English 456: C20 Criticism and Theory Questions on Freud's "Creative Writers..." (1908) Al Drake | Cyber Cafe | Thurs. 4-6 1. What, according to Freud on page 712, is the opposite of play for the child? How is the creative writer similar to the child at play? 2. What really happens, according to Freud on page 713, when a growing child supposedly gives up playing? How do adults' relationship to their wishes and fantasies differ from children's? 3. What, as Freud explains on 713, motivates an adult's fantasizing? What are the two "main groups" of that motivating force? 4. What, according to Freud on 714, is the relation of a fantasy to time--to past, present, and future? How are fantasies like dreams, and why is the meaning of dreams usually obscure? 5. Who does Freud say on page 714 is the real hero of most popular romances, novels, and short stories? Does he claim that the same holds true for more sophisticated works? 6. What is Freud's surmise on 715 about the relationship between creative work and an author's past and present experience? How, according to Freud on 716, does an author succeed in conveying his or her own fantasies without repelling readers? 7. What, according to Freud on 716, is the relationship between "aesthetic pleasure" and our "actual enjoyment of an imaginative work"? What good does reading do us, in Freud's view? Other Questions . . . A. How does the Freudian notion of literature affect answers to the perennial question about the knowledge or truth literature might give? If Freud is correct, what can we learn from literature? B. Is Freud's theory of literature mimetic or expressive? Explain. C. Does Freud's theory trivialize literature? *The reading selection is from Adams, Hazard. Critical Theory Since Plato. Rev. ed. New York: Harcourt, 1992. 712-16.
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