Metafiction, loosely defined as fiction about fiction, provides an intriguing perspective on literature. J.M. Coetzee’s novel Foe and Margaret Atwood’s short story “Happy Endings” are able to provide a commentary on fiction writing while still retaining their own identities. Both authors offer criticism of fiction writing as connected to gender issues, societal expectations, and the process and components of fiction writing itself. In order to become metafictional, Coetzee and Atwood had to make readers aware of what they were reading.
As readers become engaged in the story, he or she may begin to ponder their own internal conflict, or the internal conflict of someone close to them, and gain insight, understanding or wisdom. Internal conflict is a universal feeling whether it has a strong presence in one’s life or a weak one. The inner workings of one’s mind and the journey of overcoming or not overcoming self conflict in the effort to know oneself will surely reveal a fascinating tale. We become witness to this in the following two literary works, “The Swimmer” by John Cheever and “Chrysanthemums” by John Steinbeck. Neddy Merrill and Elisa Allen struggle with themselves which result in completely different outcomes.
Virginia Woolf uses stream of consciousness to affect the association between characters, the importance of time, and the point of view from which the story is told to deliver a work of fiction that breaks the barriers of a typical novel. Many of the characters in Mrs. Dalloway have unmistakable links to each other with relationships that date back to their youth. By using different moments in time, an incident, a sound, or a sight, Virginia Woolf relates each character. Therefore, the arrangement of the novel is centered off of the connection of the various characters. “Was Evelyn ill again?
Persuasion by Jane Austen Defining the novel is a challenging prospect because the act of naming means to circumscribe a genre that defies rigid codes. The novel's elasticity and readiness to incorporate other genres makes it slippery and untidy; nevertheless, the novelness of a text allows us to recognize a novel and distinguish it from other genres. As readers, we approach the novel with the expectation that it will possess novelistic attributes and judge the novel on its ability to master these. With this focus in mind, this essay explores how the following features in Jane Austen's Persuasion contribute to (or persuade us as to) the novelness of the text: the extensive treatment of its characters, a sense of cohesion and continuity present in a work of long prose fiction, and a vivid portrayal of the social order on the micro-level of the domestic scenes of everyday. The heroine, Anne Elliot, is a 27-year-old "old maid," who devotes her life to caring for the needs of her family and friends.
In particular, my group members and I realized the characters development impacted our understanding towards some characters in the novel. Thirdly, Holman challenged my response to some of the human condition that took place in the novel. The entire novel The Dress Lodger had interesting twists and plot through out the novel. First of all, my response to the novel was impacted by Holman's writing style due to unclear narration in the novel. The majority of the novel did not refer back to who the narrator was in the novel until the very end.
In “The Art of Fiction” James emphasized the rediscovery of fiction as a form of serious writing, a form of ascribed history. James asserts “The subject-matter of fiction is stored up likewise in documents and records, and if it will not give itself away…it must speak with assurance, with the tone of the historian” (377). In other words, the credibility of a work of fiction is in the hands of the author, if he cannot take his work ... ... middle of paper ... ...society has is presented in the novel, and Daisy’s death signifies the implications that challenging these norms may have. It is an ominous message on the part of James and reflects on his opinion of American society. Works Cited James, Henry.
The criteria that needs to be considered for the winning novel, includes a wide variety of theories, debates and critical writings that together will give an informed and balanced decision. An instinctive judgment would be to view the book cover and the précis of the plot; and then from a personal perspective ask if it would be likely to entice the reader. However, this narrows ones thought process; also an instinctive judgement is based on ones past personal experience, which will ensure that each reader would then have a different view. In order to ensure a balanced and informed view within this essay the impact of the aesthetic theory, which is a view that argues how effective concepts, theories and debates are in explaining and predicting outcomes within literature. Within the aesthetic theory judgements, values and taste are given as views; each individual has the right to have a view that is developed through personal experiences.
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT In a novel the narrator is the vehicle, the one telling the story to the reader. Laying out critical information, describing the setting, creating mood and atmosphere, and generating information upon which we create our opinions on characters and events in the novel. These are classically what we associate the narrator with regard to the novel and its progression. The characters that the author describes are the major focus of the novel. Characters change and develop over the course of the novel, if there were no kind of change in any of the characters the novel would be almost pointless.
Relationships form throughout these novels, by incorporating literary elements like characterization romanticism and realism, giving characters a sense of who they are, and the reader a sense of their role and reference to the story. In "Anna Karenina", relationships are built throughout the story helping for the reader to understand characters and who they are. One of the two major relationships taking place in the novel is between Anna Karenina and Levin. Anna Karenina, arguably the most important character to the novel, gets many of her key traits brought forth by relationship problems. Anna's search through her quest for love is purely emotional, and at the end of her character's life Anna's reason fails her.
Of course he (they) would have to decide what to focus on from the book, or what they (he) wants to dramatize, and if there is something that they (he) can put in the script himself that wasn't really there to begin with. For example, if the screenwriter(s) wanted to make this a romance story between the characters David and Quinn, then they would emphasize that dramatically. They might add some sexuality into said relationship, and even go so far as to have Quinn come back to David at the end of the movie. The key words that you would see on the screen would be "adapted from," meaning that the movie was based on this novel, but the screenwriter(s) wrote the movie from their interpretation. Of course, some things have to be in the script, such as David's story, but how focused it is depends, like I stated, on the screenwriter(s).