Introduction to Literature 1 Hossein Payandeh Slide Designer: Reza Ghyasi English Department

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Introduction to Literature (1)
Hossein Payandeh Slide Designer Reza
Ghyasi English Department
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Chapter 1A. What
Is Literature?B. Why Do We Study It?
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Literature
Literature in a broad sense anything
written, including writings
that have a factual
or informative nature
Literature in a specific sense imaginative
writings communicating
life experiences, thoughts
and feelings about life, such as
stories, poems and plays
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Illustrative Example
the description of the city of London in
Encyclopedia
Britannica compared with that of
the opening of Charles
Dickens Bleak House
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Illustrative Example Continued
I. The encyclopedia
entry is concerned with facts
only, such as its importance as the
industrial and
political center of Britain, its geographical
location, its
population, etc. II. The
opening of Charles Dickenss Bleak House
goes beyond that and places these
facts in a human context,
and thus conveys a certain attitude towards
London and the people
living in it.
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b. Why Literature? a) To widen our
experiences with life. b) To deepen our
understanding of lifes complexities.
c) To understand our own nature as well as
that of others. d) To develop
sensibility and compassion for fellow
human beings. e) To arrive at certain
criteria for evaluating the subtleties
of human behavior. f) To achieve
intellectual growth and the power to
tackle our troubles in a more effective way.
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Chapter 2 Looking at
Characters A) Character in
Fiction B) Different Kinds of
Characters C) Principles of
Characterization D) Analysis of
Fictional Characters
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Character a term
used to refer to imaginary people that novelists
or short story writers
create in their narratives


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Different Types of Characters According to
E.M. Forster in his Aspects of the Novel
A. flat
characters constructed around a single idea or
quality and assigned
minor roles in the events of the story
B. round or
three-dimensional characters possessed of
complex personalities
capable of surprising in a convincing way

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Further Classifications
A) Static Characters
usually flat, they retain the same
traits throughout the story they do
not undergo any serious
changes. B) Dynamic
Characters they change and modify their
outlooks in response to
the events they are involved in or witness.
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Principles of Characterization
a)
Appearance
b) Dress
c) Speech and Actions
d)
Surroundings
e) Names
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Illustrative Examples I. Appearance
description of
Adams physical strength in George Eliots
Adam Bede denoting his
moral strength
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Illustrative Examples Continued
II. Dress

a) Tesss innocent maidenhood indicated
by her white
dress at the beginning of Thomas HardysTess
of the dUbervilles






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Illustrative Examples Continued
b) the Artful Dodgers premature
adulthood
indicated by clothes too big for him in Charles
Dickens Oliver
Twist
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Illustrative Examples Continued
c) Hetty Sorels rose-colored
ribbon indicating
her frivolousness in George Eliots Adam
Bede


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Illustrative Examples Continued
d) Janes plain dark dress contrasted with
Blanches fashionable skills in
Charlotte Brontes Jane Eyre
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Illustrative Example III.
Speech and Action The
comparison between Piggys and Ralphs actions
and speech those of Piggys
indicate his physical timidity and
uneducated background while those of Ralphs
signify his skill and competence,
decisiveness and educational background.
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Illustrative Examples IV.
Surroundings a) Fagin
in Oliver Twist is affected by the nature of the
dark, dirty or
unpleasant places he is always seen in.
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Illustrative Examples Continued
b) Adam Bede
and Dinah Morris are always associated with
the qualities of the
clean and orderly surroundings in
which we see them. (George
Eliots Adam Bede)
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Illustrative Examples Continued
c) Nancy has been immersed in Fagins world
for so long that she
cannot accept the offer of escape when it comes.

( Dickens's
Oliver Twist )
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Illustrative Examples
V. Names a)
Gabriel Oak in Far from the Madding Crowd
suggesting a sturdy,
reliable person with a good and
true heart.

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Illustrative Examples Continued
b) Mr.
Gradgrind in Charles Dickens Hard Times
conveying the
characters hard, uncompromising
personality, totally lacking in
sentiment.
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Chapter Three
Writing about Point of View A) Point
of View B) The Effect of
Point of View on the Readers
Attitude to Characters and the Events
C) Different Kinds of Point of View
D) Writing Analytical Essays
on Point of View
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Point of View It
refers to the position from which the events of
a story are narrated and
the events are presented.
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The Effect of the Point of View on the Readers
Attitude to Characters and Events
refers to the amount of information given to
the reader and the way of
presenting the characters and
events significantly influence the readers
reactions to the story.
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Different Kinds of Point of View
a) First-Person
b) Third-Person
c) Dramatic (or Objective)
d) Omniscient
e) Limited (or Limited Omniscient)
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a) First-Person Point of View
The voice of the work is I. First-person
speakers
report first-hand experience, first-hand
witness and
second-hand testimony and hearsay.
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First person may be (1)
major participant (2) minor
participant (3) nonparticipating
but identifiable speaker.
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b) Third-Person Point of View
Things in the work are in the third person,
e.g. he, she, it, they.
NOTE
Third-person point of view consists of three
variant points of
view dramatic, omniscient and limited
omniscient.
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c) Dramatic (or Objective) Point of View
The work depends primarily on
action and dialogue.
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a) Dramatic Point of View Illustrative
Example Qualities of
Hemingways Hills Like White Elephants
I. neutral pictorial description
II. clauses organized by parataxis
III . no linguistic evidence to
signify characters inner thoughts
IV. no verbs or evaluation or prediction
V. no modal adverbs VI.
use of implication rather than explicit
statements VII. no direct
reference to any names VIII. Jigs
silence at the beginning of the story portraying
her as sensitive and
emotional IX. the mans remark
about having a baby depicting him as
emotionally atrophied
X. indications of the narrators prior
knowledge of the characters
not quite compatible with dramatic point of view.

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b) Dramatic Point of View Illustrative
Example The Effects of
Shirley Jacksons The Lottery on the Reader
I. renders horror in the midst of
the ordinary. II. presents the
villagers as ordinary folks at a normal festive
event. III through simple
language shows the simple character of the
villagers. IV. through partial
details conceals the lotterys horrible purpose.
V. avoids much detail to make
the effect.
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d) Omniscient Point of View
Besides presenting action and dialogue, the
speaker god-like reports the
characters unspoken thoughts.
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e) Limited (Omniscient) Point of View
The author limits attention
to a major
character (point-of-view character) and so
everything is there
because the point-of-view
character sees it, hears it, responds to
it, thinks about
it, does it or shares in it.

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Chapter 4 Finding a
ThemeTopics A) theme
B) the difference between theme and
plot summary
C) the difference between theme and subject
D) the reason why theme is not
equivalent to moral
advice or message E) The
clues to the formulation of theme
F) how to analyze to find a theme

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Theme It is the central
underlying idea of a story,
a general truth about life or mankind, which
is often implied and
not explicitly stated.
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The Difference between Theme and Plot
Summary It is the theme which gives
significance to the events of
the story the events themselves merely provide
clue about the theme.
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The Difference between Theme and Subject
Theme is a comment on or
certain attitude towards
the subject of the story subject is a broad
concept which embraces
the theme.
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Why Theme Is Not Equal to Moral Advice
or Message
Moral lesson or message implies a preachment or
a sermon, not an experience
while a good story illuminates some experience,
some aspect of life or an
exploration of a complex personality.

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The Clues to the Formulation of Theme
a) the
title of the story
b) changes in characters
outlooks
c) the events of the story
d) the setting
(time and place) of the story
e) the point of
view of the story
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How to Analyze to Find a Theme
a) Choose a crisis passage from the
text to think about
b) analyze the passage in detail to see how it
portrays the
theme or other aspects of it.
c) Work out how the passage the
complexities of which you
have analyzed fits into the work as a
whole.
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Chapter 5
Commenting on IronyTopics
A) irony B)
irony and sarcasm
C) irony and ambiguity
D) the different types of irony, and
E) the functions of irony

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Irony Two or more
related meanings to be understood
from the text, all of which are
valid.
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Illustrative Example
Gertrude Thou knowst tis common
all that
lives must die, passing through
nature
to eternity.

Hamlet Ay, madam, it is common.

(excerpt
from Hamlet)
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Illustrative Example Continued
The two different meanings of
the word common_(1 )usual and (2)
disgusting_ represent two different attitudes
Gertrudes attitude allowing
carelessness about virtue and Hamlets attitude
asking for purity.
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Sarcasm It refers to
two meanings one of which is real and the
other one ludicrous


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Ambiguity
It refers to two meanings where there is no
way of telling which one is true.
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The Functions of Irony a) When
associated with certain descriptive words, it
conveys certain feelings to the
reader__ such as cynical irony, tragic
irony, amusing irony, etc.
b) It adds to or changes our understanding of the
whole text and thus produces
intense satisfaction. c) It helps
to understand the paradoxical nature of reality
and complexity of literature
itself.

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A Glossary of Some literary Terms
Agent an animate being
that causes the action state or process
specified by the verb e.g., Betty baked
a cake.
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Atmosphere The mood, either
moral, sensational, emotional or intellectual,
which dominates a story.
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Authorial Voice The voice or
speaker used by authors to represent their
thoughts and ideas when
seemingly speaking for themselves
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Connotation
The meanings that words suggest beyond their bare
dictionary definitions e.g.,
the connotations of the word home as
distinguished from those of the
word house
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Denotation The
specific dictionary meaning of a word independent
of its emotional coloration or
associations
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Distance The reader's
distance from character and action in a story
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Fallible Character A
narrator whose vision or version of the details
of the story are consciously or
unconsciously deceiving
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Metaphor The identification
of one object with another for the purpose
establishing a comparison e.g.,
Denmark is a prison.

(Hamlet)
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Narrator The teller of a
story, either a character or an anonymous voice
used by the author
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Paradox A statement which
seems to be self-contradictory, but on closer
examination is found to have a
valid meaning e.g., Cowards
die many times before their death.
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Patient An animate or inanimate
noun affected by the action, state
or process specified by the verb e.g., John
hit Brian with a stick.
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Pun A play on a single
word which has two different meanings
or on two different words having
the same sound but different
meaning.
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Register (1) A particular style
in speech or writing or (2) a speech variety
used by a particular group of people
sharing the same occupation or
interests
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Simile An explicit comparison
between two essentially unlike things
using words such as like or as e.g.,
the trees were bent by the wind
like actors bowing after a performance.
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Symbol An object, event or
place which has a meaning in itself but
suggests other meanings as well e.g.,
white, lion and rose
commonly symbolize innocence, courage and beauty.
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The End