Literary Text: narrative structure and narrative techinique

Materie:	Appunti
Categoria:	Inglese
Download:	146
Data:	14.05.2007
Numero di pagine:	4
Formato di file:	.doc (Microsoft Word)

Appunti di inglese
Literary text
It is a text showing the reader the world using the author’s eyes. The basic components of a literary text are:
• The author (writer)
• The reader
• The language, which is the means of communications between the author and the reader
Literary text is based on some genres. The genre is a particular style or kind of literature,art,music…
In literature there are two types of genres:
1. fiction, which id divided in novel and short story
2. non-fiction, which is based on essay,speech,biography,autobiography,diary
These two types of genres use the language, while other genres use a combination of language and images: they are theatre or drama, cinema and films,comics.
FICTION
It is a genre based in imaginary events or events taken from real life but worked out by the narrator. The two components of the fiction are short story and novel
Short story:
• It is characterize by brevity because it is very short
• Gives only a glimpse of life
• It is incomplete because it shows only a short view of life
• It shows only one event
• There are few characters because there is one event
• The reader supplies the missing information because it is based on a single event so all the other events must be imagined by the reader
Novel:
• It is much longer than a short story
• It shows a complex world
• It is complete
• Because it shows a complex world
• It shows a variety of events
• Very seldom there is missing information because it is based on a lot of events,so they are supplied by the narrator
NARRATIVE STRUCTURE
The narrative structure is the way how the events in the short story or in the novel are arranged by the narrator.
It is composed of two elements:
1. The story: it is the chronological and linear development of the events, so the events are arranged in chronological order
2. the plot: it shows how the narrator works out the events, so the events are not necessarily in chronological order. Very often inside the main plot there can be one or more subplots, they are secondary plots used to explain and support the main plot
According to story and plot there are two types of time:
1. Fictional time: it is the time of the plot where the events often are not in chronological order
2. Chronological time: it is the time of story where the events are in a logical sequence
The story pattern is the way how the story is built ip by the narrator. It is composed of three elements:
1. the beginning: it is the presentation of the situation and of the characters
2. the climax: it is the central part of the short story or the novel showing the development of the situation
3. the end: it shows how the initial situation has or hasn’t change after the climax if there are some problems there is their solution
NARRATIVE TECHINIQUE
The narrative techinique shows the techinique used by the narrator to create the short story or the novel.
It is composed of different techiniques:
1. first person narrator: it is a techinique where the narrator uses the personal pronoun “I”, so the narrator is inside the story and very often, he is the protagonist. This techinique has some functions:
• The tone is autobiographical, so the events are more convincing
• The reader can pay more attention on the narrator’s mind
• The reader is emotionally involved in the situation
2. third person narrator: it is a narrative techinique where the narrator uses the personal pronouns “he” or “she”, so the narrator is outside the short story or the novel. There are two types of third person narrator:
1. Omniscient third person narrator: where the narrator knows everything about all the characters. He can read the mind of all the characters, so he can give directions to the reader leeding him/her along the short story or the novel
There are two types of omniscient third person narrator:
. Obtrusive: when the narrator is like a:
• commentator who can somerise past event;
• give anticipation
• comments some events so sometime the narrator uses the personal pronoun “I” in fact he gives his point of view
Non-obtrusive: where the narrator only guides the reader along the short story or the novel without making comments of giving of view
2. Non omniscient: when the narrator tells the story by the point of view of on character generally the protagonist. In these cases the point of view is restricted but there are inferences for the reader inside the text with this techinique there is more freedom for the narrator than the first person narrator
Interior monologue
It is a narrative techinique uses by the narrator very often third person omniscient or first person to express the inner thoughts, feeling and emotions of a character, the protagonist.
It has some characteristics:
• There is the use of punctuation
• There is a logical syntactic structure so it is easy to understand
Stream of consciousues
It is a narrative techinique coming form psychology to show the flux of thoughts of the mind of a character or the protagonist
It has some characteristics:
• There is no punctuation, even no use of capital letters
• There is no logical syntactic structure so it is very difficult to understand