themes for essays

8/9/2019 Themes for Essays

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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.

&nother 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.

&lthough 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.

&nother 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

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