Elements of Literature Plot, Characters, Stylistic Devices - Essay Example

Elements of literature Introduction Ezra Pound described literature as simply language charged with meaning to the utmost possible degree. Literaturetakes different forms but the purpose remains the same-penning down the emotions and thoughts. Every writer or poet follows certain parameters for composing a literary piece of work. However, the elements vary with the forms of literature. This essay explores different elements of short stories and poetry with the special consideration of Anton’s Chekhov’s The Bet, O’ Conner’s A good man is hard to find and Wordsworth’s The world is too much with us. The two sort stories are firstly dealt with. Elements for short stories All essential elements of short stories are described in detail in the account below with reference to The Bet and A good man is hard to find. Plot Plot of a work refers to the series of the events that a writer combines to make up the whole story. The plot progresses through the introduction of the characters, conflict, complication, climax, suspense, and denouement. Both the short stories under consideration have an excellent follow up of the sequence of all sub elements of plot. From the introduction of the characters to the denouement, all essential parts are beautifully taken care of. Characters The whole narrative is reflected through the use of characters. They not only reflect the thoughts and idea of the protagonist, but also throw light on the writer’s personality. In the Bet, Chekhov builds up the story by making one character the static, flat or unchanging throughout the story. For this character he chooses the Banker. Throughout the story he does not change, and depicted as unwilling to sacrifice his possessions and can even go to the extent of murdering the Lawyer to safe guard them. Lawyer, on the other hand, is the dynamic and round character of the story. On the course of progression of the plot, he undergoes a thousand changes and grows till the end. In the beginning, two million rubles grab his attention and interest, but in the end the acquisition of money and material things is the most despised thing for him. Moreover, Chekhov has not names the characters in the whole text of the account, but are called by their profession. This practice provides universality to them and they have become easy to relate to as well. By doing this, the writer has made the character subordinate to the conflict as the main focus in the conflict presented and not the names of the characters. By creating the characters of Grand Mother and Misfit, O’Conner has enlightened the fact that different personalities are delicate in their own way. The character of Grandmother is represented as a manipulative, annoying and gross in reality with a sugar coating of superficial goodness. The arrogance and haughtiness of the grandmother makes the whole family pay the price. The other main character of the storyline, the Misfit, is also a psychotic grotesque one, who listens to nothing and acts as a foil to the grandmother’s character. Setting The setting is a word that refers to geographical location, the time, the lifestyle of characters and climate of the story. Setting in all short stories is not as important as it is in novels or plays. The events narrated in “A good man is hard to find”, take place in Georgia. The initial and original settings are not described fully. The story begins at an anonymous place, the habitat of the family, from where the characters travel to different locations. A lot of local places, for example Red Sammy’s BBQ point, are also mentioned in the story. The events of the second half occur in the ditch. The parameters of the ditch, the height, the surroundings etc are however defined to some extent. The timings of the proceedings, are somehow clearer that the era or the places. The family leaves for outing at the dawn and proceed from Red Sammy’s in the afternoon. However, their landing in the ditch is around sunset as the mentioning of no sun in the sky and Grand ma’s declaration of a beautiful day asserts it. The era or the period, in which the story takes place is not clear either. The cars and the reference of “gone with the wind” reveal that the events took place in 1940s or later. In Comparison to the former one, the settings in The Bet are mush clearly defined. The story starts with the stream of consciousness experienced by the Banker at midnight. The whole course of events takes place in November at Banker’s estate from 1870 to 1885. There were different times of the events taking place, as a period of five years is encapsulated in text of few pages. The days and nights are condensed, with a little mention of the major events. Theme Theme is the fundamental idea or the premise upon which the whole literary piece is developed. It is a broad reflection of the society, its norms and established beliefs. Chekhov built the whole story, The Bet, by focusing on the fact that the lust for worldly possessions blinds a human from the things in life which hold real and true importance in his life. The lawyer, after being apart from the material gains and riches of the world, discovers the significance of the spiritual enlightenment. The idea behind the whole story is reflected from most of the religious teachings of the world. Even the philosophers from the ancient civilizations, like Socrates and Plato, emphasized the sacrifice of material things for gaining true knowledge. Point of view The point of view depicts the style of narration for the account. It can be first persons if the main character is telling the story or third person if the narrator is present. Other point of views may be first-person narrative, third-person narrative, omniscient point of view, limited omniscient point of view, stream of consciousness and objective point of view. “A good man is hard to find” is told in a third person’s point of view and the main focus is on the character of grandmother, as she is the character we are most told about. Her point of view can be accessed directly. Her thoughts and feelings are expressed throughout the story, though not in minor details. The room for the imagination of the reader to interpret and assign meanings to the thoughts of Grandmother is left by the narrator. Despite the importance given to the viewpoint of Grandmother, the most attention is given to the Misfit’s character. (Desmond, 2004) But this again happens through the perspective of grandmother. However, a shift in the angle is observed after the death of grandmother. “The bet” is narrated in the third person’s limited perspective who only concentrates and talks about the feelings and emotions of the banker and highlights his thoughts and motivations. Even the activities and the mood shifts of the lawyer is shown through the narration with respect to Banker’s viewpoint. Conflict Conflict brings the twist to the story whether it is an external or an internal one. The conflict can take place between character and his inner thoughts, environment, another character and circumstances. The conflict in “A good man is hard to find” rises with the dialogue in the story, “The next morning the grandmother was the first one in the car, ready to go”, as afterwards she makes her family payoff the price of her actions and decisions. The conflicts moves on with the Red Sammy’s dialogue, “A good man is hard to find,” and it comes to an end with a flat tire. The other conflict, a major one, is seen between grandmother and Misfit, and it heightens as the events go on. Till the end when she starts pleading him to save her life. (Bandy, 1996) The Bet extensively uses the conflict between the psychologies and groups of people with two different thoughts. However this conflict is represented in the form of man versus man conflict. The conflict is resolved at the end of the story. The conflict arises from the conversation on the favor of life imprisonment and capital punishment. "Its a lie, I bet you two millions you wouldnt stick in a cell for five years.. If you mean it seriously I bet Ill stay not five by fifteen years". However, in the end, the conflict gets resolved. The conflict represented in the form of man versus environment acts instrumentally in gaining insight thus contribute to the development of theme, intellectual gain versus materialism. “During the first year of imprisonment, the lawyer as far as it was possible to judge from his short notes, suffered terribly from loneliness and boredom.” Fore shadowing This technique is used to give hints to the reader about the end of the story. Through the use of this element, a writer encourages the reader to go on with the story till the end as it creates suspense. In "A Good Man is Hard to Find," OConnor makes use of foreshadowing several times to provide clues t the reader about the happenings of the story at the end. I a passage he writes, Two fellers come in here last week, Red Sammy said, driving a Chrysler.  It was a old beat-up car but it was a good one and these boys looked all right to me.  Said they worked at the mill and you know I let them fellers charge the gas they bought? Now why did I do that? Because youre a good man! the grandmother said at once.  Yesm, I suppose so," Red Sam said as if he were struck with this answer" (7-8). This passage foreshadows the event of Misfit’s arrival in car similar to the one in which two people came to steal Sammy’s car. ELEMENTS OF POETRY Literature is cadenced form is called poetry. Like other forms of literature, it has composite structure for writing. In modern and post modern era of literature, free verse poetry became popular. However, several other forms of poetry are also there such as sonnet, ballad etc. Following are major elements of poetry discussed with reference to Wordsworth’s “The world is too much with us”. Style, meter and rhyme "The World is too much with Us" is a sonnet written (mostly) in iambic pentameter. A sonnet is a fourteen-line poem invented by an Italian port Petrarch. This Petrarchan sonnet has two parts, octave( first eight lines) and sestets(last six lines). The octave is mostly rhymed as ABBA while the rhyme scheme of sestet is often more flexible (CDCDCD, CDECDE). For this poem, the most part of the poem is in iambic pentameter i.e. each line contains five feet that contain a stressed and an unstressed syllable. For example, in line 10, A Pa-gan suck-led in a creed out-worn. Symbol The symbol of the poem is the central idea upon which the whole poem revolves. The symbol can be object, thought, a person or any other thing. (Bhattacharya) In the case Wordsworth’s sonnet of concern, the symbol is the William’s belief about his contemporaries that they are over involved in materialism and worldly possessions. According to him, the material things are what people always think of and bother about. Theme The theme is necessary for poetry like all other forms of literature. The poem under consideration has a theme of sadness particularly and a theme of nature as well. He expresses his idea that human race must get close to nature in order to achieve spiritual rest and progress. (Phillips) Simile Simile is the use of word to create resemblance or comparison between two objects. The poet in this sonnet has used simile in line seven, “And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers”. Metaphor Metaphor is used to create an implicit comparison, unlike simile. In “ the world is too much with us”, William Wordsworth uses metaphor to adorn his poem in line 5, “The Sea that bares her bosom to the moon,” and in line 10, suckled in a creed outworn (comparison of creed to a mother nursing her child). References Bandy, S. (1996). One of my Babies: The Misfit and the Grandmother. Bhattacharya, A. (n.d.). Elements of literature. Retrieved June 2010, from Buzzle.com: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/elements-of-literature.html Desmond, J. (2004). Flannery OConnors Misfit and the Mystery of Evil. Phillips, B. (n.d.). SparkNotes on Wordsworths Poetry. "The world is too much with us.". Retrieved June 2010, from Sparknotes.com: http://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/wordsworth/section4.rhtml Read More