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english a > lit theory: prose > Flashcards

lit theory: prose Flashcards

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Proverbs and Idioms flashcards
1
Q

fiction

purpose, take-away

A
  • a figment of the author’s imagination
  • purpose: aesthetic, inspirational, entertaining, insightful
  • take-away: theme, moral, lesson
  • the reader must infer what’s going on
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2
Q

nonfiction

purpose, text features, take-away

A
  • true
  • purpose: informative, explanation, educational, instructive
  • text features: index, charts, graphs, photos, headings
  • take-away: information, directions
  • the reader is given direct information
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3
Q

recurring structural characterisitcs in any narration

A
  1. story
  2. time
  3. space
  4. character
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4
Q

story vs plot

A

story = chronological sequence of events
plot = literary device, the sequence and significance of events in a story; the blueprint on which a story is based

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5
Q

plot structure

Freytag’s pyramid

A
  1. Exposition ⇒ the beginning of the story, introduction to the characters, setting, plot
  2. Rising action ⇒ the plot develops, characters are in a state of conflict
  3. Climax ⇒ turning point of the story, conflict reaches its highest point (shortly before the end)
  4. Falling action ⇒ brief, result of the climax
  5. Denouement (resolution) ⇒ story is resolved
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6
Q

types of plot

A
  1. Quest ⇒ a call to a journey with a purpose, thrilling ordeals and a triumphant ending
  2. Comedy ⇒ to make the audience laugh about the nature of life
  3. Tragedy ⇒ a work that shows how life can be sad and unjust
  4. Rebirth ⇒ the main character goes through a change and discovers a truth by which to live a more fruitful life
  5. Rags to riches ⇒ improvement of a character from a lower, deprived state of living to a more enlightened and wealthy position in society
  6. Overcoming the monster ⇒ threatening a predator
  7. Voyage and redemption ⇒ main characters end up in a strange place and have to find a way home
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7
Q

setting

A
  • = the time and place where and when the story takes place
  • outdoor and indoor scenery
  • details about how characters behave, dress, … ⇒ add to the social setting of the story
  • internal context ⇒ the entire physical and emotional backdrop of where and when a story takes place
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8
Q

functions of setting

A
  1. mirror ⇒ to what degree the setting reflects the values of the real world, acts as social commentary
  2. mould ⇒ how the characters of a story are shaped by the world they inhabit
  3. escape ⇒ the setting may represent an escape from our own reality in order to reflect and comment on the reality of the author and/or reader
  4. alienation ⇒ the degree to which characters feel alienated from society
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9
Q

function of characters

more like kinds of characters, roles they play

A
  • main ⇒ the most important character, whose story we follow
  • secondary ⇒ support the main character, less developed than the main character
  • protagonist = the main character who propels the story towards a certain goal
  • antagonist = stands in the way of the protagonist, preventing them from achieving that goal
  • round (complex) ⇒ a fully developed, psychologically believable character that undergoes development
  • flat (static) ⇒ a character built around one main idea
  • foil = a character whose qualities contrast those of the main character in order to expose them to the reader
  • antihero = the protagonist who lacks the traditional heroic qualities of bravery, courage, morality, and the special ability and desire to achieve for the greater good
  • stock = a one-dimensional stereotypical character, often included to make a point or represent an idea, rather than a realistic portrayal of a person
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10
Q

elements of characterization

A
  • name
  • physical appearance
  • dialogue ⇒ what people say and in what way defines them
  • characters’ idiolect ⇒ all speakers use language in a unique way to them (using particular words, phrases, pronunciation, grammatical structures)
  • actions and behaviour ⇒ what characters do and how they behave in certain situations defines them
  • thoughts ⇒ characters are brought to life when the author gives us insight into their minds and way of thinking
  • setting and character ⇒ the setting usually reflects internal aspects of the characters
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11
Q

thoughts in plays and prose

A

plays: soliloquy, monologue, aside
prose: kinds of narration

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12
Q

character arc / development / transformation

A

= the transformation or journey of a character over the course of a story (the character begins as one sort of person and gradually transforms into a different sort of person as a consequence of developments in the story)

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13
Q

types of character arcs

A
  1. moral ascending ⇒ overcoming flaws
  2. moral descending ⇒ protagonists do not ultimately succeed, ending up worse off than in the beginning (the change is inherently negative, evil)
  3. flat ⇒ a character does not undergo any personal changes in their journey (more focused on the outcome of the plot)
  4. transformation ⇒ becoming a more capable version of themselves by gaining remarkable skills, power, wealth, climbing the social ladder
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14
Q

internal vs external conflict

A

Internal ⇒ within a character’s mind
External ⇒ a character battles forces outside of them (another person, nature, …)

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15
Q

types of conflict

A
  1. individual vs society
  2. one individual vs another
  3. individual vs circumstances that are out of the characters’ control (war, natural disasters, epidemic, aliens, …)
  4. individual vs himself
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16
Q

conflict: individual vs society

A
  • characters as victims of their time and place (setting), allowing authors to comment on the unjust principles of contemporary society
  • the main character shows the contrast between two value systems
  • external conflict
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17
Q

conflict: one individual vs another

A
  • one character is pitted against another
  • characters usually embody abstract ideas
  • external conflict
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18
Q

conflict: individual vs himself

A

inner conflicts, fear of failure, quest for self, …
people often identify with a character that represents the person’s own shortcomings

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19
Q

theme

def, stated?

A

= the central topic of a text
oftentimes, several themes coexist
implied, rather than stated explicitly, often through the use of symbols and motifs

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20
Q

motif vs symbol

A
  • motif = any recurring element that has significance in a story
  • symbol = characters, places or objects used to represent abstract ideas
  • motifs can take on symbolic significance and become symbols, but not every symbol can be a motif
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21
Q

narrator vs narrative voice

A

Narrator = a literary construct, through which author speaks to their readers
Narrative voice = the manner in which the story is told

22
Q

what does narrative voice consist of

A
  • narrator’s POV
  • narration
  • speech
  • tense
23
Q

narrator’s POV

A
  • first person (eye witness)
  • second person
  • third person
  • multiperspectivity
24
Q

first person narrator POV

A
  • usually through the protagonist whose inner thoughts are expressed to the audience, creating a close relationship between the narrator and reader
  • limited omniscience is not able to witness or understand all facets of any situation and gives a subjective account of events ⇒ the narrator is unreliable due to limited experience, age, intellectual capacity and hidden agendas
  • often in coming of age novels since they focus on the growth and development of the protagonist
  • frame narrator ⇒ the narrator’s own thoughts that we hear but a narration of someone else’s story
  • to provide direct insight into the mind of a character, which may give a biased or unreliable account of events which is done by creating a stream of consciousness
25
Q

stream of conciousness

A

= a method of narration that describes happenings in the flow of thoughts in the minds of the characters

26
Q

second person narrative POV

A

better to instructional texts
turns the reader into a protagonist, allowing the reader to feel that they are in control of the story

27
Q

third person POV

A

the narrator is an unspecified entity who conveys the story, is not a character of any kind within the story — simply a disembodied commentary or voice

28
Q

differentiation of narrator POV

A
  1. omniscient vs limited narration
  2. objective vs subjective narration
  3. unreliable vs reliable
29
Q

unreliable vs reliable narration

A

unreliable ⇒ not to be fully trusted due to age, mental or intellectual capacity, hidden agendas, limited experience, …
reliable ⇒ speaking from experience in a straightforward and credible manner

30
Q

omniscient vs limited narration

A

omniscient ⇒ knows everything about everyone, how they think, what the future holds for them
limited ⇒ the story follows just one character, important events in the story may happen off-scene (may initially be unknown to characters, the narrator)

31
Q

objective vs subjective narration

A

objective (fly on the wall) ⇒ the reader observes characters’ actions like a camera
subjective ⇒ readers are subjected to a biased account of events that are partial to one character

32
Q

multiperspectivity

A

alternating voice between first-person perspectives or alternating between first and third person point of views

33
Q

narration

what does it tell, kinds

A
  1. Direct narration ⇒ directly to the audience reading it, sometimes utilizing the second person
  2. Frame narration ⇒ the narrator is an outsider to the events that unfold or is directed from one character to another (a story within a story)
  3. Indirect narration ⇒ the reader is a witness to the story as if watching it happen from the outside, telling the story for the sake of it

the person the narrator is speaking to

34
Q

kinds of speech

A
  1. direct (quoted) speech
  2. indirect (reported) speech
  3. free indirect speech
35
Q

direct (quoted) speech

A
  • characters speak for themselves
  • indicated with the use of quotation marks
  • often found in indirect narration
  • the reader makes conclusions about what the character said independently
36
Q

indirect (reported) speech

A
  • ⇒ the narrator summarises spoken interaction without the use of quotation marks
  • the reader relies on the narrator to summarise the content of speech
  • often in direct narration
37
Q

free indirect speech

A
  • ⇒ writing a character’s first-person thoughts in the voice of the third party narrator
  • no obvious indications of speech (f.i. “he said”)
  • enables the reader to empathise with the protagonist while giving a sense of an objective point of view
38
Q

tenses in narration

A
  1. Past tense ⇒ used to describe past events: hindsight, wisdom, flashbacks
  2. Present tense ⇒ used to depict events occurring at the point of reading
  3. Dramatic (historical) present ⇒ used to describe past events by adding a dramatic tone (written in the present tense, concerning events that happened in the past)
  4. Future tense ⇒ used infrequently and may lend a prophetic tone
39
Q

register

A

= a type of language defined in terms of its appropriateness for the type of activity or context in which the language is used, including the purpose, audience and situation/context in which the text is created

40
Q

kinds of sentences

A
  1. Simple sentences ⇒ only one main clause; used for younger audiences and emphasises a need for clarity
  2. Compound sentences ⇒ with coordinating conjunctions like “and” and “but”
  3. Complex sentences ⇒ with subordinating conjunctions like “when”, “after”, “although” and “if”; used to explain more difficult relationships and ideas
41
Q

imagery

def

A

= the use figurative language to represent objects, actions, and ideas in such a way that it evokes sensory experiences

42
Q

kinds of imagery

A
  1. kinaesthetic ⇒ actions and movements of people and objects
  2. tactile ⇒ physical textures, sense of touch
  3. gustatory ⇒ flavours, sense of taste
  4. visual ⇒ graphics, visual scenes, sense of sight
  5. auditory ⇒ sounds, noises, sense of hearing
  6. olfactory ⇒ sense of smell
43
Q

literal vs figurative language

A

literal ⇒ meant to be taken literally
figurative ⇒ not meant to be taken literally and therefore creates a more imaginative picture for the reader (similes, metaphors, personification)

44
Q

ways of literary criticism

A
  1. formalism
  2. reader-response criticism
  3. historical-bibliographical criticism
  4. psychoanalytical literary criticism
  5. marxist social criticism
  6. feminist literary criticism
45
Q

formalism

A
  • argues that we should analyse, interpret, or evaluate only the inherent features of a text (grammar, syntax, literary devices)
  • neglects the importance of a text’s historical, biographical, and cultural context
  • a work of art is complete in itself and that one should interpret it in isolation from the socio-historical context in which it was created
  • neglects the author’s intention and the reader’s contribution to the text’s interpretation
46
Q

reader-response criticism

A
  • literature should be viewed as a performing art in which each reader creates their own, possibly unique, text-related performance (interpretation)
  • each reader’s interpretation of the text will be influenced by that reader’s experience, history, knowledge, beliefs, …
  • encourages critical analysis and close reading
  • important contextual information is ignored
47
Q

historical-bibliographical criticism

A
  • a work is a reflection of its author’s life and time ⇒ one must understand:
  • the socio-cultural and historical circumstances in which the text was written and that influenced the author
  • the author’s life biographical details that influenced the literary work
  • new and modern interpretations of old texts are discounted
  • allows for greater contextual understanding
48
Q

psychoanalytical literary criticism

A
  • draws on the works Sigmund Freud
  • analysis of texts, revealing the internal conflicts of the author and characters, which are supposed to embody suppressed emotions
  • texts are full of symbols that represent our subconscious, fears, anxieties
  • storylines reflect battles between the Id (our animalistic urges) and the Ego, Superego (our self-regulating habits)
49
Q

marxist social criticism

A
  • draws on the works of Karl Marx
  • to understand any literary text, one must analyse the economic base of the society it was written in
  • how literature reflects the social structure of the society that created the work
50
Q

feminist literary criticism

A

analyses and describes the ways in which literature portrays the narrative of male domination by exploring the economic, social, political, and psychological forces embedded within literature

english a (4 decks)

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