A Guide to Literary Analysis: Poetry, Narrative, and Drama
Poetry
Notable Poets and Works
- William Blake: Songs of Innocence and Experience; The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
- Alfred Lord Tennyson: The Princess, A Medley; Enid Arden and Other Poems
- Seamus Heaney: Field Work; North
- Philip Larkin: High Windows; The Less Deceived
- Andrew Motion: Dangerous Caillach; Love in a Life
Drama
Notable Playwrights and Plays
- Wendy Wasserstein: Tender Offer; Old Money
- Harold Pinter: Night; Silence
- Oscar Wilde: The Importance of Being Earnest; The Picture of Dorian Gray
Narrative
Notable Authors and Works
- Maeve Binchy: Echoes; Quentins
- Rose Tremain: Evangelista’s Fan and Other Stories; The Cupboard
- Ian McEwan: First Love, Last Rites; Saturday
- Murray Bail: Homesickness; More Modern Stories
- Ama Ata Aidoo: Birds and Other Poems; Changes
The Art of Poetry: Stress and Rhythm
Most Common Types of Metrical Feet
- Iamb (u /): A two-syllable foot consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one. It is the basic rhythm of English poetry.
- Trochee (/ u): A two-syllable foot, one stressed followed by an unstressed syllable.
- Spondee (//): Two-syllable foot, with two stressed syllables.
- Pyrrhic (u u): Two-syllable foot, with two unstressed syllables.
- Anapest (u u /): Three-syllable foot, two unstressed followed by a stressed.
- Dactyl (/ u u): A three-syllable foot, a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed.
The Art of Narrative
Plot vs. Story
The main events of a novel, short story, poem, or play are often seen as synonymous with the story. However, the word “story” emphasizes the chronological sequence of events, while “plot” emphasizes the causal links between different events and how characters, actions, and themes are interwoven.
Story: A narrative of events arranged in their time-sequence.
Plot: A narrative of events with an emphasis on causality.
The key difference is that with a story, we ask, “And then?” while with a plot, we ask, “Why?”
Time: The Sequence of Events
- Analepsis: A flashback or retrospective narration within a story; an incursion into the past.
- Prolepsis: The narration of an event before it should appear chronologically; an incursion into the future. Prolepses are often the privilege of omniscient narrators.
The Pace of Events
- Acceleration: Few words are devoted to a long period (summary).
- Deceleration: Dwelling on a short period.
The Art of Narrative Setting
The background of a narrative work is usually referred to as the setting. It covers both the general environment (the way of life of the characters, the social, religious, and economic background) and the locale (the spatial environment, the physical location).
The physical setting contributes to the sociological, psychological, and symbolic meaning of the work, as well as to its atmosphere (e.g., wild natural settings, ruins, abbeys, and tunnels).
Setting functions both as an influence on the characters and as a metaphor for a spiritual dimension of the narrative.
Characterization
Telling and Showing
There are two major ways of revealing character traits in fiction: telling and showing. The narrator can either tell us what the characters are like or show us how they behave, what they say or think, and let us draw our own conclusions.
- Telling: Can be done through direct exposition or description by an authoritative voice in the novel. Or, more indirectly, through associations: the name of the character, their external appearance, and their direct environment may reflect upon their character.
- Showing: Consists in describing speech characteristics, actions, and/or thoughts. No comment is given, and readers have to deduce the personality traits from what they are shown.
Point of View and Narrative Technique
Point of View
The point of view is the angle of vision through which the story is focused. It answers the question, “Who tells the story?” (Narrator).
It is usual to distinguish between:
- Third-person point of view: The narrator seems to be privileged and knows everything about the characters’ thoughts and feelings.
- First-person point of view: We enter a character’s mind.
Focalization (Who Sees, Who Feels, Who Perceives)
- Internal focalization: The events are seen from inside the story, most of the time through the subjective angle of vision of one of the characters.
- External focalization: The events are seen from the point of view of someone who is exterior to the story. External focalization implies observation from a distance, from far above the object. The vision is then an outside, objective one.
Narrator
The narrator is the one who speaks but is not necessarily the focalizer.