Popular Fiction Analysis
analytical Essay
824 words
When you think of popular fiction, you would think of a bestseller novel that spanned across a variety of genre, invoking a certain mood and emotions according to genre of choice. Popular fiction, also known as genre fiction, is best “conceived as the opposite of literature” (Gelder), with many of its fictional works is plot-driven written to suit specific genre and to appeal to modern readers. Popular fiction is “defined by what it is not, that is literature” (Schneider-Mayerson, 22) and is generally less distinguished from literary fiction. These conventions of genre fiction vary from romance, fantasy, thriller, science and even adventure and have produces tons of bestselling authors of all backgrounds. But what are the role of an author …show more content…
In this essay, the author
- Explains that popular fiction is best conceived as the opposite of literature, with many of its fictional works being plot-driven written to suit specific genres and to appeal to modern readers.
- Explains that popular fiction is often dismissed for its clichéd and poor quality of prose, exhibiting pure escapism that values convention and repetition to suit the mass readership.
- Argues that popular fiction offers a wide range of freedom in style of writing that the literary fiction simply no longer does.
There seems to be a worrying pattern for the genre fiction authors that have gained mainstream appeal but lost control of their craft afterwards. But if anything, the forms of popular fiction have become the place for the more serious scholarly questions where the boundaries becomes increasingly endless to the writers. Despite the fact that “fantasy fiction is an alternative to realist fiction, not the alternative, they are nonetheless viewed as opposites, if not opponents” (Wilkins, 273). An author is the “meaning maker”, that recognises the purpose of writing and to construct and communicate a specific message between the author and the reader. For the author, popular fiction offers a wide range of freedom in style of writing that the literary fiction simply no longer does. Martin 's work has been described as riveting, channelling his creativity in creating a chronicle of complex story lines with gripping characters and engaging plot that is supposedly to be a gory feature in the fantasy genre. He often portrayed his characters as “unhappy or unsatisfied” and also troubled by their own violent actions, but still holds on to the idealisms in an otherwise chaotic and ruthless world. While some critics identifies his work as a "fantasy for the grown-ups”, others however might feel that there is a dark motive behind it. In the
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- analytical
- argumentative
- Whenever we try to imagine the feelings or motives of a writer, we impose our own thoughts and ideas, our own biases, onto that person and their work. Perhaps in order to justify our choices or legitimate the philosophies that we hold dear, we interpret texts so that they fall into place in our own ideological frameworks. Literature, because it engages with the most important and passionate questions in life, evokes responses in readers that emanate not only from the mind but also from the subconscious and from the deepest places in the heart. Writers like Virginia Woolf ask, and sometimes answer, questions about life's meaning, about the nature and importance of relationships, about spirituality, work, family, identity and so on. It is what makes writing fascinating and the critiquing of writing something more than an intellectual exercise.
In this essay, the author
- Argues that conservative male critics are invested in re-creating a woolf who enjoyed close friendships with women but respected the primacy of heterosexual norms.
- Analyzes how the two most likely lesbian figures, clarissa in mrs. dalloway and lily in to the lighthouse, choose to keep their love for women within the realm of their imaginations.
- Analyzes how woolf chose to marry a man she loved deeply and enjoyed profound companionship with. she exercised occasional checks and balances that reveal her as someone who put herself and her creative process first.
- Analyzes how woolf's creative fire, her need for solitude, and her love affair with the intellectual process seem relevant to her life and work.
- Argues that not using the word lesbian can be a form of suppression. woolf avoided placing restrictions on female characters in her novel orlando to free them from the bonds of marriage, gender, and sexual definition.
- Analyzes how smith examines clarissa's relationship with sally seton and her subsequent choice to marry richard.
- Analyzes how smith interprets the passage as a sign of lily's self-denial and her need to elevate her feelings for mrs. ramsay in order to avoid confronting her lesbianism.
- Opines that writing is about discovering what belongs to what, making a scene come right, and making characters come together.
- Analyzes meese's essay, "when virginia looked at vita, what did she see; or, lesbian: feminist: woman - what
- Cites jeanne schulkind's "a sketch of the past." moments of being. new york: harcourt brace, 1976.
- Explains that when we interpret a text, we bring our own hopes, fears, joys, and beliefs to the forefront, despite our claims of intellectual objectivity.
- Argues that woolf's work is filled with lesbian allusions, but that they are veiled out of a fear for the conservatism of the time.
- Argues that woolf was more concerned with how women could be independent from either men or women than in imagining or creating a lesbian utopia.
- Analyzes how clarissa's choice to marry richard is a way for her to experience relationships without losing her sense of self.
- Explains that nicolson, nigel, and joanne trautmann, eds. the letters of virginia woolf.
3778 wordsRead More - Humor's Place in the 20th Century Novelanalytical essayThe modern novel, the serious novel, does tend toward either two extremes: either it is a tight metaphysical object, which wishes it were a poem, and which attempts to convey, often in mythical form, some central truth about the human condition or else it is a loose journalistic epic, documentary or possibly even didactic in inspiration, offering a commentary on current institutions or on some matter out of history (264).
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes iris murdoch's essay, "the beautiful and sublime revisited," which argues that the serious novel tends toward either two extremes: it is a tight metaphysical object, which wishes it were poetry, and which attempts to convey some central truth about the human condition.
- Analyzes how murdoch's words can be applied to many of the most well-known modern novels from james joyce’s ulysses to aldous huxley’
- Distinguishes between the terms "modern" and "post modern" as they will be used in this study.
- Analyzes how murdoch asserts that humor should be included in novels because it is as much a part of life as all of the terrible, "serious" things that modern writers focus on.
- Analyzes how humor manifests itself differently in modern and post-modern literature. d.h. lawrence presents uncomfortable situations in women in love.
- Analyzes how e.m. forster's description of the bridge party in a passage to india is filled with uncomfortable moments.
- Analyzes how post-modern writers handle similar situations in different ways. iris murdoch presents a perfect example of this in under the net, where jake and finn are attempting to steal mars.
- Analyzes murdoch's post-modern tradition of incorporating humor into uncomfortable situations. kazuo ishiguro accomplishes this in his novel the remains of the day.
- Opines that they had a word or two to say on the topic of the glories of nature. if you would indulge them by listening, they would be grateful.
- Analyzes how ishiguro's subtle humor adds just enough comedic relief to make it so that the discomfort isn't quite as strong. humor can also occur in situations or topics that would normally be considered serious.
- Analyzes how the death scene in women in love has a negative effect on the characters.
- Compares how sean's death and subsequent resurrection are treated differently in dermot bolger’s a second life.
- Analyzes how diana does die at the water-party, while sean comes back to life. death is present in both novels, and bolger is serious at times, but he also uses humor.
- Opines that humor does not exist in post-modern literature. however, an important question remains: why does humor seem more prevalent?
- Questions whether stevens' inclusion of humor is related to the issue presented at the end of the remains of the day.
- Analyzes how the writing of post modern writers is like a collective "sigh of relief" that the struggles and toils associated with world war ii are gone.
- Analyzes how post-modern writers don't ignore the realities of the world, but also discuss world war ii in their texts. james joyce's ulysses and d.h.
- Argues that the original post modern writers included humor in their novels as a response to the political tensions of world war ii.
- Explains that post-modern works are not treated with the same respect as their modern counterparts in academic settings. iris murdoch, kazuo ishiguro and dermot bolger are relegated to specialized classes.
- Explains that modern novels are associated with being serious and having a message. john rauk, departmental chair for the department of french, classics, and italian at michigan state university commented on this issue.
- Argues that modern writers are granted more credibility as academic writers than their post-modern counterparts.
- Opines that the ending of a second life proves that post modern writers are capable of writing in a serious manner.
- Opines that while it isn't accurate to say that there is no humor in modern literature, ulysses is a good example. however, humor seems to be more prevalent in post-modern literature.
- Describes the works of dermot bolger, e.m. forster, and kazuo ishiguro. the remains of the day.
2410 wordsRead More - Authors’ Reactions to Vietnam: Wallace Terry and Tim O’Brienanalytical essay....” Studies in Contemporary Fiction. 1995, 36.4: 249-257. Article First. Online. PerAbs. 28 November, 2000.
In this essay, the author
- Opines that america hurt so many young men by putting them over in vietnam to be introduced to prostitution, gamblin', drinkin’, drugs.
- Explains that vietnam, the war that was not a war, was one of the darkest periods in american history. the men who served in vietnam were permanently scarred.
- Explains that the moral ambiguity and unresolved conflicts characterizing u.s. involvement in vietnam have made that war a compelling presence in the american literary and cultural imagination.
- Analyzes how o'brien felt it was unjust to send men out against their will to fight a war in which they did not believe. he describes his difficulty in deciding what to do after he was drafted.
- Describes how they couldn't tolerate embarrassment, mockery, disgrace, patriotic ridicule, even in their imaginiation, the shore just twenty yards away.
- Opines that they would go to war—they would kill and maybe die—because they were embarrassed not to.
- Explains that o'brien didn't believe in this war, but went because he feared ridicule for holding on to his convictions.
- Opines that terry, unlike o’brien, did not play a military role in this war. he was in vietnam as the reporter, which may have influenced his feelings.
- Analyzes how o'brien's purpose in writing "the lives of the dead" is to make people feel pity for all those involved in the war.
- Describes how they can see kiowa, ted lavender, curt lemon, and timmy skating with linda under the yellow floodlights.
- Analyzes how tim o'brien describes how he is trying to save his youth from the horrors of his past.
- Opines that wallace terry wrote his book for a more selfless purpose.
- Describes how they vowed that one day they would see between the covers of a book the story of the sacrifice of such young black men and others in the rice paddies of vietnam.
- Analyzes how terry's purpose is clear: he is writing this book to share with america the story of the black soldiers who gave their lives in vietnam.
- Analyzes how racism in vietnam is as thick as the blackness that engulfed the men every night. norman's suggestions on how to give blacks the rights they deserved were used by the cno.
- Analyzes how sergeant major edgar huff tells of his experience with racism even after he retired.
- Narrates how sergeant major washington and his wife were out on the patio with their son and kids playing in the yard.
- Describes how a car drove up and four white marines started throwing hand grenades. they were white phosphorous.
- Analyzes how don browne's story illustrates the insensitivity of white men and anger of the black men.
- Narrates how a few days after the assassination, some of the white guys got sick and tired of seeing dr. king's on the tv screen. one guy said, "i really wish they’d take that nigger’s picture off."
- Explains that racism was a problem blacks had been dealing with since the foundation of america. the death, fear, and danger that surrounded them, were all new forms of oppression.
- Analyzes how o'brien's book carries the burden of trying to convince people of the "truth" in it. the chapter "how to tell a true war story" conveys this responsibility.
- Explains that a true war story is never moral. it doesn't instruct, encourage virtue, suggest models of proper human behavior, or retrain men from doing the things men have always done.
- Analyzes how o'brien enumerates the characteristics of true war stories, stating that if a story is believed, the listener should still be skeptical.
- Analyzes how o'brien's book, bloods, serves as a memorial to the horror of war, something countries forget all too easily.
- Analyzes how bloods and the things they carried contain a central theme around which most of the book is centered, but they both present the reader with multi-faceted messages.
- Cites calloway, catherine. "how to tell a true war story: metafiction in the things they carried." studies in contemporary fiction.
- Analyzes tim o'brien's the things they carried, which was published in contemporary literature.
- Analyzes poppleton-pritchard's "world beyond measure": an ecological critique of tim o'brien’s the things they carried and in the lake of the woods.
- Analyzes rosenblatt's "how we remember". time, 29 may, 2000. academic search elite. online.
2518 wordsRead More - ray bradburyanalytical essayAs a child, Ray Bradbury loved to read fantasy novels. Inspired by his favorite writers, he longed to become a fantasy writer himself. Bradbury lived during the Great Depression with very little money, therefore he could not put himself through school. Instead, Bradbury went to the library every other day for ten years. During this time, he realized that he wanted to pursue his dream of becoming a writer. To get money, Bradbury started publishing his works in a newspaper. Because he wanted practice, he used several pseudonyms to make it look like he had several authors publishing their stories in his newspaper, but in fact, it was written entirely by Bradbury himself. “Bradbury uses [his] stories not only to entertain, but to cause readers to think about their own lives” (Clark, Tracy). He focused more on the message of his story than the popularity of it. “When ask...
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how ray bradbury's "the pedestrian" conveys a story about the terrors of the future and how man eventually will lose their personality.
- Analyzes how ray bradbury, inspired by his favorite writers, longed to become a fantasy writer himself. he lived during the great depression with very little money, therefore he could not put himself through school.
- Analyzes how bradbury expresses his futuristic views by infusing his imagination into the idea that technology will corrupt the weak minded.
- Analyzes how bradbury uses "the pedestrian" to indicate a powerful message. he warns that technology can be useful, but harmful if not used carefully.
- Cites bradbury, ray, and laura standley berger's twentieth-century young adult writers series.
525 wordsRead More - Pop Culture Essayanalytical essayIn order to study and understand pop culture we must first and foremost confront the
In this essay, the author
- Opines that popular culture is the culture that is left over after we have had.
- Describes the distinct set off practices set apart from economic, political, or social practices.
- Opines that the categorization of popular culture and classical culture over the years has been one.
- Analyzes how frankfurt's theorist argues that social elites are fighting the organized order.
- Explains that in order to study and understand pop culture, we must first and foremost confront the difficulty posed by the term itself.
- Explains that popular culture was mostly associated with the poorly educated or the lower class.
- Argues that the elite use popular culture to control or have dominance over those below them. the second argument is the opposite of the first.
- Explains that there's a great relationship between what we have learned and how we've learned it. advanced capitalist societies are places where popular culture is found.
- Explains that popular culture is often contrasted to ‘high’ or ‘elite’ culture, which refers to the tastes of educated minorities.
- Explains that mass media creates a distorted image of how the world is and the masses are said to passively consume it.
- Analyzes the negative effects of popular culture on people's perceptions of products and their use.
- Opines that people don't know or get to learn the traditional way of production.
- Concludes that pop-culture changes with time, citing the example of the opera, which in the early years was for the working class, but has changed over time and is considered today as an elite society.
992 wordsRead More - Popular Culture Essayanalytical essayIn the contemporary society, popular culture represents the emerging lifestyles, fashions, values, as well as customs that the mainstream population follows without hesitation and with loyalty. It embraces a blend of philosophies, opinions, beliefs, viewpoints, and imageries, besides various forms of events that specific groups of individuals adopt in the society. Popular culture plays a significant role in shaping the way people think or perceive things by offering them a unique interpretation of something that they may eventually like. In this digital age, some of the popular culture known today takes account of television programs watched by many people, the numbers of individuals who currently use the internet constantly as the best means
In this essay, the author
- Explains that popular culture represents emerging lifestyles, values, and customs that the mainstream population follows without hesitation and with loyalty.
- Analyzes how facebook has embraced the digital age as a popular culture artifact because of its ability to blend social networking using the internet.
- Explains that social media is the quickest avenue to appeal to a wide range of customers without limitations owing to the fact that it defies age groups and national boundaries.
- Explains that facebook functions as a socially relevant way of networking since its users must provide their identity and set their personal privacy settings allowing all users to limit the number of individuals or friends that can view the contents of their profiles.
- Explains that facebook remains one of the most popular online communities used by a large vast number of people. it has inspired many people and has an extensive network for sharing pictures, advertisements, and multiple high-quality content.
- Explains that the popularity of facebook has led to the development of other related social networking websites, such as twitter, whatsapp, instagram, and foursquare (shoemaker).
- Explains that popular culture is the fastest way of reaching a wide range of people without limitations since it disregards national borders and age groups. facebook's popularity stems from the fact that it keeps its users up to speed on the newest styles, developments or ideas.
1551 wordsRead More - Dystopian Fiction Analysisargumentative essayI have decided to write two dystopian fiction extracts, one aimed at adults (Great Leap Forward), and one aimed at teenagers (exitSim). Both of which have the purpose of entertaining the audience, however the adult extract is also designed to provide a political message and to provoke thought, a common feature of adult dystopian fiction. In terms of style models, for teenagers I have used The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, Divergent, Life as we Knew It, and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. For adults, I have used 1984, Station Eleven, The Giver, Animal Farm, and Wither. Whilst both my stories are dystopian fiction, they are made clearly different by the fact the target audience is different for each.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that they have decided to write two dystopian fiction extracts, one aimed at adults (great leap forward) and one for teenagers (exitsim). both have the purpose of entertaining the audience, but the adult extract is also designed to provide a political message and provoke thought.
- Compares the semantics and pragmatics of their two stories, stating that great leap forward contains many connotations, culture-bound references and underlying meanings which are adult in nature.
- Compares teen dystopian fiction with the hunger games, which deals with simple political concepts like authoritarianism and its problems.
- Explains that grammatically and graphologically, teen and adult dystopian novels are set out differently. adult style models have longer paragraphs, complex sentences, and descriptive terminology.
- Compares teen dystopian novels' grammar and graphology. teen novels have shorter, snappy sentences, smaller paragraphs, and its descriptions are limited mostly to characters’ appearances.
- Analyzes how they have written their two stories in the given genre and discourse; dystopian fiction.
1005 wordsRead More - The Interpretation of None the Other, Maya Angelouanalytical essay"Genre: Contemporary literature | Illiterarty.com." Illiterarty.com | Book reviews and blogs by Bridget. Web. 16 Feb. 2010. .
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how maya angelou's writing shows that she has endured and believes in the concept she is illustrating in "alone."
- Analyzes how maya angelou uses her past life experiences to influence her writing. this gives her a sense of talent that not many writers can endure.
- Analyzes how maya angelou exemplifies how the speaker is trying to show to all of his or her enemies that no matter what they have gone through, they will always come out on top.
- Analyzes how dr. maya angelou embodies the characteristics of the contemporary era as demonstrated in her poem, "alone."
- Analyzes how maya angelou's unique style shows the beauty of true contemporary writing. she fought social discrimination due to being an african-american woman.
- Analyzes how maya angelou uses her unique style of writing to portray this in a type of masked writing. she hides the true meaning of her words so that one can deeply analyze the poem.
- Analyzes dr. maya angelou's writing style, which is filled with mystery and a controlling metaphor. she is one of the most talented african-american women in all aspects
- Explains that "alone by maya angelou." poemhunter.com - thousands of poems and poets.
- Describes maya angelou's criticism in enotes' literature study guides, lesson plans, and more.
1503 wordsRead More - Northern Lights and Swallows and Amazonsanalytical essayCritics view the books by Pullman and Ransom as examples of literary excellence. In order to evaluate this opinion it is necessary to discuss what aspects critics consider contribute to a good book and how these books illustrate them. The American Library Associate (ALA) uses the term ‘edubrow’ (Kidd, (2009) p158) to mean the middle ground of literature with an educational emphasis. This emphasis is at the centre of the criteria for a good book by increasing the experiences of the reader through varied language, dynamic themes, rounded characterisation with comprehensive plots. The critics favour works that involve the reader in a non-passive manner to gain insights into universal aspects of human existence like love, identity, revenge, sexuality and betrayal.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that critics confer prestige on authors through prizes of which there are a vast array. pullman's book is the most prestigious, while ransom received the first carnegie medal in 1936 for ‘swallows and amazons’.
- Analyzes how the carnegie shadowing on the ou dvd2 no 2 illustrates that children do not have a voice in the selection of prize-winners.
- Analyzes how ransom characterizes children's play and reflect the attitudes and values of his own world. his realistic setting on an island defers to robinson crusoe and treasure island.
- Compares blyton's work with rousseau, stating that childhood should be a time of innocence, when children learn at their own pace, away from the interference of adults.
- Argues that blyton is arguably more successful than pullman and ransom, despite her reputation for writing unacceptable and bad literature.
- Analyzes rudd's essay on blyton, pullman, and ransom as examples of literary excellence. the american library associate uses the term ‘edubrow’ to mean the middle ground of literature with an educational emphasis.
- Analyzes how critics evaluate selected novels based on their agenda for the purposes and nature of children's literature. pullman and ransom illustrate these two views of childhood.
- Analyzes how pullman's literary stance of allying himself with the lauded writers of fall literature like blake and milton has created controversy where his books are studied and dissected by academics.
1983 wordsRead More - Literary Analysis Of Animal Farm By George Orwellanalytical essayLiterature is an essential part of society in the present day and enables the communication between multiple parties in a written form. Texts can provide a vast knowledge on subjects dependent on content whereas novels are often seen as being purely for leisure and enjoyment. However it can often be seen that prose
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how orwell alters his communication of the lies he wishes to expose and how they are conveyed to the reader through literary devices.
- Analyzes how orwell communicates the exposure of lies across two novels and how they differ depending on the intended reader.
- Analyzes how animal farm is a satirical novella that was first published in 1945. it follows farm animals and their desire to achieve better life following the encouragement of old major to "spring from the tyranny of human beings."
- Analyzes how 1984 is a dystopian novel written in 1949 and based in the fiction country of oceania.
- Analyzes how orwell focuses on characterisation to convey his exposition of the conflicts between the government and civilians in animal farm.
- Analyzes how orwell uses characterisation to communicate the severity of a totalitarian society in 1984.
- Analyzes how orwell uses both setting and language to assist the audiences understanding of both the allegorical meaning and narrative.
- Compares orwell's dark and bleak outlook of 1984 to animal farm, which is written in a friendly style with matter-of-fact tone.
- Analyzes how orwell anticipates readers to find the exposition of lies throughout his work that may inform historical events to avoid a reoccurrence. animal farm reflects stalin’s reign during the october revolution in russia and uses allegory to subtly suggest this.
- Analyzes how orwell uses graphic imagery rather than an allegorical context of a certain event to leave the novel open to interpretation for more mature readers.
- Analyzes how orwell acknowledges the intended audience and uses literary techniques to expose the lies he wishes to unveil. directing his novels towards different audiences enables him to show that the outcome of a totalitarian society will affect everyone regardless of age and gender.
1774 wordsRead More