Part 2. The setting, the structure and the plot
LITERARY ANALYSIS
Part 1. The author and his book, the problems he deals with.
1.The author ranks among …; he belongs to the school of critical realism (romantic or modernistic school); he is appreciated mainly for short stories; the author is known for the depth and subtlety of his psychological portraits; is known for the peculiar sense of humour; his satire is directed against …; he responds to the most urgent social issues of the day; with irony and compassion; keen understanding; he reveals the modes and manners of the changing world with all its excitements and frustrations; he is a shrewd observer; he deeply
penetrates into the problems of…
2. The author's main work.
3. The place of the book among other works of his. The book (story) under discussion is a part of trilogy, is taken from the collection of short stories, is his well-known novel, etc.
4 The book deals with (the problem of war and peace, personal relations in society, vices of society fate of an artist, fate of a little man. generation gap, the problem of a child growing up into an adult, degradation of a man, frustration of a creative man in a pragmatic world, hopelessness of life brought about by age, loss of love, financial and moral disasters); the work is written in the realistic tradition attempting to see life as it is with emphasis on the difficulties, absurdities and ironies of life; on imagination and sentiment; in the naturalistic, symbolic, allegorical etc. tradition.
5. The title of the book. (It may be suggestive or misleading).
Part 2. The setting, the structure and the plot.
The particular time and physical location of the story form the setting. It can have various functions in the story: I) it can provide a realistic background 2) it can evoke the necessary atmosphere. 3) it can help describe the characters indirectly.
Any work of fiction consists of relatively independent elements - narration, description, dialogue, interior monologue, digressions, etc. Narration is dynamic, it gives a continuous account of events. Description is static, it is a verbal portraiture of an object, person or thing. Through the dialogue the characters are better portrayed. Interior monologue renders the thoughts and feelings of a character. Digression consists of aninsertion of material that. has no immediate relation to the theme or action. It may be lyrical, philosophical or critical. The interrelation between different components of a literary text is called composition.
The plot is an arrangement of meaningful events. Sometimes a plot follows the chronological order of events. At other times there are jumps back and forth in time (flashbacks and foreshadowing).
The four structural components of the plot are exposition, the body of the text and complication, climax
and denouement.
Exposition contains a short presentation of time, place and characters of the story. The body of the text is its main part. Complication is .a .separate incident helping to unfold the action and might involve thoughts and feelings as well.
Climax is the decisive moment on which the fate of the characters and the final action depend. It is the point at which the forces in the conflict reach the highest intensity. Denouement means "the untying of a knot" which is precisely what happens in this phase.
The way a story is presented is a key element in fictional structure. It is important to distinguish between the author, the person who wrote the story and the narrator the person or voice telling the story. The author may select a first-person narrative when one of the characters tells of things that he or she only saw or felt or a third-person narrative when it is written on behalf of an observer, a secondary character, etc.
The extract may present (description of the character's relation to…; psychological portrait; description of the main character in a crisis; the character's meditations on…)
The description of nature (it may serve as a background of character's thoughts, may show a glaring contrast between the feelings of the character and the harmony of nature). The story may touch upon very significant problems: it may be devoted to one of the basic problems of man's life, the background of the story is…; it brings out the problem of…
The tone may be vivid, credible, convincing, objective, sincere, emotional, touching, analytic, generalizing, critical, subjective, prejudiced.
The general tone of the story may be matter-of-fact humorous, ironic, sarcastic, romantic dramatic, tragic, sad, bitter, pessimistic, nostalgic.
The characters.
Characters are called round if they are complex and develop or change in the course of the story. Flat characters are usually one-sided, constructed round a single trait.
The conflict may be external (between human beings or between man and the environment). The internal conflict takes place in the mind. The two parties in the conflict are called the protagonist and his or her antagonist. The description of the different aspects of a character is known as characterization when the author describes the character himself, or makes another do it, it is direct characterization. When the author shows the character in action, and lets the reader judge for himself the author uses the indirect method of characterization.
A character may be (affable, amiable, good-natured, good-humoured, kind, sociable, friendly, modest, discreet, generous, considerate, attentive, thoughtful, earnest, sincere, enthusiastic, quiet, calm, composed,
self-possessed, honest, merciful, impartial, just, patient, sympathetic, respectable, cordial, .broad-minded,
witty, intelligent, dignified, capable, philanthropic, scrupulous, easy-going, affectionate, devoted, loyal,
courageous, persevering, industrious, hard-working, sweet, gentle, proud, strong-willed, intelligent, smart,
neat, bright, resourceful, full of ideas, brave, having perfect control of...) or ( ill-natured, unkind, reserved., unsociable, hostile, haughty, arrogant, dashing, showy, indiscreet, unscrupulous, greedy, inconsistent, tactless, insincere, hypocritical, false, vulgar, double-faced, indifferent, dispassionate, fussy, dishonest, cruel, partial, intolerant, conceited, self-willed, perverse, insensible, inconsiderate, deceitful, harsh, sulky, sullen, obstinate, coarse, rude, vain, impertinent, impudent, revengeful, ignorant, snobbish, shallow)
A character's mood may be (sentimental, content, happy, miserable, elated, angry, hardly keeping his temper on the point of, bursting into tears, romantic).
The author may describe the character in detail, but do not pass his judgement on him and to reveal his standpoint we have to consider various elements of the text structure which are expressive in this aspect. The character's background, the desires, motivating his behaviour may be given alongside with his actions. Psychological condition of the character may be evident in his speech and characteristics.