analysis - fictional text

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omniscient evaluates what happens narrator Cintrusive omniscient narrator) one (or two) characters ↓ selective narrator what / How / why. →>> methodischer Dreischritt für technique jeden Analyseaspect no character objective narrator What How why the objective narrator is impersonal, i.e. he/she reports from the outside as a "hidden observer" → Beschreibung / Umschreibung des Aspekts → Textbeleg - zitat (direktes oder in- direktes Zitat of vergleiche) Der eigentliche Analyseteil, die schluss- folgerung, was ist der Effekt des Aspekts? YES first-person point of view 3. Is the narrator (who is a character in the story)...? the protagonist protagonist-narrator limited perspective the protagonist-narrator is the central character of the story not the protagonist witness-narrator the witness-narrator often is very close to the protagonist (e.g a friend or relative) → effects of the nawative perspectives → narrative techniques Narrator third-person omniscient narrator Step 5: protagonist narrator objective nowator selective navrator -witness navrator Functions/consequences The advantage of this point of view lies in the reader's access to the characters' feelings and thoughts. The reader gets comprehensive characterisations and interpretations. If the narrator is overly intrusive with his/her comments and evaluation, the reader might be made a passive "consumer" of the narration without any room left for interpretation. The reader follows the course of events through the eyes of the central character who tells his/her story in the first person. In this way the reader experiences the story with a great deal of immediacy and is constantly informed about the protagonist's thoughts and feelings. Not surprisingly, the reader is emotionally strongly involved and very likely to identify with the narrator (identification figure). The perspective is clearly limited; the description may be one-sided and to some extent subjective. This point of view demands the reader's full attention and constant "reading between the lines": Without any access to the characters' minds, the reader has to draw his/her own conclusions about their motives and thoughts. The limitation of this point of view is that only neutral description and dialogue are possible. With this point of view, the omniscient narrator has decided to only inform the reader about what is going on in the mind of one or two characters. This means limited, and possibly biased/unreliable, information about the events and other characters. On the other hand, it may create suspense through gap-filling and encourage interpretation. The narrator is part of the action, though not always at its centre. He gives (possibly sketchy or even unreliable) information and makes comments as an observer from outside. As this narrator has only limited first-hand information, he often has to rely on hearsay, gossip or rumours. The reader needs to trust the narrator, but knows that he does not get a complete picture of the events What is Chronology? Chronology is the arrangement of events by time. In literature, most authors write their story as a sequence of events when you use this method, arranging events in the order in which they occurred in time, it's called putting them in "chronological order." Sticking with a chronological timeline is the easiest way for audiences to follow what happens and is generally the best way to show cause and effect. But, some authors may be more risky with a story's chronology, sharing events out of order-for example, they may start the story at the end and work backwards, jump back and forth in time, and so on Types of Chronology Chronology is pretty straightforward because it relies completely on time. So, there aren't any real "types" of chronology, but it can be shared in different ways and narrative styles. a. Linear Narrative (Normal Chronology) The linear (i.e. in a line) telling of a story as a sequence of events as they happened. time. b. Reverse Chronology The telling of a story from the end to the beginning, sharing events in the reverse order from which they occurred in time. c. Nonlinear Narrative The nonlinear (i.e. not in line) telling of a story is a series of separate events told out of chronological order Narrative perspectives and techniques_skript Narrative techniques In text analysis, it is important to consider how a story (in literature or film) is told. Narrative techniques can create interest and atmosphere and influence the way readers are affected by the story. The way a story is told is made up of a combination of various aspects. 1. Structure (exposition, main part, conclusion) The main events and theme of a story are called the plot. Part of it can be told to the reader directly, other parts may be told by one character to another within the story. The exposition is the first part of a narrative. It serves to give basic information about the setting, the characters and the plot. The main part often contains a development that presents the escalation of a conflict, the involvement of the characters in it and their actions (rising action). There often is a climax at the end of the development and/or a turning point. After that we speak of falling action. The concluding part then usually brings about the solution or dénouement (which may be missing because of an abrupt or surprise ending). A frame story may be provided to create one or more stories within a story. One famous example is the Tales from the thousand and one nights. 2. Chronology There are different possibilities of telling the events in a story. There may be a back story made up of the history of characters, objects, places or other elements in the story. The back story is extremely important in the Harry Potter' novels, for example. In a flashback the narrative is taken back in time (a popular film technique). In a flash-forward future events are revealed. Foreshadowing means that there are clues early in the story that hint at a future development. This is typical of crime stories or tragedies. conclusion → short summary of your aspects → refer back to your hypothesis 3. Narrative situation The effect which a story has largely depends on the relationship between the narrator, the characters and the reader. Readers can be drawn into a story by identifying with one or more of the characters. The following factors influence the distance between the readers, the narrator, the characters and the story: The point of view is determined by the person of the narrator and his/her attitude towards the characters. The narrator may tell the reader everything, but may as well be an unreliable one who does not tell the whole truth. The point of view controls what the reader gets to know and when. Thus suspense can be created by not giving away too much information, a typical feature of crime or adventure stories. The tense may also influence the distance between the reader and the characters. If something is supposed to be happening while you read, you usually feel closer to it than if it happened long ago. Sometimes there is so much distance that the narrator does not even take the characters. seriously, but treats them with irony. If the tone of a narrative is ironic, this means that what is said is not actually what is meant. We speak of dramatic irony if the narrator and the reader know something the characters don't. As well as descriptions of events, characters or settings, there may also be dialogues which reveal characters' thoughts and feelings (see → 57 Indirect characterisation), or comments by the narrator or author (who are not necessarily the same person, see →S8, Narrative perspectives). ■ In some stories you read or hear directly what a character says (direct speech) or thinks (stream- of consciousness). Stream-of-consciousness (like real thinking) is often unstructured and chaotic, so there is hardly any distance between the reader and the character. In other stories the narrator uses indirect speech to report what the characters are saying or thinking. This creates more distance.