The Short Story IV: Seventeen Syllables ENGL 146
As we discussed on Monday, a narrative implies the existence of some kind of communicating agent (the implied author and/or a character-narrator). Who is the communicator in Seventeen Syllables? What attitudes or beliefs does he or she betray in telling the story?
You will have two weeks to do a close reading of a short story. You will want to look for the details we ve discussed in class, including stuff from our discussions of poetry (metaphor, imagery, connotation etc.) You can bring 1 piece of letter-size paper (front and back) of notes. Then you ll write it up in class. I will be looking for: a strong argument supported by evidence from the text that demonstrates your understanding of the concepts we ve discussed a well-written essay (spelling, grammar, structure)
We talked about narration and different kinds of communicators... Real Author Implied Author Narrator We also talked about recipients of the narrative... Real Reader Implied Reader Narratee
Real author Implied author (Narrator) (Narratee) Implied reader Real reader
Inside the world of the narrative. Real Author Implied Author (Narrator) (Narratee) Implied Reader Real Reader
Hills Like White Elephants Attitude of the implied author Attitude of the implied reader
Definition: the physical place or ideological situation or practical life-orientation to which narrative events stand in relation (Chatman) May be tied to a particular character or related by a narrator
Narrator is outside the action Perception: wide scene Attitudes or beliefs of the implied author
Range of presence when it comes to narrators At one end you have an almost completely invisible narrator. At the other hand, you have a narrator who uses I and is explicit in his or her interpretations.
[Narratives that claim to be a collection of previously written material (letters, diaries)] Recorded Speech/Verbalized Thoughts of Characters Dramatic Monologue by a Character to another, silent, character Soliloquy (speaking to oneself) Dialogue
Recorded Thoughts Direct tagged thought unspoken speech Thoughts belong to the character, not the narrator. Can this be Mr Darcy! thought she. Direct free thought No quotation marks or tags. Extended form: interior monologue
Interior Monologue If the character refers to himself or herself, it s in first person. Same tense as the narrative. (If the narrative is in the present, so is the interior monologue.) Language is consistent with that of the character. No presumption of an audience. Overall, what makes something an interior monologue is that there can be no statement by a narrator that the character is thinking or perceiving these things.
Stream of Consciousness narrative method by which the author attempts to give a direct quotation of the mind (Chatman) Interior monologue + record of sensations Randomness; lack of punctuation; free association rather than an orderly progression of thoughts
Indirect expression of a characters speech or thoughts. Direct tagged: I have to go, he said. Direct Free: I have to go. Indirect Tagged: John said that he had to go. Indirect Free: John had to go. Indirect = a bit more intervention; the narrator is reporting rather than quoting.
Explicit description of a setting; attitude Formal introduction: Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition... Summaries: only an omniscient narrator can summarize something effectively; can t be done from within by an ordinary character. Reporting things that cannot be known by the rest of the characters.
Commentary: Overt narrators will often explain, interpret, and summarize elements in the story. Ethos/believability Is the narrator s version of events consistent with the overall world created by the implied author? Unreliable narrator: narrator s account is at odds with what the implied reader believes to be the real story. There s a discrepancy between what the narrator says happened and how the implied reader is encouraged by the implied author to reconstruct the story.
1921 2011 Japanese-American Spent three years in an internment camp during WWII. Themes: Japanese immigrants and their American-born children Japanese culture Role of women