НОУ ВПО ИНСТИТУТ УПРАВЛЕНИЯ, БИЗНЕСА И ПРАВА
И.В.Докучаева
УЧЕБНО-МЕТОДИЧЕСКИЙ КОМПЛЕКС
ДИСЦИПЛИНЫ
АНАЛИТИЧЕСКОЕ ЧТЕНИЕ
ХУДОЖЕСТВЕННОЙ ЛИТЕРАТУРЫ
НА АНГЛИЙСКОМ ЯЗЫКЕ
Ростов-на-Дону
2009
Учебно-методический комплекс материалов по дисциплине «Курс аналитического чтения
художественной литературы на английском языке» разработан в соответствии с требованиями
Государственного образовательного стандарта высшего образования и предназначен для
студентов, обучающихся по специальности 031001.65 «Филология» по специализации
«Зарубежная филология (английский язык и литература, второй иностранный язык)».
Учебно-методический комплекс одобрен решением кафедры «Филология» (протокол №6
от 18.02.09), утверждён и рекомендован к печати Учебно-методическим советом
образовательного проекта «Гуманитарные технологии в управлении и бизнесе» Института
управления, бизнеса и права (протокол № 4 от 10.04.2009).
Учебно-методический комплекс содержит учебную программу курса, учебнотематические планы проведения лекционных и практических занятий, список основной и
дополнительной учебной литературы, конспекты лекций, задания по выполнению
самостоятельной работы, структуру и балльную оценку рейтингового контроля знаний,
перечень контрольных вопросов по дисциплине, тестовые задания для самопроверки.
Составитель: канд.филол.наук, доцент Докучаева И.В.
Рецензенты: докт.филол.наук, доцент каф. языкознания
и иностранных языков ГОУ ВПО Ростовского филиала
Российской Академии Правосудия Саркисьянц В.Р.;
ст. преподаватель кафедры «Филология» НОУ ВПО ИУБиП Рудь Е.Е.
СОДЕРЖАНИЕ
Введение
1. Учебная программа дисциплины
2. Учебно-тематический план
2.1 Лекционные занятия
2.2 Практические занятия
2.3 Учебно-методическое обеспечение дисциплины
3. Конспекты лекций
4. Практический анализ художественного текста
5. Организация самостоятельной работы
5.1 Содержание самостоятельной работы
5.2 Примерное содержание дискуссионных форумов
6. Рейтинговая система контроля знаний студентов
6.1 Структура и балльная оценка рейтингов по дисциплине
6.2 Содержание рейтингового контроля
6.3 Тестовые задания для самопроверки
6.4 Вопросы для проведения итогового рейтингового контроля
ВВЕДЕНИЕ
Курс аналитического чтения литературы на английском языке является одним из
компонентов в цикле дисциплин, преподавание которых предусматривается на интегративной
основе. Он тесно связан с такими дисциплинами как «Практика устной и письменной речи»,
«Практическая фонетика», «Практическая грамматика» и вместе с ними составляет
практический курс основного иностранного языка.
Основная цель курса аналитического чтения состоит в том, чтобы обеспечить планомерное
руководство аудиторной и самостоятельной (внеаудиторной) деятельностью студентов,
направленной на достижение глубокого понимания читаемого художественного произведения с
применением смыслового анализа идейно-образной системы. Дисциплина «Аналитическое
чтение» должна научить студента читать вдумчиво, творчески, а не поверхностно, фабульно;
показать снова и снова, как обогащается наше восприятие художественного произведения
умением вскрывать его глубинные пласты, видеть его внутренние пружины; заставить
почувствовать, что форма художественного произведения тесно и неразрывно связана с его
содержанием.
Занятия по аналитическому чтению строятся на материале оригинальных художественных
произведений английских и американских авторов. Характер этого материала обеспечивает
благоприятные условия для успешного решения целого ряда важных методических задач:
развития навыков неподготовленной устной речи при обсуждении прочитанного,
стимулирования мыслительной деятельности студентов, обучения сознательному,
углубленному подходу к художественному произведению, нравственного и эстетического
воспитания.
Дисциплина «Аналитическое чтение художественной литературы на английском языке»
изучается в 2 – 6 семестрах и состоит из лекционных и практических занятий. По учебному
плану на эту дисциплину отведено 170 часов аудиторных занятий (из них 50 часов лекционных
и 120 часов практических занятий), которые равномерно распределяются по семестрам.
Лекционные занятия освещают основополагающие принципы интерпретации художественного
текста, поднимают вопросы содержания и формы художественного произведения, обращают
внимание на существенные для его понимания детали и факты, касающиеся образности,
компонентов внутренней формы, темы, идеи, способов выражения авторского сознания.
Практические занятия имеют целью не только закрепление лекционного курса, но и
формирование практических умений и навыков литературно-критического анализа
художественного произведения.
Программа курса аналитического чтения рассчитана также на углубленную
самостоятельную работу студентов, на которую отводится 130 часов. С целью активизации
самостоятельной работы студентов и проверки их знаний, умений и навыков по курсу
аналитического чтения в каждом семестре проводится компьютерное тестирование, защита
учебных проектов и итоговый рейтинговый контроль в форме зачета.
В результате изучения дисциплины «Аналитическое чтение художественной литературы
на английском языке» студент должен:
Знать:
- основные категории художественного текста;
- типы, формы и способы изложения, представленные в художественном прозаическом
тексте;
- основные принципы литературно-критического и интерпретационного анализа
художественного произведения
Уметь:
- изложить содержание анализируемого произведения;
дать характеристику основным и второстепенным персонажам произведения;
выступить с литературно-критическим анализом произведения;
высказать свое суждение о литературном произведении и аргументировать его
Лекционные и практические занятия по данному курсу призваны сформировать навыки и
умения в области интерпретации художественного текста и в то же время создать необходимую
основу для изучения дисциплин «Теоретическая стилистика» и «Практическая стилистика
английского языка» на старших курсах.
-
1. УЧЕБНАЯ ПРОГРАММА ДИСЦИПЛИНЫ
1. Содержание и форма художественного произведения
Целостность литературного произведения как идейно-художественной системы. Его
концептуальность и специфическая художественная завершенность. Органическое единство
образной формы и эмоционально-обобщающего содержания. Творческая природа
художественного содержания и формы, становление их единства в процессе созидания
произведения, «переход» содержания в форму и формы в содержание. Художественная форма
как воплощение и развертывание содержания. Принцип функционального рассмотрения
элементов формы в их содержательной и конструктивной роли. Понятие художественного
приема и его функции.
2. Содержание художественного произведения.
Поэтическая идея как основа художественного содержания. Отличие поэтической идеи от
аналитического суждения; органическое единство объективной (предметно-тематической) и
субъективной (идейно-эмоциональной) сторон; условность такого разграничения внутри
художественного целого. Категория художественной темы, позволяющая соотнести
поэтическую идею с ее предметом, с внехудожественной реальностью. Авторская активность в
выборе темы. Авторская трактовка темы: выявление и осмысление жизненных противоречий
под определенным углом зрения.
Интерпретация содержания художественного произведения (творческая, читательская,
критическая, литературоведческая) и проблема границы между обоснованным и произвольным
его истолкованием. Контекст творчества писателя, замысел и творческая история произведения
как ориентиры для интерпретации.
3. Художественная форма.
Словесный строй. Художественная речь как одна из сторон образной формы произведения.
Образность и экспрессивность художественной речи, ее высокая эстетическая
организованность. Лексико-семантические особенности художественной речи. Слово в
художественном контексте. Иносказательность, ее виды. Принципы переноса значения слов.
Тропы: метафора, метонимия, ирония. Сравнение, олицетворение и образный параллелизм.
Образы-символы, образы-аллегории. Гипербола и литота. Интонационно-синтаксическая
выразительность художественной речи. Эмоционально-речевые интонации, риторические
фигуры (вопросы, восклицания, обращения). Синтаксическая инверсия. Словесные антитезы.
Эллипсис. Словесные повторы и их разновидности. Синтаксический параллелизм. Градация.
Художественные эпитеты. Ритмическая организация художественной речи.
Художественный мир и композиция. Компоненты и предметные детали изображения:
воспроизводимые события, сюжет, персонажи, окружающая природа (пейзаж), бытовая
обстановка. Пространственно-временные границы, единство и завершенность художественного
мира. Композиционные связи его элементов. Развертывание художественного мира во времени,
определяющее последовательность его восприятия читателем.
Персонаж и структура его образа. Художественная завершенность персонажа. Внешний и
внутренний облик персонажа. Средства его психологической характеристики. Участие
персонажа в развитии сюжетного действия. Речь персонажа как предмет художественного
изображения. Речевое поведение персонажа. Формы речи: монолог, реплики в диалоге, «мысли
вслух», внутренний монолог, поток сознания, письменная и несобственно-прямая речь.
Самохарактеристики персонажа и перекрестные отзывы о нем других лиц. Предыстория и
последующая история персонажа. Система персонажей в произведении, главные,
второстепенные, эпизодические персонажи. Значение системы персонажей для интерпретации
художественного содержания.
Сюжет – динамическая сторона художественного мира. Сюжет и фабула. Сюжет как форма
воспроизведения общественных и личных конфликтов. Внешние и внутренние действия
персонажей в сюжете. Событие и действие. Ситуация, конфликт, коллизия, интрига. Развитие
сквозного конфликта: завязка, перипетии, кульминация, развязка.
Повествование о сюжетных событиях как основной принцип организации художественного
текста. Структура повествования. Обрамление и мотивировки повествования. Введение
рассказчика. Субъективные формы повествования от лица героя, второстепенного персонажа,
наблюдателя. Сказ. Оценочные характеристики и комментарии. Деперсонифицированный
повествователь. Пространственная и временная точка зрения повествователя. Сочетание
«разных точек зрения». Эмоционально-смысловые связи между высказываниями персонажей и
повествователя. Многоголосие. Объективный и субъективный тон повествования.
Несовпадение хронологической последовательности сюжетных действий и происшествий с
порядком повествования о них. Композиция рассказывания.
2. УЧЕБНО-ТЕМАТИЧЕСКИЙ ПЛАН
2.1 Лекционные занятия
Тема лекции
Краткое содержание лекции
Кол-во
часов
№
п/п
1
2
A Literary Work as an Artistic
Whole.
Plot and Plot Structure
2 семестр
The theme, the problem. The plot and
its elements. The main conflict. The
composition of the literary text. The
message of a literary work. Character
drawing.
3 семестр
The main problem of a story. Conflict,
different types of conflict. Setting and
its functions. Plot Structure:
exposition, complications, moments of
complications, climax, denouement
Plot structure techniques:
a) straight line narrative
presentation,
b) complex narrative structure,
c) circular pattern,
d) frame structure.
Presentational sequencing.
Retardation. Flashback.
Foreshadowing. Surprise ending.
10
10
.
3
System of Images. Means of
Characterization
4
Narrative Method.
5
Tonal System.
6
Final Interpretation of the
Artistic Whole.
4 семестр
Image. Character-image. Main
(central, major) character. Types of
character (simple, complex). Author’s
mouthpiece. Caricature. Artistic
details and particularities. Different
aspects of character characterization.
Types of characterization: direct and
indirect.
Means of Characterization:
a) Presentation of the character
through action;
b) Speech characteristics (style
markers, markers of the emotional
state of the character, attitudinal
markers, markers of the character’s
educational level, markers of regional
and dialectal speech).
5 семестр
Aspects of narrative method. Types of
narrators: the main character, a minor
character, the omniscient author, the
observer-author. The interrelationship
between the narrative types and the
types of narrators.
Two versions of one and the same
story: the explicitly expressed
subjective version (the narrator’s
version), the implied objective
version. The types of storyteller
narrator: reliable narrator, unreliable
narrator. Two forms of presentation of
the story by the observer-author: the
dramatic, the pictorial.
6 семестр
Atmosphere. The author’s attitude.
Tone. Scales in the variations of tone
(casual, familiar, impolite, defiant,
offensive, sarcastic, ironical, sneering,
bitter). The indices of the tone:
emotionally coloured words, an
extensive use of imagery created by
tropes and figures of speech.
Humorous tone. Means of creation of
the humorous tone: hyperbole,
periphrasis, simile, jargonisms, and
dialectal words. Irony.
Prevailing tone. Overtones.
Contents and form. Elements related
to the whole structure and the message
of the story. The theme of a story.
Message. Implication. Means of
10
10
6
4
conveying implication. Recurrence or
repetition. Symbol. Traditional and
personal symbols. Presupposition.
Title. The functions of the title: means
of conveying the author’s message;
means of cohesion; means of focusing
the reader’s attention on the most
relevant characters or details. Means
of orientation of the reader towards the
story.
Итого: 10
Всего: 50
2.2 Практические занятия
Тема практического занятия
Краткое содержание занятия
Кол-во
часов
№
п/п
1.
2.
3.
1.
2.
3.
1
2
3
4
5
6
2 семестр
Munro H. “The Match-Maker”/1/*
Practical analysis
Ex. IV, VI, VII, XII,p.133-137 /1/*
Bates H.E. “Perhaps We Shall Meet
Practical analysis
Again”/1/*
Ex. VI, IX, X, XII, XIX, p.147-150
/1/*
Middleton E.H. “The Hungry
Practical analysis
Winter”/1/*
Ex. IV, VI, VIII, X, XVII, p.159-163
/1/*
Beerbohm M. “Seeing People Off”
Practical analysis
/1/*
Ex. VIII, IX, XII, p.173-175 /1/*
Fitzgerald S.“A Man in the Way”/1/*
Practical analysis
Ex. IV, VI, IX, XI, p185-188 /1/*
Updike J. “Should Wizard Hit
Practical analysis
Mommy?”/1/*
Ex. IV, VI, VII, IX, X, XI, XIV,
p.201-206 /1/*
Итого:
3 семестр
Oscar Wilde “The Sphinx Without
Practical analysis
A Secret”/2/*
Ex. IV, V, VI, XIV, p.87-91 /2/*
William Saroyan “The Filipino and
Practical analysis
The Drunkard”/2/*
Ex. IV, V, VI, XIV, p.99-103 /2/*
Somerset Maugham “The Ant and the
Practical analysis
Grasshopper”/2/*
Ex. IV, V, VI, XII, XIII, p.114-118
/2/*
Mark Shorer “The Dead Dog”/2/*
Practical analysis
Ex. IV, V, VIII, XIX, XX, p.128-132
/2/*
Erskine Caldwell “Man and
Practical analysis
Woman”/2/*
Ex. IV, V, VI, XI, XII, p.147-151 /2/*
Hemingway E. “A Canary For One”/2/* Practical analysis
Ex. IV, V, XIV, XV, p.162-166 /2/*
4
4
4
4
4
4
24
4
4
4
4
4
4
.
1
2
3
4
5
1
2
3
4
5
1
2
3
4
Итого:
4 семестр
Maugham S. “Salvatore”/2/*
Practical analysis
Ex. IV, V, VI, XII, p.180-184 /2/*
Dunsany L. “The Pearly Beach”/2/*
Practical analysis
Ex. IV, V, XI, p.202-207 /2/*
Fitzgerald S. “Teamed With
Practical analysis
Genius”/2/*
Ex. IV, VI, VII, XI, XII, p.230-235
/2/*
Sillitoe A. “Uncle Ernest”/2/*
Practical analysis
Ex. IV, V, VI, XIV, p.253-258 /2/*
Steinbeck J. “Molly Morgan”/2/*
Practical analysis
Ex. IV, V, VII, VIII, XIII, p.279-284
/2/*
Итого:
5 семестр
Heym S. “The Cannibals”/3/*
Practical analysis
Ex. IV, VII, VIII, XI, p.82-85 /3/* .
Fitzgerald S. “Gloria”/3/*
Practical analysis
Ex. IV, VI, VII, XI, p.93-97 /3/*
Baker R. “Concrete Island”/3/*
Practical analysis
Ex. IV, VI, VIII, XIV, p.117-121 /3/*
Hare C. “Fair of Face”/3/*
Practical analysis
Ex. V, VII, X, XV, p.131-135 /3/*
Monsarrat N. “The Dinner Party”/3/*
Practical analysis
Ex. IV, V, VI, XIV, p.154-159 /3/*
Итого:
6 семестр
Reeve L.E. “Caged”/3/*
Practical analysis
Ex. IV, V, VII, VIII, XVII, p.170-175
/3/*.
Gilbert M. “Survivor Takes All”/3/*
Practical analysis
Ex. IV, V, VI, XIV, XV, XVI, p.186191 /3/*
Lardner R. “Old Folks’ Christmas”
Practical analysis
/3/*
Ex. IV, V, XII, XVI, p.209-214 /3/*
Maugham S. “Gigolo and
Practical analysis
Gigolette”/3/*
Ex. IV, V, VI, XI, XII, p.244-249 /3/*
Итого:
Всего:
24
6
4
4
4
6
24
6
4
4
4
6
24
6
6
6
6
24
120
* См. список учебной литературы
2.3 Учебно-методическое обеспечение дисциплины
2.3.1 Основная литература
1. Головчинская Л.С. Совершенствуйте свой английский. Пособие по развитию навыков устной
речи. В 5 кн.: Книга 1.- М.: ООО «Издательство Астрель», 2000.-272с.
2. Головчинская Л.С. Совершенствуйте свой английский. Пособие по развитию навыков устной
речи. В 5 кн.: Книга 2. - М.: ООО «Издательство Астрель», 2000.-295с.
3. Головчинская Л.С. Совершенствуйте свой английский. Пособие по развитию навыков устной
речи. В 5 кн.: Книга 3.- М.: ООО «Издательство Астрель», 2000.-256с.
2.3.2 Дополнительная литература
1. Памухина Л.Г., Жолтая Л.Р. Будем читать и говорить по-английски. Учебное пособие. - М.:
Цитадель. 1995.-191с.
2. Иванова Т.П., Брандес О.П. Стилистическая интерпретация текста. Пособие по английскому
языку: Для ин-тов и фак. Иностр.яз. - М.: Высш. шк., 1991.-144с.
3. Кирсанова С.В. Обсуждаем прочитанное. Пособие по домашнему чтению на английском
языке. - М.: Высш. шк., 1991.-127с.
2.3.3 Методические пособия
Докучаева И.В. Аналитическое чтение художественной литературы на английском языке.
Учебно-методический комплекс. – Ростов н/Д: ИУБиП, 2004
2.3.4 Программное обеспечение
СДО Прометей / Библиотека / Электронный УМК «Аналитическое чтение художественной
литературы на английском языке»
3 КОНСПЕКТЫ ЛЕКЦИЙ
LECTURE 1 A LITERARY WORK AS AN ARTISTIC WHOLE
1.1 Theme and Idea
A literary work is an artistic whole which is created by the interaction of all its elements, the
characters, setting, plot, plot structure, language, literary techniques, etc. The writer employs all the
different linguistic and extra linguistic elements in order to accomplish his purpose – to convey the
message and impress the reader.
It should be stressed that all the elements of a literary work are relevant to its message and that the
message and the theme of a literary work unify all its elements into an artistic whole.
The plot with its characters, actions and setting form the so called “surface contents” of a literary
work. The surface contents may entertain and keep the reader curious. Some read only to learn what
happens next. But a skilled reader discovers what lies beyond the surface contents. He looks for the
theme. He understands all the implications encoded in the story. He is sensitive to the author’s attitude
towards the characters, events and problems in a story. In other words he looks for and understands
what is known as underlying thought contents of the literary work which contains its message.
The theme of a story is the main area of interest treated in the story. There are stories on the theme
of love. There are books on the theme of family relations, or on the anti-war theme. The theme of the
story implies the problem which the literary work raises. His view and attitude to this problem is
revealed in the way he develops the theme of the story.
Within a single work the basic theme may alternate with rival themes and their relationship may be
very complex. Thus, for instance, basic theme of “The Forsyte Saga” may be defined as the life of the
middle class at the end of and after the Victorian epoch. This basic theme is described mainly in the
representation of the Forsyte family, specifically in the Jolion - Soames lines. The by-themes in the
trilogy are numerous: The Fist World War, the post-war generation, the general strike, the arts and
artists, etc. They are all linked together to represent a unity.
1.2 Message
The most important idea that the author expresses in the process of developing the theme is the
message of the story. A literary work carries the message not in a straightforward way but through the
characters, events and the author’s conceptions. The theme is therefore connected with the author’s
message.
The message is generally expressed implicitly, i.e. indirectly and has a complex analytical character
being created by the interaction of numerous implications which the different elements of the literary
work have. It is only by analysis of those implications that one may reveal the message of a literary
work.
Implication is the suggestion that is not expressed directly but understood. Implication may be
conveyed by different techniques, such as, contrast, recurrence of events or situations, artistic details,
symbols, arrangement of plot structure, etc.
The author’s message is not always a solution of the problems raised in the story. At times the
writer raises urgent and relevant problems, the solution of which it is difficult to foresee. His intention
may not be to suggest a certain solution (the problem may hardly admit solution), the writer may
intend only to raise the problem and focus the reader’s attention on it (reveal its relevance).
The author’s message is closely connected with the author’s attitude. Even if the writer attempts to
conceal his attitude by shifting the responsibility of the story-telling on to a character in the story and
assumes an impartial or detached tone he cannot prevent his characters from suggesting a definite
attitude in the reader’s mind. The message generally has an evaluative character.
The message of a story is inferred from the synthetic images created by the author and does not
exist separately from them. The protagonist, in particular is often considered to be the message itself.
Therefore, it is mainly through the character that the message is revealed. Besides that, the message
cannot be revealed without taking into account the theme of the story, as well as the author’s attitude.
1.3 Title
When analyzing the message contained in the work one must take into consideration the title of the
story.
The title is the first element to catch our eye, but its meaning and function may be determined only
retrospectively. The title acquires its precise meaning when related to the whole story. Then it may
acquire a totally different meaning, contrary to what its components generally mean. The title of S.
Maugham's story “Mr. Know-All” illustrates that. A “know-all” has a derogatory connotation, but
when related to the main character of the story, it acquires a positive meaning, as Mr. Know-All turns
out to be nor only a knowledgeable man, but also a good psychologist and a real gentleman.
The story may clarify the meaning of one of the components of the title. “In Winter in July” by D.
Lessing ‘winter” appears to be not a season, but a period of decline. In The Quiet American by G.
Greene “quiet” acquires an ironical shade, as the “quiet” Pyle turns out to be vicious and brings a great
deal of evil and harm.
The title may acquire a symbolic meaning. Thus the components in the title “The Moon and
Sixpence” by S. Maugham symbolize different sets of values.
The title may have the following functions:
1. It may serve as a means of conveying the author’s message. There are titles which actually
formulate the author's message (e.g. “Say No to Death” by D. Cusak or “Live with Lightning” by M.
Wilson).
2. It may serve as a means of cohesion — it may unite the components of a story to form a whole.
In “The Apple Tree” by J. Galsworthy, for example, the “apple tree” links all the scenes. When
Ashurst first met Megan and she brought him to the village, the apple tree is “in leaf, and all but in
flower - its crimson buds just bursting.” When he first kissed Megan “the pink clusters of the apple
blossom” and “the unearthly beauty of the apple blossom” form the setting of the scene. The story ends
with the words “The Apple tree, the singing and the gold!” The final phrase repeats the epigraph. By
framing the story, this phrase unites it into an indivisible whole. The repetition of “the apple tree” and
its constant associations attach to it a symbolic meaning — that of love, spring and beauty.
3. The title may serve as a means of focusing the reader’s attention on the most relevant characters
or details (e.g. “The Lady's Maid” by K. Mansfield, Hamlet by W. Shakespeare).
4. The title may characterize the protagonist (e.g. “The Man of Property” by J. Galsworthy).
5. Any title orients the reader towards the story. It may then serve as a means of foreshadowing
(e.g. “Mistaken Identity” by M. Twain). It may also disorientate the reader, when it contrasts with the
story and acquires an ironic ring (e.g. “The Pleasures of Solitude” by J. Cheever).
Therefore, the title is another aid for the reader, which he should not neglect when probing into the
underlying contents.
1.4 Plot
Plot is a sequence of events in which the characters are involved, the theme and the idea revealed.
Events are made up of episodes, episodes, in their turn, of smaller action details. Thus, for example, in
"The Quiet American" the events of the war in Viet-Nam are built up out of a series of episodes, such
as Fowler's visit to the frontline, his flight, in a French plane, over the frontline villages, his crossing of
the river full of dead bodies, etc. The event of Pyle's assassination is prepared and developed in such
episodes as Fowler's visit to the lumber-shop in which he finds evidence of Pyle's criminal activity, in
the episode of an explosion in the square, instigated by Pyle and others.
Each and every event that represents a conflict (the gist of the plot) has a beginning, a development
and an end. The plot, accordingly, consists of exposition, story, climax and denouement.
In the exposition the necessary preliminaries to the action are laid out, such as the time, the place,
and the subject of the action. Also some light may be cast on the circumstances that will influence the
development of the action. Here is the exposition from L. Hughes's story "Cora Unashamed" that may
well illustrate the pattern. "Melton was one of those miserable in-between little places, not large
enough to be a town, nor small enough to be a village— that is, a village in the rural, charming sense
of the word. Melton had no charm about it. It was merely a non-descript collection of houses and
buildings in a region of farms — one of those sad American places with sidewalks, but no paved
streets; electric-lights, but no sewage; a station but no trains... Cora Jenkins was one of the least of the
citizens of Melton. She was what the people referred to when they wanted to be polite, as a Negress,
and when they wanted to be rude, as a nigger — sometimes adding the word "wench" for no good
reason, for Cora was usually an inoffensive soul, except that she sometimes cursed."
Story is that part of the plot which represents the beginning of the collision and the collision itself.
In L. Hughes's "Cora Unashamed" (Part I) it is the arrival at Melton of a white boy, Joe, Cora's short
love, and the birth of her baby.
Climax is the highest point of the action. In "Cora Unashamed" it is the death and burial of Cora's
baby.
Denouement is the event or events that bring the action to an end. The story referred to ends with
Cora returning after the burial of her baby to work for the family of white folks: to nurse their baby.
There is no uniformity as far as the above mentioned elements of the plot and their sequence in the
text are concerned. Thus, among short stories, there are such which begin straight with the action (the
conflict) without any exposition. Here is how Ring Lardner's story "Haircut" begins "I got another
barber that comes from Carter-ville and helps me out Saturdays, but the rest of the time I can get along
all right alone", while others have no denouement in the conventional sense of the word (most of E.
Hemingway's stories may serve as an example). A work of narrative prose that has all the elements
mentioned above: exposition, story, climax, denouement as clearly discernable parts, is said to have a
closed plot structure. This type of writing was most consistently cultivated by such American short
story writers as W. Irving, E. Poe, N. Hawthorn, Bret Hart, H. James, 0’Henry and others.
A literary work in which the action is represented without an obvious culmination, which does not
contain all the above mentioned elements understood in their conventional sense, is said to have an o p
e n plot structure.
Plot structure is not a formal factor. It is as meaningful as any other component of the literary work:
whether it is open or closed is conditioned entirely by the content.
1.5 Composition
The subject matter of a literary work (the sequence of events, character collisions, etc.) may be
represented in a variety of ways. Intuitively or not, an author chooses his technique according to his
meaning.
The narration may be done in the first person, the narrator being either his own protagonist: "When
I had first opened the door, I did not know what 1 was about to do; but now that I had seen her in her
room, kneeling in prayer beside her bed, unaware that 1 was looking upon her and hearing her words
and sobs, I was certain that I could never care for anyone else as I did for her. I had not known until
then, but in the revelation of a few seconds I knew that I did love her. (E. Caldwell, "Warm River"); or
focusing on another: "Oh, there were hundreds of things she had said. I remember everything, but I
can't recall (the words she used. I can't repeat them. She uttered them in a jumble of things. They had
come from her lips like the jumbled parts of a cut-out puzzle. There was no man wise enough or
patient enough to put the words in their correct order. If I attempted to put them together, there would
be too many 'ands', and 'buts' and 'theys' and thousands of other words left over. They would make no
sense in human ears. They were messages from her heart. Only feeling is intelligible there." (E.
Caldwell)
The narration may be done in the third person. The narrator then focuses on some other character or
characters. He may have direct knowledge of these and act as an observer. For instance, “All right.
Now he would not care for death. One thing he had always dreaded was the pain. He could stand pain
as well as any man, until it went on too long, and wore him out, but here lie had something that had
hurt frightfully and just when he had felt it breaking him, the pain had stopped." (E. Hemingway, "The
Snows of Kilimanjaro")
The narrator may have no direct relation to the persons he speaks about, he may not be present at
all, be entirely anonymous, as in the following: "But the weather held clear, and by nightfall he knew
that the men were certain to be holding his tracks. By nightfall Roy was too exhausted to be cunning,
and he lay in his sleeping bag in the first dry corner he found in the rocks.' (J. Aldridge, "The Hunter")
The narration, whatever it is: first-person, third-person, anonymous, rests on such forms as:
Interior monologue. The narrator as his own protagonist or the character he narrates about speaks
to himself. “Soames moved along Piccadilly deep in reflections excited by his cousin's words. He
himself had always been a worker and a saver, George always a drone and a spender; and yet, if
confiscation once began, it was he — the worker and the saver — who would be looted! That was the
negation of all virtue, the overturning of all Forsyte principles. Could civilization be built on any
other? He did not think so." (J. Galsworthy, "To Let")
Dramatic monologue. The narrator (as his own protagonist) or a character speaks alone but there
are those he addresses himself to, e. g. "I think you take too much care," said Winifred. "If I were you,
I should tell her of that old matter. It's no good thinking that girls in these days are as they used to be.
Where they pick up their knowledge I can't tell, but they seem to know everything." (J. Galsworthy,
"To Let")
Dialogue. The speech of two or more characters addressed to each other. (The term is too obvious
to need illustration.)
Narration. The presentation of events in their development, e. g. "The Collector had watched the
arrest from the interior of the waiting-room, and throwing open its perforated doors of zinc, he was
now revealed like a god in a shrine. When Fielding entered the doors clapped to, and were guarded by
a servant, while punkah, to mark the importance of the moment, flapped dirty petticoats over their
heads." (E. A1. Forster, "A Passage to India")
Description. The presentation of the atmosphere, the scenery and the like of the literary work, e.g.
"They are dark. Even when they open towards the sun, very little light penetrates down the entrance
tunnel into the circular chamber. There is little to see, and no eye to see it, until the visitor arrives for
his five minutes and strikes a match." (E. M. Forster, "A Passage to India")
All these forms of presentation, as a rule, interrelate in a literary text, with one or another of them
standing out more prominent.
The arrangement and disposition of all the forms of the subject matter presentation make up the
composition of the literary text.
1.6 Genre
The word "genre", which comes from French, where its primary meaning is "a kind", denotes in the
theory of literature a historically formed type of literary work.
As with all other art categories it is the content that imposes upon the genre its peculiar limitations.
Who represents the aesthetic reality; what particular aspect of reality is represented; how is the time of
represented events related to the time of speech — these and other factors are relevant to genre.
If it is outside events that are objectively narrated by an author, the genre is epic with narrative
prose as its main variety.
If the author speaks about an aspect of reality reflected in his own inner world, if his emotions and
meditations are represented without a clearly delimited thematic or temporal setting, the genre is lyric
with lyric poetry as its main variety.
If it is present day conflicting events that are represented in the speech and actions of characters in
their interrelation with each other, the genre is dramatic, with different types of plays as its main
manifestations.
Another factor that delimits the genre of writing is the nature of the represented conflict fatal for the
main character, the hero, or, on the contrary, easily overcome by him) as well as the moral stand taken
by the author and expressed in a peculiar emotive quality of writing (elevated, humorous, ironic,
sarcastic). In accordance with this factor literary works are divided into tragedy, comedy and drama.
The volume of the represented subject matter is yet another factor winch is relevant to genre. In
narrative prose, for instance, the volume delimits such two main subdivisions within the genre as novel
and short story. A short story is usually centered on one main character" (protagonist), one conflict,
one theme, while in a novel alongside the main theme there are several other, rival themes; several
minor conflicts alongside the main conflict, rival characters alongside the main character.
An unalloyed manifestation of each of the above-mentioned factors makes what is known as "pure
genre", the type of writing characteristic of ancient Greek and Roman literature as well as that of the
Renaissance and Classicism periods. Shakespeare's great tragedies, for instance, be it "Romeo and
Juliet", "King Lear", "Hamlet", "Julius Caesar" or "Macbeth" represent each a fatal conflict for the
main heroes. The action in each of these plays climbs to its culmination and ends in a catastrophe. The
tone of writing is impassioned and elevated.
In modern literature (since the 18th century) mixed genres are prevalent. Thus, for instance, the
elevated tragedy of Shakespearean days gave way to a mixture of tragedy and comedy or, tragedy and
drama, etc.
The genre of a literary work materializes in a set of formal features imposed upon by the content.
These formal features are: composition, plot structure, imagery, speech representation, rhythm, etc.
Each genre as an invariant is manifested in different variants. Due to this fact we can apply the term
"short story", for instance, to literary works written in different epochs and varying greatly in their
content representation. Short works of W. Irving, Sh. Anderson, G. Greene, W. Faulkner and others
are all known as short stories. For the same reason the work of H. Fielding "Tom Johnes, the
Foundling", Th. Dreiser's "The Titan" and W. Faulkner's "The Sound and the Fury" are known as
novels.
Genre as any other art category is meaningful in two ways. First, because, as it has already been
shown, it is delimited by the represented content, second, because, it itself carries a certain content.
Take, for instance, the genre of a contemporary social-psychological novel. As a rule, its involved
composition, 'intricate plot-structure, varied forms of speech representation, etc. are imposed by the
complexity of the described phenomenon — contemporary life; at the same time all these genrefeatures of the novel with their complex interplay suggest the complexity of the represented content:
contemporary life.
It should be said in conclusion, that genre changes with the passage of time. A writer in
representing his subject matter exercises all the potentialities of the respective genre. In doing this he
adds new features to the genre lie resorts to, thus bringing about gradual changes in the genre. This
holds true to the activities of many outstanding writers. Classics of the 19th century such as A.
Pushkin, L. Tolstoi, F. Dostoyevsky, A. Chekhov, contemporary American authors E. Hemingway, Sh.
Anderson and others have brought many new features into the novel and short story genres.
LECTURE 2. PLOT AND PLOT STRUCTURE
2.1 The Plot as a Series of Meaningful Events
The impact of a literary work depends on all its elements. Among them plot and plot structure play
an important role.
The plot is a series of interlinked events in which the characters of the story participate. The events
are arranged in a definite sequence to catch and hold the reader’s interest. The writer arranges the
events ordering them as he sees fit.
Most stories and novels have plots. But there are some which have no plots. To these belong stories
and poems describing nature. It is difficult to trace the plots in the so-called “novels of ideas” and
stories presenting the stream of consciousness, since the thoughts of the character are set down as they
occur regardless of their logic. Yet one should bear in mind that the events in a plot need not always
involve physical movement, the movement may be psychological. In the latter case the plot reveals the
dynamics in the psychological state of a character.
Every plot is a series of meaningful events. They are meaningful in the sense that the writer does
not follow all the events in which the characters of his story would participate in real life during the
span of time covered by the story. He selects the events which are meaningful to the message
contained in the story, and to characterization, i.e. he chooses those that serve to reveal certain features
of the characters, their motives and morals. Therefore, each event in the story is always logically
related to the message, the theme, the conflict, and is psychologically related to the development of the
characters within the story. Sometimes the logical, and sometimes the psychological aspect may be the
more obvious.
Since the writer selects events that have special meaning in relation to the message of the story,
every event in the plot is always suggestive. And this is what the reader should keep in mind. He
should discover the role the events of the story play in characterization and in conveying the message.
Any plot involves repetition, but it does not mean mechanical repetition. A plot is comprised of a
variety of events, each of which recalls the reader, directly or indirectly, to the central problem. No
matter how casual each event might seem to be at first glance, it generally returns the reader to the
main problem of the story.
2.2 Conflict
The plot of any story always involves character and conflict. They imply each other. Conflict in
fiction is the opposition (or struggle) between forces or characters. Conflicts are classified into external
and internal conflicts.
Different types or external conflicts are usually termed in the following way:
1. Man against man, when the plot is based on the opposition between two or more people, as in
The Outstation by S.Maugham or The Roads We Take by O’Henry.
2. Man against nature (the sea, the desert, the frozen North or wild beasts). The conflict in The Old
Man and the Sea by E. Hemingway, The Hunter by J. Aldridge, or the scientist's effort to discover the
secrets of nature involve a conflict between man and nature.
3. Man against society or man against the established order in the society, when the individual
fights his social environment openly, or when there is a conflict between the individual and the
established order: a conflict with poverty, racial hostility, injustice, exploitation, inequality.
4. The conflict between one set of values against another set of values. These sets of values may be
supported by two groups or two worlds in opposition. For example, the conflict in The Fall of Edward
Barnard by S. Maugham is between ambition and prosperity, on the one hand, and truth, beauty and
goodness, on the other.
Internal conflicts, often termed as “man against himself”, take place within one character. The
internal conflict is localized, as it were, in the inner world of the character and is rendered through his
thoughts, feelings, intellectual processes. (The internal conflict does not rule out the external world as
non-existent, the latter is always reflected in the contradictory facets of the character’s nature.) Here
the character is torn between opposing features or his personality. For example, the tragedy of Soames
Forsyte in The Man of Property is his conflict with himself: the sense of property, on the one hand, and
a keen sense of beauty, on the other. The internal conflict within an individual often involves a
struggle of his sense of duty against self-interest.
The plot of a story may be based on several conflicts of different types, it may involve both an
internal and an external conflict.
Conflicts in fiction are suggested by contradictions in reality. On the other hand, conflicts in fiction
are affected by the writer’s outlook, by his personality and his view of certain types of people,
problems, and social phenomena. The writer observes reality and the fates, problems, difficulties of his
fellow creatures inspire him to write. It is reality that he reflects in his work, but he does it from his
own standpoint, as he sees and understands it. Therefore, when evaluating a literary work one should
take into account not only the types of human nature and class contradictions described, but also the
standpoint they are viewed from.
2.3 The Setting
The events of the plot are generally localized, i.e. they are set in a particular place and time. The
place and time of the actions of a story (or novel) form the setting. For the setting the writer selects the
relevant details which would suggest the whole scene. In some stories the setting is scarcely
noticeable, in others it plays a very important role. The functions of the setting may vary.
1. The setting, especially description of nature, helps to evoke the necessary atmosphere (or mood),
appropriate to the general intention of the story. It may be an atmosphere of gloom and foreboding as
in Rain by S.Maugham, or a mysterious atmosphere as in The Oval Portrait by E. A. Poe.
2. The setting may reinforce characterization by either paralleling or contrasting the actions. Thus
in S. Maugham’s story Rain the description of the unceasing rain parallels the actions of Mr.
Davidson. The setting here suggests similarity between his actions and the merciless rain.
3. The setting may be a reflection of the inner state of a character, as in Jane Eyre by Ch. Bronte.
The setting reflects remarkably well the feelings that Jane experiences. The function of the setting in
King Lear by W. Shakespeare is identical. The raging storm reflects King Lear’s emotional state.
4. The setting may place the character in a recognizable realistic environment. Such a setting may
include geographical names and allusions to historical events. A setting, which is realistic and which is
rendered vividly, tends to increase the credibility of the whole plot. It means that if the reader accepts
the setting as real, he tends to accept the inhabitants of the setting (i.e. the characters) and their actions
more readily.
5. In fiction the setting, especially domestic interiors, may serve to reveal certain features of the
character. This function of the setting may be illustrated by the role Mr. Bounderby’s house plays in
Hard Times by Ch. Dickens.
6. When the theme and the main problem involves the conflict between man and nature, the setting
becomes in effect the chief antagonist whom the hero must overcome, as in The Old Man and the Sea
by E. Hemingway.
The setting in a story may perform either one or several functions simultaneously.
2.4 The Elements of the Plot
It should be noted that characters, actions, conflict and setting work together to accomplish the
author’s purpose. The setting is generally established at the beginning of the story, in the exposition,
which is the first component of plot structure.
In the exposition the writer introduces the theme, the characters and establishes the setting. The
exposition, therefore, contains the necessary preliminaries to the events of the plot, casts light on the
circumstances influencing the development of characters and supplies some information on either all
or some of the following questions: Who? What? Where? When?
The exposition may be compressed into one sentence or extended into several paragraphs. Fairy
tales usually begin with an extended exposition that provides the reader with exhaustive information
about when and where the events are set, who the characters are and what the story is about. Such is
the exposition in The Magic Fish-bone by Ch. Dickens:
“There was once a king, and he had a queen; and he was the manliest of his sex, and she was the
loveliest of hers. The king was, in his private profession, under government. The queen’s father had
been a medical man out of town.
They had nineteen children, and were always having more. Seventeen of these children took care of
the baby; and Alicia, the eldest, took care of them all. Their ages varied from seven years to seven
months.”
If the characters and backgrounds are not special, not much exposition is required. Such is the case
in D. Parker’s story Arrangement in Black and White. The characters and the setting are not specified.
What matters in this story is the state and behaviour of the protagonist, who despite her efforts fails to
conceal her racial prejudices. There may even be no exposition at all and the descriptions of the setting
may be scattered in the other structural components of the story. The reader has to collect the directly
and indirectly expressed information about the characters and the setting, gradually constructing the
world of the story himself while he reads on. Such is the case in
The Lady's Maid by K.
Mansfield.
The second structural component which follows the exposition is complications. Complications
generally involve actions, though they might involve thoughts and feelings as well. As a rule, this
structural component consists of several events (or moments of complication). They become tenser as
the plot moves toward the moment of decision — the climax. Such a direct scaling upwards in the
moments of complications occurs in The Cop and the Anthem by O’Henry. In some stories there may
be a good deal of fluctuation in intensity among the moments of complications, although the general
tendency is upward. Each of these moments is related to the theme of the story, the message or to the
development of characters.
The third structural component is the climax. The climax is the key event, the crucial moment of the
story. It is often referred to as the moment of illumination for the whole story, as it is the moment
when the relationship among the events becomes clear, when their role in the development of
characters is clarified, and when the story is seen to have a structure. The climax is the highest point of
action, culmination preceding the denouement. In The Cop and the Anthem, for example, the climax is
Soapy’s arrest.
The denouement is the fourth structural component of the plot. The denouement is the unwinding of
the actions; it includes the event, or events, in the story immediately following the climax and bringing
the actions to an end. It is the point at which the fate of the main character is clarified. The denouement
suggests to the reader certain crucial conclusions.
A story may have no denouement. By leaving it out the author achieves a certain effect - he invites
the reader to reflect on all the circumstances that accompanied the character of the story and to
imagine the outcome of all the events himself. Such is the case in The Cop and the Anthem.
2.5 The Organization of the Plot Structure
The usual order in which the components of plot structure occur is as follows: exposition,
complications, climax and denouement. Novels may have two more components of plot structure: the
prologue and the epilogue (see, for example, Angel Pavement by J. Priestley). The prologue contains
facts from beyond the past of the story, the epilogue contains additional facts about the future of the
characters if it is not made clear enough in the denouement.
Sometimes the author rearranges the components of plot structure. The story then begins with
complications, or even with the denouement. Any shift in the organization of the plot structure affects
the total response of the reader. For example, The Apple Tree by J. Galsworthy begins with the
denouement. Ashurst, an elderly man, and his wife Stella on their silver wedding anniversary stop at
crossroads and admire the beauty of spring nature; they see a suicide’s grave; Ashurst seems to
recognize the beautiful landscape, it reminds him of an event in his youth. “... And then a sudden ache
beset his heart; he had stumbled on just one of those past moments in his life, whose beauty and
rapture he had failed to arrest, whose wings had fluttered away into the unknown; he had stumbled on
a buried memory, a wild sweet time, swiftly choked and ended. And this is what he remembered...”
There occurs a flashback to the past - Ashurst, twenty-six years ago, a college student, is on a tramp
tour in the countryside; he meets Megan, a beautiful country girl and falls in love with her. That is
followed by his decision to marry her and take her home to London, then his meeting with Stella, his
internal conflict (whether to give up Stella and return to Megan, or to desert Megan for Stella), his
final decision to marry Stella. All these events form the complications. The climax of the story returns
the reader from Ashurst’s recollections of his youth to the crossroads, where an old man who passes by
tells him that the grave under the apple tree is that of a young girl, who had committed suicide — “ ‘tis
wonderful, it seems,” he added slowly “what maids’ll do for love. She had a lovin’ heart; I guess ‘twas
broken. But us knew nothing.” This is the moment of illumination. At this moment the reader realizes
why Ashurst was struck by the familiarity of the landscape. The reader understands the outcome of
Megan's tragic love. It becomes clear that the event described at the beginning of the story is the
denouement that Ashurst never returned to Megan, he married Stella, and that the suicide’s grave is
Megan's grave.
The denouement placed at the beginning or the story gives a melancholy ring to all the events of the
story from the very start, creates a pensive mood, a cheerless atmosphere, increases suspense (the state
of uncertainty and expectation), sharpens the reader’s interest. The reader is puzzled by the suicide’s
grave. Whose grave can it be? And what has Ashurst got to do with it? The plot of the story is thus
constructed in a circular pattern, as the end of the story returns the reader to the beginning.
Therefore, any rearrangement of the components of plot structure is meaningful. It may affect the
atmosphere and introduce the necessary mood. It may increase the tension and the reader’s suspense,
and in this way affect the reader’s emotional response to the story.
2.6 Literary Techniques of Presentational Sequencing
We may generalize by saying that there is a variety of plot structure techniques. A story may have
(a) a straight line narrative presentation, when the events are arranged as they occur, in
chronological order;
(b) a complex narrative structure, when the events are not arranged in chronological order and when
there are flashbacks to past events;
(c) a circular pattern, when the closing event in the story returns the reader to the introductory part;
(d) a frame structure, when there is a story within a story. The two stories contrast or parallel.
It should also be added that the intensity of the impression depends on presentational sequencing, i.e.
the order in which the writer represents the information included into the story. Hence presentational
sequencing is interlinked with plot structure.
The writer may withhold some information and keep the reader guessing. The reader will then be
uncertain of some things or suspect certain facts. A number of questions may arise, the answers to
which may either follow rapidly or emerge gradually in the course of the narrative. Most stories
contain an enigma, which is an important factor in story-telling. Some stories contain a whole series of
enigmas. Mistaken Identity by M. Twain is built round one major enigma. What caused sudden change
in the attitude towards the narrator and his companion? By holding back the fact that the narrator was
taken for a general until the very end of the story M. Twain builds suspense which constantly mounts
in the course of the story. The withholding of information until the appropriate time is called
retardation. Retardation is a widely used literary technique of presentational sequencing. Retardation
heightens suspense.
The flashback technique is another device of presentational sequencing. A flashback is a scene of
the past inserted into the narrative. For example, the narrative in The Lady’s Maid contains flashbacks
to Ellen’s childhood and youth.
Foreshadowing is a look towards the future, a remark or hint that prepares the reader for what is to
follow. This device of presentational sequencing heightens suspense. The title in Mistaken Identity is a
case of foreshadowing. It hints at the outcome of the events without revealing its cause and in this way
intensifies suspense.
Surprise ending technique is based upon defeated expectancy.
Presentational sequencing may be traced on different levels. It may involve sequencing of
information, as shown above. Besides, it may involve sequencing of literary representational forms,
such as narration, description, reasoning, direct speech (monologue, dialogue), interior speech,
represented speech, quotations, the author’s digressions may also involve the sequencing of viewpoints
in the story, which form the so-called underlying compositional structure of literary work.
2.7 Two Types of Short Stories
There are known two types of short stories. First: a plot (action) short story. As a rule, this type has
a closed structure, its plot being built upon one collision. The action dramatically develops only to
explode at the very end; the sequence of events thus forms an ascending line from the exposition on to
the climax and down to the denouement. 0. Henry's stories reveal this pattern very well.
Second: a psychological (character) short story. It| generally shows the drama of a character's inner
world. The structure in such a story is open. The traditional components of the plot are not clearly
discernable and the action is less dynamic as compared to that of the plot short story. Many of E.
Hemingway's stories are of such a type. Little, if anything, happens in his "Cat in the Rain". A young
American couple are staying at an Italian hotel. It is raining. The wife stands at the window looking
out at a cat that sits crouching under a table. The wife goes out to fetch the cat, for "it isn't any fun to
be a poor kitty out in the rain". But the cat is gone. Back in the room she sits at the mirror, with her
husband reading. There is a knock at the door. It is the maid with a big tortoise-shell cat sent to the
American wife by the hotel-keeper. The plot, as such, is practically eventless. But an attentive reader
will see that their life situation it represents makes only the surface layer. He will also see that out of
this surface layer there emerges another—the implied, the metaphoric. The image of a cat crouching
under a table to avoid the rain suggests an analogy with the state of misery and nostalgic restlessness
the young American woman is in. This poetic content has conditioned the specific composition and
plot-structure.
Speaking about the two types of short stories, i. e. the plot short story and the character short story,
it should be emphasized that they do not represent the only types. The more usual is the so-called
mixed type.
3 LECTURE 3. SYSTEM OF IMAGES. MEANS OF CHARACTERIZATION
3.1 The Image as a Subjective Reflection of Reality
An image in art is a subjective reflection of reality. It is affected by the writer’s power of
imagination. Though every image is inspired by life, the writer reflects reality as he sees it. Moreover,
he may create images of scenes which he could have never observed (as in historical novels).
An image is, on the one hand, a generalization and is never a complete identity of a person, thing or
phenomenon. There is always something left out by the writer, and something that is emphasized or
even exaggerated. On the other hand, an image in art is concrete with its individual peculiarities.
Since images in art reflect the writer’s subjective attitude to them they are always emotive. Literary
art appeals to the reader through all the senses: sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste. In the reader’s mind
images call up not only visual pictures and other sense impressions, they also arouse feelings, such as
warmth, compassion, affection, delight or dislike, disgust, resentment.
Our emotional responses are directed by the words with which the author creates his images. This
explains why writers are so particular about the choice of words. However, when we read fiction, it is
not the words that we actually respond to, it is the images which these words create that arouse the
reader’s response. This does not mean that wording in literary art is irrelevant. Any change of a word
affects the reader’s response, as words may evoke sense impressions.
Compare:
He was a stout man.
“His features were sunk into fatness…
His neck was buried in rolls of fat. He
sat in his chair... his great belly thrust
forward...”
(S. Maugham. Red)
The images created by figures of speech in S. Maugham’s description call up a visual picture of a
concrete fat man and evoke in the reader definite feelings, including those of antipathy and even
aversion. Whereas “He was a stout man” does not arouse negative feelings.
It must be noted that the images of a literary work form a system, which comprises a hierarchy of
images, beginning with micro-images (formed by a word or a combination of words) and ending with
synthetic images (formed by the whole literary work). Between the lowest level (the micro-images)
and the highest level (the synthetic images), there are images which may be termed “extended
images”.
In the story The Pawnbroker’s Shop by M. Spark the scene of Mrs. Cloote’s examination of the
articles brought to her pawnshop affords a vivid illustration of the hierarchy of images. “The
examination would be conducted with utter intensity, seeming to have its sensitive point, its assessing
faculty, in her long nose ... She would not smell the thing actually, but it would appear to be her nose
which calculated and finally judged .... A list of the object’s defects would proceed like a ticker tape
from the mouth of Mrs. Jan Cloote.” The micro-images of the separate peculiarities of Mrs. Cloote
constitute an extended image of a feature of her personality, whereas the synthetic image of Mrs. Jan
Cloote is comprised of a whole series of micro-images and extended images which the whole story
contains.
3.2 Character-images
In literature attention is by far centered on man, human character and human behaviour. That
explains why the character-image (synthetic image) is generally considered to be the main element of a
literary work; the images of things and landscape are subordinated to the character-image. Thus,
landscape-images are generally introduced to describe the setting, to create a definite mood or
atmosphere. Yet even a landscape-image, as well as an animal-image, may become the central
character of the story. For instance, Nature is the main antagonist of the major character in The Old
Man and the Sea by E. Hemingway; or again animal-images are the central characters in The Jungle
Book by R. Kipling.
Character-images are both real and unreal. They are real in the sense that they can be visualized,
you easily see them act, you hear them talk, you understand and believe them. They are unreal in the
sense that they are imaginary. Even if they are drawn from life and embody the most typical features
of human nature, even if they are images of historical people, they are not identical with them, and are
products of the writer's imagination. In The Summing Up S. Maugham writes, “I have been blamed
because I have drawn my characters from living persons ... But people are all elusive, too shadowy, to
be copied, and they are also too ... contradictory. The writer doesn't copy his originals; he takes what
he wants from them, a few traits that have caught his attention.” Nevertheless characters in literature
often reveal so much of human nature and seem so real, that the readers tend to forget that they are
fictions.
In most stories one character is clearly central and dominates the story from the beginning up to the
end. Such a character is generally called the main, centra1, or major character, or the protagonist. The
main character may also be called hero or heroine, if he or she deserves to be called so.
The antagonist is the personage opposing the protagonist or hero.
The villain is the character with marked negative features.
Sometimes in a literary work the writer will give us two characters with distinctly opposing
features, we then say that one character serves as a foil to the other. The foil is so different that the
important characteristics of the opposite personage are thereby sharply accentuated. Thus a mean
person will act as a foil to a kind and generous man. It is through the use of the foil that the contrast
between the characters is seen more clearly. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are designed as foils for
each other. In J. B. Priestley’s novel Angel Pavement Mr. and Mrs. Smeeth are also foils, as they are
distinctly opposed personalities. Mr. Smeeth’s constant apprehension and fear of losing his job is contrasted to Mrs. Smeeth’s jolly nature and thoughtlessness, his worries about the insecurity of his family
and his desire to save money for a rainy day are emphasized by the contrast with Mrs. Smeeth’s
extravagance and passion to spend immediately all the money she gets.
When a character expresses the author’s viewpoint directly, he is said to be the author’s
mouthpiece. Dr. Watson is considered to be Conan Doyle’s mouthpiece.
If a character is developed round one or several features, he becomes a type or a caricature. A type
is characterized by qualities that are typical of a certain social group or class. A caricature is a character so exaggerated that he appears ridiculous and distorted, yet recognizable.
M. Twain’s story Mistaken Identity contains masterfully created caricatures. The conductor’s and
the porter's slavish politeness and eagerness to dance attendance on a man whom they took for a
general, are exaggerated to the utmost. Their “bows and a perfect affluence of smiles”, the way they
approached ”oozing politeness from every pore”, Tom’s smiling face which was “thrust in at the crack
of the door” create a grotesque caricature on servility to men of rank and wealth. It is contrasted to
vanity, cocksureness and satisfaction at being treated servilely, the features round which the narrator's
character is developed.
Characters may be simple (flat) or comp1ex (well-rounded). Simple characters are constructed
round a single trait. Complex characters undergo change and growth, reveal various sides of their
personalities. Hamlet is a complex character, as he is brave and hesitant, sensitive and unyielding.
Contradictory features within a character make it true-to life and convincing.
The main character is most relevant in a literary work, since it is through his fate that the message is
conveyed. The minor characters are subordinate, they are generally introduced to reveal some aspects
of the main character, or his relationship with people.
3.3 Artistic Details and Particularities
Complete descriptions of absolutely all the actions, thoughts, feelings of the characters in fiction are
impossible and unnecessary. The writer selects only those that have special meaning in relation to the
message of the story. Moreover, a full and photographic description is often substituted by a detail.
Depending on the value which details have in fiction, one should distinguish between the so-called
artistic details and particularities.
The artistic detai1 is always suggestive. It therefore has a larger meaning than its surface meaning,
as it implies a great deal more than is directly expressed by it. An artistic detail acquires expressive
force and has both direct and indirect meaning. It is a poetic representation of a whole scene. In this
sense an artistic detail may be treated as a metonymic expression of the whole. An artistic detail, just
as any micro-image, is stimulating to the imagination.
A few artistic details may suggest a whole life-story. Thus, the “swollen” face, feet and hands with
“fingers worked to the bone” which Priestley mentions about Mrs. Cross (in Angel Pavement) tell us
just as much of her hard life as a whole page of her life-story would. The sharpness of those artistic
details stimulates the reader's imagination and creates the image of a woman exhausted by a life full of
hardships.
At the same time an artistic detail contributes to individualization and verisimilitude. It creates the
sense of reality, the sense of getting to know a concrete real individuality with its specific
characteristics. An artistic detail is therefore both implicative and individualizing.
In fiction not all details are artistic details. There often occur details that cannot be treated as poetic
representations of the whole (such as the colour of the eyes of a character, the time at which he left his
home, etc.) They serve to add something new about a character, or place, or event. Such details are
called particularities. They are incidental in the sense that it is difficult (or impossible) to explain the
writer's choice of this rather than that colour, or time, etc. Nevertheless, particularities are not
absolutely irrelevant. They contribute to verisimilitude, as they help to create a realistic picture of a
person or event. Particularities are used for representing reality in a concrete form.
Therefore, an artistic detail is significant beyond its literal meaning and has expressive force,
whereas a particularity signifies only what is directly expressed by it and has no implication. However,
both artistic details and particularities contribute to verisimilitude and credibility of the story, as they
individualize, particularize and specify the characters, objects and events, thus representing actual life
in all its diversity. They encourage acceptance on the part of the reader and increase convincingness of
what is described.
3.4 Different Means of Characterization
One of the most essential factors in literature is the convincingness of the characters. Their
behaviour, thoughts and feelings will arouse reader's response if he believes them.
The characters may be described from different aspects: physical, emotional, moral, spiritual and
social. The description of the different aspects of a character is known as characterization. There are
two main types of characterization: direct and indirect. When the author rates the character himself, it
is direct characterization. For example, when J. P. Priestley says that Golspie “was dogmatic, rough,
domineering, and was apt to jeer and sneer”, he uses the direct method of characterization. Direct
characterization may be made by a character in the story. But when the author shows us the character
in action, lets us hear him, watch him and evaluate him for ourselves, the author uses indirect method
of characterization.
The various means of characterization are as follows:
1. Presentation of the character through action.
A character in fiction is not just a static portrait, he acts. Since action, movement, changes,
development always occur in fiction, action serves as the main means of characterization. People are
generally judged by their deeds. Actions are the most effective means of character presentation. They
may reveal the character from different aspects.
For example, the actions of Matfield in Angel Pavement show that physically she is strong, healthy,
energetic, active, spirited; emotionally she is bitter, dissatisfied, depressed, in spite of her more or less
satisfactory education, mentally she is a mediocrity (though she fancies herself sophisticated and
shrewd); morally she is honest, strong-willed; spiritually Matfield is shallow as she is doped by cheap
literature and is given to illusions, all her ideals are affected by the adventure stories she is fond of.
Actions include small gestures. In Chapter I Mat field’s resoluteness, decisiveness and
dissatisfaction are suggested by her gestures: “... she flung down a library book, rummaged in her bag
… said “Curse!”, then closed the bag with a sharp snap, seized her gloves and marched them over to
her coat”.
Action includes a thought, a word, a decision, an impulse, and a whole event. For example,
Mansfield’s decision to have a weekend with the brigandish Golspie is an action, her impulse to make
a change in her life is also an action. Each of these actions characterizes a definite aspect of her
personality.
2. Speech characteristics.
Speech characteristics reveal the social and intellectual standing of the character, his age, education
and occupation, his state of mind and feelings, his attitude and relationship with his interlocutors.
When analysing speech characteristics, one should be alert for:
(1) style markers, such as (a) markers of official style (“I presume”, “I beg your pardon”, etc.); (b)
markers of informal conversational style: contracted forms, colloquialisms, elliptical sentences, tag
constructions (as ‘you know”), initiating signals (as “Well”, “Oh”), hesitation pauses, false starts - all
of which normally occur in spontaneous colloquial speech and often remain unnoticed, but in
“fictional conversation” they may acquire a certain function, as they create verisimilitude and may
indicate some features of the speaker’s character, his state of mind and his attitude to others;
(2) markers of the emotional state of the character: emphatic inversion, the use of emotionally
coloured words, the use of breaks-in-the-narrative that stand for silence (e.g. “and I asked her if she’d
rather I ... didn’t get married”, “and there I stayed in the middle of the road ... staring” — the pause
lays emphasis on the words that follow the pause), the tailing off into silence which reflects deep
emotions or doubt, the use of italics, interjections; hesitation pauses and false starts if they are frequent
may be a sign of nervousness, irresoluteness or great excitement;
(3) attitudinal markers: words denoting attitudes (as “resent”, “despise”, “hate”, “adore” etc.),
intensifiers (as “very”, “absolutely” etc.);
(4) markers of the character’s educational level: bookish words, rough words, slang, vulgarisms,
deviations from the standard;
(5) markers of regional and dialectal speech, which define the speaker as to his origin, nationality
and social standing: foreign words, local words, graphons;
(6) markers of the character’s occupation: terms, jargonisms;
(7) markers of the speaker’s idiolect (i.e. his individual speech peculiarities), which serve as a
means of individualization and verisimilitude.
If we turn to Mistaken Identity, we can see how skilfully M. Twain used speech peculiarities as a
means of characterization. The markers of informal conversational style (“Years ago I arrived one day
...”, “asked ... if I could have some poor little corner somewhere”, “a couple of armchairs” etc.), the
markers of dialectal speech (“dey” for “there”, “dat” for “that”, “sah” for “sir” etc., which are typical
of “Black English”), the numerous markers of the emotional state of the characters and their attitudes
to one another contribute to creating verisimilitude. The reader gets the impression of hearing the
characters and witnessing the scenes. Besides, the reader gets all the necessary information about the
characters: their feelings, mood, relations with one another, their social and intellectual standing, and
even their origin.
In one of his pamphlets M. Twain wrote that conversation in fiction should “sound like human talk,
and be talk such as human beings would be likely to talk in the given circumstances, and have a
discoverable meaning, also a discoverable purpose, and show a relevancy, and remain in the
neighborhood of the subject in hand, and be interesting to the reader, and help out the tale, and stop
when the people cannot think of anything more to say.” The story Mistaken Identity may well serve as
an illustration of all the requirements that the writer sets. His characters are well-conceived not only
due to their speech characteristics, but also due to the exactness in the choice and presentation of their
actions. They are defined in full accordance with his principle: characters should be “so clearly defined
that the reader can tell beforehand what each will do in a given emergency.”
3. Psychological portrayal and analysis of motive.
The penetration into the mind of the character, description of his mental processes and subtle
psychological changes that motivate his actions, the penetration into his thoughts - all that is an
effective means of characterization that writers very often resort to. Priestley’s Angel Pavement
abounds in illustrations of psychological portrayal. For example, the description of Miss Matfield’s
state of mind when she realized at the station that she had been waiting for Golspie in vain, standing
there with a suitcase and a cheap imitation of a wedding ring in her bag, while Golspie was miles away
from London “not caring if she spent the rest of her life in Victoria Station. Never before had she felt
such bitter contempt for herself. She could have cried and cried, not because he had gone and she
would probably never set eyes on him again, but because his sudden indifference, at this time of all
times, left her feeling pitiably small and silly. The misery of it was like the onslaught of some
unexpected, terrible disease. Her mangled pride bled and ached inside her, so that she felt faint.” This
description of her psychological state and thoughts not only reveals the shame and humiliation that she
experienced, it also characterizes Matfield as a sensitive creature, capable of experiencing profound
and acute feelings.
The psychological state of a character is generally revealed by means of inner represented speech in
the form of either free indirect speech or free direct speech. In the following example J. Priestley
resorts to free indirect speech to reveal Turgis’s state when he was dismissed: “His job was gone. What
could he do? A bit of typing and clerking, that was all, and anybody could do that; even girls would do
it, ... just as well as he would ... Something had gone wrong. Where, how had it gone wrong? He could
be as happy as anybody, if only he had a chance to be; and why hadn't he a chance to be?” His
thoughts reveal his despair, his awareness of the injustices that were done to him. It also reveals his
ability to think clearly and to realize how unfair life was to him.
4. Description of the outward appearance, the portrayal of a character.
In fiction there exist some relationships between the character and his appearance. Thus, features
as “hard eyes” or a “cruel mouth like a scar” create the picture of a man who is capable of mean and
wicked actions. The writer often marks some suitable feature in the character's portrait which is
suggestive of his nature. In literature physical portrayal often suggests moral, mental or spiritual
characteristics. For example, Turgis from Angel Pavement — a weak-willed day-dreamer who is
doped by trashy Hollywood films — is introduced to the reader in the following way: “This was
Turgis, the clerk ... a thinnish, awkward young man, with ... poor shoulders, ... a small, still babyish
mouth, usually open, ... a drooping rather than retreating chin, ... the faint grey film that seemed to
cover and subdue him ...” All that suggests that he is feeble, defenceless, irresolute, weak-willed,
unintelligent. Whereas Miss Matfield's description is as follows: “What they saw was a girl of twentyseven or twenty-eight, or even twenty-nine, with decided eyebrows, a smouldering eye, ... a mouth that
was a discontented crimson curve, and a firm round chin that was ready to double itself at any
moment.” All that suggests a resolute, decisive personage, though dissatisfied with her life.
5. Description of the world of things that surround the character. The character's room, clothing and
other belongings may also serve as a means of characterization. For example, “the blue serge suit that
bagged and sagged and shone, ... the pulpy look about his shoes ... which soaked up the rain”
characterize Turgis as a miserable creature, who lives in need, with no one to care for him. It adds to
his portrait and helps the reader to understand the character. Or again, the description of the books that
Miss Matfield was so fond of — “the exotic and adventurous tales” with “coral reefs, jungles and a
strong, adventurous brigandish hero” is a key to understanding her idea of happiness. It explains why
Mr. Golspie claimed her attention, it reveals that she was also doped by the cheap literature which she
so often turned to, and that she was not at all sophisticated as she tried to appear.
6. The use of a foil.
The writer may introduce a foil as a means of characterization. The foil accentuates the opposed
features of the character he is contrasted to.
7. The naming of characters.
The naming of characters may also serve as a means of characterization. The name may be
deliberately chosen to fit a certain character. Take, for example, Fielding’s Sir Benjamin Backbite, or
Dickens's Mr. and Mrs. Murdstone (murder+ stone), or O’Henry’s Shark Dodson. Such names are
suggestive, as they bring into play the associations which the words they are composed of have. For
instance, Shark has acquired symbolic meaning. Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (1983)
defines “shark” as follows: “a person clever at getting money from others in dishonest or merciless
ways, as by lending money at high rates”. The use of a proper name to express a general idea is called
antonomasia.
All the means of characterization writers resort to enable the reader to visualize and understand the
characters, to think, feel and worry with them as they face their problems, to trace the changes and
growth in their personalities.
LECTURE 4. NARRATIVE METHOD
4.1 Types of Narrators
The narrative method involves such aspects as (a) who narrates the story and (b) the way the
narrator stands in relation to the events and to the other characters of the story.
We are all well aware of the fact that the same people and events may seem quite different when
seen by various people or from different angles. Like in photography, the effect may be absolutely
different if a picture is taken from below or above the usual eye level. In the same way the author can
vary the narrative method depending on what he wants his readers to concentrate on. He can tell the
story from the point of view of a character in the story, or from without — as an onlooker.
The author may select any of the following four types of narrators: (l) the main character, (2) a
minor character, (3) the omniscient author, (4) the observer-author.
1. When the main character tells his story, the events of the story are presented to the reader
through his perception. The author in this case places himself in the position of the main character and
tells of things that only the main character saw and felt. (E.g. Jane Eyre by Ch. Bronte, The Catcher in
the Rye by T. Salinger).
2. When a minor character, who participates in the actions, narrates the story, the events are
described through the perception of this character. The author places himself in the position of a minor
character and gives this character's version of the events and personages. (E.g. The Pawnbroker's Wife
by M. Spark)
3. The author may narrate his story anonymously, analyzing and interpreting the character's motives
and feelings. The reader sees what goes on in the minds of all the characters.
He is then guided by what is known to be the omniscient (or analytic) author. The omniscient author
reproduces the characters' thoughts and comments on their actions. (E.g. Angel Pavement by J.
Priestley, The Cop and the Anthem by O’Henry).
4. The story may be told in such a way that we are given the impression of witnessing the events as
they happen — we see the actions and hear the conversations, but we never enter directly into the
minds of any of the characters. In this case the reader is guided by the observer-author. The observerauthor merely records the speech and actions of the characters without analyzing them (as it is often
done in E. Hemingway's stories).
There are common features between the four types of narrators. When the story is told by the main
character or the omniscient author, the events are analyzed internally, reflecting the main character's
point of view. When the narrator is either a minor character or the observer-author, the story is an
outside observation of events and does not reflect the main character's feelings and attitude, his point
of view. When told by a character in the story, the story is a first person-narrative. When told by the
author, it is a third-person narrative.
If the story is a first-person narrative, it is told from the narrator's point of view and the reader gets
a biased understanding of the events and the other characters, because he sees them through the
perception of the character who narrates. At the same time any story always reveals the author’s point
of view even if it is implied. The character's and the author's viewpoints may or may not coincide. The
point of view of the author may even be contrary to that of the narrator, as in The Lady's Maid by K.
Mansfield. The story is narrated by a maid who proves to be naive. Though the reader learns no more
about her life than she herself tells, he suspects that the maid is misjudging people, that she, so to say,
measures them according to her own yardstick. The more the maid praises and justifies her cruel
grandfather and her egoistic mistress, the more obvious is her naivety, the clearer is the fact that she is
utterly mistaken and that she does not realize how those people ill-treat her, how miserable her life has
always been. The discrepancy between the maid's view of the way things are and the reader's opinion
is the irony of her life. Indirectly (through this irony) K. Mansfield makes it clear that she does not
share the maid's point of view and invites the reader to reject it, too.
Therefore, when the author shifts the responsibility of telling the story to a first-person narrator, he
actually provides his reader with two versions of one and the same story: (1) the explicitly expressed
subjective version (the narrator's version) and (2) the implied objective version, which the skilled
reader is expected to derive. To understand the implied objective version one should take into account
which type of narrator the story-teller is and whether he is a reliable narrator or an unreliable one.
4.2 Advantages of the first-person narrative
Several advantages or the first two methods (i.e. the first-person narrative made by one of the
characters) should be mentioned.
A first-person narrative is a very effective means of revealing the personality of the character who
narrates. The narrator tells what he thinks and feels, and the reader easily understands his motives, his
nature. The writer without resorting to analysis gets the advantage of defining this character more
closely. He does not have to say whether the character is sensitive, easily affected or self-controlled,
kind or cruel, he simply lets the character demonstrate his features. That becomes clear and visible to
the reader, and this first-hand testimony increases the immediacy and freshness of the impression.
Secondly, these two narrative methods increase the credibility of the story. The narrator’s
statements gain in weight and are more readily accepted by the reader, for they are backed by the
narrator's presence in the described events — he relates what he himself has seen. The narrator often
assumes the informal tone, addresses the reader directly and establishes a personal relationship with
him
Thirdly, a story told by a first-person narrator tends to be more confiding. The reader is treated
trustfully as one to whom the narrator confides his personal impressions and thoughts. This can be
clearly seen in the Lady's Maid by K. Mansfield. On account of all that, it is the inner world of the
character-narrator that is generally in the focus of interest.
However, the possibilities or the first-person narrator are limited. One of the basic limitations is that
a story told by a character is limited to what that character could reasonably be expected to know. The
first-person narrator is a person, and he can see and hear only what would be possible for a person to
see and hear in his situation. He cannot enter into the minds of the other characters, he cannot know all
that they do and say.
The first-person narrator may be reliable or unreliable. He may misinterpret some events, which he
sometimes cannot fully understand. He relates them and mediates about them from his subjective point
of view. The reader, therefore, gets a biased view of the other characters (as in the case of The Lady's
Maid by K. Mansfield). But this limitation may turn into an advantage: the reader is stimulated to
reflect and pronounce his own judgment. The fact that the character who narrates has less experience
than the reader creates an irony. If The Lady’s Maid had not been told by the maid herself, if she had
not been so naive, and if her life-story had been told by a dispassionate narrator, it is doubtful that the
story would arouse such deep emotional response and convey its message so effectively.
4.3 The omniscient author and the observer author
There are no limitations on the freedom of the omniscient author. He is all-seeing and all-knowing.
He can follow any character to a locked room or a desert island. He may get inside his character’s
minds; add his own analysis of their motives and actions. It is the author’s voice, his evaluations, his
opinion of the events and characters that the reader hears and, therefore, the reader can easily analyze
the author’s point of view.
Moreover, the omniscient author may wander away from the subject of the narrative to state his
personal view or to make a general statement. Such a statement is known as the author’s digression. A
digression usually involves a change of tense from the past (the usual tense in stories and novels) to the
generic ‘timeless’ present. In this way the author directly conveys his presence as a guide and
interpreter. The story The Cop and the Anthem by O’Henry can serve as an illustration of the
possibilities of the omniscient author. Here the omniscient author resorts to digressions. He does not
only relate the events, he tells the reader what his character longs for and plans to do. To convey
Soapy's thoughts the omniscient author uses indirect speech: “... A roasted mallard duck, thought
Soapy, would be about the thing ...”, inner represented speech: "... Disconsolate, Soapy ceased his
unavailing racket. Would a policeman lay hands on him? In his fancy the Island seemed an
unattainable Arcadia ...”
The reader generally places complete reliance on all the judgments made by the omniscient author
and adopts his point of view. The objectivity of the author’s evidence is taken for granted. At the same
time the reader gets the possibility to accompany the characters anywhere, to see what happens to them
when they are alone, to know what goes on in their minds and what they think about one another. It
means that the omniscient author reveals the viewpoints of the characters, too.
The omniscient author may also assume a detached attitude and tell the readers all about his
characters, concealing his own point of view. For example, the story The Pleasures of Solitude by J.
Cheever is told by a detached omniscient author, who describes what the protagonist saw, felt, thought
and did, without giving his own analysis of her actions.
In many modern short stories since A.P.Chekhov the omniscient author appears to have a limited
omniscient point of view. The author chooses one character, whose thoughts and actions are analysed,
giving no analysis of the other characters. The author therefore may be partially omniscient.
The omniscient author may tell the story so vividly that his presence is forgotten, the characters and
the scenes become visible.
Such are the advantages of the narrative made by the omniscient author.
In the case of the observer-author, the story is a scene or a series of scenes, narrated by an onlooker
who does not interfere for any comments or reflections of these events. The main focus of interest is
the study of actions and events. The advantage of this narrative method is that the observer author lets
the reader see, hear, and judge the characters and their actions for himself. He stimulates the reader to
form his own impression and make his own judgments.
Stories told by the observer-author may be presented in either of the following two forms: (1) the
dramatic, or (2) the pictorial form.
A story is said to have a dramatic form, when one scene follows another and the characters act and
speak as in drama. (In drama nobody comments and explains the scenes, they appear). Arrangement in
Black and White by U. Parker and The Killers by E. Hemingway serve as examples.
A story is considered to have a pictorial form, when the observer-author pictures the scenes, but he
tells of what anyone might see and hear in his position without entering into the minds of any of the
characters, without analysing their motives. (Indian Camp by E. Hemingway illustrates the pictorial
form of presentation).
In one and the same story the author may vary the narrative method, sometimes giving us one
character’s version of events (or point of view) and sometimes that of another, sometimes assuming
omniscience and sometimes narrating as an onlooker.
Thus in The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber when describing a lion hunt Hemingway lets
the reader see things through the eyes of the lion, whereas the events preceding Macomber’s death are
given through the perception of Macomber himself. There are, therefore, several shifts in the point of
view.
4.4 The dominant point of view
The narrative method determines the dominant point of view. Depending on who tells the story, the
dominant point of view may be either that of the character (if he tells the story), or that of the author (if
the story is told by the author). The dominant point or view does not rule out the possibility of
introducing other viewpoints into the story. If the viewpoints are presented as independent, the story is
said to be “polyphonic”. However, the dominant point of view generally subordinates the other
viewpoints. Recall The Lady's Maid by K. Mansfield, where the viewpoints of the lady and the
grandfather are re-evaluated by Ellen. Such re-evalutations may turn out to be misjudgments.
The narrative method conditions the language of the story. Thus if the story is told by an omniscient
author, the language is always literary. When the story is told by a character the language becomes a
means of characterization (as direct speech always characterizes the speaker). It reflects the narrator’s
education, occupation, emotional state and his attitude. The social standing of the character is marked
by the use of
either standard or non-standard lexical units and syntactic structures. In The Lady's
Maid the markers of her social standing are as follows: “if only the pansies was there ...”, “we was
living”, “all of a tremble”, “a ducky little brooch” and others. The use of rare and specialized
vocabulary serves as a marker of the character's occupation (or educational level, or both). In the case
of The Lady's Maid these are “No, madam”, “... is it, madam”. The emotive and evaluative lexical
units (such as “she's too good”, “the sweetest lady”, “poor grandfather”, etc.) reflect the feelings of the
narrator, her attitude to the people she describes. In this particular story some of the evaluative units
appear to be reappraised, as the narrator's point of view is unreliable (she misinterprets events and
misjudges people). From the way Ellen's lady and grandfather are presented it becomes clear that the
lady is by no means "too good”— on the contrary, she is hypocritical, cunning and egoistic; the
grandfather appears to be mean, calculating and deserves no justification for his cruelty.
One has to keep in mind that the language of a first-person narrative requires careful attention not
only because it characterizes the narrator, but also because it is a means of representing the world
through the eyes of that character. It therefore reflects his outlook (which may be naive, or primitive,
or limited), his pattern of cognition, his psychology. That is why most stories related by the main
character are deeply psychological.
Moreover, the narrative method may affect presentational sequencing of events. Thus the
omniscient author will arrange the events of the story as they occur in chronological order. A firstperson narrative more often than not is disrupted by digressions, or may have haphazard transitions
from one topic to another, or may contain flashbacks to past events (as in the case of the The Lady's
Maid). The events are then presented in psychological order.
Apart from that the narrative method may also affect the sequencing of literary representational
forms. If we turn to The Lady's Maid again, we can see that it is a complex pattern of narration,
description, direct speech and reasoning, but it does not include the author's digressions because the
author has shifted the responsibility of telling the story to the major character. Whereas in a story told
by the omniscient author (e.g. The Cop and the Anthem) one may find all the literary
representational forms.
Whether a story is convincing and exciting, whether it produces a vivid and enduring impression,
whether it arouses interest and emotional response — all that relies heavily on the narrative method
employed by the author.
LECTURE 5. TONAL SYSTEM
5.1 Tone, Attitude, Atmosphere
There is no art without emotion. Fiction (as all other art-forms) appeals to the reader through the
senses and evokes responsive emotions. In fiction the representation of reality, as has already been
noted, is always a subjective reflection. Fiction is therefore affected by the author's view of the world,
his outlook, his personal attitude to it. That is why in fiction the representation of reality can never be
entirely neutral. In every literary work the writer's feelings and emotions are reflected in the tone,
attitude and atmosphere.
Atmosphere is the general mood of a literary work. It is affected by such strands of a literary work
as the plot, setting, characters, details, symbols, and language means. Thus, in The Oral Portrait L. A.
Poe sets the story in a remote turret of an abandoned castle. The main event takes place at midnight.
The oval portrait is in a niche and “in deep shade”. All these details, the language and the fantastic
history of the portrait create the mysterious atmosphere (or mood) of the tale.
The author's attitude is his view of the characters and actions. It reflects his judgment of them. The
author's attitude establishes the moral standards according to which the reader is to make his
judgements about the problems raised in the story. The reader is expected to share the author's attitude.
The attitude of a writer to his subject matter determines the tone of the story. The tone is the light in
which the characters and events are depicted. The tone, therefore, is closely related to atmosphere and
attitude.
Tone in oral speech is a component of intonation and is one of the prosodic means of exposing the
speaker's attitude to the subject matter (i.e. to what is being said) and to his interlocutor (i.e. to whom it
is said). Tone is so important in oral communication that it can overrule the sense of the grammatical
structure of an utterance or the lexical meanings of words. Thus “You like it?” pronounced with a
rising tone is taken for a question though the word-order, i.e. the grammatical structure is that of a
statement. “Yes” with a falling tone means “It is so”. “Yes” pronounced with a falling-rising tone
signifies “it may be so”.
In fiction tone also expresses the relationship between the author (or narrator) and the subject
matter. Hence the tone may be sympathetic or impassive, cheerful or serious, vigorous or matter-offact, humorous or melancholy and so on. On the other hand, tone expresses the relationship between
the author (or narrator) and the reader. Hence the tone may be familiar or official. There are scales in
the variations of tone. Thus, the tone may be casual, familiar, impolite, defiant, offensive, it may be
sarcastic, ironical, sneering or bitter.
Tone in oral speech is primarily conveyed by modulations of the voice pitch, whereas in written
speech the tone is mainly conveyed verbally, primarily by emotionally coloured words. For example,
the indices of the sombre and gloomy tone in The Oral Portrait are such words as “gloom”, “deep
midnight”, “deep shadow”, “dreamy stupour”, “vague yet deep shadow”, “vague and quaint words”,
etc.
The tone in the fantastic history of the oval portrait is lyrical and dramatic. Its indices are as
follows:
(a) emotionally coloured words, such as “glee”, “cherishing”, “pined”, “dreading”, “passionate”,
“austere”, “ardour”, “entranced”, “aghast”;
(b) an extensive use of imagery created by similes (“frolicsome as the young fawn”, “the spirit ...
flickered up as the flame within the socket of the lamp”); epithets (“rarest beauty”, “lone turret”,
“fervid and burning pleasure”, “mighty marvel”); metaphors (“the light dripped”, “withered the health
and spirits of the bride”, “lost in reveries”);
(c) poetic words, such as “wrought”, “took glory in his work”, “beheld”;
(d) poetic structures, such as “wrought day and night to depict her, who so loved him”, “there were
admitted none into the turret”, “were drawn from the cheeks of her, who sat ...”, “but little remained to
do”;
(e) intensifiers, as in “the light which fell so ghastly”, “to depict her who so loved him”, “so
surpassingly well”, “very pallid”, “on and still on”;
(f) polysyndeton, as in “And he was a passionate, and wild, and moody man”, “he grew tremulous
and very pallid, and aghast, and crying…”.
The fantastic history is remarkably rhythmical due to the numerous parallel constructions (“loving
and cherishing ail things, hating only .... dreading only ...”), anaphora (“But she was humble ... But he
...”), doublets (“all light and smiles”, “humble and obedient”, “from hour to hour”, “from day to day”),
triplets (“she saw, and loved, and wedded the painter”, “he, passionate, studious, austere”, “pallet and
brushes and other toward instruments”, “passionate, and wild, and moody”), alliteration of sonorants
(“all light and smiles, and frolicsome as the young fawn, loving”, “yet she smiled on, and still on
uncomplainingly”). The syntax and the subtle choice of vocabulary seem to obey a strict orderly
arrangement which results in brilliant rhythm, a lyrical and dramatic tone, a style which is
characteristic of “poetic prose” i.e. an elaborately constructed prose with devices of poetry.
The interaction of rhythm, style and tone generally establishes and maintains a mood or an
atmosphere. In The Oval Portrait this interaction sets the events in a distant time and a mysterious
place, tunes the reader to romantic descriptions and arouses fantastic expectations.
Tone-shifts often occur in fiction and may accompany not only a change in the subject, but also a
change in the narrative method or in the style. In The Oval Portrait tone-shifts accompany the changes
in both the narrative method and style (the first part of the tale is a first-person narration with stylistic
features typical of emotive prose, whereas the second part is a third-person narration written in the
conventional style of English folk tales).
5.2 Humour and Irony
Humour and irony require special attention. A humorous tone is created, by an apt usage of
deliberate exaggerations (or hyperbole), a round-about way or naming things (or periphrasis),
unexpected comparison (or simile), jargonisms, dialectal words, words which sound amusing in the
particular situation because they do not belong in it. The usage of these means often produces a
humorous effect and testifies to the inventiveness and wit of the author. For example, in O'Henry's
story The Cop and the Anthem humour is attained by unexpected occurrence of foreign and learned
words in very homely situations. “It seemed that his route to the coveted Island was not to be an
epicurean one. Some other way of entering limbo must be thought of.” Or again, “The persecuted
young woman had but to beckon a finger and Soapy would be practically en route for his insular
haven”. Unexpected combinations of words, such as “insular haven” or “He seemed doomed to
liberty'” also contribute to the humorous effect.
But humour may be achieved even when the tone is not humorous. Some writers as M. Twain, St.
Leacock often develop humour using a mock-serious tone, maintaining all the while a perfectly
“straight face”. In such cases humour is developed through situation and character. Humour may be
attained by a funny incident when a character finds himself in an amusing or ridiculous situation, or by
a comical personage who says or does absurd things. Humour may be achieved by unexpected turns of
events which catch the reader off guard, amazing and amusing him.
The object of humour is generally a funny incident or an odd feature of human character. When the
writer ridicules social vices and weaknesses of human nature that are typical of social groups or
classes, the humour is then ironical or satirical humour. Mistaken Identity serves to be an illustration of
satirical humour. In a most amusing way the writer ridicules such socially conditioned vices as
servility and vanity. Humour is intended to improve imperfections by means of laughter, whereas irony
always conveys an obviously negative attitude and is intended to mock and satirize.
Irony is identified as a double sense which arises from contrast. It is a wide-ranging phenomenon
and may be achieved both by linguistic and extralinguistic means. Verbal (or linguistic) irony is
manifested in a word or a sentence which in a particular context acquires a meaning opposite of what it
generally has. Irony in such a case suggests the discrepancy between a statement and its actual sense.
The actual sense is the true one that an intelligent reader is expected to deduce.
Irony may be extended over a whole story and may be created extra linguistically by the contrast
between what the character seeks and what he obtains. This is called “irony of life”.
The author may also create irony by letting the reader know something a character does not know,
or amazing both the reader and the character by quite an unexpected result or consequence of an
action, which turns out to be quite opposite to what the character hoped and expected. This is called
“dramatic irony”. O’Henry’s story The Cop and the Anthem affords an excellent illustration of
dramatic irony. The series of unexpected turns of events and the surprise ending in the story are deeply
ironical. The story affords examples of irony that is developed both extra linguistically and
linguistically. For example, the reader senses the writer's ironic attitude and tone in the following:
“When wild geese honk high of nights, and when women without seal-skin coats grow kind to their
husbands, and when Soapy moves uneasily on his bench in the park, you may know that winter is near
at hand.” The generic present tense in this statement makes it sound as a generally acknowledged truth.
But nobody can accept it as a universal truth and that also contributes to the ironical effect it produces.
Irony may be achieved by simulated adoption of another's point or view for the purpose of
revealing certain weaknesses, or for the purpose of ridicule and sarcasm. The contrast between the
adopted viewpoint and the author's viewpoint results in irony. Such is the case in The Lady's Maid by
K. Mansfield, where the irony is developed by contrasting the point of view of the naive narrator to
that of the author. The irony is clearly felt despite the lively and friendly tone of the maid's narrative.
One should, therefore, distinguish between the authorial tone and the character's tone. Recall the
story Arrangement in Black and White. The tone of the main character is lively, vigorous, excited. At
the same time the story is a manifestation of the author's ironic attitude to radically prejudiced
Americans. The irony is created by the contrast between the protagonist's simulated friendliness
towards Negroes and her actual prejudiced attitude to them. The character's vigorous tone is expressed
verbally, whereas the authorial ironic tone is implied.
Therefore, when irony is developed verbally, it affects the tone of the narrative and gives it an
ironic ring. But when it is developed by extra linguistic means, the tone need not be ironical.
5.3 Tonal System Characteristics
One should distinguish between the prevai1ing tone of a literary work and emotional overtones,
which may accompany particular scenes in the story. They all form a tonal system which reflects the
changes of the narrator's attitude to his subject matter. The emotional overtones generally form a “tonal
unity” which means a consistency of attitude towards the events and characters. This consistency of
attitude is reflected in the consistent use of language appropriate to the events and characters. The
“tonal unity” forms the prevailing tone of the story, which plays the dominant role and determines to a
great extent the message of the literary work.
In The Cop and the Anthem the emotional overtones vary as the plot unfolds. The tone is involved
in the following passage: “If he could reach a table in the restaurant unsuspected success would be his
... The total would not be so high as to call forth any supreme manifestation of revenge from cafe
management; and yet the meat would leave him filled and happy for the journey to his winter refuge”.
The tone is excited in “He would pull himself out of the mire; he would make a man of himself again;
he would conquer the evil that had taken possession of him ...” But the prevailing tone of the story is
ironic. It is produced by the numerous cases of verbal irony in the narrative and reflects the author's
attitude to the problem raised.
5.4 The Official Tone and the Familiar Tone
As stated above, the tone expresses not only the relationship between the narrator and the subject
matter, but also the relationship between the narrator and the reader.
The narrator may establish an intimate, personal or formal relationship with the reader. Hence he
may discourse at ease and assume a familiar tone, or he may retain a relative distance and narrate in an
official tone. The indices of this aspect of tone are also linguistic.
The official tone is set up by words and idioms that have an official ring, e.g. “relevant” (for
“important”), “up to the present time” (for “up to now”), “Permit me to inform you” (for “Let me tell
you”). It may be set up by carefully organized syntax and carefully expressed ideas admitting no
deviations from the standard. In general, the official tone accompanies narratives with a well-defined
progression of ideas.
The familiar tone is established by features of the spoken language, the conversational style in
particular. To these features belong colloquial words and idioms. Informality of tone may be achieved
by the occurrence of very formal language alongside jargonisms and slang, without its being
linguistically inappropriate, since that is a characteristic feature of conversation. Delaying devices (e.g.
“sort of”, “well”, “shall I say”), colloquial parenthetic phrases (e.g. “you know what I mean”),
disregard of the end focus principle by placing the nucleus not in final position (e.g. “Fine you think it
is”) — all contribute to the establishment of a personal relationship between the narrator and the
reader, at the same time they set up a familiar tone. It ought to be added that in fictional speech such
devices also function as effective means of characterization, individualization and verisimilitude.
The familiar tone in J. Thurber’s amusing story The Night the Bed Fell is maintained by an
abundance of devices traditionally used in spoken conversational style. Among them are colloquial
idioms (“one of those affairs” for “a cot”, “a mighty jerk”,), colloquial words (“wobbly”, “bawl”,
“veil”, “quit”), repetition which is generally avoided in other styles (“exchanged shout for shout”, “By
this time my mother, still shouting, pursued by Herman, still shouting, was trying to ...”). The narrator
is at his ease and sets up a very personal relationship with the reader assuming an informal tone which
is in keeping with the domesticity of the subject of his narrative. The tone of the story is familiar, on
the one hand, and vigorous, excited and humorous, on the other. Deliberate exaggerations (“with a
tremendous banging crash”), unexpected comparisons (“The situation was finally put together like a
gigantic jigsaw puzzle”), the prevalence of physical descriptions containing vocabulary which appeals
to our hearing (“racket”, “noise”, “shouts”, “uproar”, “howl”, “wail”, “bawl”, “scream”, “batter”,
“bang”, “crash”, “bark”, “creakings”, “whistle”, “tinkle”), and to our sight (“piled her valuables in a
neat stack”, “crawled into bed”) contribute greatly to the humorous effect the story produces.
Finally, it should be stated that tone, attitude and atmosphere are important elements of any literary
work, which affect the reader's emotional response. The analysis of tone, attitude and atmosphere is a
move towards the underlying thoughts and ideas contained in the work; it can be seen as a link
between the surface contents and all that lies beneath it.
LECTURE 6. THE MESSAGE OF A LITERARY WORK
6.1 Message and Implication
The plot with its characters, actions and setting forms the so called ‘surface contents’ of a literary
work. The surface contents, which are represented in concrete individuals, situations and actions, may
entertain and keep the reader curious. Some read only to learn what happens next. But a skilled reader
discovers what lies beyond the surface contents. In a literary work he looks for the theme. He
understands all the implications encoded in the story. He is sensitive to the author's attitude towards
the characters, events and problems in the story. In other words, he looks for and understands what is
known as ‘the underlying thought contents’ of the literary work, which convey its message.
The theme of a story is the main area of interest treated in the story. There are stories on the theme
of love, or love for one’s Motherland; there are books on the theme of family relations, or on the antiwar theme.
The plots of different stories on one and the same theme may be based on an identical type of
conflict, as The Lady’s Maid by K. Mansfield and Arrangement in Black and White by D. Parker. The
theme of both the stories is human relations in the bourgeois society, both are based on the conflict
between man and the established order with its racial hostility, injustice and exploitation. But K.
Mansfield and D. Parker have embodied the similar theme and conflict into unique artistic forms,
incomparable characters and events, and have managed to do it in a most effective way. The stories
reveal different aspects of human relationship and arouse different responses on the part of the reader.
The theme performs a unifying function. It is clearly seen in The Oval Portrait by E. A. Poe. The
theme of each part of the tale is the power of beauty and art to stir emotions. Despite the differences in
the described events and the style, both the parts reveal the storm of emotions which beauty stirs up in
man. The two episodes develop the same theme. Hence, they both express it and thus bind the two
parts into an organic whole. The effect that the artistic unity produces is brilliant, vivid and enduring.
The theme of the story implies the problem which the writer raises. His view and attitude to this
problem is revealed in the way he develops the theme of the story. The most important idea that the
author expresses in the process of developing the theme is the message of the story. The theme is
therefore organically connected with the author's message.
The message is generally expressed implicitly, i.e. indirectly, and has a complex analytical character,
being created by the interaction of numerous implications which the different elements of the literary
work have. It is only by analysis of those implications that one may reveal the message of a literary
work.
6.2 Techniques Conveying Implication
Implication is the suggestion that is not expressed directly but understood. Implication may be
conveyed by different techniques, such as parallelism, contrast, recurrence of events or situations,
artistic details, symbols, arrangement of plot structure, etc.
Thus parallelism may be deeply suggestive. For example, in The Roads We Take by O’Henry there
is deep implication in the parallel actions of the dream and reality (in the dream Shark Dodson murders
his companion “with cold ferocity” to get the booty; in the event that presents reality Dodson, the
businessman, ruins his friend “with cold ferocity” again in order to increase his profit). Parallelism
here invites the reader to compare these actions. It is suggestive not only of the ugly nature of the
protagonist, but also of the immoral means he uses to make money.
Events winch begin and end a story sometimes parallel. This circling of the action back to its
beginning implies that nothing has changed and this may be the whole point. The story of the firm
Twigg and Dersingham in Priestley’s Angel Pavement begins with Dersingham’s talk with Smeeth
about the sad affairs of the firm and the necessity to dismiss one of the clerks. At the end of the novel
Dersingham has a similar talk, with Smeeth again, about the bankruptcy of the firm. It returns the
reader to the opening scene. This circling of actions suggests and emphasizes that nothing has
improved, none of the characters have managed to avoid ruin and poverty.
Implication may be conveyed by contrast on different levels: linguistic and extra linguistic. In the
story Arrangement in Black and White, which is an attack on racial prejudices and hypocrisy among
the middle classes in the USA, the implication is mainly conveyed by the contrast between the
impression that the protagonist tries to produce and the impression she actually produces. The contrast
is reinforced by the thematic planes of the vocabulary: “the coloured people”, “nigger” versus “the
white people”; ”broad-minded” versus “narrow-minded; “awfully fond of”, "love", "crazy about some
of them" versus “wouldn't sit at the table with one for a million dollars", "keep their place". Moreover,
this implication is also suggested by the antithesis in the title Arrangement in Black and White.
Recurrence (or repetition) is another means of conveying implication. Among the repeated
linguistic elements there may be stylistic devices, or emotionally coloured words, or even neutral
words, but when repeated the latter may acquire special semantic relevance. The semantically relevant
word need not be the most frequent one in the story. It is a well-known fact that functional words, such
as “a”, “the”, “to”, “be”, generally recur most often, but they are not necessarily the most important
words in the text. However, once a word or any element of the story is felt to be especially significant
for the understanding of the whole, its recurrence acquires relevance in the context of the story. The
repeated word (or phrase), even if it is a neutral one, may acquire emotional charge and become a keyword, important for the understanding of the message of the story. There often occurs semantic
repetition, when one and the same idea is repeated, though every time it is formulated differently. It
should be emphasized that the recurrent elements do not contain in themselves indications of what in
particular their implications are. They acquire relevance and suggest implication only in the context of
the story in which they occur.
Recurrence may be traced in the plot of any story. Though the events in the plot generally vary
among themselves, they have a similarity in function—each of them recalls the reader to the central
problem. For instance, no matter how different the events in the story The Lady's Maid may seem to
be, each of them returns the reader to the main problem — the inequality between the rich and those
who serve them. In this sense writers fulfill contradictory demands: the demand for variation and the
demand for recurrence. If a writer fails to fulfill the former, his story will be monotonous and
uninteresting. If he fails to fulfill the latter, it will seem aimless and not directed at any definite
message.
Implication is often suggested by the similar features in the varying scenes, and by the varying
features in the similar scenes. The Pawnbroker’s Wife affords a good illustration of that. No matter
how different the scenes in the story might seem to be, they reveal similar aspects of Mrs. Cloote’s
character: her immorality, her covetous, deceitful and wicked nature.
6.3 Artistic Detail and Symbol
Fiction provides many examples of recurrence with implication. Among them one often finds
details. For instance, in J. Cheever’s story The Pleasures of Solitude the "coldness" of the wind, the
rain, the weather, the boys who came “shaking with cold” are artistic details. The neutral word “cold”
acquires expressive force in the context of the story and conveys deep implication. It suggests the
world that Ellen was afraid of and was eager to isolate and shelter herself from.
When an artistic detail is repeated several times and is associated with a broader concept than the
original, it develops into a symbol.
A symbol is a word (or an object the word stands for), which represents a concept broader than the
literal sense of the word. It is therefore something concrete and material standing for something else
that is immaterial and has a more significant sense. A symbol is a metaphoric expression of the
concept it stands for. Like the metaphor, it is based on the use of a word in its transferred meaning and
suggests some likeness between two different objects or concepts.
Symbols may be traditional or personal. An example of a traditional symbol is a rose. The rose is a
traditional symbol of beauty.
A writer establishes personal symbols by means of repetition and repeated association with a
broader concept. For example, in Rain by S.Maugham the rain is a symbol of the primitive powers of
nature before which man is powerless and all his efforts are useless and hopeless. The association of
rain with this broad concept is established in the following passage: “... it (rain) was unmerciless and
somehow terrible; you felt in it the malignancy of the primitive powers of nature. It did not pour, it
flowed. ... it seemed to have a fury of its own. And sometimes you felt that you must scream if it did
not stop, and then suddenly you felt powerless, as though your bones had suddenly become soft; and
you were miserable and hopeless.” Rain, therefore, symbolizes the powers of nature which proved
irresistible for Mr. Davidson.
To use a symbol is to represent an idea by suggestion rather than by direct expression. The symbol
is generally recognized only after the story is read. The so-called “shock of recognition” intensifies the
effect.
Presupposition is also a means of conveying special implication. For example, it is a characteristic
feature of modern fiction to begin a story at a point where certain things are already taken for granted.
Thus the story Arrangement in Black and White opens as follows: “The woman with the pink velvet
poppies ... traversed the crowded room ... and clutched the lean arm of her host.” The definite articles
are indications of previous knowledge about the identity of the referents, although the reader can work
them out only by reading on. The writer does not introduce the woman and the place she comes to.
Each of the definite articles carries a presupposition that the reader already shares the author’s
knowledge about them. By this device the author sets up the world of the story with its implications of
the past right from the start, though the reader has to construct this world himself while reading on.
Presupposition creates implication and at the same time arouses the reader’s interest.
As stated above, the author's message does not lie on the surface. It is usually expressed implicitly
and may be suggested by a variety of means — parallelism, contrast, repetition, artistic details,
symbols.
The author’s message is not always a solution of the problems raised in the story. At times the
writer raises urgent and relevant problems, the solution of which it is as yet difficult to foresee. His
intention may not be to suggest a certain solution (the problem may hardly admit solution), the writer
may intend only to raise the problem and focus the reader’s attention on it. In such cases the message
of his literary work will not suggest any solution. It will pose the problem and reveal its relevance.
Moreover, the message depends on the writer’s outlook, and the reader may either share the writer’s
views or not.
6.4 Message and the Author’s Attitude
The author's message is closely connected with the author’s attitude. Even if the writer attempts to
conceal his attitude by shifting the responsibility of story-telling on to a character in the story and
assumes an impartial or detached tone, he cannot prevent his characters from suggesting a definite
attitude in the reader’s mind. The message more often than not acquires definite shape in the process of
deep thought about what the writer discovered when observing reality. It reflects his attitude to the
discovered aspect of people's nature and relations, his understanding of the influence of social
phenomena and conventions upon the individual. Hence the message generally, has an evaluative
character.
The message of a story is inferred from the synthetic images created by the author and does not
exist separately from them. The synthetic images embody the message. The protagonist, in particular,
is often considered to be the message itself. Therefore, it is mainly through the characters that the
message is revealed. Besides that, the message cannot be revealed without taking into account the
theme of the story, as well as the author's attitude.
On revealing the author’s message, the reader generally analyses his own rational and emotional
response to the story, draws his own conclusions. These conclusions may not necessarily coincide with
the author’s message. That is why we distinguish between the so-called objective message and the
author’s message.
The objective message is the final conclusion that the reader draws from the analysis of his own
response to the story and from the author’s message, contained in the story. The objective message
may be broader than the author’s message, because it is based on more profound historical experience.
Every new generation judges the literary work created a century or more ago in a new way, as the new
generation possesses more information about the outcome of many historical processes than the writers
of those works could foresee.
The effectiveness of the writer’s presentation of the message depends on how credible and exciting
the plot is, how lifelike and convincing the characters are, how expressive the language is, how well
the literary techniques are used.
CONCLUSION. FINAL INTERPRETATION OF THE ARTISTIC WHOLE
A literary work is an artistic whole which is created by the interaction of all its elements: the
characters, setting, plot, plot structure, language, literary techniques, etc. The writer employs all the
different linguistic and extra-linguistic elements, carefully plans them to fit one another in order to
accomplish his purpose — to convey the message and impress his readers.
Among the various prose forms of fiction the short story is characterized by a more tightly knit
structure. It generally has a limited number of characters, a restricted time span. It’s devoted to a single
predominant event and includes only a few actions. Nevertheless it contains deep implication.
Therefore, the linguistic and literary elements in the story are expressively more loaded, they carry
greater weight of significance, contribute greatly to the message of the story and to the total effect it
produces.
It should be stressed again that all the elements which make up a literary work are relevant to its
message, and that the message and theme of a literary work unify all its elements into an artistic whole.
When interpreting fiction one must bear in mind that contents and form are inseparable. There may
be no form without contents, as there may be no contents without a certain form. A work of art is
formed contents. Any change of the form of the literary work results in a change of its contents, and
vice versa.
Contents and form in literature are relative notions. What seems to be ‘contents’ on one level may
turn out to be ‘form’ on a higher level. Thus plot and character are generally referred to as contents.
But plot and character are at the same time the form of expressing the message.
All the elements work together to accomplish the author's message. They all serve to evoke a
rational and emotional response towards the different aspects of life and human nature that are
revealed by the writer.
4 ПРАКТИЧЕСКИЙ АНАЛИЗ ХУДОЖЕСТВЕННОГО ТЕКСТА
Words and phrases for interpreting fiction
Plot and plot structure
Plots may be simple, complex, intricate
Exposition
Complications
Climax
Denouement
The opening sentence (paragraph) of the story
The closing sentence (paragraph)
An internal conflict
An external conflict
Settings may be realistic, historical, fantastic, exotic, rural, etc.
To establish the setting
To set the story in ...
The events are set in ...
A straight line narrative structure
A complex narrative structure
A circular narrative structure
A frame structure
The simple an clear structure of the story
The span of time the story covers
Digression
Literary techniques: retardation, foreshadowing, flashbacks to the past
Means of characterization
Character-images
Landscape-images
Animal-images
Object-images
The central (main, major) character
The protagonist
The hero, heroine
The villain
The antagonist
A foil
To serve as a foil to ...
To act as a foil to (for) ...
The author's mouthpiece
A type
A caricature
A simple (or flat) character
A complex (or well-rounded) character
Moral, mental, physical, spiritual characteristics
Direct characterization
Indirect characterization
To reinforce characterization
To contribute to characterization, individualization, verisimilitude
To depict (to portray, to describe) a character
To evaluate (to assess, to rate, to judge) a character's actions
To share a character’s emotions
To arouse warmth, affection, compassion, delight, admiration, dislike, disgust, aversion, resentment,
antipathy, etc.
Narrative method
The omniscient author
The observer-author
An onlooker, an observer
The story is told from the point of view of an onlooker (an observer, a character who participates in
the events).
The events are presented through the perception of...
The events are presented through the eyes and mind of...
The dominant point of view
The dramatic form
The pictorial form
The story is presented in the dramatic (pictorial) form.
A reliable (or unreliable) narrator
The narrator enters into the mind of ... (a character)
The narrator reveals the personality of...
The narrator shares the viewpoint of...
The narrator gives a biased view of...
A first-hand testimony
The immediacy and freshness of the impression
To increase the immediacy and freshness of the impression
To stimulate imagination
To increase the credibility of the plot
To stimulate the reader to make his own judgments
To make the reader draw his own conclusions
Tonal system
The tone may be formal, semi-formal, informal, conversational, casual,
sympathetic, cheerful,
vigorous, serious, humorous, mock-serious, lyrical, dramatic, excited, agitated, passionate, impassive,
detached, matter-of-fact, dry, impartial, melancholy, moralizing, unemotional, pathetic, sarcastic,
ironical, sneering, bitter, reproachful, etc.
To assume a formal (informal, etc.) tone
The tone is maintained by a number of stylistic devices.
The atmosphere may be peaceful, cheerful, cheerless, gloomy, etc.
To create the necessary atmosphere (mood)
To convey the atmosphere
Attitudes may be agreeable, optimistic, involved, detached, impassive, indifferent, critical,
contemptuous, ironical, cynical, etc.
To evoke a certain attitude
To share the author's (narrator's, character’s) attitude
To jeer, to sneer, to mock, to satirize
To ridicule, to poke fun at…
A humorous effect
A deliberate exaggeration
An unexpected comparison
A round-about way of naming things
The irony of life
The irony of the situation
The message of a literary work
Contents and form
The contents are rendered vividly.
Theme
A story on the theme of ...
The main problems
To raise (pose) a problem
To reveal its relevance
The writer's standpoint (views) on
A moving, exciting, impressive story
To awaken (arouse) interest
To retain interest
To hold the interest of the reader
To excite (evoke) a feeling, an emotion, a state of mind, the sense of being a witness
To arouse the reader's excitement, concern, curiosity, emotions
To excite one's mind
To touch one's heart
To stir one's imagination
A response
To evoke (or elicit) response
To lay the accent (stress) on, to accentuate, to emphasize, to enforce
A gifted, talented writer
A means of conveying the message
An artistic detail
A particularity
Presupposition
A means of cohesion
Recurrence, repetition
Parallelism
The author's message
The objective message
A traditional symbol
A personal symbol
Implication
To express something implicitly, indirectly
To imply, to suggest, to hint at
To be suggestive, to have implication
To understand the implied meaning
Verisimilitude
A true-to-life story, a realistic story
To create an impression of truth
To render reality, to represent life
To reveal different aspects of human nature, human relationships, people's fates, errors, conflicts,
heroism, etc.
To lay bare, to expose, to reveal
Analyzing the Author's Style
Point of view: 1) Does the author speak in his own voice or does he present the
events from the point of view of one of the characters? 2) Has the narrator access to the
thoughts and feelings of all the characters or just one? 3) Does the narrator sympathize
with any of the characters or remain aloof and detached? Is the attitude explicit or
implicit? 4) Can we trust the narrator's judgment?
Tone: In what vein does the narrator tell the story? Is it calm and tranquil or is it
charged with tension and emotions? 2) What note does the initial paragraph of the story
strike? On what note does the story end? 3) How does the word choice and syntax
contribute to the atmosphere? 4) What images (cluster of images) impart the story a
cheerful, melancholy, angry, humorous or sarcastic tone?
Plot: 1) How does the story unfold? What are the bare facts of the story? 2) Which
episodes have been given the greatest emphasis? 3) Does the end follow logically from
the rest of the story or is it a surprise?
Setting: 1) Are there many descriptive passages or is the setting only hinted at? Is it geographical,
historical, cultural or exclusively local-colour context? 2) Are there any significant repetitions of
details (actions, words, thoughts)? 3) How does the setting help to understand the characters and
themes?
Character: 1) What are the characters' names and what do they look like? Does this have any
significance? 2) Are the characters presented directly or indirectly through action and speech? 3) With
what main problem is the protagonist faced? Is it a conflict with another individual (with society,
within himself)? 4) Does the protagonist achieve greater self-knowledge and awareness as a result of
his or her experience?
Theme: 1) Does the story contain one or several themes? What central idea is the author trying to
bring into focus? 2) What does the title indicate about the theme of the story? 3) Are there any evident
symbols? If so, do they direct us to the story's central theme? 4) What moral inference may be drawn
from the story? What truth or insight does it reveal? 5) Try to sum up into a sentence the story's
embedded meaning. 6) What is your personal response to the story and the author's style?
Key points
1. The theme (subject matter) of the story. What is the story about? Give its subject in one word or
in a short phrase, e.g. family relations, snobbery ... .
2. The author's message. What does the author proclaim in his story?
3. Setting of events. Where does the story take place and when? Does the setting matter to the story
or could it have taken place equally well in some other place and at some other time?
4. Logical division of the story. (Logically the text falls into ... parts). The heading and the subject
matter of each part.
5. Plot structure (exposition, complications, climax, denouement)
6. Composition of the text. What does the text present? (narration, description, character drawing,
an account of events, dialogue). Who tells the story? Is it told by one of the characters, by a narrator
outside the story, or by the author? If the story is told by one of the characters, does it help to make it
more effective? The participation of the narrator in the events.
7. Mood. In what key is the story written? How is the mood achieved? Does it change from part to
part? If so what is the prevailing, dominant mood? What is the general slant of the text? Is it satirical,
humorous, pathetic, unemotional? How can you prove it?
8. Characters - main and minor. Who are they? What are they like: in appearance, in habits of
speech and behaviour. What methods does the author use to describe the characters (direct or explicit indirect or implicit)? Does he use direct characterization amply or sparingly? Personal features of the
characters. How do their actions and doings characterize them? What is the relationship between the
characters and how is this relationship pointed out? What contrasts and parallels are there in the
behaviour of the characters?
9. The author's point of view on the problems raised in the story. Does he sympathize with his
personages or not? Is the author successful in the portrait of his subject and in conveying his feelings?
Does he succeed in portraying the characters? Try to explain the title of the story.
10. Language. What sort of language is used? Is it simple or elaborate, plain or metaphorical?
Stylistic devices and their role in the portrayal of the characters. What is the author's aim to use them,
e.g. The author sympathizes with the main characters. We feel it because he uses such epithets as ... .
11. Your opinion of the story.
5. ОРГАНИЗАЦИЯ САМОСТОЯТЕЛЬНОЙ РАБОТЫ
5.1 Содержание самостоятельной работы
Виды учебной деятельности
Кол-во
часов
№
п/п
2 семестр
1.
2.
3.
1.
3.
1.
2.
3.
1.
2.
3.
1.
2.
3.
Выполнение домашних заданий
Подготовка к текущему и итоговому рейтинговому контролю
Работа в форумах
Итого:
3 семестр
Выполнение домашних заданий
Подготовка к текущему и итоговому рейтинговому контролю
Работа в форумах
Итого:
4 семестр
Выполнение домашних заданий
Подготовка к текущему и итоговому рейтинговому контролю
Работа в форумах
Итого:
5 семестр
Выполнение домашних заданий
Подготовка к текущему и итоговому рейтинговому контролю
Работа в форумах
Итого:
6 семестр
Выполнение домашних заданий
Подготовка к текущему и итоговому рейтинговому контролю
Работа в форумах
Итого:
Всего:
40
20
16
76
40
20
16
76
40
20
16
76
40
20
16
76
40
20
16
76
380
5.2 Примерное содержание дискуссионных форумов
Второй семестр
Форум 1
1. Justify the idea that a literary work is an artistic whole.
2. What is the difference between the surface contents and the underlying thought contents of the
literary work?
3. What do you understand by the theme of a story? Give an example of a story and define its
theme.
4. How does a literary work carry its message?
Форум 2
1. Give an example of the function of the title of a certain literary work.
2. What are the main elements of the plot?
3. What forms of narration are there?
4. What do we understand by the composition of the literary text?
Третий семестр
Форум 1
1. What is the gist of the plot of a short story?
2. What types of conflict do you know?
3. What role can the setting play in a story?
4. Give an example of a story and define the role of its setting.
Форум 2
1. In what way can the elements of the plot be arranged?
2. Give the names of the most frequent literary techniques.
3. Choose one of the literary techniques and describe how it is used in a story you have recently
read.
4. What is the difference between a plot short story and a character story?
Четвертый семестр
Форум 1
1. Explain why character-images are both real and unreal.
2. Do you agree that the artistic detai1 is always suggestive? Give your reasons by illustrating your
point by a concrete example.
3. Give the names of different types of characters.
4. What is the difference between the direct and indirect type of characterization?
Форум 2
1. Give the names of different means of characterization.
2. Which means of characterization do you consider the most important?
3. What role can speech characteristics play in characterization?
4. Choose a character of a short story and describe one of the means of his characterization.
Пятый семестр
Форум 1
1. What are the four types of narrators used in a short story?
2. What are some of the advantages of the first-person narrative?
3. What is the difference between the omniscient author and the observer author?
4. Give an example of a short story written by an omniscient author. Justify your choice.
Форум 2
1. Stories told by the observer-author may be presented in either of the two forms. What are these
forms? Give examples.
2. In what way is the narrative method related to the dominant point of view in the story?
3. Does the narrative method condition the language of the story? Illustrate your answer with an
example.
4. In what case is the story said to be “polyphonic”? Give an example of a story in which the author’s
viewpoint differs from that of the narrator of the story.
Шестой семестр
Форум 1
1. What factors is the atmosphere of a short story affected by?
2. Give an example to show that the attitude of a writer to his subject matter determines the tone of
the story.
3. What is the difference between humour and irony?
4. Give examples of two stories to show the difference between the official tone and the familiar
tone.
Форум 2
1. Give an example of a story and describe the way the author expresses his message.
2. Give examples of some techniques conveying implication in a short story.
3. What is the role of symbol in a short story? Illustrate your answer with an example.
4. Do you agree that the message generally has an evaluative character? Illustrate your judgement
with an example.
6 РЕЙТИНГОВАЯ СИСТЕМА КОНТРОЛЯ
ЗНАНИЙ СТУДЕНТОВ
Рейтинговая система контроля и оценки знаний предполагает, что на протяжении освоения
учебной дисциплины в каждом семестре студенты набирают определённую сумму баллов, в
зависимости от которой определяется рейтинг (итоговая оценка). Возможная семестровая
сумма – 100 баллов.
Положительная оценка может быть выставлена по результатам итогового рейтинга только
при условии, что по каждому рубежному рейтингу студентом было набрано не менее 60%
максимального количества баллов.
Шкала соответствия рейтинга итоговой оценке (по пятибалльной системе):
- выше 85 баллов – «отлично»;
- 70-85 баллов
- «хорошо»;
- 60-69 баллов
- «удовлетворительно»;
- менее 60 баллов – «неудовлетворительно».
Учебный материал дисциплины «Курс аналитического чтения художественной литературы
на английском языке» делится на два рейтинга в каждом семестре. Контроль осуществляется в
конце каждого рейтинга и включает компьютерное тестирование в конце первого рейтинга и
выполнение практических заданий, предусматривающих использование навыков и умений
комплексного анализа художественного текста, в конце второго рейтинга. Итоговый контроль
проводится в форме зачёта в конце каждого семестра. Балльная оценка каждого рейтинга
предусматривает учет посещаемости лекционных и практических занятий, текущий контроль, а
также участие студента в работе форумов.
6.1 Структура и балльная оценка рейтингов по дисциплине
Содержание рейтингового контроля
1. Оценка по дисциплине
2. За посещение
- всех занятий
- не менее 75%
- не менее 50%
3. Оценка ответов на практических
занятиях
Общая сумма баллов за ответы на
практических занятиях
4. За участие в форумах
5. За выполнение заданий рейтингового
тестирования
6. За выполнение заданий итогового
контроля
7. Всего (максимальный балл)
Рейтинговая оценка в баллах
Стартовый
Рейтинг 1
Рейтинг 2
рейтинг
3-4-5
5
-
-
5
3
1
5
3
1
3-4-5
3-4-5
15-20-25
6-8-10
3-4-5
15-20-25
6-8-10
3-4-5
45
3-4-5
50
6.2 Содержание рейтингового контроля
Требования к практическому анализу художественного текста
1. Изложить содержание анализируемого произведения.
2. Ответить на вопросы по содержанию произведения, используя слова и словосочетания
активной лексики текста.
3. Выступить с полным анализом текста, включающим:
- сюжет;
- основную авторскую мысль;
- время и место действия;
- композицию;
- характеристику основных героев;
- отношение автора к происходящим событиям;
- язык, включая лексические, грамматические и стилистические особенности.
4. Высказать своё суждение о произведении и аргументировать его.
6.3 Тестовые задания для самопроверки
6.3.1 Тест для самопроверки № 1
1. The message and the theme of a literary work unify all its elements into an artistic ….
2. The author’s message is closely connected with the author’s ….
implications
attitude
solution
3. The most important idea that the author expresses in the process of developing the … is the message
of the story.
4. The message is generally expressed implicitly, i.e. … and has a complex analytical character.
directly
indirectly
explicitly
5. The meaning and function of the title may be determined only ….
prospectively
directly
retrospectively
6. The title may … a symbolic meaning.
acquire
change
give
7. Every plot is a series of … events.
relevant
interesting
meaningful
8. Plot is a … of events in which the characters are involved, the theme and the idea revealed.
9. Match the parts of a story and their descriptions.
Plot
Sequence of events in which the characters are
involved
Denouement The highest point of the action
Conflict
Story
Climax
Exposition
The time, the place, and the subject of the
action, the circumstances that will influence the
development of the action
The beginning of the collision and the collision
itself
The event or events that bring the action to an
end
The gist of the plot
10. The form of narration in which the narrator or a character speaks alone but there are those he
addresses himself to is called … monologue.
dramatic
interior
exterior
11. The presentation of events in their development is called ….
12. The word "genre" comes from ….
German
English
French
13. The word "genre", the primary meaning of which is "a …", denotes in the theory of literature a
historically formed type of literary work.
14. Narrative prose is the … variety of the epic genre.
15. In a novel alongside the main theme there are several other, … themes.
6.3.2 Тест для самопроверки № 2
1. … is a sequence of events in which the characters are involved, the theme and the idea revealed.
2. Every plot is a series of … events.
relevant
interesting
meaningful
3. Conflict in fiction is the … (or struggle) between forces or characters.
opposition
relevance
relation
4. Character and conflict in a story … each other.
contradict
oppose
imply
5. The internal conflict within an individual often involves a … of his sense of duty against selfinterest.
6. For the setting the writer selects the … details which would suggest the whole scene.
interesting
contrastive
relevant
7. A setting, which is realistic and which is rendered vividly, tends to increase the … of the whole plot.
reality
credibility
message
8. The setting is generally established in the …, which is the first component of plot structure.
9. The second structural component which follows the exposition is …..
10. Complications generally involve …, though they might involve thoughts and feelings as well.
11. The … is the fourth structural component of the plot.
12. Match plot structure techniques and their descriptions.
A straight line narrative The events are arranged as they
presentation
occur, in chronological order.
A complex narrative
The events are not arranged in
structure
chronological order and there are
flashbacks to past events.
A frame structure
The closing event in the story
returns the reader to the introductory
part.
A circular pattern
There is a story within a story. The
two stories contrast or parallel.
13. When the closing event in the story returns the reader to the introductory part the story has ….
a frame structure
a straight line narrative presentation
a circular pattern
14. If the writer withholds information until the appropriate time he uses the literary technique called
….
flashback
foreshadowing
retardation
15. A psychological (…) short story generally shows the drama of a character's inner world.
image
character
plot
16. There are known two types of short stories: a plot story and a … story.
6.3.3 Тест для самопроверки № 3
1. Since images in art reflect the writer’s … attitude to them they are always emotive.
objective
subjective
unreal
2. Our emotional responses are directed by the … with which the author creates his images.
3. The … is the personage opposing the protagonist or hero.
4. When the writer gives us two characters with distinctly opposing features, we say that one character
serves as a … to the other.
mouthpiece
foil
antagonist
5. When a character expresses the author’s viewpoint directly, he is said to be the author’s ….
6. A … is a character so exaggerated that he appears ridiculous and distorted, yet recognizable.
7. … characters are constructed round a single trait.
8. Depending on the value which details have in fiction, one should distinguish between the so-called
artistic … and particularities.
9. An artistic detail has a larger meaning than its … meaning, as it implies a great deal more than is
directly expressed by it.
indirect
surface
implicit
10. An artistic detail may be treated as a … expression of the whole.
metaphoric
metonymic
anaphoric
11. Details that serve to add something new about a character, or place, or event are called ….
12. One of the most essential factors in literature is the … of the characters.
convincingness
imagination
expression
13. The characters’ behaviour, thoughts and feelings will … the reader’s response if he believes them.
express
arouse
reveal
14. The description of the different aspects of a character is known as ….
15. Markers of the … state of the character include emphatic inversion and the use of emotionally
coloured words.
16. Match the types of speech markers and their descriptions
Style markers
markers of official style and markers
of informal conversational style.
Markers of the
bookish words, rough words, slang,
character’s occupation
vulgarisms, deviations from the
standard
Markers of the
emphatic inversion, the use of
emotional state of the
emotionally coloured words, the use
character
of breaks-in-the-narrative etc.
Attitudinal markers
words denoting attitudes such as
“resent”, “despise”, “hate”, “adore”
etc.
Intensifiers
“very”, “absolutely” etc
Markers of the
character’s educational
level
markers which define the speaker as
to his origin, nationality and social
standing: foreign words, local
words, graphons
Markers of regional and terms, jargonisms
dialectal speech
6.3.4 Тест для самопроверки № 4
1. When the main character tells his story, the events of the story are presented to the reader through
his ….
2. Match the types of narrators and their effects.
The main character
We see the actions and hear the
conversations, but we never enter
directly into the minds of any of the
characters.
A minor character
The events are described through the
perception of a minor character.
The omniscient author
The reader sees what goes on in the
minds of all the characters.
The observer-author
The author places himself in the
position of the main character and
tells of things that only the main
character saw and felt.
3. If the story is a first-person narrative, it is told from the … point of view
4. When the author shifts the responsibility of telling the story to a first-person narrator, he actually
provides his reader with … versions of one and the same story.
three
four
two
5. The first-person narrative is made by one of the ….
6. In the first person narrative the writer without resorting to analysis gets the … of defining this
character more closely.
7. In the first person narrative the writer does not have to say whether the character is sensitive, easily
affected or self-controlled, kind or cruel, he simply lets the character demonstrate his ….
8. The narrator’s statements are readily accepted by the reader, for they are backed by the narrator's …
in the described events — he relates what he himself has seen.
9. The … author may get inside his character’s minds.
10. The omniscient author may wander away from the subject of the narrative to state his personal
view. Such a statement is known as the author’s ….
11. The reader generally places complete reliance on all the judgments made by the omniscient author
and … his point of view.
rejects
adopts
understands
12. The omniscient author may also assume a … attitude and tell the readers all about his characters,
concealing his own point of view.
detached
subjective
objective
13. A story is considered to have a … form, when the observer-author pictures the scenes, but he tells
of what anyone might see and hear in his position without entering into the minds of any of the
characters.
14. Thus if the story is told by an omniscient author, the language is always ….
colloquial
neutral
literary
15. The language of a first-person narrative characterizes the … of the story.
16. The … method may affect presentational sequencing of events in the story.
6.3.5 Тест для самопроверки № 5
1. The author's attitude establishes the moral standards according to which the reader is to make his
judgments about the problems … in the story.
2. The reader is expected to … the author's attitude.
3. … is the general mood of a literary work.
Tone
Attitude
Atmosphere
4. Match the elements of the tonal system of a story and their descriptions.
Tone
is the general mood of a literary work.
Rhythm
Attitude
Style
Atmosphere
is conveyed primarily by emotionally coloured
words.
is the author’s view of the characters and actions.
is characterized by an extensive use of imagery
created by stylistic devices.
is created due to the use of parallel constructions
5. When the writer ridicules social vices and weaknesses of human nature that are typical of social
groups or classes, the humour is then … or satirical humour.
6. Humour is intended to improve imperfections by means of ….
irony
sarcasm
laughter
7. … irony is manifested in a word or a sentence which in a particular context acquires a meaning
opposite of what it generally has.
Literary
Verbal
Extended
8. Irony is identified as a double … which arises from contrast.
9. The narrator may discourse at ease and assume a familiar tone, or he may retain a relative distance
and narrate in an … tone.
10. The familiar tone is established by features of the … language.
literary
written
spoken
11. Tone, attitude and atmosphere are important elements of any literary work, which affect the
reader's … response.
12. A first-person narrative reflects the … outlook, his pattern of cognition, his psychology.
13. It is only by … of the implications that one may reveal the message of a literary work
analysis
presentation
representation
14. The repeated word (or phrase), even if it is a neutral one, may acquire emotional charge and
become a …, important for the understanding of the message of the story.
15. A symbol is a word (or an object the word stands for), which represents a concept broader than the
… sense of the word.
implicit
indirect
literal
16. Symbols may be … or personal.
17. The message generally has an … character.
expressive
impressive
evaluative
18. On revealing the author’s message, the reader generally analyses his own rational and emotional …
to the story, draws his own conclusions.
6.4. Вопросы для проведения итогового рейтингового контроля
Второй семестр
1. A literary work as an artistic whole.
2. The theme of the literary text.
3. The main problem of a story.
4. The main conflict.
5. The composition of the literary text.
6. The message of a literary work.
7. Character drawing.
8. The author’s attitude
Третий семестр
1. Conflict, different types of conflict
2. Setting and its functions.
3. Plot and plot structure.
4. Plot structure techniques.
5. A straight line narrative presentation
6. A complex narrative structure.
7. A circular pattern.
8. A frame structure.
9. Presentational sequencing.
10. Retardation.
11. Flashback.
12. Foreshadowing.
Четвертый семестр
1. System of images.
2. Character-image.
3. Main (central) character.
4. Types of character (simple, complex)
5. Author’s mouthpiece.
6. Caricature.
7. Artistic details and peculiarities
8. Types of characterization (direct and indirect).
9. Means of characterization.
10. Presentation of the character through action.
11. Speech characteristics.
12. Style markers.
Пятый семестр
1. Aspects of narrative method.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Narrative types.
Types of narrators.
The omniscient author.
The observer author.
The interrelationship between the narrative types and the types of narrators.
Two versions of one and the same story (the narrator’s subjective version and the
implied objective version).
8. The types of storyteller narrator: reliable narrator, unreliable narrator.
9. Two forms of presentation of the story: dramatic and pictorial.
10. The dominant point of view.
Шестой семестр
1. Tonal system.
2. Atmosphere.
3. The author’s attitude.
4. Tone. Scales in the variation of tone.
5. The indices of the tone (emotionally coloured words, tropes, figures of speech).
6. Humorous tone. Means of creation of the humorous tone.
7. Irony.
8. Prevailing tone. Overtones.
9. Interpretation of the artistic whole. Contents and form.
10. Elements related to the whole structure and the message of the story.
11. The theme of a story. Message. Implication.
12. Recurrence or repetition.
13. Symbol. Traditional and personal symbols.
14. Title. The functions of the title.