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Defnitions o literature
There have been various attempts to defne literature. Literature, in a broad
sense, is any written work about any subject. The word literature comes rom Latin
littera which means letter. Literature can be written and oral and is divided into
three categories: epic, lyric, and drama.
There are several criteria in defning literature. First is aesthetic criterion. t is
about the way work is put together, structure, style, language, fgures o speech
used. !ork must be enjoyable in a way that is not practically useul, but it still
catches reader"s attention. #e$t is intellectual distinction, which reers to impact o
the work on the world, history, society% or e$ample some history works, scientifc,
theological, or philosophical.
¬her important eature is language used in the work. #on'literary
language must be clear, transparent reerent, while in literary language sign is notarbitrary, it draws attention to itsel, has an emotional impact on the reader. t also
has lot ambiguities, associations and fgures o speech. (motional impact means
that the work leaves at least some kind o impression on a reader, appeals to
emotions and makes the reader sympathi)e with characters. *eader eels
everything that characters eel: happiness, sorrow, pain, anger etc.
n !estern (urope prior to the eighteenth century, literature as a term
indicated all books and writing. & more restricted sense o the term emerged
during the *omantic period, in which it began to mark +imaginative" literature. The
value judgment defnition o literature considers it to e$clusively include writingthat possesses a literary uality or distinction.
Literature can be classifed according to whether it is fction or non'fction,
and whether it is poetry or prose% it can be urther distinguished according to major
orms such as the novel, short story or drama% and works are oten categori)ed
according to historical periods, or according to their genre.
Fictional nature o the literary work
Fiction is the orm o any work that deals, with inormation or events
that are not real, but rather, imaginary and theoretical, invented by the author.
<hough the term fction reers in particular to novels and short stories, it may also
reer to the theatre, flm, television, poetry and song. Fiction contrasts with non'
fction, which deals e$clusively with actual events, descriptions, observations, etc.
!ord fction comes rom Latin fctus which means to invent, to create.
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There are several kinds o imagination, about past, uture, things that do not
really e$ist. &uthor invents things, even in works with historical fgures or events,
when author adds inormation that are not actual, the work becomes fctional. &ll
types o literary works include fctionality.
n these types o works space and time o work are not the same as in reality.
The literary work as a structure
(very work consists o materials that orm its structure. -aterials, by
themselves, do not have aesthetic value. nly when they are combined in a certain
way, they give pleasure to the reader.
/tructure reers to internal organi)ation o literary work, its orm and content,
and how it is divided into di0erent parts. For e$ample, novel is organi)ed intochapters, and poem into stan)as. /tructure is also about how parts o the work
relate to each other, how ideas are combined and developed in di0erent parts. &
work"s structure defnes not only the work"s orm and content, but also the general
eatures characteristic o genre, style, a specifc literary trend, literature as an art
orm, and, fnally, art as a whole.
-aterial, e$amined independently, is a te$t which is generally written in a
certain style. The te$t as such, however, does not have literary meaning. & work"s
outer layers become artistically meaningul only to the e$tent that they are
symbolic, that is, to the e$tent that they e$press their own inner meaning.
The structure o a literary work embraces the work"s characters, theme, plot,
composition, etc. (ach structural element is o greater or lesser relative
importance within a given work. n poetry, or e$ample, the outer orm is o
considerably greater importance than in prose% in the detective novel, the plot is
more important than in other genres.
Intrinsic approach to literature
n intrinsic approach, words on the page are o utmost importance. ntrinsic
approach is also called ormalism as the critic"s basic interest is in the orm o the
te$t.
ntrinsic approach includes te$tual elements like language, style, tone,
themes, symbols, genre, characters, narration etc. t is also concerned with
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analysis o fgures o speech and their interpretation. !hile using intrinsic
approach, some te$ts are given importance because o their artistic and moral
values. The concept o canon is generated by using intrinsic approach and it
concentrates on the study o canon as it has such moral and artistic values as no
other te$t can.
n intrinsic approach, interpretation and understanding o te$t is based only
on the elements in the te$t. 1onte$t, e$ternal actors like history, lie o the writer
or his e$periences are not important. -ost interpretations combine these two
approaches. n their work Theory o Literature, !ellek and !arren suggest taking a
look at the seuence o image, metaphor, symbol, and myth to understand the
meaning.
To analy)e a poem or story, the intrinsic critic, ocuses on the words o the
te$t rather than acts about the author"s lie or the historical milieu in which it was
written. The critic would pay special attention to the ormal eatures o the te$t 2the style, imagery, symbols, fgure o speech, tone, and genre. These eatures,
however, are usually not e$amined in isolation, because intrinsic critics believe
that what gives a literary te$t its special status as art is how all o its elements
work together to create the reader"s total e$perience.
Studying literature: history o literature
3istory o literature studies development o literature through time. t can be
development during certain time period or development o literature o one nation,
or can combine both.
3istory o literature gives chronological overview o important movements,
works and authors. t also looks into socio'historical conte$t, climate o that time,
important events and how they in4uenced literature. For e$ample, how ndustrial
*evolution in4uenced *omantic 5oets and their work, etc.
There are several geographical principles or studying history o literature.
First is history o national literature, which looks into development o literature o
one nation, problem here is that there are certain gray areas like colonies which
can be sorted under several countries, or their complete literature is not available 6&merican'ndian literature.
¬her is comparative history, which points out di0erences, similarities, and
eatures o literature. t e$plains what is uniue and what is universal in literary
works. For e$ample, what is uniue or 7ritish literature which can"t be ound in
literature o any other nation. 8eneral history looks outside borders o one
community, fnds things that spread out through the whole world.
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3istory o literature combines both criticism and theory in order to e$plain
development o literature through e$amples o specifc works and authors, fnding
principles rom theory in those works.
Directions in literary criticism
Literary criticism started developing in days o &ncient 8reece, with
&ristotle"s Poetics and 3orace"s Poetica. t became popular again in middle ages
when mostly biblical, religious works were analy)ed. 3ermeneutics interpreted
7ible, their legacy is reader'response theory 6 emphasis is on the reader, how he
sees it, not everyone sees the same work in the same way.
9uring renaissance, criticism was in4uenced by classical modules 6 neo'
classicism. n century developed romanticism, and they guided themselves
with +&rt or &rt"s sake" meaning that art should e$ist regardless o everything else.
mportant works o that time are Preace to Lyrical Ballads ;!ordsworth
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in4uence o literature on people. 3e also looks into language used in works and
how it contributes to work"s nature. ther important thing in his theory is how
literature and genres change through time, how people"s taste in literature
changes depending on social standards o certain times.
Theory orms system o concepts. t is hard to give completely universaldefnition o concepts because literature changes every day, there are new works
published all the time which in4uence development. &lso, there are terms rom
ancient times which are still used, like ode, or hymn% and there are relatively new
terms like pulp fction, or science fction.
Literary criticism concentrates on specifc work and author. t deals with
comparison and analysis o literary work and is closely related to literary theory.
Literary criticism has probably e$isted or as long as literature. n the Ath century
71 &ristotle wrote the Poetics, a typology and description o literary orms with
many specifc criticisms o contemporary works o art. The value o literarycriticism has been uestioned by some prominent artists.
Literary genres and conventions: epic, lyric, dramatic
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8enre is a group o certain aesthetic characteristics that orm a work. These
conventions make it recogni)able, easy to see which genre the work is. These
characteristics are tone, style, motis, orm etc.
1lassical genre theory comes rom &ristotle, 5lato and 3orace% they ormed
mimesis which is an idea that governed the creation o works o art, in particular,with correspondence to the physical world understood as a model or beauty, truth,
and the good. &ccording to them lyric is written in frst person, in epics poet speaks
about events that happened to someone else, and in drama the poet shouldn"t be
present. They also prescribed the rules which writers had to ollow, mi$ing o the
genres was orbidden, and some orms o literature were more important than
others. n contrast to that, modern genre theory is descriptive. t does not limit the
writer to certain convention, but allows him to e$periment with them. t
encourages mi$ing and richness o orms and di0erent genres in one work instead
o their purity.
Lyric literature is subjective, ull o eelings and emotions. t is short, ocused
and intense, written in frst person and in present. #owadays it can be
incorporated into works in di0erent genres. 5oetic language is not everyday
language% poet speaks in rhymes, verse and fgures o speech. (pic literature can
be either in verse or prose. (pics are usually objective% writer observes and tells a
story but does not participate. (arlier, it was written in third person, but recently it
can be in frst person, too. 9rama is based on antagonism, inner and outer con4icts
and it has double e$istence 6 in theatre and in written orm. 7eore, it was written
in verse, but now it is usually in prose% mostly dialogues and monologues. Thecharacters are separated rom writer% they have lie on their own.
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pic in prose
(pic in prose e$isted even in &ncient 8reece. t di0ered rom epic poetry in
characters, themes and importance% it didn"t deal with heroes but ordinary people,
it didn"t celebrate national success but everyday lie and was meant or
entertainment.
(very work needs to have plot, characters, setting, and them. 5lot is defned
as the events that make up a story, particularly as they relate to one another in a
pattern, in a seuence, through cause and e0ect. 1haracters are all persons in a
story, sometimes even animals or supernatural being can be characters. /etting o the story reers to time and place when the story is happening. Theme is main
message o the work. /ubject matter is anything that can be topic or a story% it"s
4e$ible with endless variety o topics and themes.
#ovel comes rom talian novella meaning +tale, piece o news". t"s e$tended
piece o prose, longer than short story and novella, but with same elements. t also
has a lot o characters, more than one subject matter, plot and setting. /hort story
has DEEE'BEE words, no elaborate plot or none at all, deals with small number o
characters. 1on4ict o the story is either inner or outer. -ost amous writer o short
stories is (. &. 5oe who said that short story has unifed e0ect, is compact, withcondensed time and space. t became popular in Dnd part o ?Cth1 with gothic
novels. #owadays, short stories deal with ethnic and social issues, race and gender
euality, amily con4ictsG
#ovella is prose fctional narrative with limited number o characters ocused
on one event. t"s similar to short story but longer ;?EEE'BEEEE words
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much fgures o speech and decorations. n contrast to that, language o fction is
colorul, rich and ull o fgures o speech. & fction writer may manipulate diction,
sentence structure, phrasing, dialogue, and other aspects o language to create
style or mood.
Lyric orms: hymn, ode, elegy
& hymn is a type o song, usually religious, specifcally written or the
purpose o praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or
deities, or to a hero. The word hymn derives rom 8reek hymnos, which means Ka
song o praiseK. &ncient 8reek hymns were written in he$ameter, incorporated in
larger works, usually epics% the oldest hymn is rom
th
1. Language, style and toneare elevated, spoke about heroes and their battles and achievements% some
ocused on local tales and myths.
1hristian literary hymns were frst based on pagan poetry, but later became
more 1hristian 6 closer to sermons, philosophical and rhetorical. n middle &ges
they were still written or church. 9uring *enaissance revival o &ncient 8reek
re4ected in hymns, and ode and hymn became similar, but hymn was more
religious. n *omanticism hymns were composed to celebrate poet"s personal
eelings: >. 9onne"s Hymn to #od $"y #od in my Sickness% and /helley"s Hymn to
intellectual &eauty.
!ord +ode" comes rom 8reek word or song. t has elaborate structure, very
ormal and dignifed tone and style. D basic kinds are public and private ode. 5ublic
ode is composed and perormed or public occasions, like 'de to the death o Duke
o (ellington. 5rivate ode is not meant or public, as it specifcally e$presses poet"s
eelings, like Jeats" 'de to )ightingale. n &ncient 8reece, used was 5indaric ode in
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which thoughts o a poet were not fnished. t had three parts: strophe, antistrophe
and epode. n (nglish literature, amous were -ilton"s )ativity 'de* /helley"s 'de
to the (est (ind and all Jeats" #reat 'des.
(legy at frst used to reer to song written in elegiac couplet ;MB. 1. /caliger e$panded these ideas to create the
+three unities" in ?B?. /ometimes, works lack one o the unities, like
/hakespeare"s ,ing Lear. -ost important unity today is one o action.
The =nity o &ction limits the supposed action to a single set o incidentswhich are related as cause and e0ect, Khaving a beginning, middle, and an end.K
#o scene is to be included that does not advance the plot directly. #o subplots, no
characters who do not advance the action. (vents must be realistic and ollowing a
single plotline, without unnecessary characters, only those important or the plot.
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The =nity o Time limits the supposed action to the duration, roughly, o a
single day. /caliger shortened this time into D'Oh as much as it takes to view the
play, at most one day compressed into a couple o hours. /kipping ahead in time
over the course o several days or years was considered undesirable, because the
audience was thought to be incapable o suspending disbelie regarding the
passage o time.
The third is unity o space, meaning the play must take place in a single
setting or location. t was usual or the whole play to be set into one room, castle
or woods% scenery rarely changed only characters circulated through the same
place. n later years, this unity was not as important as unity o action.
Dramatic structure
9ramatic works ollow fve'part structure: e$position or introduction,
complication, clima$ or crisis, resolution or peripeteia, and catastrophe or epilogue.
First is introduction which sets the background or the later action. 3ere
audience also meets central characters, heroes and heroines o the play. 9uring
this part happens the incentive moment, start o the cause and e0ect and all later
action.
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n the rising action, a series o related incidents build toward the point o
greatest interest. The rising action o a story is the series o events that begin
immediately ater the e$position ;introduction< o the story and builds up to the
clima$. These events are generally the most important parts o the story since the
entire plot depends on them to set up the clima$, and ultimately the satisactory
resolution o the story itsel.
The clima$ is the turning point, which changes the protagonist"s ate. the
story is a comedy, things will have gone badly or the protagonist up to this point%
now, the plot will begin to unold in his or her avor, oten reuiring the protagonist
to draw on hidden inner strengths. the story is a tragedy, the opposite state o
a0airs will ensue, with things going rom good to bad or the protagonist, oten
revealing the protagonistIs hidden weaknesses.
9uring the alling action, the con4ict between the protagonist and the
antagonist unravels, with the protagonist winning or losing against the antagonist. The alling action may contain a moment o fnal suspense, in which the fnal
outcome o the con4ict is in doubt.
The comedy ends with a dPnouement ;a conclusion