...initial readings require more rigorous information processing. Nabokov believed that only upon further reading and re-reading could one interpret the significance of an author’s style. His 1955 classic, Lolita, is a veritable case study on literature as art. Ever the writer’s writer, Nabokov uses language as a means of artistic expression. In Lolita, shocking subject matter is effectively assuaged by means of literary invention. Nabokov, referencing his novel, once noted: There are gentle souls who would pronounce Lolita meaningless because it does not teach them anything. I am neither a reader nor a writer of didactic fiction…For me a work of fiction exists only insofar as it affords me what I shall bluntly call aesthetic bliss, that is a sense of being somehow, somewhere, connected with other states of being where art (curiosity, tenderness, kindness, ecstasy) is the norm (Azevedo 2). The story itself is replete with abhorrent topics: rape, murder, and pedophilia, to name a few. Through his protagonist Humbert Humbert, however, Nabokov enchants an otherwise grim tale. Lolita is the story of Humbert’s obsession over the 12-year-old Dolores Haze. Humbert’s use of flowery language, alliteration, and repeating sentence patterns seduces the reader to indulge his sick fantasies. Literary aesthetic makes the abominable subject material practically irrelevant,...
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...Rebekka Westermeyer ENG Comp 1 McGough 3/12/2015 The Gothic Novel In the late eighteenth, early nineteenth century, gothic fiction arose as a new genre in the literary field. Functioning as cult literature gothic literature compels readers to think, and really consider the immense emotion writers could stimulate. Often overly dramatic with its supernatural, horrific, and suspenseful material, this melancholy form of literature prompted the use of darkness and mystery in order to spawn feelings of obscurity, secrecy, and trepidation. Gothic literature operates as a pulp genre that was often seen as an intense type of romance with its stylized, non-realistic, idealized or emblematic tales presented in the form of an adventure through the use of a discovery quest. Yet its evocative powers of horror and terror explore the gratification and titillations of shockingly perverse. Before being applied to the context of a literary form the term gothic originally referred to an ancient Germanic tribe that derived from what is now known as southern Sweden, before migrating to the shores of the Baltic Sea known as the Goths. This tribe eventually split into two factions that would be known as the Visigoths or West Goths and the Ostrogoths or East Goths. Centuries would pass before the term gothic would once again emerge this time with a different meaning. Sometime during the renaissance Greco-Roman culture was rediscovered by Europeans. In this rediscovery the term “gothic” now referred...
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...apocalyptic vision, set in Galicia just before World War I will bring to an end the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Formalist in treatment - at points a metafiction - the story strikes the familiar Oedipal note. The young protagonist, Willi, witnesses his mother's act of infidelity and subsequently both desires and betrays her, inexorably bringing about his family's doom. I was the agency of [my father's] downfall. Ancestry and myth, culture, history, and time were ironically composed in the shape of his own boy" (33). "Willi" is a fiction of memory, but memory that has been filtered, and that is still being filtered through a narrator - now child, now adult - presenting an impression of immediacy yet of subtly detached understanding. "We posit an empirical world, yet how can I be here at this desk in this room-and not be here? ... memory is in the ontological sense another reality" (29). This fluid point of view fuses adult-observer and youth participant into one narrative voice, making it possible for Doctorow to avoid both the limits of language and the limited perspective of youth and thus encompass all three visions. Thirteen-year-old Willi has lived the most sheltered of existences: aside from his famiily and a tutor who lives on the premises, he is totally "alone, isolated on our estate ..." (32). Doctorow focuses precisely on the absence of any contact with other children. In his rural isolation Willi "has no friends": he is "not allowed to play with the village children, or to...
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...The Lover-Duras The Lover (French title: L'Amant) is an autobiographical novel by Marguerite Duras, published in 1984 by Les Éditions de Minuit. It has been translated to 43 languages. It was awarded the 1984 Prix Goncourt. The Lover is also a 1992 movie based on this novel, directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud and starring Jane March and Tony Leung Ka Fai. The cast also included Lisa Faulkner. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography. Summary of the movie Set against the backdrop of French colonial Vietnam, The Lover reveals the intimacies and intricacies of a clandestine romance between a pubescent girl (Jane March), from a financially strapped French family and an older, wealthy Chinese man (Tony Leung Ka-Fai). The story is narrated by Jeanne Moreau, portraying a writer looking back on her youth. In 1929, a 15 year old nameless girl is traveling by ferry across the Mekong Delta, returning from a holiday at her family home in the village of Sadec, to her boarding school in Saigon. She attracts the attention of a 32 year old son of a Chinese business magnate, a young man of wealth and heir to a tidy fortune. He strikes up a conversation with the girl; she accepts a ride back to town in his chauffeured limousine. Compelled by the circumstances of her upbringing, this girl, the daughter of a bankrupt, manic-depressive widow, is newly awakened to the impending and all-too-real task of making her way alone in the world. Thus, she becomes his lover, until...
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...Summary: This paper discusses the ending of Jane Eyre, discussing whether it is a “good” ending. The paper draws on three criticisms of both the novel and Romantic literature in general to conclude that, yes, it is indeed a good ending because it both fits the prevailing realism of the main character’s worldview, and conforms to the predominant literary trends of the period. A Romantic Ending In An Anti-Romantic Novel: Does Jane Eyre End Well? This paper discusses the ending of Jane Eyre, discussing whether it is a “good” ending. The paper draws on three criticisms of both the novel and Romantic literature in general to conclude that, yes, it is indeed a good ending because it both fits the prevailing realism of the main character’s worldview, and conforms to the predominant literary trends of the period. The climate in which Charlotte Bronte wrote her magnum opus was one that had almost fully recovered from the rationalist excesses of the Enlightenment. The existing climate had replaced ‘scientific’ realism with Romanticism of the Byronic sort, drawing on the ancient ideals of chivalry and the new ideals of individual freedom to craft a literature in which suffering does not end with the last romantic sunset. Ultimately, concepts such as happiness cannot be guaranteed to skeptics like Jane Eyre and “hideous” men like Rochester -- only the divine union of passion can be guaranteed. Yet, for Bronte’s characters, this is sufficient reward and an appropriate...
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...theThreshold to the "special world", 6. Tests, Allies and Enemies, 7. Approach to the Innermost Cave, 8. The Ordeal, 9. Reward, 10. The Road Back, 11. The Resurrection, 12. Return with the Elixir. In narratology and comparative mythology, the monomyth, or the hero's journey, is the common template of a broad category of tales that involve a hero who goes on anadventure, and in a decisive crisis wins a victory, and then comes home changed or transformed.[1] The concept was introduced by Joseph Campbell in The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949), who described the basic narrative pattern as follows: A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.[2] Campbell and other scholars, such as Erich Neumann, describe narratives of Gautama Buddha, Moses, and Christ in terms of the monomyth. Critics argue that the concept is too broad or general to be of much usefulness in comparative mythology. Others say that the hero's journey is only a part of the Monomyth. The other part is a sort of different form, or color, of the hero's journey ------------------------------------------------- erminology[edit] Campbell borrowed the word monomyth from Joyce's Finnegans Wake (1939). Campbell was a notable scholar of James Joyce's...
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...and answers are prepared by the private teacher/tutor so the chances of error or mistake cannot be denied. Any Omission or Error is highly regretted though every care has been taken while preparing these Sample Answers/ Solutions. Please consult your own Teacher/Tutor before you prepare a Particular Answer and for up-to-date and exact information, data and solution. Student should must read and refer the official study material provided by the university. Answer all the questions. Q. 1. Trace the development of modern English fiction with specific reference to the major shifts in literary perspective during the nineteenth century. Ans. While Ian Watt in The Rise of the Novel (1957) suggests that the novel came into being in the early 18th century which witnessed the rise of increasingly realistic fiction, and with a distinction made between fiction and history. This development reduced the importance of works of disreputable fiction. Fiction became valued as a defender of a higher truth, a truth beyond the flat, factual and historical truth of everyday experience. In the second half of the 18th century theories of aesthetics praised the “imitation of nature” and the artist’s almost divine...
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...“The” true meaning and effects of The Passion In Jeanette Winterson’s novel The Passion (1987), “passion” as a word and an idea takes on many forms such as religious, romantic, erotic, familial, patriotic, etc. However, the most dominant form of passion in the novel is romantic passion. Romantic passion can be described as any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling, characterized by love or by the idealizing of love. Winterson reveals that romantic passion is “the” most central passion of the novel through the characters of the novel, Henri and Villanelle. Henri’s patriotic obsession with Napoleon is masked through romantic speech and once unmasked and proven jovial is transformed into romantic passion for the other main protagonist, Villanelle. Contrary to Henri’s advances of romance, Villanelle focuses her romantic emotions towards gambling and the Queen of Spades. Villanelle’s literal addiction to gambling and metaphorical addiction to gambling her heart demonstrates Winterson’s non-linear and maze like writing style. Love and romance is a gamble within itself. The uncertainty and inconclusive nature of the feeling is entwined with the characters journeys and hence allows the reader to experience the uncertainty of love and the characters perspectives of love. “Passion” is deemed as romantic passion in the novel The Passion and although represented in unconventional means it is used as a façade for Henri’s patriotism, for Villanelles addiction to gambling and is also...
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...| | |Fin de Siècle Writing and Culture. | Discuss any two fictional texts studied in the light of fin de siècle theories of degeneration. The era of the Victorian fin de siècle ‘…from the 1880s to the end of the century…generated an enormous amount of scientific and cultural debate concerning the future civilisation and the human race itself.’[1] It was an era of technical progress, Imperial gain, and a nation at the pinnacle of progress. ‘…bolstered by Darwin’s theory of evolution, Victorians regarded themselves and their society as the acme of human development.’[2] However, it was an era that balanced on the age of a new century that seemed to accentuate and highlight numerous anxieties. Ledger and Luckhurst (2000) further state that this was an ambivalent period; with major progress in science and technology but also a time of real decline, in which Britain’s global economic power was rivalled by Germany and America. This ambivalence at the turn of the century created fears and anxieties concerning the decline of the British race. A crucial influence on British anxieties of decline was underpinned by scientific and medical knowledge known as Theories of Degeneration. Ledger and Luckhurst (2000) state, at this time, that ‘…degeneration was one defining structure which can be traced across many disciplines…’[3] These theories of degeneration impacted over many discourses within Victorian culture...
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...Introduction English is general considered to be the global language, a lingua franca, in terms of the population and wide-spread of its users. According to The World Factbook (2009), researched by Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of USA, English is accepted as the official language in approximately 60 countries and regions. With the wide range of use in the world and its long history, English borrowed certain amount of vocabulary from other languages. As a result, an extremely common language feature can be detected in the large amount of English words which is synonyms. Synonyms are pairs of words sharing similar meaning or semantic features (Jackson & Amvela, 2007). Nevertheless, as recognized by many linguists, the meaning of synonyms differs for their connotations, dialects, collocations and syntactic features. In this research essay, a corpus-based study on the similarities and differences of synonyms will be conducted by examining claim and state. The essay will be divided into three parts, which are Literature Review, Methodology and Findings and Results. After that, a conclusion will be drawn as the summary and revision. Literature Review Synonym is considered to be an important part of the semantic study which focuses on the relational meanings of lexis. It is generally agreed that the meanings of words are closely related to the collocations and contexts in the sentences. Also, as mentioned in the introduction, synonyms are referring to the words which “have...
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...Abstract Raves have historically referred to grass-roots organized, anti-establishment and unlicensed all night dance parties, featuring electronically-produced dance music (EDM), such as techno, house, trance and drum and bass. Since their late 1980s origins in the U.K., raves have gained widespread popularity and transformed dramatically. Consequently, their many cultural traits and behaviors have garnered much sociological interest, which mostly falls into two competing perspectives: cultural studies and public health. In this paper, we review what raves look like today compared to their high point in the 1990s. We then discuss how the cultural studies and public health perspectives define raves and have studied them over time, focusing on the “pet” sociological concepts each has sought to advance. Our analysis of these literatures reveals important differences in rave research by country and over time. We end by discussing the politics associated with the shift in rave research. Introduction Society has been greatly influenced by many alternative scenes, subcultures, or lifestyles oriented around music, youth and young adults (Epstein 1998). Some of the more notable ones include the English punk scene in the 1970s- 1980s, the U.S. jazz (1930s-1940s) and hippie scenes (1970s), and the 1990s rave scenes in the U.K. and U.S. From them have come musical innovation, social identity, fashion and other aesthetic nuances, and mainstream and alternative cultural production...
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...The Gift of the Magi Themes Love "Gift of the Magi" is the story of a poor, young couple whose love for each other is the most important thing in their lives. Such is their love that they're led to sacrifice their most valuable possessions to find Christmas gifts for each other. The warm home they make together contrasts with the drabness of their poverty and the dreary world outside. Their love seems to know no bounds, though Della (the wife) worries about how her sacrifice will affect her husband because of how it affects her looks. If ever there were a story with the message that all you need to be happy is love, this is it. Sacrifice The two main characters in "Gift of the Magi" are a husband and wife who give up their most precious possessions to be able to afford gifts for each other on Christmas Eve. The story seems to be all about sacrifice. We watch Della go through the process of deciding to make the sacrifice and going through with it, only to discover that her husband has made the same sacrifice. The story's narrator assures us that in their willingness to give up all they have, they have proven themselves the wisest of all gift-givers. It might remain unclear, though, exactly what their sacrifice has accomplished, or how it has affected them. Wealth In many ways, "Gift of the Magi" is a story about what it means for something to be valuable. Does something's value lie in how much money it is worth? Or are other things more valuable than money? The main characters...
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...August 20, 2015 3.2.13 Practice: Revision Strategies The tempest one of the most difficult Shakespearean works in my opion to stage, from its stormy, chaotic first scene to its sureality to its ambiguous resolution, with Prospero facing his silent, treacherous brother and renouncing the power that has made every action in the story possible. Potent language remains the central force and mystery of this fathomless play. Prospero speaks almost a third of the lines in The Tempest, and controls the amount of speech every other character on the island has through manipulation and magic. Prospero’s narrative of how he came to the island, what he did once there, and what he is owed for this history, goes largely unchallenged in the text. Yet the play offers innumerable readings and opportunities for alternate staging, particularly in light of postcolonial discourse about Prospero’s relationship with Ariel and Caliban, the legitimacy of his authority, and the nature of his magic and command over language. Though Prospero can be played many ways, there is no doubt he is The Tempest’s show runner. The metatheatrical nature of the play sometimes detracts from its action on the page, but it also offers the chance to explore exactly why Prospero needs an audience for his revenge, and whether or not it satisfies him, onstage. Prospero restricts the sight and knowledge of the other characters, putting them to sleep or manipulating them with invisible forces, but he often lets us, the audience...
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...in computer science and studied for an MBA at Heriot Watt University. His first novel, Trainspotting (1993), a blackly comic portrait of a group of young heroin users living in Edinburgh in the 1980s, was adapted as a film directed by Danny Boyle in 1996. The Acid House, a collection of short stories, was published in 1994 and was followed by Welsh's second novel, Marabou Stork Nightmares (1995), a harrowing stream-of-consciousness narrated by football hooligan Roy Strang. Ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance, a collection of three novellas, was published in 1996, and a third novel, Filth, a vivid account of the violent adventures of a bigoted, racist and corrupt Scottish policeman, was published in 1998. Glue (2001), is the story of four boys growing up in an Edinburgh housing estate. Porno, a sequel to Trainspotting, was published in 2002. Welsh is also the author of two plays, Headstate (1994) and You'll Have Had Your Hole (1998). 4 Play, an omnibus edition of four stage adaptations of Welsh's fiction by Harry Gibson and Keith Wyatt, was published in 2001. His screenplay of The Acid House was directed for Channel 4 Films by Paul McGuigan (1998). His journalism includes a column for Loaded magazine and occasional articles for The Guardian. He is also a DJ and has recorded a single with rock group Primal Scream. In February 2003 Irvine Welsh began writing a Monday column for the Daily Telegraph. “His Language”: “When I first started to get into writing...
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...6/9/13 10 - A History of English Literature Classic Literature Read about A History of English Literature. More E-texts A History of English Literature 1918 by Robert Huntington Fletcher Education Share Preface | How to Study | Tabular View | Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Assignments Chapter X. Period VIII. The Romantic Triumph, 1798 To About 1830 The Great Writers of 1798-1830 | Samuel Taylor Coleridge | William Wordsworth | Robert Southey | Walter Scott | Last Group of Romantic Poets | Percy Bysshe Shelley | John Keats | Summary | Lesser Writers | THE GREAT WRITERS OF 1798-1830. THE CRITICAL REVIEWS. As we look back to-day over the literature of the last three quarters of the eighteenth century, here just surveyed, the progress of the Romantic Movement seems the most conspicuous general fact which it presents. But at the, death of Cowper in 1800 the movement still remained tentative and incomplete, and it was to arrive at full maturity only in the work of the great writers of the following quarter century, who were to create the finest body of literature which England had produced since the Elizabethan period. All the greatest of these writers were poets, wholly or in part, and they fall roughly into two groups: first, William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Robert Southey, and Walter Scott; and second, about twenty years younger, Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and John Keats. This period of Romantic Triumph, or of the...
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