Communication and Literary Analysis: A Comprehensive Guide
Communication and Language
Defining Communication
Communication, a social science field, explores how communicative exchanges occur and impact society. It investigates the principles, concepts, and regularities underlying communication as a social process. Language, the ability to communicate through oral or written signs, plays a crucial role.
Language and its Variations
Language is a system of signs learned and retained by speakers. A dialect is a sign system derived from a common language, often geographically limited, but without strong differentiation from its source. Jargon refers to speech distinct from the standard language, sometimes incomprehensible to other speakers. It’s frequently used by social groups to obscure meaning.
Grammar Essentials
Nouns and Adjectives
A noun functions as the core subject of a sentence, naming people, animals, or objects. Syntactically, it acts as an argument of a predicate or mapper, complementing a verb or required by a preposition. An adjective identifies or characterizes a noun, expressing its properties. It specifies or highlights features, like describing a “green book” instead of just any book.
Adverbs and Verbs
An adverb modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb. Its syntactic functions include the core of an adverbial phrase, circumstantial complement of the verb, and quantifier. A verb expresses existence, action, condition, or state of the subject.
Articles, Pronouns, and Prepositions
An article determines a noun’s reference, making it known and concrete. Pronouns have referents determined by context, often referring to people or things. Relative pronouns primarily serve as liaisons and subjects in headlines. A preposition introduces a prepositional phrase, often introducing attachments or linking complements.
Interjections
Interjections are short words or phrases used mainly in oral language or writing that mimics speech. They express emotions or relief, often reflexively.
Narrative Forms
Story and Novel
A story is a brief narrative with few characters and a simple plot. A novel is a longer narrative with real or fictional characters and situations, involving a conflict and resolution. The distinction between a long story and a novella can be blurry.
Story vs. Novel
A story is brief and occurs in a specific time and place, with limited character depth. A novel has greater length, multiple settings and times, and more elaborate characters with psychological profiles.
Character Classification
Main and Secondary Characters
- Main character: The narrative’s focus.
- Secondary character: Participates in important moments but has a smaller role.
Dynamic and Static Characters
- Dynamic character: Evolves or changes during the narrative.
- Static character: Remains the same throughout.
Stereotypical and Archetypal Characters
- Stereotypical character: Represents a predictable idea or behavior.
- Archetypal character: Embodies a virtue or defect, often idealized.
Literary Devices
Poetry and Metaphor
Poetry is any artistic written work, including epic, lyrical, and dramatic forms. Literary figures use specific phonic, grammatical, or semantic elements to create expressive effects. A metaphor uses an expression with a different meaning or context than usual.
Conjunctions
A conjunction links sentences, establishes hierarchical relations, and explains the semantic relationship between them.