American Division Literature [ 23 ]

23 - ] American Division Literature .

Mark Twain

Some Literary Terms .

1-] The Setting :

It refers in a literary selection to :

A-] Geographical location :  This includes area or region , the general locale , descriptions of architecture , flora and fauna , floor plans , furniture arrangements , weather conditions and so forth .

B-] Time: This may refer to a  historical period , time of day , season of the year , projection into the future , period of life or even a nonexistent time [ used extensively in the science fiction genre ] .

C-] Socioeconomic conditions : These are revealed generally in those of the characters [ their occupations , family lives , life styles and social interactions ] and the surrounding society .

2-] Mood : It can refer to an emotional state , especially as projected by the characters in the work :[ Eric is in a happy / a foul mood ] . Moods can change within the work . For example  , the tone of Swift is satiric , whose mood was angry and indignant  when he put pen to paper .

3-] Atmosphere : The setting , the tone of the author and speaker and / or the characters and the feelings of the author blend together to give the work its atmosphere – that prevailing and pervasive ambience that gives the reader the basis for expectation . Atmosphere is often described using such terms as “ mysterious ,” “ gloomy,” “ horrifying ,” “intellectual” and other expressions .

4-] Style : It is defined as the way in which the writer uses literary elements to express his / her attitude . Traditionally , literary scholars labeled style in terms at levels : High or grand style .

                            Middle or mean style .

                            Low or base [ plain ] style .

5- Character .

  How do you define character traits ?

 A person’s temperament , disposition and distinctive personal and social traits can be viewed as a function of his or her : 1-] attitudes . 2-] emotional states . 3-] response mechanisms  and 4-] intrinsic values .

All these elements combine to make an individual’s personality . Within each of these areas is a continuum of traits that range [ based on cultural and family traditions as well as on personal perceptions ] between two extremes .

1-] Attitudes : A character’s attitudes in terms of character are his or her mental positions or feelings with regard to self , other people , objects or a subject .

2-] Emotions :  The emotions of a character are his or her intense feeling . These emotions of a character may include states of excitements , states of emotional attachment or dissociation states of stability or instability , states of emotional insulation , states of emotionalism and degrees of emotional appeal .

 Here are some clues to a character’s emotional state :

1-] Reference to degrees of stimulation and exhilaration might reflect his or her state of excitement .

2-] Reference to a character’s [ negative or positive ] transference of feelings , identification with others , introjection or projection might reflect his or her state of attachment ; and references to schizophrenia , multiple personalities , split personalities , double or dual personalities , disorganization , disconnection and personality disintegration might relate to the character’s state of dissociation .

3-] References to his or her feelings of inferiority , inadequacy , moral deficiency  , emotional immaturity , lability , or pathological mendacity might reflect the character’s lack of stability – a state of instability.

4-] References to signs of escapism [ flight and withdrawal  , isolation , defense mechanism , fantasy [ dreamlike thinking ] , sublimation , rationalization and negativism might reflect a character’s state of emotional insulation .

5-] References to anxiety , hysteria , melancholia , depression , preoccupation , apathy , lethargy , stupor , euphoria ,indifference , detachment or elation might reflect his or her state of emotionalism .

6-] References to the character’s nature in terms of his or her demonstrativeness , sensationalism or sense of  the dramatic melodrama ] might influence the perception for the reader [ or self-perception ] of that character’s degree of emotional appeal .

           Of course , certain attention must be paid to psychologically based inferences and direct characterizations that reflect a character’s defects in the areas of personality [ including pathological personality types such as mal-adjustesd , inferiors , perverse , antisocial , sociopathic , psychotic , alcoholic , masochistic and so forth and social adjustment [ assaultive reactions and antisocialism , among others ] . In order to fully appreciate and to adequately identify the emotional state [ s ] of a literary character , then , sometimes requires some familiarity with symptoms of neuroses[ such as traumatic anxiety ,obsessive-compulsive , occupational , fright, phobic ] psychosomatic disorders [ such as bulimia ] , disturbances in emotions [ such as anxiety or hysteria ] , thoughts[ such as delusions or mental blocks ] and psychomotor disorders [ such as convulsions or twitching ] and mental states  [ such as amnesia , sommambulism and trances ] .

Positive emotions include fervor , ardor , cordiality , vehemence , gusto , zeal , responsiveness , demonstrativeness , insipidity , mush ,mawkishness .

Negative emotions include soulessness , callousness , frigidity , untouchability , obduracy , imperviousness , apathy , listlessness , unimpressionability .

Words connotative of hopelessness include desperation ,despondent , forlorn , irretrievable , irrevocability , incorrigible and disconsolate .