letter. In this way, the predictable rhyme of this work reinforces this idea of ​​knowing what comes next. The illiterate man runs through the same possibilities over and over in his mind, and similarly the rhyme is very predictable and lacks any new development. The only way for the illiterate man to find out what the letter contains is to ask someone. It can be embarrassing to admit that he can't read, let alone invite someone else into his private life. He is vulnerable in his ignorance of the contents of the letter. If it is indeed a letter containing bad news from his parents, or a declaration of love from the black girl, he will undoubtedly have a very strong and personal reaction. Inviting someone else to share this with him by reading the letter (and thus knowing the information before even him) is an uncomfortable feeling. Likewise, asking for relationship advice also puts the speaker in this vulnerable position. Being in a foreign situation, the only way to proceed is to seek advice from someone who has experience. Again, this is a very personal sphere into which it is difficult to invite anyone else. The poem reads slowly, conveying to the reader a sense of anticipation. Meredith's frequent use of commas in the poem delays the already slow reading of the poem. Commas add a sense of disjointedness. THEreader must stop frequently and approach the poem hesitantly. This fits the speaker's story. Both the illiterate and the speaker himself embody a hesitation which is the mark of their inexperience. The poem is not about recklessly abandoning one's inhibitions and diving into the unknown. Instead, he has a conservative and conservative nature. The illiterate is not yet ready to narrow down the myriad possibilities the letter might contain and discover any with certainty. He “turns a letter over in his hand” and wonders what’s inside. Whether the news is good or bad, he “preserves possibility” (Gregerson 176). The poem has a slightly pessimistic side, because if the letter contains good news, he would surely want to know its contents immediately. Yet if it is bad news, he will immediately wish he were ignorant again. Out of fear, he chooses to stay in the dark. He cannot bear to shake off the illusion that he may have won a large inheritance or that the "black girl" may have changed her mind and decided to be his lover. The possibility that his parents have died and that this is a letter warning him of this fact makes him reluctant to give up his current state of oblivion. In the same way, the speaker cannot yet truly engage in the relationship with the “you”. in the poem. The new relationship could be a source of wonderful and loving joy. He may have found his partner with whom he will spend the rest of his life. However, he can also invest himself in this relationship only to have his heart broken. Again, from a pessimistic point of view, it is better to be in the initial phase of attraction than to develop and then lose a deep connection with someone, even if this choice also means rejecting the potential of 'a great relationship. For the speaker, the seduction of possibility is more glamorous than the real drama of romance. Despite the general lack of progress in the poem, there is certainly a gap between the first and second stanzas. In the first case, there is a feeling of shame and embarrassment at not being able to understand what the letter says. Yet in the second stanza, it is this very ignorance that allows man to feel the bittersweetness of possibility. He both wants to know what the letter says but is also afraid of what it might contain. On the speaker's side, the first contains embarrassment in the face of his inexperience and a feeling of being overwhelmed. In the second stanza, this very innocence allows him to maintain the illusion of what the encounter will be like. The last two lines of the poem pose an impossible question: “What would you call his feeling for words/That keep him rich, orphaned, and loved?” » Can we describe this feeling as hope? The degree of anxiety present in anticipation of bad news complicates this notion. This volatile and fleeting state is difficult to put into words, which is perhaps why Meredith chooses to use the illiterate man's conceit in the first place, rather than simply attempting to describe the condition upfront of the speaker. In these last two lines, Meredith highlights the age-old question of whether or not ignorance is bliss. Is it better to be in a state of hope, of anticipation of something? The answer depends on the outcome. If the end state is happiness, then it would certainly be better to achieve it. Yet if there is only disappointment as the end result, the state of the unknown may be preferable. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay This brings us back to Gregerson’s article. . What exactly does the rhetoric of the Illiterates accomplish? Gregerson postulates that lyric poetry.