The Art of Fiction

1
The Art of Fiction

• As your text, Understanding Literature points
  out, Fiction is prose text in the form of a
  story that is primarily a product of human
  imagination (Soles 5).

2
Forms of Fiction

• In addition to the three forms listed in the
  book, you could consider other types of writing
  fictitious, as well
• Parables and Fables
• Anecdotes
• Jokes

3
Evaluating Fiction

• Aristotle, a famous scholar from ancient Greece,
  in his Poetics formed certain theories of
  evaluating literature. Some ideas that have
  developed from his work into aesthetic
  principles are
• That the best works of literature have no
  elements that are extraneous to the communication
  of the pieces message.
• That the use of the elements be manipulated to
  best convey that pieces message
• In other words, we expect works of literature to
  be unified.

4
Theme

• Most works of fiction should tell a story of some
  sort, bringing together a sequence of events with
  an underlying meaning or message.
• This underlying message is called the theme, and
  it is just as important in the study of
  literature as it is in film.

5
Definition of Theme

• For our purposes, well use the moral or lesson
  that the reader learns and can apply to his or
  her own life as the definition of theme.
• In other words, the general topic is not quite
  specific enough here.

6
More Elements to Consider

• We will look at two other elements in addition to
  Plot, Character, and Point of View, which are
  discussed in Understanding Literature
• Setting
• Style

7
Setting

• Setting can be defined as the time and place
  where a story occurs. Setting is important
  because it provides the context of the story.
• Settings can provide mood or tone
• Settings can be symbolic

8
Style

• Style refers to the manipulation of language and
  includes the following categorical components
• Diction
• Syntax
• Figurative Language

9
Diction

• Diction refers to the word choices that the
  writer has made.
• Writers choose words based on both connotative
  and denotative meanings.
• They might select a word that has a double
  meaning to add significance to their ideas
• They might select a word whose etymology suggests
  another or deeper meaning than a synonymous word.
• They might select an unusual form of a word to
  illustrate a geographical region or a cultural
  difference between characters.

10
Syntax

• Syntax refers to both the way the sentences are
  constructed and they way they are put together.
• Writers might use short simple sentences
• Some may use lengthy complicated ones
• Some may mix both kinds of sentences, depending
  on the meaning they are trying to evoke.

11
Figurative Language

• Figurative language can be described as the
  intentional departure from the normal order,
  construction, or meaning of words in order to
  gain strength and freshness of expression, to
  create a pictorial effect, to describe by
  analogy, or to discover and illustrate
  similarities in otherwise dissimilar things
  (202), according to C. Hugh Holman and William
  Harmon in their A Handbook to Literature.

12
Types of Figurative Language

• There are many different types of language use,
  or devices, that can be considered figurative
  language
• Hyperbole
• Imagery
• Irony
• Personification
• Similes and Metaphors
• Symbolism

13
Hyperbole

• Hyperbole is intentional exaggeration for an
  intended effect, with the understanding that the
  reader is not meant to believe the passage
  literally.
• Example A student might say to a classmate on
  the way to lunch that,Im so hungry Im starving
  to death. The listening student can probably
  glean from the contextthat the class seemed
  long, that the speaking student does not seem
  emaciatedthat the student is not in imminent
  danger of dying but that he or she was merely
  dramatizing the idea that Hey, Im really
  hungry.

14
Imagery

• For our purposes, imagery is a word or set of
  words that create a resonance upon one or more of
  your five senses.
• Consider the following use of imagery from Poes
  The Fall of the House of Usher
• I looked upon the scene before meupon the mere
  house, and the simple landscape features of the
  domainupon the bleak wallsupon the vacant
  eye-like windowsupon a few rank sedgesand upon
  a few white trunks of decayed treeswith an utter
  depression of soul which I can compare to no
  earthly sensation more properly than to the
  after-dream of the reveler upon opiumthe bitter
  lapse into every-day lifethe hideous dropping
  off of the veil.

15
Irony

• This is perhaps the most misunderstood term in
  the literary pantheon even English teachers
  debate over what is or is not irony.
• Various Types of irony
• Verbal
• Dramatic
• Tragic

16
Verbal Irony

• Verbal irony can be understood as words that
  evoke a meaning opposite to what they suggest
  literally.
• An example of verbal irony occurs in Jonathan
  Swifts A Modest Proposal, when he ironically
  suggests that the poverty in Ireland can be
  solved by having the wealthy English purchase
  Irish babies from the poor to eat.
• Take link to Project Gutenberg's version of The
  Modest Proposal at ftp//ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/
  books/gutenberg/etext97/mdprp10.txt

17
Dramatic Irony

• Dramatic irony is when the audience knows or
  understands something more than a character or
  characters in the work.
• In Hamlet, for example, the audience knows that
  Hamlet is trying to fake metal illness to avoid
  having his investigation into his fathers murder
  exposed. As Claudius is not aware of this, he
  begins his own investigation into the cause of
  Hamlets psychosis.

18
Tragic Irony

• Tragic irony is when the character uses words
  that mean differently for the character than the
  audience or other characters, usually with the
  meaning that the character doesnt understand
  being a dark negative one.
• Instances of these uses of irony are often
  contained entirely within a text, but there can
  also be instances where the tragic irony is not
  intended but is caused by cultural circumstances.
  For example, in Sidewalks of New York, a film
  released in November 2001 although it was
  originally slated for a September 2001, a
  character mentions than nothing ever happens in
  New York. Given the World Trade Center tragedy of
  11 September 2001, the verbal irony becomes
  tragic.

19
More Clarification on Irony

• Generally, for something to be ironic it must be
  more than an unexpected or twist occurrence.
  The writer, in the case of endings, for example,
  should have taken pains to set up the exact
  opposite expectation from the one that occurs.

20
Ironic Mistakes

• Many people sometimes mistake poetic justice for
  irony. This occurs when a character gets his or
  her just desserts.
• In the popular song, Ironic, most of the
  examples given that precede the chorus Isnt it
  ironic? Dont you think? are not. Someone
  afraid to die who gets killed in a plane crash
  isnt an example of irony, just possibly an
  example of tragedy (or Murphys Law).

21
Personification

• Personification occurs when a writer give human
  characteristics to an inanimate object.
• The Little Engine That Could is a childrens
  story that depends upon personification.
• Anthropomorphism occurs when a writer gives human
  characteristics or motivations to animals or
  other living creatures.
• Bambi is an anthropomorphism at work.

22
Similes and Metaphors

• A simile expresses similarity directly between
  two objects, usually using like or as.
• A metaphor expresses an implied analogy between
  two different objects, making the claim that the
  first has one or more of the qualities of the
  associated with the second or giving the first
  the emotional or imaginative qualities of the
  second. These may use is to link the objects.

23
Symbolism

• Symbolism happens when a writer uses one object
  to stand for another. The symbol can be a word,
  phrase, or idea that contains both its literal
  meaning and some deeper more complex meaning.
• Symbols may be universal, or accepted by all
  people educated within a certain culture.
• For example, the bald eagle can be used to
  symbolize the United States of America.
• Symbols may also be contextual, or have their
  meanings determined by the context of the work in
  which they appear.
• For example, in the film A Civil Action, water
  becomes symbolic of life, truth, and honesty.

24
Additional Reading

• You may want to read ahead in your Understanding
  Literature text. In its discussion of poetry, it
  covers
• Metaphor
• Imagery
• Symbolism

25
Questions for Analysis

• In Literature and Ourselves, Gloria Henderson,
  William Day, and Sandra Waller identify some key
  questions to help readers determine how the
  elements of fiction are being used or manipulated
  by writers (12-13).
• The following slides give you those questions by
  element.
• Questions in blue are my additions.

26
Plot Questions

• What is the conflict of the story? Where do you
  first realize that there is a conflict?
• Can you list the steps in the development of the
  conflict?
• Where does the conflict reach a climax?
• What is the resolution of the conflict?
• Is that resolution satisfying to you? Why or why
  not?

27
Character Questions

• Are the characters believable? Why or why not?
• How are the characters revealed through what the
  author says about them, through what the other
  characters say about them, and/or through what
  they say and do?
• Which characters are round? Which are flat? Does
  their development/lack of development affect the
  success of the story, and if so, in what way(s)?
• Do any of the characters develop or change in the
  course of the story? How do these changes affect
  the story?

28
Point of View Questions

• What is the point of view of the story?
• If it is first person or third person limited,
  through which character do readers see the story?
  Is the character a reliable or an unreliable
  narrator? How does his or her personality affect
  the perception of the other characters and of the
  action?
• Could the story be told as effectively from
  another point of view? If so, how and why? If
  not, why not?

29
Setting Questions

• Where and when does the story take place? How
  does the author let the readers know the time and
  place?
• Could the story take place as effectively in any
  other time or place?
• Is there anything unique about that setting,
  culturally or psychologically? Anything symbolic?

30
Style Questions

• Diction What kind of diction does the write use?
  Can you describe it? Are the words easy to
  recognize or obscure? Is there a lot of technical
  jargon or represented accents?
• Syntax What kind of syntax is used? Could the
  sentences be described as simple or complex? Are
  the language and sentence structure dictated by
  the point of view? If so, how?

31
Style Questions, continued

• Figurative language
• Are there any instances of hyperbole? If so,
  what affect do they have upon the story?
• What kind of imagery does the author use, and
  which of your five senses do they resonate upon?
• Does the language seem poetic?
• What kind of irony, if any, is evoked in the text?

32
Style Questions, continued

• Figurative language, continued
• Can you examine any instances of personification,
  similes or metaphors to see if they give any
  clues about the characters or the plot events?
• Are there any symbols used in the piece? Are they
  universally accepted or are they contextual? What
  do they represent and how do they enrich the
  storys meaning?
• What is the tone or mood of the story? How is
  that effect created?

33
Works Cited

• Henderson, Gloria, and William Day and Sandra
  Waller. Literature and Ourselves. New York
  Harper Collins College Publishers, 1994.
• Holman, C. Hugh and William Harmon, A Handbook to
  Literature. 5th Edition. Macmillan Publishing
  Company, 1986.
• Soles, Derek. The Prentice Hall Pocket Guide to
  Understanding Literature. Upper Saddle River, New
  Jersey Prentice Hall, 2002.