The Swiftie and The Scholar

We’re back in our folklore era with mirrorball today! Uncle Jerry had some extra time with this one and doesn’t even know where to start the discussion. We get into the uses of mirrors in folklore, how this was made during the pandemic, and discuss the many facets of celebrity. Make sure you come back next week for another song discussing the nature of fame.Works Cited:The Philosophy of Reflection: Mirrors as Symbols Across CulturesCatoptromancyThrough the Looking Glass – Lewis Carroll – Aff LinkPerseus and MedusaA Discovery of Witches (2018)'Spirit mirror' used by 16th-century occultist John Dee came from the Aztec EmpireConceitAnaphoraInclusioOuroborosAlbertus Magnus and the Magic MirrorLoafing Him was Bread T-Shirt The House of Fame – Geoffrey ChaucerThe Temple of Fame – Alexander PopeThe Swiftie and The Scholar Grading MatrixFollow Us:Patreon⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠Threads⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠Uncle Jerry’s Instagram

Buckle up for a long one! We are flooring it through the fences today with But Daddy I Love Him from Taylor Swift’s 2024 album, The Tortured Poets Department. We discuss common movie tropes, conservative small towns, and the lyrics Angela wants to have tattooed from this song.Works Cited:Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell – Susanna Clarke – Aff LinkEast of Eden – John Steinbeck – Aff LinkRebel With a Cause (1955)The Notebook (2004)Inside Daisy Clover (1965)How The West Was Won (1962)AnaphoraEpiphora (or epistrophe)the Cambridge ladies who live in furnished souls – e.e. cummingsFootloose (1984)The Swiftie and The Scholar Grading MatrixFollow Us:Patreon⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠Threads⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠Uncle Jerry’s Instagram

We’re doing something a bit different today! Some conversations have popped up in various comment sections about why Uncle Jerry prefers specific types of poetry, and which lenses we use to dissect those poems, whether we’re talking about Charles Dickens, Emily Dickenson, or Taylor Swift. So Uncle Jerry put together a lecture explaining how and why he views certain poetic styles the way he does, and explains the different criticism styles and theories we use to understand a poem’s meaning and impact.Hope you enjoy! Please leave any questions in the comments that he can answer either here or in a later episode. Works Cited:Marxist Literary CriticismPost-Colonial CriticismReader-response theoryKey Theories of Wolfgang IserIs There a Text in This Class? – Stanley Fish – Aff LinkPsychological CriticismFeminist TheoryNew CriticismFelicia Dorothea HemansOn the Intentional FallacyHyperion – John KeatsAffective FallacyQueer TheoryDeconstructionSemioticsCritical Race TheoryNew HistoricismStephen Greenblatt and New HistoricismSketches by Boz – Charles Dickens – Aff LinkSonnetsShakespeare's Sonnets & Poems – William Shakespeare – Aff LinkLimerickHaikuBallad Meter (or Common Measure)VillanelleConcrete PoetryLife Studies – Robert Lowell – Aff Link The Collected Poems – Sylvia Plath – Aff LinkMy Papa’s Waltz – Theodore RoethkeThe Real Slim Shady – EminemCan Poetry Matter?: Essays on Poetry and American Culture Paperback – Dana Gioia – Aff LinkA Bit Much – Lyndsay Rush – Aff LinkLyndsay Rush – InstagramAmanda GormanThe Swiftie and The Scholar Grading MatrixFollow Us:Patreon⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠Threads⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠Uncle Jerry’s Instagram

We’ve made it to the third and final episode of our beloved Folklore Love Triangle! We hope you’ve enjoyed this little series as much as we have. This episode dives into all the poetry and themes of cardigan, and then Uncle Jerry wraps up all the themes and questions and answers found in these three songs.Works Cited:Rashomon EffectThe Rashomon Effect: When Ethnographers Disagree – Karl G. HeiderDisnarration and the Unmentioned in Fact and Fiction – Marina Lambrou – Aff LinkDisnarration and the performance of storytelling in Taylor Swift’s folklore and evermoreThe Blind Man and The ElephantSplit Narratives or Fragmented NarrativesEnjambment EpistropheAnaphoraThe Longest Time – Billy Joel Love Stinks – The J. Geils BandThe Swiftie and The Scholar Grading MatrixFollow Us:Patreon⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠Threads⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠Uncle Jerry’s Instagram

Friends, it's finally here! Over the next three episodes, we are diving into our beloved Folklore Love Triangle. First up is August. Uncle Jerry begins by talking about the narrative of these three songs and how they are woven together across the album, and then we dissect the poem of August. These three episodes will all build on each other, and we’ll round out the discussion in week 3. Works Cited:Rashomon EffectThe Rashomon Effect: When Ethnographers Disagree – Karl G. HeiderThe Blind Man and The ElephantDisnarration and the performance of storytelling in Taylor Swift’s folklore and evermoreSplit Narratives or Fragmented NarrativesDramatic IronyKenningThe Swiftie and The Scholar Grading MatrixFollow Us:Patreon⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠Uncle Jerry’s Instagram

We have a much-requested poem for you in this episode! Uncle Jerry and Angela tackle The Albatross from The Tortured Poets Department, but first, Uncle Jerry lets us all know how disappointed he is with us as a class lololol. Oops! Join us as we discuss relationships in the public eye, and the journey of repudiation and redemption the song takes us on.Works Cited:The Rime of the Ancient Mariner – Samuel Taylor ColeridgeAubrey & Maturin – Jack O’BrianBook of JonahCan’t Help Falling in Love – Elvis PresleySir Gawain and the Green KnightOde to the West Wind – Percy Bysshe ShelleyWild nights - Wild nights! – Emily DickinsonRomeo and Juliet – William ShakespeareAntigone – SophoclesAntony and Cleopatra – William ShakespeareThe Bad Seed – William March – Aff LinkThe Bad Seed (1956)Matthew 13The Hero with a Thousand Faces – Joseph Campbell – Aff LinkRichard TravernerBarchester Towers – Anthony Trollope – Aff LinkDoggerelL'Albatros – Charles BaudelaireFrame StoriesFollow Us:Patreon⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠

In this episode, we are taking a trip through the wildest winter with evermore from 2020. Uncle Jerry once again blows Angela’s mind with some folklore tropes relating to the dog days, and with some tidbits about Carl Jung’s theory on the Anima.If you’d like to see us listen to the song and enjoy the episode ad-free, you can now join us on Patreon!Works Cited:Cats (2019)Fats WallerApostrophe literary deviceGerard Manley HopkinsWilliam Somerset MaughamThe Burning of Lord Byron’s MemoirsEmily Dickinson – burned lettersJane Austen – burned lettersCharles Dickens BonfireThe Hero with a Thousand Faces – Joseph Campbell – Aff LinkCarl JungThe AnimaThe Raven – Edgar Allan PoeSonnet 29 – William ShakespeareEvermore lyric videoEvermore x Peter MashupFollow Us:Patreon⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠

Affairs and graves and Emily Dickinson, oh my! Today, we are slowly meandering through Taylor Swift’s 202 poem, ivy. This track from evermore is full of ambiguous symbols, double meanings, and beautiful poetic elements. Uncle Jerry walks us through his many interpretations, and Angela’s brain short circuits through it all.Compassion – Miller WilliamsThe Ways We Touch – Miller Williams – Aff linkDown Where The Spirit Meets the Bone – Lucinda WilliamsBecause I could not stop for Death – Emily DickinsonPorphyria’s Lover – Robert BrowningParadise Lost – John MiltonDickinson – Apple TVThe Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson – Aff LinkPoem #14 – Emily DickinsonEmily Dickinson – Cynthia Griffin Wolff – Aff LinkInstagram reel from @davidkristianpFollow Us:⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠Uncle Jerry’s Instagram

In this episode, we are covering the fourth song that Taylor Swift submitted to be considered for induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame—Blank Space. This 1989 track was one of her first pop hits, and Uncle Jerry finds the humorous and feminist lenses the poem was written through to be interesting to dissect. We’ll wrap the conversation up and talk about the songs as a whole collection next week.Works Cited:Tabula RasaDactylIambYellow Rose of TexasThe Ballad of Jed ClampettGilligan’s Island Theme SongBallad MeterThe Gallic WarsThe Twelve Caesars – Suetonius – Aff LinkThe Madwoman in the Attic – Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar – Aff LinkJane Eyre: Deluxe Painted Edition – Charlotte Bronte – Aff LinkThe Yellow WallpaperBlank Space Music VideoBlack Space Voice MemoFollow Us:⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠Uncle Jerry’s Instagram

Happy New Year! With New Year’s Day on our episode release day, it only felt right to cover this masterpiece from Reputation. Uncle Jerry unknowingly connects this song with many others, blowing Angela’s mind once again. We’re taking a short break after this episode, but we’ll see you back here in a few weeks with more poetry!Works Cited:Nine Princes in Amber – Roger Zelazny – Aff LinkWhen Harry Met Sally (1989)A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens – Aff LinkThe Sun Also Rises – Ernest Hemingway – Aff LinkA Valediction: Forbidding Mourning – John DonneFollow Us:⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠

This is one of our most requested episodes, and here it is, just in time for the holidays! Uncle Jerry picked up on something that Angela had never noticed in the poem, and they get into a bit of the Tay-lore about what inspired The Tortured Poets Department. Works Cited:e.e. cummingsThe Fates of Greek MythologyJust Kids – Patti Smith – Aff LinkBreaking Up Is Hard to Do – Neil SedakaWater Lilies – Claude MonetT.S. EliotMisery (1990)SynecdocheEpistropheFollow Us:⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠

We are letting Taylor Swift take us to the lakes today! These are the lyrics Angela used to convince Uncle Jerry to do this podcast, and his analysis does not disappoint. Come with us to learn all about Romanticism, The Lakes Poets, and how Taylor expertly weaves those two into this poem.Works Cited:A Brief Guide to RomanticismThe Lake PoetsLyrical Ballads – William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge – Aff LinkSense and Sensibility – Jane Austen – Aff LinkRomanticism vs. NeoclassicismThe Last of the Mohicans – 1992William WordsworthSamuel Taylor ColeridgeDorothy WordsworthDove CottageRobert SoutheyThomas De QuincyJohn KeatsPercy Bysshe ShelleyTales from Shakespeare – Charles Lamb and Mary LambJohn RuskinHarriet MartineauThe Lake Isle of Innisfree – William Butler YeatsSonnets from the Portuguese 20: Beloved, my Beloved, when I think – Elizabeth Barrett BrowningSonnets from the Portuguese – Elizabeth Barrett Browning – Full Book Aff LinkThe Passionate Shepherd to His Love – Christopher MarloweHartley Coleridge Poetic InversionAurora Leigh – Elizabeth Barrett BrowningFrankenstein – Mary Shelley – Aff LinkI Wandered Lonely as a Cloud – William WordsworthFollow Us:⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠