Understanding Text Structures: Narrative, Description & More
Narrative
1. Statement of fact, real or fictitious, that happen to characters in a certain time and space.
2. The presence of a narrator who selects and organizes information.
3. The existence of characters that establish relations between them that determine the development of history.
4. The use of time both in relation to the characters and in relation to the order of the narrative. Using temporal adverbs and connectors.
5. The importance of space both in the organization of history and the character
Read MoreEagleton’s Literary Theory: Definition, Ideology, and Concepts
Eagleton: What is Literature?
1. Criteria for a Definition of Literature
Literature (LIT): Literature uses language in its own way, transforming and intensifying ordinary language. It is defined not according to whether it is imaginative fiction, but because the language is used in particular ways.
2. Literariness
Literariness is the special use of language distinct from ordinary language. It can be found in literary texts and also outside these. It refers to the term as a function of the differential
Read MoreGenerative Grammar: Core Concepts and Syntactic Theories
Unit 1: Introduction to Generative Grammar
Basic Syntactic Notions
Constituency & Hierarchical Structure: Sentences consist of smaller units (constituents) forming hierarchical structures, represented through tree diagrams or bracketing. Constituents are groups of words that function as a single unit.
Phrase Structure Rules (PSRs): Define how words form phrases and sentences.
NP → (D) (AdjP+) N (PP+)
VP → (AdvP+) V (NP) ({NP/CP}) (AdvP+) (PP+)
TP → {NP/CP} (T) VP
Constituency Tests:
- Replacement:
Symbolism and Darkness in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness
Themes and Symbolism in Heart of Darkness
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is a deeply contemplative, symbolic piece of literature. Superficially, the story follows the journey of a man named Marlow, working for an ivory company and seeking adventure, deep into sub-Saharan Africa. On a deeper level, however, the story explores the titular “darkness,” revealing it represents the evil residing in the hearts of men.
Kurtz’s Final Moments and Enigmatic Words
Both Kurtz and Marlow experience a brief interlude,
Read MoreLinguistic Terms: Auxiliary Verbs, Syntax, and Speech Perception
Chapter 6: Auxiliary Verbs and Syntax
Auxiliary Verbs: Often informally known as “helping verbs,” a category of words that accompany a main verb. Includes was, is, can, should, does, and did.
Compositionality: The concept that there are fixed rules for combining units of language in terms of their form that result in fixed meaning relationships between the words that are joined together.
Constituent: A syntactic category consisting of a word or (more often) a group of words (e.g., noun phrase,
Read MoreTextual Cohesion, Coherence, and Adequacy Analysis
Textual Analysis: Cohesion, Coherence, and Adequacy
Main Ideas
- Subsections
- Structure: Divide the text into cores (linear, convergent, divergent, concentric, chaotic) (deductive, inductive, circular).
- Issue: Abstract, without verbs.
- Summary: No descriptions and examples without changing the subject.
Cohesion
Cohesion involves the repetition of words, synonyms, antonyms, ellipsis (when a sentence is missing the subject or the verb), and connectors (conjunctions, adverbs, conjunctive or adverbial phrases,
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