Much
of modern writing is carefully designed to manipulate our minds and condition
us to the writer’s way of thinking.
·
Ideological State
Apparatus.
·
Performs the Culture
works.
·
Hegemonic.
·
Anderson’s theory on
Third World literature
A
critical mind helps to develop a healthy critical awareness of the written
word.
Writers
through use of language create characters and describe events and so on which
manipulate our responses; however, because their effects tend to be large scale
effects, we are not immediately aware of them.
If
a novel/short story is successful we are so absorbed in the action that we only
notice techniques used by the writer at the second or third reading.
Critical
appraisal of prose – novels and short stories – requires the close and detailed
analysis of a piece of writing in order to determine how the writer obtains
certain effects.
These
effects include:
·
The selection of
language
·
The arrangement and
structuring of ideas in order to achieve his purpose most effectively.
When
you are faced with a prose passage for appraisal, read the passage carefully
twice, aiming to comprehend fully the meaning of what is said.
Analysing a
short story:
Short stories generally
produce a single focussed emotional and intellectual response in the reader.
Often reveals character
through significant moments or epiphanies rather than through the
accretion/piling up of many incidents or detailed descriptions
In contrast novels
usually depict conflicts among many characters developed through a variety of
episodes stimulating a complex of responses in the reader.
There
are three basic characteristics all short stories share:
·
Brevity
·
Conscience (sense) – ss
usually has a single plot, a single setting, a limited number of characters. It
focuses only on one incident – one moment in life/ one slice of life. It
usually covers a short period of time in the story.
·
One impression – deals
with one issue or theme
What makes a
short story compelling and memorable?
A
critical analysis of a short story allows a reader to take a critical and
objective look at how a writer uses the elements of literature to create a
unique work of art. A close analysis of a piece of literature gives one insight
into how the author crafted the work and adds to your understanding of it.
Analysing
elements of a short stories:
·
Plot – the sequence of events in a story
– a series of related incidents. Most plots deal with a problem and develop
around a conflict, a struggle between opposing forces. The plot is the
underlying structure of a story. Most plots develop in five stages:
o Basic
situation/exposition – introduces the main characters
(protagonists/antagonists) and other characters, the setting, relationships of
the main characters, and the story’s major conflict – introduces and develops
the problem the main character is facing
§ Setting
– the time and place of a story/play. It may be presented immediately through
descriptive details or it may be revealed gradually. The setting contributes
greatly to the story’s emotional effect. Two of the main functions of setting
are to reveal character and to suggest a theme
§ Conflict
– a struggle or clash between opposing characters, forces or emotions.
·
External – a character
struggles against some outside force: another character, society as a whole, or
some natural force
·
Internal – a struggle
between two needs, desires, emotions within a single character.
o Rising
action – develops the plot and the problem towards the climax; this heightens
anticipation of the reader. Complications heighten the conflict and suspense
o Climax/turning
point – the point of greatest emotional intensity or suspense of the plot when
the outcome of the conflict becomes known. Following the climax, the story is
resolved. In contrast, when something
trivial or comical occurs at the point in a narrative when one expects
something important or serious, the accompanying deflation is called an
anti-climax. Araby by James Joyce
o Falling
action – develops a change in the main character – understanding, regret, a
decision
o The
resolution/ denouement - reveals how the main character comes to term with his
problem. All the problems or mysteries of the plot are unravelled
§ Flashbacks,
flash forwards, foreshadowing are some of the techniques used in developing
plot
§ Frame
story – an introductory narrative within which one or more of the characters
proceed to tell individual stories. The Thousand and One Nights, The Canterbury
Tales
§ In
Medias Res – starting a story in the middle and then use flashbacks to tell
what happened earlier
·
Setting – the time and place in which
the story occurs
o
Where and when does the story take
place?
o
The setting includes not only physical
surroundings but also ideas, values, customs and ideas.
o
Does the setting affect the plot, the
characters, or the mood or atmosphere of the story? How?
§ The
story takes place a long time ago in a land ruled by a king and a queen.
·
Characters
o
Characters are the actors in a story’s
plot. They can be people, animals or whatever the writer chooses. A character
always has human traits, even if the character is an animal. A character may
also be a human with superhuman powers. But most characters are ordinary human
beings. The process by which a writer reveals the personality of a character is
called characterization.
o
The protagonist
is the focus of our attention. In a good story the protagonist is a realistic,
complicated being with just enough strengths, weaknesses and contradictions to
remind us of ourselves – Cinderella
o
The antagonist
– the character or the force that blocks the protagonist from achieving his or
her goal – the stepsisters and their mother
o
The conflict
between the protagonist and the antagonist is what hooks our attention, creates
suspense, and drives the plot in most stories. This struggle is an example of
external conflict since it involves
the protagonist and some outside force. This outside force might be another
character or group, society as a whole, or even something in nature. In an
internal conflict the protagonist wrestles with his or her own fears and worries
or the need to make a decision.
o
Subordinate characters – are in a story
for a reason. The main character’s relationship with them helps to reveal the
protagonist’s character and may also develop the story’s conflict.
o
A writer can reveal a character in the
following ways:
§ Direct
characterization - By telling us directly what the character is like: humble,
ambitious, vain, easily manipulated, etc.
§ Indirect
characterization -
·
Be describing how the
character looks and dressed
·
By letting us hear the
character speak
·
By revealing the
character’s private thoughts and feelings
·
By revealing the
character’s effect on other people – showing how other characters feel or
behave towards the character
·
By showing the
character’s actions
·
When a writer uses these methods we have
to exercise our own judgement, putting clues together to figure out what a
character is like just as we do in real life when we are getting to know
someone
o
Characters can also be static or
dynamic.
·
Static – one who does
not change much in the course of the story
·
Dynamic – changes in
some important way as a result of the story’s action.
·
The protagonist of the
story is almost always a dynamic character. S/he is someone who changes in an
important way during the course of the story. By the end of the story a dynamic
charter has gained a new understanding, made an important decision, or taken a
crucial action, dynamic actions are capable of learning, growing, and changing.
·
In contrast the
subordinate characters are almost always static. They are exactly the same at
the end of the story as they were at the beginning. Static characters do not
necessarily represent in the failure in the writer’s art. In good fiction, SC
are supposed to be static. Too many characters undergoing changes can be distracting,
especially in a short story
o
Characters can be classified as flat or round
·
Flat – has only
one-dimension. Can be summed up by a single phrase
·
Round – has more
dimensions to their characters – they are complex, solid, and multifaceted like
real people
o
Aspects of Character Drawing:
§ Characters
can be revealed by the following methods:
·
Action
·
Speech
·
By direct statement of
the author on the character
·
Description of
characters in a novel by an omniscient narrator
·
By association of one
character with a recurrent image
·
By associating a
character with one particular point of view or action with which he can be
easily identified
·
By choice of words and
picking out a particular feature or detail which calls a character vividly to
mind
·
Point of view
o
The vantage point from which a story is
told. The person telling the story is the narrator.
§ The 1st
person point of view – the narrator, a character in the story, uses ‘I’ and
‘me’ to tell the story
§ The 3rd
person point of view – the narrator describes the characters and action from
outside the story
·
A 3rd person omniscient
narrator knows everything that goes on – Cinderella is told from the 3rd
person omniscient point of view. The narrator knows what all the characters are
doing and thinking
·
A 3rd person limited narrator
describes events as one character sees them
·
Theme – the central idea or insight
about human experience revealed in a work of literature. The theme is the idea
that the writer wishes to convey about the subject – the writer’s view of the
world or revelation about human nature. A theme may also be different from a
moral, which is a lesson or rule about how to live. Most themes are implied. It
is up to the reader to piece together all the clues the writer has provided
about the work’s total meaning.
o
Stated themes – directly presented in a
story
o
Implied themes – must be inferred.
Readers need to consider all the elements of a story ad ask what message about
life they convey
Comparing
universal themes
People all over the world and
throughout time have shared common emotions, concerns and experiences – it’s
what makes us human. We all want to be loved; we all have dreams; we cope with
loss, death, and disappointment. Our universal concerns are reflected in
literature as universal themes.
These broad themes come up again
and again in literature; yet, each writer gives a personal insight o twist to
these themes.
·
Style
– the manner in which writers or speakers
say what they wish to say. An author’s style simultaneously expresses his ideas
and reveals his unique way of expressing them. Style is closely connected to
diction:
·
Sentence structure
·
Language and imagery
·
Tone
o
Formal/informal
o
Sympathetic/
unsympathetic
o
Serious/comic
o
Emotional/ restrained
o
Cynical/ sentimental
o
Biased/impartial
Authors carefully
arrange words into sentences and sentences into paragraphs to produce a
particular effect.
·
Colloquial – used when
the writer wishes to suggest a certain class or a certain regional atmosphere
·
Didactic style – writer
intend to instruct his readers
·
Dramatic style vs.
Melodrama -The Secret Agent by Joseph
Conrad
·
Comic style
·
Plain/ ornate
·
Abstract/concrete
·
simple or flowery
(shop/boutique)
·
modern/contemporary or
old fashioned/archaic (pharmacy/ apothecary)
·
general or specific
(sandwich/ grilled cheese on rye)
·
Lucid/direct/journalistic or obtuse – hard to understand
·
Formal or informal
·
Standard/dialectic/regional
language
·
Symbolic or plain
·
Casual/ poetic
·
Magical realism –
combines incredible events with realistic details and relates them in a
matter-of-fact tone. – Gabriel Garcia
Marquez, Julio Cortazar
·
Stream of consciousness
– depicts the random flow of thoughts, emotions, memories, and associations
running though a character’s mind. The term ‘interior monologue’ is often
interchangeably used with ‘streams of consciousness. James Joyce, Virginia
Woolf
Language
/Diction – choice of diction/mode of
expression is an important aspect of a writer’s style. Writers use different
types of words depending on the audience they are addressing, the subject they
are discussing, and the effect they are trying to produce. The connotation of the word is more important
than the denotation – strict literal meaning.
The
writer’s tone – the attitude a writer takes toward
the reader, a subject, or a character. Tone is conveyed by the writer’s choice
of words and details
·
Often a novelist is
strongly committed to a certain character or cause in the novel.
·
How does the writer
reveal his opinion:
o
Use of rhetoric
o
Emotional prose
o
Calm reasoned argument
·
How does he do this?
o
By the character’s
speech and actions
o
Direct comments by the
writer in his role as the omniscient narrator
Exercise
·
After you have read a short story think
about these:
o
Main character
o
The changes each character undergoes
o
Conflict between characters
o
How the conflict is resolved
o
How the character’s change relates to
the theme
o
How the conflict relates to the theme
o
Statement of theme
·
Write a short essay
o
The introduction – usually a single paragraph providing the title,
the author, and necessary background. It also includes your thesis statement in
which you explain briefly how the theme.
o
The body of the essay is the part where
you explain the information you’ve gathered in your exercise
o
In the conclusion, sum up your major
points and add a new thought or a personal response
·
Elaborate – get down to specifics
o
You should elaborate on every general
statement you make, using details, examples, and quotations from the stories.
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