Expert answer:Survey of Literature
Expert answer:Unit 2 Survey of Literature Discussion: Word Count Minimum 200 Words Kirszner and Mandell make a comparison between “popular fiction” and “serious fiction,” contending that stories that fall into popular fiction genres (e.g., mystery, suspense, romance, horror, science fiction, fantasy, etc.), “Serve as an escape from life,” and that “serious fiction” challenges “cherished beliefs” and can cause “readers to reexamine long-held assumptions.” Do you think that popular/genre fiction is worthy of being considered “literature” in the same way that “serious fiction” is? If so, why? If not, why not? Complete: Minimum 150 word per question and at least one scholarly source per question and attached will be the read section that can also be used the read section citations reads as follows: Kirszner and Mandell, (2012). Lit. Wadsworth Cengage, Boston. Be sure to rely on the stories for support by using details and quotations to explain your ideas/response. In each response, reference at least ONE literary craft element in your response (i.e., character, theme, point of view, symbolism, tone etc) to support/develop your ideas. Read the following short stories: • O’Connor, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” (pages 295 – 309) • Walker, “Everyday Use” (pages 344 – 352) • Welty “A Worn Path” (pages 386 – 394) • Kaplan, “Doe Season” (pages 395 – 408) Answer following questions. What does it mean to be a “good” man and a “good woman” in “A Good Man is Hard to Find?”Select three key symbols in “Everyday Use.” How do they differ in the way that Dee and her mother understand them?Show at least three moments along the way when Phoenix might have abandoned her mission in “A Worn Path.” In your response, explain the relationship between the symbolism of ‘a phoenix’ and how that relates to the protagonist’s determination and resilience?
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Unit 2 Survey of Literature
Discussion: Word Count Minimum 200 Words
Kirszner and Mandell make a comparison between “popular fiction” and “serious fiction,”
contending that stories that fall into popular fiction genres (e.g., mystery, suspense,
romance, horror, science fiction, fantasy, etc.), “Serve as an escape from life,” and that
“serious fiction” challenges “cherished beliefs” and can cause “readers to reexamine longheld assumptions.”
Do you think that popular/genre fiction is worthy of being considered “literature” in the
same way that “serious fiction” is? If so, why? If not, why not?
Complete: Minimum 150 word per question and at least one scholarly source per question
and attached will be the read section that can also be used the read section citations reads
as follows: Kirszner and Mandell, (2012). Lit. Wadsworth Cengage, Boston.
Be sure to rely on the stories for support by using details and quotations to explain your
ideas/response. In each response, reference at least ONE literary craft element in your
response (i.e., character, theme, point of view, symbolism, tone etc) to support/develop your
ideas.
Read the following short stories:
• O’Connor, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” (pages 295 – 309)
• Walker, “Everyday Use” (pages 344 – 352)
• Welty “A Worn Path” (pages 386 – 394)
• Kaplan, “Doe Season” (pages 395 – 408)
Answer following questions.
1. What does it mean to be a “good” man and a “good woman” in “A Good Man is
Hard to Find?”
2. Select three key symbols in “Everyday Use.” How do they differ in the way that Dee
and her mother understand them?
3. Show at least three moments along the way when Phoenix might have abandoned
her mission in “A Worn Path.” In your response, explain the relationship between
the symbolism of ‘a phoenix’ and how that relates to the protagonist’s determination
and resilience?
CHAPTER 11
STYLE, TONE, AND LANGUAGE
(Mary) Flannery O’Connor
AP
Im a g e s
C
H
R
I
S
T
I
A
N
,
AP
Tim O’Brien
P h o to /Da
v id P ic k o f
J
A
M
JamesIJoyce
AP I m a g e s
E
Style and Tone
5
One of the qualities that gives a work5of literature its individuality is its style,
the way in which a writer uses language,
6 selecting and arranging words to
say what he or she wants to say. Style encompasses elements such as word
7
choice; syntax; sentence length and structure; and the presence, frequency,
B of speech.
and prominence of imagery and figures
Closely related to style is tone, the attitude of the narrator or author of
U
a work toward the subject matter, characters, or audience. Word choice and
281
9781337509633, PORTABLE Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing, Ninth edition, Kirszner – © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization.
282
Chapter 11 • Style, Tone, and Language
sentence structure help to create a work’s tone, which may be intimate or
distant, bitter or affectionate, straightforward or cautious, supportive or critical, respectful or condescending. (Tone may also be ironic; see Chapter 10,
“Point of View,” for a discussion of irony.)
The Uses of Language
Language offers almost limitless possibilities to a writer. Creative use of lanC
guage (such as unusual word choice, word order, or sentence structure) can
H Sometimes, in fact, a writer’s use
enrich a story and add to its overall effect.
of language can expand a story’s possibilities through its very inventiveness.
R
For example, James Joyce’s innovative stream-of-consciousness style mimics
thought, allowing ideas to run into one Ianother as random associations are
made so that readers may follow and participate
in the thought processes of
S
the narrator. Here is a stream-of-consciousness passage from Joyce’s experiT
mental 1922 novel Ulysses:
frseeeeeeeefronnnng train somewhere
I whistling the strength those engines have in them like big giants and the water rolling all over and out of
them all sides like the end of LovesA
old sweet sonnnng the poor men that
have to be out all the night from their
N wives and families in those roasting
engines stifling it was today. . . .
,
Skillfully used, language can enhance a story’s other elements. It may, for
example, help to create an atmosphere that is important to the story’s plot or
theme, as Kate Chopin’s lush, rhythmic sentences
help to create the sexually
J
charged atmosphere of “The Storm” (p. 199)—an atmosphere that overpowA Language may also help to deliners the characters and thus drives the plot.
eate character, perhaps by conveying a character’s
mental state to readers. For
M
instance, the breathless, disjointed style of Edgar Allan Poe’s 1843 short story
I increasing emotional instability:
“The Tell-Tale Heart” suggests the narrator’s
“Was it possible they heard not? AlmightyEGod!—no, no! They heard!—they
suspected!—they knew!—they were making a mockery of my horror!”
In his 1925 short story “Big Two-Hearted River,” Ernest Hemingway uses
short, unconnected sentences to create 5a flat, emotionless prose style that
reveals his character’s alienation and fragility as he struggles to maintain
5 been this to do. Now it was done.
control: “Now things were done. There had
It had been a hard trip. He was very tired.
6 That was done. He had made his
camp. He was settled. Nothing could touch him.”
7
Language that places emphasis on the sounds and rhythm of words and
BConsider the use of such language
sentences can also enrich a work of fiction.
in the following sentence from James Joyce’s “Araby” (p. 288):
U
The light from the lamp opposite our door caught the white curve of her
neck, lit up her hair that rested there and, falling, lit up the hand upon
the railing.
9781337509633, PORTABLE Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing, Ninth edition, Kirszner – © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization.
The Uses of Language
283
Here the narrator is describing his first conversation with a girl who fascinates him, and the lyrical, almost musical language reflects his enchantment.
Note in particular the alliteration (light/lamp; caught/curve; hair/hand), the
repetition (lit up/lit up), and the rhyme (lit up her hair/that rested there) and
near rhyme (falling/railing); these poetic devices weave the words of the
sentence into a smooth, rhythmic whole.
Another example of this emphasis on sound may be found in the measured parallelism of this sentence from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1843 story
C
“The Birthmark”:
He had left his laboratory to the
H care of an assistant, cleared his fine
countenance from the furnace smoke, washed the stain of acids from his
R woman to become his wife.
fingers, and persuaded a beautiful
The style of this sentence, conveyingI methodical precision and order, reflects
the compulsive personality of the character
being described.
S
The following passage from Alberto Alvaro Ríos’s story “The Secret
Lion” (p. 466) illustrates the power T
of language to enrich a story:
We had read the books, after all;
I we knew about bridges and castles and
wildtreacherousraging alligatormouth rivers. We wanted them. So we
A We went back that morning into that
were going to go out and get them.
kitchen and we said, “We’re going
N out there, we’re going into the hills,
we’re going away for three days, don’t worry.” She said, “All right.”
, “if we’re going to go away for three days,
“You know,” I said to Sergio,
well, we ought to at least pack a lunch.”
But we were two young boys with no patience for what we thought at
the time was mom-stuff: making
J sa-and-wiches. My mother didn’t offer.
So we got out little kid knapsacks that my mother had sewn for us, and
A A loaf of bread. Knivesforksplates,
into them we put the jar of mustard.
bottles of Coke, a can opener.M
This was lunch for the two of us. And we
were weighed down, humped over to be strong enough to carry this stuff.
I into the hills. We were going to eat berBut we started walking anyway,
ries and stuff otherwise. “Goodbye.”
E My mom said that.
Through language, the adult narrator of the preceding paragraphs recaptures
the bravado of the boys in search of “wildtreacherousraging alligatormouth
rivers” even as he suggests to readers
5 that the boys are not going far. The
story’s use of language is original and inventive: words are blended together
5
(“getridofit,” “knivesforksplates”), linked to form new words (“mom-stuff”),
6
and drawn out to mimic speech (“sa-and-wiches”).
These experiments with
language show the narrator’s willingness
to
move
back
into a child’s frame of
7
reference while maintaining the advantage of distance. The adult narrator
uses sentence fragments (“A loaf ofB
bread.”), colloquialisms (“kid,” “mom,”
“stuff”), and contractions. He also includes
conversational elements such as
U
you know and well in the story’s dialogue, accurately recreating the childhood scene even as he sees its folly and remains aware of the disillusionment
that awaits him. Thus, the unique style permits the narrator to bring readers
9781337509633, PORTABLE Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing, Ninth edition, Kirszner – © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization.
284
Chapter 11 • Style, Tone, and Language
with him into the child’s world while he maintains his adult stance: “But we
were two young boys with no patience for what we thought at the time was
mom-stuff. . . .”
Although many stylistic options are available to writers, a story’s language must be consistent with the writer’s purpose and with the effect he
or she hopes to create. Just as writers may experiment with point of view
or manipulate events to create a complex plot, so they can adjust language
to suit a particular narrator or character or to convey a particular theme.
C described above, writers also
In addition to the creative uses of language
frequently experiment with formal and informal
diction, imagery, and figures
H
of speech.
R
I
Formal and Informal Diction
S
The level of diction—how formal or informal a story’s language is—can
Tand characters.
reveal a good deal about a story’s narrator
Formal diction is characterized by elaborate,
complex sentences; a learned
I
vocabulary; and a serious, objective, detached tone. It does not generally
A
include contractions, shortened word forms (like phone), regional expressions, or slang, and it may substitute one
Nor we for I. At its most extreme,
formal language is stiff and stilted, far removed from everyday speech.
,
When formal diction is used by a narrator or by a character, it may indi-
cate erudition, a high educational level, a superior social or professional
position, or emotional detachment. When
J one character’s language is significantly more formal than others’, he or she may seem old-fashioned or stuffy;
A or complex, it may reveal the
when language is inappropriately elevated
character to be pompous or ridiculous; when
M a narrator’s language is noticeably more formal than that of the story’s characters, the narrator may seem
superior or even condescending. Thus, Ithe choice of a particular level (or
levels) of diction in a story can conveyEinformation about characters and
about the narrator’s attitude toward them.
The following passage from Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark” illustrates formal style:
5
In the latter part of the last century5there lived a man of science, an
eminent proficient in every branch of natural philosophy, who not long
6
before our story opens had made experience
of a spiritual affinity more attractive than any chemical one. He had left his laboratory to the care of
7
an assistant, cleared his fine countenance from the furnace smoke, washed
the stain of acids from his fingers, and
B persuaded a beautiful woman to
become his wife. In those days when the comparatively recent discovery
U of Nature seemed to open paths
of electricity and other kindred mysteries
into the region of miracle, it was not unusual for the love of science to
rival the love of woman in its depth and absorbing energy. The higher
9781337509633, PORTABLE Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing, Ninth edition, Kirszner – © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization.
Formal and Informal Diction
285
intellect, the imagination, the spirit, and even the heart might all find
their congenial ailment in pursuits which, as some of their ardent votaries
believed, would ascend from one step of powerful intelligence to another,
until the philosopher should lay his hand on the secret of creative force
and perhaps make new worlds for himself.
The long and complex sentences, learned vocabulary (“countenance,” “ailment,” “votaries”), and absence of colloquialisms suit Hawthorne’s purpose
well, recreating the formal language of the earlier era in which his story is
C and his diction makes this clear
set. The narrator is aloof and controlled,
to readers.
H
Informal diction, consistent with everyday speech, is characterized by
R like you know and I mean, shortslang, contractions, colloquial expressions
ened word forms, incomplete sentences,
I and a casual, conversational tone.
A first-person narrator may use an informal style, or characters may speak
S style tends to narrow the distance
informally; in either case, informal
between readers and text.
T
One kind of informal language is illustrated in Joyce Carol Oates’s
I You Been?” (p. 453) by the casual,
“Where Are You Going, Where Have
slangy style of the dialogue between
A the teenager Connie and her older
stalker, Arnold Friend:
N
“I ain’t late, am I?” he said.
, are?” Connie said.
“Who the hell do you think you
“Toldja I’d be out, didn’t I?”
“I don’t even know who you are.”
Here, the level of the characters’ J
diction is a key element of the story:
because Arnold seems to speak Connie’s
A language, she lets down her guard
and becomes vulnerable to his advances.
M
Another kind of informal language is seen in the regionalisms and dialect used in Flannery O’Connor’s “A
I Good Man Is Hard to Find” (p. 295),
where speech patterns and individual words (“aloose”; “you all”; “britches”)
E
help to identify the region in which the characters live and their social class.
Informal diction may also include language readers find offensive. In such
cases, a character’s use of obscenities
5 may suggest anything from crudeness
to adolescent bravado, and the use of racial or ethnic slurs indicates that a
character is insensitive or bigoted. 5
The following passage from John
6 Updike’s “A&P” (p. 160) illustrates
informal style:
7
She had sort of oaky hair that the sun and salt had bleached, done up in a
bun that was unravelling, andB
a kind of prim face. Walking into the A&P
with your straps down, I suppose it’s the only kind of face you can have.
She held her head so high herU
neck, coming out of those white shoulders,
looked kind of stretched, but I didn’t mind. The longer her neck was, the
more of her there was.
9781337509633, PORTABLE Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing, Ninth edition, Kirszner – © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization.
286
Chapter 11 • Style, Tone, and Language
Here, the first-person narrator, a nineteen-year-old supermarket checkout
clerk, uses a conversational style, including colloquialisms (“sort of,” “I suppose,” “kind of”), contractions (“it’s,” “didn’t”), and the imprecise, informal
you (“Walking into the A&P with your straps down. . . .”). The narrator uses
neither elaborate syntax nor a learned vocabulary.
Imagery
C
Imagery—words and phrases that describe what is seen, heard, smelled,
H impact in a story. A writer may
tasted, or touched—can have a significant
use a pattern of repeated imagery to convey a particular impression about a
R
character or situation or to communicate or reinforce a story’s theme. For
example, a character’s newly discovered Isense of freedom or sexuality can be
conveyed through repeated use of words S
and phrases suggesting blooming or
ripening, as in the two stories in this text by Kate Chopin.
T (p. 425), the narrator’s vivid
In T. Coraghessan Boyle’s “Greasy Lake”
description of Greasy Lake uses rich visual
I imagery to evoke a scene:
Through the center of town, up the strip, past the housing developments
A
and shopping malls, street lights giving way to the thin streaming illumination of the headlights, trees crowding
Nthe asphalt in a black unbroken wall:
that was the way out to Greasy Lake. The Indians had called it Wakan,
, Now it was fetid and murky, the
a reference to the clarity of its waters.
mud banks glittering with broken glass and strewn with beer cans and the
charred remains of bonfires. There was a single ravaged island a hundred
J it looked as if the air force had
yards from shore, so stripped of vegetation
strafed it. We went up to the lake because everyone went there, because
A
we wanted to snuff the rich scent of possibility on the breeze, watch a girl
take off her clothes and plunge intoM
the festering murk, drink beer, smoke
pot, howl at the stars, savor the incongruous full-throated roar of rock and
roll against the primeval susurrus ofIfrogs and crickets. This was nature.
E with surprising words like “fetid,”
By characterizing a bucolic natural setting
“murky,” and “greasy” and unpleasant images such as the “glittering of
broken glass,” the “ravaged island,” and the “charred remains of bonfires,”
5 at odds with the traditional view
Boyle creates a picture that is completely
of nature. The incongruous images are5nevertheless perfectly consistent
with the sordid events that take place at Greasy Lake.
6
7
Figures of Speech
B
Figures of speech—such as similes, metaphors, and personification—can
U about characters and themes.
enrich a story, subtly revealing information
By using metaphors and similes—figures of speech that compare two dissimilar items—writers can indicate a particular attitude toward characters
9781337509633, PORTABLE Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing, Ninth edition, Kirszner – © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization.
Figures of Speech
287
and events. Thus, Flannery O’Connor’s many grotesque similes in “A Good
Man Is Hard to Find” help to dehumanize her characters; the children’s
mother, for instance, has a face “as broad and innocent as a cabbage.” In Tillie
Olsen’s “I Stand Here Ironing” (p. 217), an extended metaphor in which
a mother compares her daughter to a dress waiting to be ironed expresses
the mother’s attitude toward her child, effectively suggesting the daughter’s
vulnerability. Similes and metaphors are used throughout in Kate Chopin’s
“The Storm” (p. 199). In a scene of sexual awakening, Calixta’s skin is “like a
C flame,” and her mouth is “a fountain
creamy lily,” her passion is “like a white
of delight”; these figures of speech add
Ha lushness and sensuality to the story.
Personification—a figure of speech, closely related to metaphor, that
R ideas with life or with human charendows inanimate objects or abstract
acteristics—is used in “Araby” (p. 288),
I where houses, “conscious of decent
lives within them, gazed at one another with brown imperturbable faces.”
S
This use of figurative language expands readers’ vision of the story’s setting
and gives a dreamlike quality to theTpassage. (Other figures of speech, such
as hyperbole and understatement, can also enrich works of fiction. See
I
Chapter 19, “Figures of Speech,” for further information.)
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