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Simile:
(bildhafter Vergleich)
is a comparison
of two things which are connected with 'like' or 'as...as'.
Ex.: He fought
like a tiger.
or: He is
as strong as an elephant. |
Metaphor:
is an implied comparison,
in which one literal word or phrase is substituted by a figurative one.
Ex: a wave
of immigration ('wave' is substituted by 'great number')
or: the evening
of life ('evening' is substituted for 'the final part') |
Personification:
a stylistic device
in which an animal, a plant or an object is given human qualities.
Ex: the wind cries
softly outside the window |
Mode of presentation:
(Darstellungsart)
There are two modes
of presentation to be found in pieces of literature: the panoramic
and the scenic modes.
The panoramic
mode is employed when the author summarizes several events, whereas scenic
mode is used when the author describes scenes in great detail. |
Means
of presentation:
(Darstellungsmittel)
An author can use different ways of how to present a story:
1. by simply objectively
describing scenes or events in a story without being involved
2. by using direct
or reported speech
3. by using the
so called 'stream-of-consciousness' - technique (Bewußtseinsstrom).
This again can
be distinguished:
a. by interior monologue
(usually present tense, first person, incomplete sentences) and
b. by reported thought
(erlebte Rede; usually past tense, conditional tense, third person)
The stream-of-consciousness-technique
is characterized by the fact that ideas and thoughts come directly from
the character's mind without the interference of introductory clauses like
'I think..' or 'He claimed..'.
Examples: |
Direct
speech:
Aunt Beryl, 'No
harm can come to it; for it is summer. And the smell of paint will perhaps
ahve gone off by the time it (=a doll's house) has to be taken in'. |
Interior
monologue:
No harm can come
to it. I will smell the paintof it as long as it will be taken in. |
Reported
speech:
Aunt Beryl thought
that no harm could come to it, for it was summer. And she said that the
smell of paint might have gone off by the time it had to be taken in. |
Reported
thought:
No harm could come
to it; it was summer.And perhaps the smell of paint would have gone off
by the time it had to be taken in. |
Narrator /
point of view:
(Erzähler /
Erzählperspektive)
The point of view
desribes the relation in which the narrator stands to the story.That is
why these two terms are to be considered commonly.
In every narrative
text there is a narrator who is not identical with the author of the text.
The author creates a narrator from whose point of view the story is told.
One usually distinguishes
between a first-person and a third-person narrator: |
| The
first-person narrator
can be the protagonist
(=main character), who narrates a story in which he himself is directly
involved. His point of view is usually limited to what he sees and has
experienced.
But he can also
be a character who is a witness (Zeuge) of some event or incident which
he then describes from his perspective. He is then not directly involveed
in the action of the story, he is rather an observer, a witness.
The functions
of a first-person narrator:
He lends the story:
- credibility (he
can be relied on what he says)
- authenticity (describes
his own experiences)
- immediacy (he
is close to the action) |
The
third-person narrator
is not at all involved
in the action of a story. He can be a disguised narrator, who presents
things as they are seen through the eyes of a character. He usually has
a limited point of view, which prevents him from seeing everything (e.g.
other people's thoughts). He can also be an omniscient narrator
who has total knowledge and can therefore describe and comment on all the
characters and events in the story. This is why one can call his point
of view unlimited.
The functions
of a third-person narrator:
- he provides comprehensive,
overall information
- he provides background
information and gives comments |
Possible answer to the following assignment:
Comment on the narrator, point of view and means of presentation in Bernard MacLaverty's CAL:
B. MacLaverty employs a third-person narrator for his novel CAL. As the narrator seems to know everything
about the protagonist and also about other minor characters involved in the story, one can call him
omniscient. He can shift back and forth in time, enter the minds of the characters, escpecially
that of Cal. Therefore his point of view is unlimited. Most of the time the narrator is close to the
main character and tells the story from his point of view. He even enters Cal's mind, reads and renders
his thoughts and feelings in the stream-of-consciousness technique, which means either through reported thought
or through interior monologue. Particularly at the beginning of the novel, the author makes the
narrator enter Cal's mind, e.g. when Cal lies in bed and cannot sleep. He visualizes an attack on their home
and asks himself what they would be doing in this case. Cal's thoughts are presented in reported thought.
At times Cal's feelings are described in the form of the interior monologue, e.g. when Cal associates the referee,
the red and white flags with the colours of murder and work respectively. These associations are typically
described in incomplete sentences.
The advantage for the author of having the narrator use the stream-of-consiousness technique lies in the
fact that there is no mediator between the character and the reader. The direct presentation of thoughts
(dramatic presentation) allows the reader to get involved and he will identify himself with the
character more quickly. This particularly applies to Cal who the reader sympathizes with throughout the story,
although the latter had taken part in a murder.
Short
story:
A short story is
a narrative (Erzählung) which usually treats only one main event or
deals with a conflict of one character. Short stories are therefore often
called 'slice-of-life'-stories. They are likely to produce a 'certain unique
effect' in the reader, as E.A. Poe claims. |
Its
common structure:
- exposition
(=introduction)
- rising action
(increasing suspense)
- climax (turning
point)
- falling action
(decreasing suspense)
- denouement (ending,
can be open-ended, surprise ending etc.) |
Exposition:
The exposition generally
fulfills the following requirements:
- it sets the action
going
- it suggests the
theme
- it introduces
the main character(s) and their problems
- it sketches the
setting (time and place) and
- it arouses suspense |
Characterization:
There are generally
two types of characterisation, explicit (direct) and implicit (indirect)
characterisation. |
| Explicit
characterization: a character is portrayed by direct description of
his outward appearance and by directly naming his human and mental qualities
or abilities. |
Implicit
characterization: a character is portrayed by what he does or by describing
his environment. From what he does or from his surroundings one draws conclusions
as to what kind of character it is. |
Irony:
Generally two types
of irony have to be distinguished: verbal and dramatic |
| Verbal
irony:
also called rhetorical
irony; is a form of speech in which the opposite is meant from what is
literally(wörtlich) expressed. This type of irony uses praise(Lob)
to imply blame(Tadel) or words of blame to imply praise. |
Dramatic
irony:
is to be seen when
a character in a play expects the opposite of what his fate or destiny
holds in store, but the reader or audience knows better, e.g. Willy Loman
in 'Death of a Salesman' believes in his being popular and becoming rich,
but the reader / audience knows that he is a failure and will never be
rich.
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