What it Means is What it is and What it is is a Structure of Words!

Displacement of Myth:

"In short, we can get a whole liberal education simply by picking up one conventional poem and following its archetypes as they stretch out into the rest of literature." Northrop Frye

Northrop Frye represents the ecstatic critic who looks outside himself when regarding literature as a hulicinagen. Basically that means that he sees the words and the work for what they are and not what the author intended them to be. (Intentional Fallacy) The meaning of a work is not detachable from the work of literature. As an ecstatic critic, the work becomes more than just something to analyse and criticize, it becomes something to enjoy that brings excitement to discovering what myth or fairytale or cliche is hidden within the pages of a novel or the lines of a poem. One of the best examples of displaced myth can be found in Finnegans Wake by James Joyce wherein nearly every fairytale or nursery rhyme can be found.

How do I Know What I Think til I See What I Say?

Everything is Literature:

"...all structures in words are partly rhetorical, and hence literary, and that the notion of a scientific or philosophical verbal structure free of rhetorical elements is an illusion." Northrop Frye

Sexson started the first day of class unlike any other I have had to date. There was no syllabus to ponder over, no foresight into the exams and tests to come, not boring droning over expectations for the semester. With this quote found on page 340 of Northrop Frye's "Anatomy of Criticism, the class was forced to jump start their lax summer minds and immerse themselves into the world of literary criticism. I personally sat stumped by the language of this ecstatic critic, unable to see the words having postponed bringing my text with me to class until I knew whether it would be necessary. At first, after Sexson explained the passage, it didn't seem plausible that anything can be literature from lab reports to classified ads to the Bozeman telephone book. However, after spending a few days really thinking about what Frye is saying, it makes sense for he says that the words themselves are the literature therefore any word found anywhere is indeed literature. I am definitely looking forward to the weeks to come in this class not only because of the free-wheeling structure inspired by the class, but also because of the insight afforded by Sexson and others in the class into the minds of critics like Northrop Frye.