Description
Book SynopsisBlotted Lines rebuffs centuries of mythologization about the creative processthe idea that William Shakespeare never blotted out lineto argue that by studying how early modern writers faced the challenges of writing poetry, instructors today can empower their students'' approaches to critical writing. Adhaar Noor Desai offers deeply researched accounts of how poetic labor intersected with early modern rhetorical theory, material culture, and social networks.
Tracing the productive struggles of such writers as George Gascoigne, Philip Sidney, John Davies of Hereford, Lady Anne Southwell, and Shakespeare across their manuscripts, Desai identifies in their work instances of discomposition: frustration, hesitation, self-doubt, and insecurity. Inspired to unmake their poems so that they might remake them, these poets welcomed discomposition because it catalyzed ongoing thinking and learning. Blotted Lines brings literary scholarship into conversation wit
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. Style: George Gascoigne's "Patched Cote"
Reflection: The Academic Death Penalty
2. Invention: Philip Sidney's "Fear of Maybe"
Reflection: Released into Language
3. Revision: John Davies of Hereford's "Rough Hewings"
Reflection: Teaching without Judging
4. Editing: Anne Southwell's "Extent of Paper"
Reflection: Generous Thinking
5. Performance Anxiety: William Shakespeare's "Perfectness"
Reflection: Ars Amateuria
