Interpretation of Literature Midterm
Short Story
-A brief fictional prose narrative that often centers on a particular episode or event. -The short story may be distinguished from the even briefer prose narrative from known as the anecdote by its meticulous and deliberate craftsmanship. -It may also be distinguished from the longer novel form by its relatively simple purpose, which is generally to reveal essential aspects of a character or characters, not to show character development over time. -Unlike novels, short stories usually have a single focus and produce a specific dramatic revelation or effect (often the result of opposing motivations or forces) towards which the story builds and to which everything else in the story is subordinate.
Explication de Texte
-French for "explanation of text," a method of literary analysis that originated in late-nineteenth-century France involving close reading of the text. Explication de texte, which features a detailed examination of a short poem or passage as a means of elucidating the work as a whole, was once the chief method and remains a prominent mode of exegesis in French literary study. -Only elements that bear directly on the interpretation of the text and a further understanding of its meaning are considered; hence practitioners of this method concentrate on diction, imagery, style, symbolism, tone, and so forth. -As a critical term in English, explication is synonymous with close reading.
Genre
-From the French for "kind" or "type," the classification of literary works on the basis of their content, form, or technique.
Poetry
-Literary expression characterized by particular attention to rhythm, sound, and the concentrated, concrete use of language. -A major literary genre, poetry has been defined and describe in so many different ways that one might easily argue that there are as many ways to characterize it as there are people. -First, poetry is a subset of verse, any rhythmical or metrical composition, by virtue of its imaginative quality, intricate structure, serious or lofty subject matter, or noble purpose. -Second, poetry is often contrasted with fiction. -Third, poetry is often contrasted with prose. At the level of form, poetry emphasizes the line rather than the sentence and is organized in stanza rather than paragraph. At the level of meaning many critics argue that prose lends itself more readily to paraphrase. - While poetry can be approached intellectually, it is an equally emotional experience. Poetry is rich with a suggestiveness born from the interplay words and sounds.
Point of View
-One of the elements of fiction -Perspective or angle of vision, from which a narrator presents a story. -Tells us about the narrator as well as about the characters, setting, and theme of a story. -First person and third person narration are common
Theme
-One of the elements of fiction, the main idea that is explored in a story. -Characters, plot, settings, point of view, and style all contribute to a theme's development. -May be complex, often with interrelated sub themes
Character
-One of the elements of fiction, usually the people of a work of literature. -Characters may also be animals or some other beings. -Those about whom a story is told and sometimes, too, the ones tellings the story. -May be minor, or may be major -May be complex, simple, flat, or round
Setting
-One of the elements of fiction. -context for the action: the time, place, culture, and atmosphere in which the action occurs -A work may have several settingsl the relation among them may be significant to the meaning of the work
Plot
-One of the elements of fiction; the sequence of major events in a story, usually in a cause-effect relation. Plot and character are intimately related since characters carry out the plot's action. -May also be described as simple or complex, depending on their degree of complication.
Close Reading
-The nuanced and thorough analysis of a literary text. -Close reading places particular emphasis on the interrelationships among textual elements (such as allusions, diction, images, and sound effects) and provides a means of interpreting the text and illuminating its complexities and ambiguities. -Close reading is often associated with explication de texte, a method of explanation that originated in France.
"A Note on Money"
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"Austen's Social World"
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"Conduct Book"
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Reviews on Pride and Prejudice
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Symbol
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Prose Poem
A brief, rhythmic composition blending prose and verse, ranging from several lines to several pages. Prose poems are written in sentences, without the line breaks characteristic to poetry, but are heavily marked by the use of poetic devices such as figurative language, imagery, repetition, or even rhyme.
Confessional Poetry
A contemporary poetic mode in which poets discuss matters relating to their private lives. Confessional poets go beyond romanticism's emphasis on individual experience in their use of intimate detail and often psychoanalytic terms to describe even their most painful experiences. The reader is often addressed directly by the confessional poet, who typically expresses some very private confusion or sorrow.
Black Humor
A dark, disturbing, and often morbid or grotesque mode of comedy found in certain, generally postmodern, texts. Such humor often concerns death, suffering, or other anxiety-inducing subjects. Black humor usually goes hand in hand with a pessimistic worldview or tone, expressing a sense of hopelessness in a wry, sardonic, and grimly humorous way
Novel
A lengthy fictional prose narrative. -The novel is distinguished from the novella, a shorter fictional prose work that ranges from 50- 100 pages. -The greater length of the novel, especially compared with even briefer prose works such as the short story and the tale, permits authors to develop one or more characters, to establish their motivation, and to construct intricate plots.
Dramatic Monologue
A lyric poem in which the speaker addresses a silent listener, revealing himself or herself in the context of a dramatic situation. The speaker provides information not only about his or her personality but also about the time, the setting, key events, and any other characters involved in the situation at hand.
Class
A matter of birth in some older, socially stratified cultures; since the Industrial Revolution, a term more generally used to refer to social, and especially economic groups. Class status depends not only on economic production -- whether one produces wealth as do laborers or enjoys surplus wealth as do the bourgeoisie-- but also on patterns of consumption; ethnic, political, and national affiliations; social goals, expectations, opportunities, and so on. Literary texts are among the most powerful forms of cultural discourse, and as such they may attest to, perpetuate, or critique the class divisions prevalent in a given culture at a given period of history. Indeed, a work of literature may simultaneously perpetuate and critique the class structure.
Free Indirect Discourse
A mode of presenting discourse, the thoughts or statements of a character in a work, that blends third person narration and the first person point-of-view. Free indirect discourse gives the reader a sense of being inside a character's head without actually quoting his thoughts or statements. Describing the mode, Roy Pascal wrote: 'On the one hand, it evokes the person, through his words, tone of voice, and gesture, with incomparable vivacity. On the other, it embeds the character's statement or thoughts in the narrative flow, and even more importantly in the narrator's interpretation, communicating also his way of seeing and feeling.'
Unreliable Narrator
A narrator who, intentionally or unintentionally, fails to provide an accurate report of events or situations and whose credibility is therefore compromised. Unreliability may result from a wide range of causes, such as innocence and immaturity, lack of information, mental disabilities or other impairments, bias or prejudice, or deliberate lying. Authors using unreliable narrators generally provide the reader with sufficient information to assess the narrator's reliability and correct misinterpretations; some, however leave the narrator's reliability open to question.
Bildungsroman
A novel that recounts the development (psychological and sometimes spiritual) of an individual from childhood or adolescence to maturity, to the point at which the protagonist recognizes his or her place and role in the world.
Paradox
A statement that seems self-contradictory or nonsensical on the surface but that, upon closer examination, may express an underlying truth. A rhetorical figure, paradox provokes the reader or audience to see something in a new way.
Play
A story, in verse or prose, that is generally intended to be performed onstage (in a theater and in the presence of an audience) by actors who deliver the dialogue, perform actions, and follow the stage directions written by the author.
Irony
A way of writing or speaking that asserts the opposite of what the author, reader, and character know to be true. Verbal or rhetorical irony accomplishes these contradictory meanings by direct misstatements. Situational irony is achieved when events in a narrative turn out to be very different from, or even opposite to, what is expected.
Image
As an artistic term, image usually refers to an artistic representation of the visible world and to the mental impressions conjured up by such a representation. In literature, it most often denotes descriptive or figurative language used to produce mental impressions in the mind of the reader as well as the impressions themselves.
"Ulysses"
Author: Alfred, Lord Tennyson Poem -dramatic monologue: the entire poem is spoken by a single character, whose identity is revealed by his own words. -need of going forward and braving the struggle of life -Ulysses= speaker, talking to sailors he sailed w/ before... talking about life, how it is, how it was, how it will be -Tennyson lived during a period of great scientific advancement, and he used his poetry to work out the conflict between religious faith and scientific discoveries.
"Everyday Use"
Author: Alice Walker Short Story Themes: -The Meaning of Heritage: Angered by what she views as a history of oppression in her family, Dee has constructed a new heritage for herself and rejected her real heritage. She fails to see the family legacy of her given name and takes on a new name, Wangero, which she believes more accurately represents her African heritage. However, the new name, like the "African" clothes and jewelry she wears to make a statement, is meaningless. She has little true understanding of Africa, so what she considers her true heritage is actually empty and false. Furthermore, Dee views her real heritage as dead, something of the past, rather than as a living, ongoing creation.When Dee contends at the end of the story that Mama and Maggie do not understand their heritage, Walker intends the remark to be ironic: clearly, it is Dee herself who does not understand her heritage. -The Divisive Power of Education: Dee was fortunate that Mama gave her the opportunity for advantages and refinements, but they have served only to create a wedge between Dee and the rest of the family. Walker sets up this contrast to reveal an ironic contradiction: Dee's voracious quest for knowledge has led to her alienation from her family, while the lack of education has harmed and stifled Maggie. Both education and the lack of it have proven to be dangerous for the sisters. -Motifs: Eye Contact and Eyesight:Throughout the story, the presence or absence of eye contact and strong eyesight reveals the difficulty that Mama, Dee, and Maggie have in relating to one another and, in Maggie and Mama's case, to the outside world. Mama is unable to look a white person in the eye, suggesting that she has never managed to embrace the idea of equality, whereas Dee can do so easily. Maggie can't look anyone in the eye at all, hanging her head as she walks, portraying herself as a silent victim. -Quilt: "Everyday Use" focuses on the bonds between women of different generations and their enduring legacy, as symbolized in the quilts they fashion together.
"Two Kinds"
Author: Amy Tan Short Story Two Themes: Taking pride in yourself and what you accomplish. Standing up for yourself regardless of what anyone else has to say. Conflict in the story: over piano lessons, Jing-Mei wants to quit and her mother wants her to keep playing.
Marginalia
Author: Billy Collins -Poem -It's about how books aren't just books, they are vehicles for communication. A brand new book, being read by its first person ever, communicates with that reader alone. As the book travels through life picking up notes and spills and tearstains it becomes a way for each reader to communicate with not only the thoughts of the author but with all the things left behind by those other readers. Sometimes what we see of them is mundane, sometimes it is perplexing. It can be predictable or unique. It can heighten our understanding of the book or it can cause us to sneer at the ignorance of callow youth. Sometimes it can make us feel a kinship and at others it is an isolating thing. It can nearly break our heart, seen at the right moment in our lives.
"Hills Like White Elephants"
Author: Ernest Hemingway Short Story Summary: Story takes place at a train station in the Ebro River of Spain. Hot and dry day, and the scenery in the valley is barren and ugly for the most part. Two main characters: Man (the American") and his female companion (Jig). They are waiting for the traint o Madrid; drink beer. Talk about an operation the American is attempting to convince the girl to undergo. Although never mentioned, it is made clear that the girl is pregnant and the procedure in question is abortion. -American does not want the baby, girl could see the child as an extraordinary addition to her ordinary life of drinking and mindless traveling. -The train tracks form a dividing line between the barren expanse of land stretching toward the hills on one side and the green, fertile farmland on the other, symbolizing the pregnancy.
"A Good Man is Hard to Find"
Author: Flannery O'Connor Short Story -The title of the story, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," echoes Red Sammy Butts in his conversation with The Grandmother. The mistrust of others in general is a continuing theme throughout O'Connor's short stories, and in her conversation with Red Sammy Butts, The Grandmother confirms her belief in this idea: "It isn't a soul in this green world of God's that you can trust." This belief contradicts her Christian faith, of course, but in the end her Christian faith results in the achievement of Grace. -Grace, an important theme to O'Connor, is given to both The Grandmother and The Misfit, neither of whom is particularly deserving. As she realizes what is happening, The Grandmother begins to beg The Misfit to pray so that Jesus will help him. Right before The Misfit kills her, The Grandmother calls him one of her own children, recognizing him as a fellow human capable of being saved by God's Grace. Even though he murders her, the Misfit is implied to have achieved some level of Grace as well when he ends the story by saying, "It's no real pleasure in life." Earlier in the story, he claimed the only pleasure in life was meanness. -Eyes are an important symbol in many of O'Connor's short stories, and here they indicate a character's mindset. The Grandmother's eyes are bright as she listens to "The Tennessee Waltz" on the jukebox at The Tower. As Bailey makes a single effort to argue with The Misfit before he is led into the woods to be killed, his eyes are described as "blue and intense." After they hear the gunshots that signal the deaths of Bailey and John Wesley, The Mother and June Stars' eyes are "glassy." After he kills The Grandmother and removes his glasses, "The Misfit's eyes were red-rimmed and pale and defenseless-looking."
"The Mother"
Author: Gwendolyn Brooks Poem -"The Mother," by Gwendolyn Brooks, is about a mother who has experienced a number of abortions and now has remorse. You can feel the remorse she is going through when reading the poem. She is regretful, yet explains that she had no other choice. It is a heartfelt poem where she talks bout how she will not be able to do certain things for the children that she aborted. This poem may be a reflection of what many other women are dealing with. - The depiction of the narrator—honest, reflective, and self-aware—prevents an immediate positive or negative characterization. Instead, like the decisions she has made, the narrator is complicated—full of conflicting emotions regarding both herself and her lost children. Ironically, it was the mother's moving concern for her children as well as her own circumstances which caused her to decide to have the abortions.
"Girl"
Author: Jamaica Kincaid Short Story Themes: -The Danger of Female Sexuality: The mother's constant emphasis on this theme shows how much she wants her daughter to realize that she is "not a boy" and that she needs to act in a way that will win her respect from the community. Motiff: Cloth -The Transformation Power of Domesticity: Household work therefore brings power and even prestige to women in addition to keeping them busy and away from temptation. Motiff: Food
"Araby"
Author: James Joyce Short Story -In "Araby," the allure of new love and distant places mingles with the familiarity of everyday drudgery, with frustrating consequences.Mangan's sister embodies this mingling, since she is part of the familiar surroundings of the narrator's street as well as the exotic promise of the bazaar. -The narrator's change of heart concludes the story on a moment of epiphany, but not a positive one. Instead of reaffirming his love or realizing that he does not need gifts to express his feelings for Mangan's sister, the narrator simply gives up. He seems to interpret his arrival at the bazaar as it fades into darkness as a sign that his relationship with Mangan's sister will also remain just a wishful idea and that his infatuation was as misguided as his fantasies about the bazaar. Themes: -Prisoner of Routine: In "Araby," a young boy wants to go to the bazaar to buy a gift for the girl he loves, but he is late because his uncle becomes mired in the routine of his workday.
Pride and Prejudice
Author: Jane Austen Novel Summary: Elizabeth Bennet, who is a witty and independent young girl, lives in England with her four sisters, her mother, and her father. When Mr. Bingley, a handsome, rich, young bachelor, arrives to stay briefly in Hartfordshire (where the Bennets live), Mrs. Bennet immediately tries to get one of her daughters to marry him. Bingley is a charming young man and quickly falls in love with the eldest Bennet sister, the beautiful Jane. It is a guarded relationship, so Jane and Bingley don't express outright their mutual feelings for each other, though Bingley obviously shows favor to Jane. Meanwhile, Bingley's proud friend Darcy meets Elizabeth. Elizabeth loathes Mr. Darcy, and avoids him as much as possible. Though Darcy is proud and reserved at first, it becomes obvious of his fondness for Elizabeth. Convention, however, restricts his affection for her, seeing as he is rich and high on the social ladder, and Elizabeth comes from a middle-class family. Themes: Pride, Prejudice, Family, Women and Marriage, Class, Individual and Society, Virtue
"Holy Sonnet 10"
Author: John Donne Poem -Death is talked about as an actual person. Death shouldn't be proud because it isn't that scary -People don't really die when they meet death -Compares death to "rest and sleep" which isn't scary -Death is a "slave" because he is hanging out with "poison, war, and sickness.
On First Looking into Chapman's Homer
Author: John Keats -Poem Summary: "Chapman's Homer" meaning translation of the Iliad and Odyssey by George Chapman -Sonnet -Tells of the author's astonishment while reading the works of the ancient Greek poet Homer as freely translated by George Chapman -Often quoted classic, cited to demonstrate the emotional power of a great work of art, and the ability of great art to create an epiphany in its beholder
Ozymandias
Author: John Keats Poem -Sonnet - contrasting the inevitable decline of all leaders and of the empires they build with the lasting power of art, the only thing that has any permanence -The once-great king's proud boast has been ironically disproved; Ozymandias's works have crumbled and disappeared, his civilization is gone, all has been turned to dust by the impersonal, indiscriminate, destructive power of history. The ruined statue is now merely a monument to one man's hubris, and a powerful statement about the insignificance of human beings to the passage of time. -I met a traveller from an antique land -Ozymandias, symbolizes political tyranny. In "Ozymandias," (1817) the statue is broken into pieces and stranded in an empty desert, which suggests that tyranny is temporary and also that no political leader, particularly an unjust one, can hope to have lasting power or real influence. The broken monument also represents the decay of civilization and culture: the statue is, after all, a human construction, a piece of art made by a creator, and now it—and its creator—have been destroyed, as all living things are eventually destroyed.
"Where are you Going, Where Have You Been"
Author: Joyce Carol Oates Short Story Themes: -Fantasy versus Reality: Although Connie works hard to present the appearance of being a mature woman who is experienced with men, her encounter with Arnold reveals that this is only a performance. She has created an attractive adult persona through her clothing, hairstyle, and general behavior and gets the attention she desires from boys. But Connie confuses her ability to command attention from boys with her desire to actually have them pursue her in a sexual way. The love and romance evident in songs she listens to and images of pop culture that surround her are much different from the reality of adult sexuality. Although Connie does experiment with sexuality, such as when she goes into the alley with Eddie, she is fearful of actually becoming an adult. Arnold Friend takes her by force into adulthood, but this violent act represents a shift within Connie herself: the abandoning of childlike fantasy for the realities of being a mature woman. -Search for Independence: Arnold, a strange and ambiguous character, embodies all the confusions, doubts, and fears that accompany any adolescent's quest for independence. Motiffs: Music: Music functions as Connie's bridge from the real world to her fantasy world. Dizziness: Dizziness is her fallback reaction and allows Arnold to gain an even stronger hold on her.
"The Story of an Hour"
Author: Kate Chopin Short Story Summary: -Wife: Louise Mallard- heart trouble -Husband: Brently Mallard- -Husband's friend: Richards Sister of Louise: Josephine -Richards learns about a railroad disaster and saw brently was on the list of those killed. Josephine tells her sister about it and she begins sobbing and goes upstairs to be along in her room. -She feels apprehensive and tries to suppress the building emotions within her, but can't. She begins repeating the word "Free!" to herself over and over. Her heart beats quickly, and she feels very warm. -Her mindset: she is set free, feels ecstatic with her newfound sense of independence, will be on her own w/out anyone to oppress her. -Brently really didn't die and Louise screams. The doctors arrive and say she died of a heart attack brought on by happiness. -The irony of the ending is that Louise doesn't die of joy as the doctors claim but actually from the loss of joy. Brently's death gave her a glimpse of a new life, and when that new life is swiftly taken away, the shock and disappointment kill her.
How to Become a Writer
Author: Lorrie Moore Short Story -Written in second person -Lorrie Moore, the author of "How to Become a Writer," is trying to get the reader to understand what it might be like if you tried to become an author. The author describes different challenges and circumstances you might face when you are growing up and chasing your dream. It features real life experiences like being in your high school English class and applying for college. The way she describes these experiences are effective because they are realistic to what could really happen when a teacher rejects your kind of writing.
"Poetry"
Author: Marianne Moore -Poem -There seems to be a few very important points she makes. In the first half of the poem she is talking about writing being a love hate relationship and the physical reaction some people have in writing. After that she goes even deeper into poetry itself and mentions vivid pictures about writing and the love or hate thereof. Toward the end of the poem and in the very last verse she is mentioning being able to have a visual picture of what your are writing "the toadstool in the garden". Lastly in her own way she is talking of having a passion for what is being written. Try reading a lot of poetry and see the pictures it paints for you.
Young Goodman Brown
Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne -Short Story Setting: Salem, witchcraft. Evil Overview. Forest at night, closed/small society on undiscovered land. Summary: Goodman Brown( curiosity, adventure to discover something about himself, conflicted, common man, mixture of colors, not all evil) says goodbye to his wife, Faith (pure, pink ribbons, youth, naive, innocence) . Faith wants him to stay. Goodman runs into Traveler (simply clad, sophisticated, staff, black snake=evil). Goodman discovers heart of forest, finds sins, evil, and mystery. -Dream, however he doesn't have same life afterwards Theme: loss of faith, isolation from society, corruption, seeking of sin
"Those Winter Sundays"
Author: Robert Hayden Poem
"Metaphors"
Author: Sylvia Plath Poem -In this poem, the narrator is describing her pregnancy in metaphorical language, exploring an ambivalence about it. She first announces herself as a "riddle in nine syllables" (the poem is also nine lines long). She then describes herself as an elephant, similar to a huge house. She is also like a watermelon, walking along on two small legs, though she praises both the "red fruit" of her belly and the "fine timbers" of her legs. She then compares herself to a loaf of bread, its yeast rising big and full, and a coin purse stuffed with newly-minted money. -She views herself as simply a "means," a carrier for a child. She is merely a "stage," a hardworking "cow in calf." She believes she looks as though she has eaten a large bag of green apples. Ultimately, since there is nothing she can do about her pregnancy, she sees herself as having boarded a train which she
"Daddy"
Author: Sylvia Plath Poem -Understood to be about Plath's deceased father, Otto Plath -unadulterated rage towards male dominance, wariness at its usage of Holocaust imagery -violent imagery, invocation of Jewish suffereing -Plaths journey of coming to terms with her father's looming figure: - She casts herself as a victim and him as several figures, including a Nazi, vampire, devil, and finally a resurrected figure her husband, whom she has also had to kill.
"My Papa's Waltz"
Author: Theodore Roethke Poem
"The Lesson"
Author: Toni Cade Bambara Short Story Summary: narrative told by a young, poor, black girl growing up in Harlem in an unspecified time period known only as "Back in the days when everyone was old and stupid or young and foolish and me and Sugar were the only ones just right". The story is about a trip initiated by a local woman, who being the only educated person in the neighborhood, has taken it upon herself to expose the unappreciative children of the neighborhood to the world outside of their oppressed community. The destination is FAO Schwartz in Manhattan, where the toys of white children cost more than all of the children's household yearly incomes combined. -The story's theme focuses on education: the need for education and the results of knowledge. -"The Lesson" examines the realization of economic inequity in 1960s America through the eyes of a young girl. In Sylvia, Bambara creates a proud, sensitive, tough girl who is far too smart to ignore the realities around her, even though she knows it might be easier to do so. At the same time, Bambara creates a host of characters, all of whom help Sylvia explore and demonstrate the issues that face poor people and minorities in the United States.
"My Last Duchess"
Author:Robert Browning Poem -Dramatic Dialogue -The Duke is the speaker of the poem, and tells us he is entertaining an emissary who has come to negotiate the Duke's marriage (he has recently been widowed) to the daughter of another powerful family. -he shows the visitor through his palace, he stops before a portrait of the late Duchess, apparently a young and lovely girl. The Duke begins reminiscing about the portrait sessions, then about the Duchess herself. -His musings give way to a diatribe on her disgraceful behavior: he claims she flirted with everyone and did not appreciate his "gift of a nine-hundred-years- old name." As his monologue continues, the reader realizes with ever-more chilling certainty that the Duke in fact killed her. -the speaker gets away with his wife's murder since neither his audience (in the poem) nor his creator judges or criticizes him. Instead, the responsibility of judging the character's morality is left to readers, who find the duke of Ferrara a vicious, repugnant person even as he takes us on a tour of his art gallery.
Understatement
From the Greek for 'lessening,' a trope employing deliberate understatement, usually for comic, ironic, or satiric effect. Meiosis typically involves characterizing something in a way that, taken literarily, minimizes its evident significance or gravity. Litotes, a type of meiosis, involves making an affirmative point by negating its opposite.
Sonnet
From the Italian word for 'little song,' a lyric poem that typically consists of 14 lines, usually printed as a single stanza, that follows one of several conventional rhyme schemes. Sonnets may address a range of issues or themes, but love, the original subject of the sonnet, is perhaps the most common.
Tone
Like tone of voice, literary tone is determined by the attitude of a narrator toward characters in a story and the story's readers. For example, the tone of a work may be impassioned, playful, naughty, grim, or matter-of-fact.
Style
One of the elements of fiction; in a literary work, the diction (choice of words), syntax (arrangement of words), and other linguistic features of a work. Just as no two people have identical fingerprints or voices, so no two writers use words in exactly the same way. Style distinguishes one writer's language from another's.
Flat vs. Round Characters
Terms coined by English writer E. M. Forester to refer to the depth and complexity of characterization. Flat characters lack depth and complexity. They tend to be caricatures defined by a single idea or quality whose essences can be summed up in a sentence. Round characters, by contrast, are fully developed, with the complexity and depth associated with real people. They can surprise readers convincingly, for they have full-blown personalities complete with contradictions and quirks that make it difficult to describe them reductively. Forster argued that works need a mixture of flat and round characters in order to represent the world as readers perceive it, so he did not automatically assign a pejorative connotation to flat characters.
Atomosphere
The general feeling created for the reader or audience by a work at a given point. -Atmosphere is established through elements such as imagery, setting, and sound and helps shape the reader's expectations of the work -Although the terms atmosphere and tone may both be equated with mood, their meanings differ. -Unlike atmosphere, which refers to the prevailing feeling the author creates for the reader or audience, tone refers to the author's attitude toward the reader, audience, or subject matter.
Foreshadowing
The technique of introducing into a narrative material that prepares the reader or audience for future events, actions, or revelations. Foreshadowing often involves the creation of mood or atmosphere that suggests an eventual outcome; the introduction of objects, facts, events, or characters that hint at or otherwise prefigure a developing situation or conflict; or the exposition of significant character traits allowing the reader or audience to anticipate that character's actions or fate. Occasionally the theme or conclusion of a work is foreshadowed by its title. Prolepsis, the evocation in narrative of scenes or events that take place at a later point in the story, necessarily foreshadows that future event or action.
Dialogue
Words spoked by characters, often in the form of conversation between two or more. In stories and other forms of prose, dialogue is commonly enclosed between quotation marks. Dialogue is an important element in characterization and plot.
