2. Short Story vs Novel
Meant to be read in one sitting
Tend to be less complex
Usually focus on one incident
Fewer characters
Tend to follow similar pattern
4. The Pattern
Where does this come from?
Aristotle’s Poetics
5. The Pattern
Plot is “the first principle”
Consists of
Exposition
Incentive moment or “inciting incident”
Rising action
Crisis
Climax
Denouement
6. The Pattern
Exposition: does not further plot but is essential
information for reader
Inciting incident: starts cause and effect chain
Rising action: continues cause and effect chain
Climax: elements of story should have inevitably
led here.
Resolution and denouement: caused by
preceding events, but don’t lead to outside
incidents
7. The Pattern
Must be “unified”
No deus ex machina
Aristotle didn’t like episodic plots
8. Some more Greek terms
A complex plot is better because they have:
Peripeteia: reversal of fortune
Anagnorisis: turn upon surprise--change from
ignorance or knowledge.
This leads to
Catastrophe
Catharsis
10. Conflict
Person vs person
Person vs society
Person vs self
Person vs nature
Person vs fate (God)
11. Character
Protagonist vs hero
Dynamic
Static
Flat
Round
Foil
12. Theme
Statement
General but not too general
Should account for all major details
Avoid sweeping generalizations.
No clichés
Helpful to mention topic title and author in a
theme statement
Hinweis der Redaktion
This year we are going to look at literary criticism and the different ways in which people interpret what they read. We do this for a number of reasons, but mostly to try to reach an understanding of how literature reveals certain truths about ourselves. So we will start with the ancient greeks and what they have to say about “story” Three components of plot are beinning, middle and end.
When Aristotle wrote about story, he was writing about the theatre in ancient Greece because that was the “story of the time: Comedy vs tragedy.
Inciting incident: effects are more important than the cause but should not depend on anything outside the story
Self-contained. All the elements were already there in one form another. Not an “And then I realized it was all a dream” story. Episodic plots: one event does not necessarily lead to the next. Just a string of events. Think of a sit com. Vs something like Lost.
Writing about tragedy. In theatre.. But it ’s the bases for lit criticism. Catharsis: why do we like to read about suffering? Because we identify and then recognize it’s not use which is a relief.
For our purposes, these other principles are not quite as important.
All stories require some form of conflict
Protagonist is the person with whom you identify in the story. He or she may or may not have heroic qualities. Dynamic: changes over course of story (scrooge) Static: Stays the same Events don ’t change them. Flat: reveals only one or two character traits. Can include stock characters Round: Also may be called “fully developed” character. Exhibits many and sometimes contradictory traits. Usually also dynamic. Foil: purpose is to enhance another character through contrast. Holmes and Watson
Appearance vs reality is a topic not a theme. The theme is the author ’s idea about a topic. Generalization about life not individual characters, but not so general that it lacks a point. E.g., The effects of risk-taking are positive or negative is too broad. When an individual takes a calculated risk, he or she experiences excitement and grows as an individual.” Better. Sweeping generalizations “all, every, always,”