METAPHORS and STYLES in FICTION

METAPHOR (Figure of Speech)

Is a mode of expression in which words are used out their literal meaning or out of their ordinary

use.

IRONY

Irony is a literary or rhetorical device, in which there is an incongruity or discordance between what one says or does, and what one means or what is generally understood.

DRAMATIC IRONY

This irony presents a situation in which the audience knows something about present and future circumstances that the character does not know.

VERBAL IRONY

This is a contradiction between what is said and what is meant. This is implied and refers to spoken words only. This is usually referred to as SARCASM.

SITUATIONAL IRONY

Water, water, every where,And all the boards did shrink; Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

S.T. Coleridge

SITUATIONAL IRONY

This is a contradiction of expectation between WHAT might be expected and WHAT ACTUALLY occurs which is often connected to fatalistic or pessimistic view of life.

PARADOX

Paradox is a statement that appears self-contradictory but actually has a basis in truth."If you wish to preserve your secret, wrap it up in frankness" (Alexander Smith).

ALLUSION

Allusion is "a passing or casual reference; an incidental mention of something, either directly or by implication." It is a brief, usually indirect reference to a person, place, or event--real or fictional

ALLUSION

"I violated the Noah rule: predicting rain doesn't

count; building arks does."(Warren Buffett).

FLASHBACK

FORESHADOW

EPIPHANY

DEUS EX MACHINA

LITERARY THEORIES

FORMALISMFormalism emphasizes the FORM of a literary work to determine its meaning, focusing on literary elements such as plot, character, setting, diction, imagery, structure, and point-of-view.

“…analysis of PARTS.”

Literature can be read through a variety of lenses.

The formalist perspective concentrates on the form of the literature itself.

Formalism allows the reader to analyze a literary piece with complete objectivity.

FORM

ALISM

FORM

ALISM•The name of the author is not important.•The time in which the author lived is not important.•Any cultural impact on the author’s life is not important. •The political beliefs of the author are not important. •The actual reader is not important.

FORM

ALISM•Great literature is UNIVERSAL.

•CLOSE READING technique

•Focuses on AMBIGUITY and TENSION

1. How is the work structured or organized? How does it begin? Where does it go next? How does it end? What is the work’s plot? How is its plot related to its structure?

2. What is the relationship of each part of the work to the work as a whole? How are the parts related to one another?

3. Who is narrating or telling what happens in the work? How is the narrator, speaker, or character revealed to the readers? How do we come to know to understand this figure?

4. Who are the major and minor characters, what do they represent, and how do they relate to one another?

5. What are the time and place of the work – its setting? How is the setting related to what we know of the characters and their actions? To what extent is the setting symbolic?

6. What kind of language does the author use to describe, narrate, explain, or otherwise create the world of the literary work? What is their function? What meanings do they convey?

MARXISMBased on the political theory of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, Marxism examines literature for it reflection of how dominant elite and middle-class (bourgeois) values lead to the control and suppression of the working classes.

Promotes social and economic revolution

Concerned both with understanding the role of politics, money, and power in literary works, and with redefining and reforming the way society distributes its resources among the classes.

Focuses on the relationships among classes in relationship to the text’s social and economic context.

1. What social forces or institutions are represented in the work? How are these forces portrayed? What is the author’s/ text’s attitude toward them?

2. What political economic elements appear in the work? How important are they in determining or influencing the lives of the characters?

3. What economic issues appear in the course of the work? How important are economic facts in influencing the motivation and behavior of the characters?

4. To what extent are the lives of the characters influenced or determined by social, political, and economic forces? To what extent are the characters aware of these forces?

5. What is the author’s analysis of class relations?

6. How do characters overcome oppression?7. Does the work serve as a propaganda for

the status quo, or does it try to undermine it?

8. What does the work say about oppression? Are social conflicts ignored or blamed elsewhere?

9. Does the work propose some form of utopian vision as a solution to the problems encountered in the work?

FEMINISM

Feminism examines the social and cultural aspects of literary works, especially for what those works reveal about the role, position, and influence of WOMEN.

FEMINISM

seeks to redress the imbalance of literary study in which all important books are written by men, or characters of real interest are male protagonists – leads to the study of women writers and their works, which have been neglected

focuses on how women are portrayed in the text amid the masculinist society

FEMINISM

FOUR CENTRAL TENETS of FEMINISM

(M.H. Abrams)

FEMINISM

1. Civilization is pervasively patriarchal2. The prevailing concepts of gender3. Great literature written by men for

men4. Masculine assumptions in the

criteria used for analyzing and appraising literary works

Feminist Criticism

Asserts that most of our literature presents a masculine-patriarchal view in which the role of women is negated or at best minimized.

Feminist View

Attempts to show that writers of traditional literature have ignored women and have transmitted misguided and prejudiced views of them;

Attempts to stimulate the creation of a critical environment that reflects a balanced view of the nature and value of women;

Feminist View

Attempts to recover the works of women writers of past times and to encourage the publication of present women writers so that the literary canon may be expanded to recognize women as thinkers and artists; and

Urges transformations in the language to eliminate inequities and inequalities that result from linguistic distortions.

1. Is the author male or female?2. Is the text narrated by a male or

female?3. What types of roles do women have in

the text?4. Are the female characters the

protagonists or secondary and minor characters?

5. Do any stereotypical characterizations of women appear?

6. What are the attitudes toward women held by the male characters?

7. What are the attitudes toward women held by the male characters?

8. What is the author’s attitude toward women in society?

9. How does the author’s culture influence his or her attitude?

10.Is feminine imagery used? If so, what is the significance of such imagery?

11.Do the female characters speak differently than do the male characters? In your investigation, compare the frequency of speech for the male characters to the frequency of speech for the female characters?