Buckets' Literary Analysis of the Book of Mormon: Family Matters

There are multiples ways to examine Alma 56, or what Hardy defines as the first and second portion of Helaman's Letters to Moroni. If I could do this over again, I would highlight how the intent of Helaman's letter is transfored from Letter to historical document to scripture, but I decided to analyze Helaman's recollection of "the affairs of the people in that quarter of the land." While Helaman gives an honest, Moroni (and consequently us) learn much more about his "sons".


While many members the Church boast large families, only Helaman had two thousand children, and he was never lucky enough to get a daughter. Though not directly related, Helaman connects his bloodline and theirs together, going back to "our father Lehi." He then makes two different independent validations for calling them sons, first because of their "worthiness" and later on because of their youth. He also centers their purpose for battling around their doubtless maternal obeisance--they were mama's boys. Helaman successfully brings his "family" into battle.

Additionally, while the battle of Antiparah happens, the fallen are less remembered then the remaining. While the highest in command and others die, Helaman keeps the narrative subjective to his own army. It makes sense, but it takes away from the objective account that Mormon suggests Moroni was given when he introduces the letter. Not that Helaman's spin takes away from his accounting, but it does make a history an epic.

Ana's Literary Analysis of the Book of Mormon

For my literary analysis, I decided to focus on 2 Nephi 9. I paid particular attention to the perspective, as it's mostly Jacob bearing his testimony and prophesying (but there are brief moments where the POV shifts to God). I also noticed how different characters (such as Lucifer) were introduced, or different parts of the Plan, as it plays a critical role in 2 Nephi 9. I was taking note of major themes as I annotated as well: remembrance, ordinances/covenants, repentance, avoiding sin, perfection, etc. If I were to do this exercise again, I think I would focus more on the symbolism, and how it is being used in the chapter.

The Book of Mormon as a Literary Text

   I have never pondered on the literary value of the Book of Mormon before, but in reading the introduction of Hardy's edition of the book I realized there are a lot of beautiful literally elements there. One of my favorite examples of this is "The Psalm of Nephi" in chapter 4 of second Nephi. I love it because it captures feelings that we all struggle with in such a beautiful and poetic way. Had that chapter not been written in that way (and written well), I don't think it would have held as much significance for me.
   I think Hardy's version of the text was really beneficial in the way it grouped concepts together. I really loved how the verses about Lehi's vision in chapter 1 are all put into one paragraph. It helps the reader focus on it as its own entity. I also really liked the headers as well. In chapter 2 when it has one called "Laman and Lemuel's Murmurings" and "Nephi's Faithfulness and Blessing" those really help demonstrate the contrast in that chapter that I feel like the writer is trying to convey. One thing I didn't like though is Hardy's formatting the Lord's response to Nephi in a poem at the end of chapter 2. It just doesn't seem to read like a poem to me. Maybe I am just missing something. If anyone has any thoughts on that that might help me to see why he did that, I would appreciate it!

What Difference does Formatting make when Reading the Book of Mormon?

         Strangely, before starting the process of analyzing one of the most reread chapters in the Book of Mormon in Latter-day Saint culture, I didn’t believe that a simple change in format could change the way I read 1 Nephi 1 and 2, but it does. Whether that is due impart to a familiarity of reading many books in a similar format, it’s unclear, but what I do know is that this format dramatically changed how I read certain phrases. This exercise made me reexamine how I subconsciously read the Book of Mormon in scriptural format, so I had to go reevaluate how I read it. For some reason, I tend to read The Book of Mormon in an uninterrupted motion, where I’m almost oblivious to punctuation. It feels like a constant flow of information from a stream, non-permitting of a breath of fresh air until I reach the next stanza.
          
          While reading the “A Reader’s Edition” of the Book of Mormon by Grant Hardy, I found that the commas and punctuation made me take more breaks throughout the sentence. This drastically changed the impact the sentences had on me, though the overall literary meaning of sentence was the same. At one point, I returned to the scriptural version to see if the commas were there. Sure enough, nothing had changed: “And he left his house, and the land of his inheritance, and his gold, and his silver, and his precious things, and tool nothing with him, save it were his family, and provisions and tents, and departed into the wilderness.” (1 Nephi 2:4). From a literary standpoint, this sentence is not one that I would imagine seeing published in a professional piece of literature. The mid-branching format combine with the polysyndeton – and.. and… – makes it feel extremely choppy and long. There isn’t really a need for that many conjunctions, but they are there. However, the commas make each section feel distinguish from one another, inviting the reader to pause, and see just how much Lehi had to give up. It’s fascinating because again, it enhances the meaning, where as if I were reading this in scriptural format, I may have just completely skipped over this sentence. 

Another powerful tool that Hardy uses to format the paragraphs is a poetic like speech. The first example I noticed of this is when Lehi talks about “Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord Almighty…” and he continues. (Hardy 6) To me, because Lehi’s words are structured in a poetic format the words have a greater impact on the reader as an audience. For example, it made me want to incline my ear and listen to what Lehi was saying. No longer did it feel like he was speaking to the Lord alone, but to an unseen audience, just as one of the actors in Shakespearean drama might speak a soliloquy, but so many unseen ears are listening. Again, this may be occurring due to the fact that I have a past familiarity with poetry written in this way, but then again, not all the block quotes Hardy used impacted me in this way.