2018-03-09
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Prose stories come in two basic forms: novels and short stories. Novels are long stories, with distinct beginnings, middles, and ends. Novels are usually divided into several chapters, and they have characters, setting, and plot. Many novels use dialogue to allow characters to talk to each other. Prose stories are also called fiction, something that is made up. Some writers create fiction entirely from their imaginations. Other writers create fiction based on real events or people.
Short stories also have beginnings, middles, and ends. They use characters, plot, and setting.
Glossary of Fiction Forms
Although some stories are difficult to describe, others fit neatly into standard categories:
Allegory A story in which the characters stand for ideas such as Love, Pride, Greed, or Tolerance. The plot usually has a message or moral about real life.
Fable Like an allegory but short, with fewer characters and a simple moral. Aesop, a writer in ancient Greece, is probably the best-known fabulist, or writer of fables.
Fairy Tale An adventure in which the heroes are often royalty or beloved by royalty and the villains are evil witches, sorcerers, or monsters.
Fantasy A tale set in an imaginary world with imaginary characters. For example, animals can talk and fairies roam the countryside in fantasies.
Historical Fiction Stories based on history, with fictional main characters. Historical fiction is sometimes set in real places and includes real people among its characters.
Horror. Tales about scary things, from ghosts and goblins to monsters and murderers.
Informational Fiction A story or book that uses fictional characters or settings to tell about real things. For example, a story that explains science experiments might be told by a science teacher working in a fictional lab.
Legend An exaggerated story about a real person or event. For example, there is a story that George Washington, first president of the USA, could never tell a lie.
Mystery Stories in which a problem is created by an unknown element. Mysteries are often crime stories. The main characters in mysteries are frequently detectives searching for a solution.
Myth A story made up to explain real events. Myths help us understand the beliefs and everyday life of the people described in them. Myths once were used to answer difficult questions, such as how the moon and stars were created, why the seasons change, why the leopard has spots, etc. They also explained the relationships of human beings and gods. Almost every culture in the world has its own set of myths.
Realistic Fiction Stories with imaginary characters and events that are so believable that they could take place in the real world.
Romance Stories in which the main character or characters are looking for love and happiness. Some romances are historical and share many features of historical fiction.
Science Fiction Stories, often set in the future, that use elements of modern science. Some science fiction stories are set on other planets. Others tell of aliens landing on Earth or of computers that run the world.
Tall Tales Humorous stories that are full of exaggeration. Tall tales may or may not be about real people or events.
True Adventure Stories based on real people or real events, but the plot, setting, and characters are partly made up by the author.
Setting
Where does the story take place? What kind of world do the characters live in? The term we use to refer to the general locale and the historical time in which a story occurs is the setting. The term is also used to refer to the particular physical location in which an episode or scene within the story takes place. The general setting of a novel may be, for example, a large city like London, while the setting of the opening scene may be the kitchen of the main character.
Some settings are relatively unimportant. They serve simply as a decorative backdrop helping the reader to visualise the action and adding authenticity to the story. Other settings are closely linked to the meaning of the work: the author focuses on elements of setting to create atmosphere or mood, or the setting plays a major role in shaping the characters' identity and destiny.
Broadly speaking, there is a direct ratio between the attention given to the setting and its importance in the total work. If the setting is sketched briefly, we can assume that it is of little importance, or that the writer wishes us to think that the action could take place anywhere and at any time. If, on the other hand, the passages describing the setting are extensive and highly developed, or are written in connotative or poetic language, we can assume that the setting is being used for more profound or symbolic purposes.
Some of the main functions of setting are:
Setting as a mirror
The setting may reflect a prevailing mood or reinforce the emotions felt by a character; barren landscapes may mirror despair and desperation; stormy weather may provide a suitable backdrop for emotional turmoil. However, the setting may also be ironic or comment on the characters' state of mind or behaviour in an indirect way.
Setting as an antagonist
The setting of the story often shapes the characters' identities and destinies -making people what they are. Someone growing up in an inner city slum is likely to have a different outlook on and approach to life than someone who has grown up in wide open rural spaces, in close contact with nature. Stories sometimes show us characters that are direct products of their environment, reflecting its moods and values. Often, however, stories depict characters who rebel against their restrictive settings and fight to break free of their stifling environment.
Setting as a way of revealing character
The manner in which a character perceives the setting may tell the reader more about the character and his or her state of mind than about the setting itself. When, for example, an urban landscape is described by a character as 'desolate' and 'ominous', the writer may be telling us more about how the character is feeling rather than accurately describing the setting. The writer is using the outer world setting to give us an insight into the character's inner world.
Setting as a means of reinforcing theme
The setting may also reinforce and clarify the theme of a novel or short story. The physical setting in which the action takes place may symbolically represent the central ideas of the work. A solitary house in bleak, hostile surroundings may reinforce the theme of man's struggle against nature. Many modern novels take place in what are termed 'alien settings', where even the familiar seems unfamiliar. The characters are often exiles, tourists or expatriates, and the inhospitable setting reinforces the theme of loss of roots and loss of home which is common to much modern fiction.
Setting in time
The historical period, time of year and time of day are all important features of the setting. The fact, for example, that most of a story's action takes place at night may create an atmosphere of mystery, violence or conspiracy. Authors often use the traditional associations with the seasons and the cycle of the day to create appropriate time settings for their work, for example spring-morning-youth.
Social setting
While the setting refers to the time and place in which the action occurs, the term social setting is used to indicate the social environment in which a story takes place. The social setting of a novel or story may be explicitly indicated by the author or it may be conveyed through the use of social or class markers, i.e. the way the characters talk, where and how they live, the clothes they wear, how they eat, and so on. Like the physical and temporal setting, the social setting may be relatively unimportant or it may play a determining role in a novel or story. In many novels characters are presented as products of their social class, and many authors have explored the themes of conformity to or rebellion against the values and mores of specific social settings.
Symbols
A symbol is an example of what is called the transference of meaning. Writers take a concrete item - an object, a colour, a person, a place - and attribute a deeper meaning to it. A symbol may be a detail, an object, a character or an incident. II exists first as something literal and concrete in the work, but it also has the capacity to evoke in the mind of the reader a range of invisible and abstract associations. By definition symbols are open-ended. A given symbol will evoke different responses in different readers. There is, however, an acceptable range of possible readings and any interpretation of a symbol must be confirmed by the rest of the work.
The identification and understanding of symbols demands awareness and intelligence of the reader. It involves the reader directly in the creative process, asking him to add his own intellectual and emotional responses. Through this collaboration the work is enriched and enlarged.
Cultural or shared symbols
Many symbolic associations are widely recognised and accepted: the dawn with hope, the serpent with evil, the colour white with innocence, light with knowledge, dark with ignorance. Writers often make use of these cultural or shared symbols. Readers must not, however, automatically apply conventional meanings to these symbols. Sometimes writers will enlarge or narrow the meaning of a cultural symbol. The reader must first carefully examine how the symbol is used in the text before assigning meaning.
Literary or personal symbols
Authors also use their own original symbols. Personal or literary symbols do not have pre-established associations: the meaning that is attached to them emerges from the context of the work in which they occur. A particular landscape or certain atmospheric conditions may become associated with a character's emotional state. A colour or an object may take on a secondary meaning. A recurring gesture or a character may be given symbolic meaning.
Guidelines for identifying and understanding symbols
When does an object, character or action cease to be just part of the story and begin to develop symbolic associations? There is no simple answer to this question. Ultimately, the reader must develop his own awareness through receptive and responsive reading. There are, however, some broad guidelines he can follow. The principal techniques that writers use for creating symbols are:
• repetition: the reader should take note of multiple references to a particular object or the recurrence of the same gesture;
• ephasis: does, the author seem to pay particular attention to some element, describe it in detail or use poetic or connotative language when referring to it?
• associations automatically made with shared symbols: the reader should try to understand if the author wishes him to make conventional associations with the symbol or if he has added his own personal significance.
While there is a risk that a reader may not identify symbols, there is also the danger that he may see symbolic importance where the writer did not intend it. 'Symbol hunting', i.e. attributing symbolic status to objects, characters or actions when there is little evidence in the text that they should be viewed as a symbol, should be avoided.
Theme
Theme is the central idea that directs and shapes the subject matter of a story, play or poem. It is the views of life or the insights into human experiences that the author wishes to communicate to his readers. In certain types of literature (fables, parables and propaganda pieces) the theme emerges forcefully as a moral or a lesson that the author wishes to teach, while in others the theme is embedded in the story. In the past, writers openly stated the theme of their work. They usually put the words into the mouth of a character or used an omniscient narrator to voice their opinions. If the theme of a work is clearly stated in the text, we refer to it as an overt theme. Most modern writers are reluctant to state the themes of their work openly. They prefer to encourage the readers to think and draw their own conclusions. When the theme is hidden in the action, characters, setting and language of a story, we refer to it as an implied theme.
Theme versus subject
The theme of a literary work should not be confused with the subject or the story. To say that a work is about 'love' is not identifying the theme; it is merely stating the subject matter. Saying what happens in a story is also not a way of identifying the theme; it is simply summarising the plot. The theme is the abstract, generalised comment or statement the author makes about the subject of the story. It is the answer to the question 'What does the story mean?', not 'What is the story about?'.
Formulating theme
When formulating the theme of a literary work, hasty generalisations and cliches should be avoided. Sweeping statements about life are rarely enlightening, so writers tend to avoid them. They are more inclined to explore complex issues and propose tentative answers.
Supporting theme
The theme of a poem, play or story should emerge from and be confirmed by the analysis of plot, characters, setting, imagery, sound features and style. If the theme that is proposed leaves certain elements unexplained, or if there are aspects of the story that do not support the theme, then it is probably incomplete or incorrect.
The title of the work
The title the author gives the work should always be taken into careful consideration when trying to identify the theme. The title often suggests the focus of the work and may provide clues about its meaning.
Multiple themes
A single work may contain several themes and readers may identify different, even opposing themes in the same work. Any theme that is supported by the other elements of the work should be considered valid.
Graphic
Punctuation
Understanding graphic is very important: pay attention to the size of letters, paragraphing and the location of lines, capital letters, and punctuation.
Apostrophe is a figure of speech consisting of speech addressed to a person not present or to a thing. In dramatic works and in poetry it is often introduced by the word С O Т (not СohТ):
СO grave, where is your victim?Т
A whole word can be in the CAPITAL LETTERS as being very important: СWILL YOU BE QUIET!Т he shouted.
It is a writing English tradition to capitalize all the meaningful words in the titles of books СThree Men in a Boat, to Say Nothing of the DogТ
Nowadays it has become popular among modern writers to use only small letters in the titles in their own names:
Сunder milk wood
(by) dylan thomasТ
Italics is also very important and one should always pay attention to it during the analysis.
The combination of sound and graphic together make impression on the reader, as graphic conveys the pauses, rhythm, tone and so helps Уinner readingФ.
Usually graphic conveys the emotional colouring of the poem. Spelling is as important as punctuation. Punctuation serves to show the authorТs attitude to the written.
? and! show that the text is very emotional negatively or positively.! often shows irony or irritation
The role of the hyphen is very important as it denotes emotional pauses: СPlease, - not that!Т Emotional pauses are also shown by suspension marks СЕТ which reflect different emotions of the heroes: embarrassment, confusion, hesitation, etc.A suspension mark before a word can denote that it is an important word and in that way the author draws attention to it. The row of three dots (Е) - dot-dot-dot, or asterisks (***) suspension point indicate the intentional omission.
The absence of punctuation markers is magnificent, very often used by modern poet. Stylistic usage of the absence of punctuation markers is different with different authors: it may convey Сstream of consciousnessТ, endless relations of times and cultures, events in the life of a person, endless movement.
