My son’s Language Arts class is required to do a literary analysis at the end of each quarter on whatever novel they’ve read for fun.
I got an email yesterday from one mom in the class, saying that her son had chosen Delicious and Suspicious to analyze.
My first reaction was, “Uh oh.” The assignment states:
A literary analysis is not merely a summary of a literary work. Instead, it is an argument about the work that expresses a writer’s personal perspective, interpretation, judgment, or critical evaluation of the work. This is accomplished by examining the literary devices, word choices, or writing structures the author uses within the text. The purpose of a literary analysis is to demonstrate why the author used specific ideas, word choices, or writing structures to convey his or her message. It is a careful evaluation of the work.
This is one of those things that tends to make me feel insecure because I’m not writing literary fiction. I didn’t write the book by planning out specific literary devices that I was going to include. I was focusing on the story.
What was my theme for the story? Murder happens? Hmm. Good versus evil? And how had I conveyed this message? Literary devices? Bleh.
Then I started thinking about it. Although I might not have planned to include different elements in my book, I think most of us include them without really thinking about it. Maybe this comes from years of reading.
Simile and metaphor? At first I thought figurative language counted among elements that I didn’t include very often in my books. But then I started thinking about it—I’m fond of using them for my character descriptions. I’m not a huge fan of description, so if I can say a character’s mustache makes him ‘look like Captain Kangaroo,’ then I’m going to go that route instead. Same with casual use of metaphors…the backyard was a furnace, not just ‘hot.’
Imagery? My first reaction was that I don’t use much imagery in my books because I avoid graphic depictions of crime scenes. But I do use imagery to set up scary scenes, humorous scenes, etc. Really, imagery is just getting our readers to picture and experience our made-up world by incorporating all of the senses in our writing. That’s just something that comes naturally to writers, I think.
Allusion? That’s one of my character, Myrtle Clover’s, favorite things. She’s a former English teacher and she’s always muttering literary allusions under her breath and feeling clever.
Alliteration is sort of fun—I’ll occasionally stick in a few examples (mostly, again, when I’m trying to be funny.)
Tone? Oh we all use specific word choices to create tone. And I don’t think we’re actually sitting down to analyze what we’re doing, either. It’s almost automatic.
Foreshadowing? I like to use a touch of it.
Flashbacks? Those have been sort of looked down on lately (and they can make life complicated for readers). I usually try to steer away from them.
Anyway, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that we’re all using a lot more literary devices, elements, and figurative language than we might think. So no worries about Language Arts projects! In our pursuit of story, literature happens. :)
What literary devices do you use in your writing? Are you even really aware that you’re including them?
Elizabeth – Oh, now that *is* an interesting question! I find myself using literary devices in my writing. For instance, I use foreshadowing to let readers know which character is going to be the victim. I use some figures of speech like similes. And I use imagery, too. That helps to set the reader up for suspense, too. I guess crime fiction isn’t as far away from “literary fiction” as you might think ;-).
A thought-provoking post! I’ve been wondering whether it’s “better” for a writer to consciously plan the use of literary devices or to just write the story as effectively and naturally as possible, with any devices appearing in the story without the author’s conscious intent. It seems to me that those who take the former approach risk artificiality in their prose. But certainly there are great writers who must have carefully planned their use of literary devices? Maybe neither is better–does it just depend on the author’s own style, or on how the author’s decided to go about telling a particular story?
I usually find out I’ve used these devices (not all, but some) when someone else reads my manuscript. I’m aware when I try to foreshadow, and the occasional metaphor or simile is intentional, but the rest come as a complete surprise. I take it to mean I’m either much better than I think, or completely unaware of what I’m writing!
Fabulous post. Although I lean more on the side of the fence that identifies theme and then carefully crafts it throughout the writing process, I do believe that some of the strongest books are those in which the authors put all the other structure pieces in place and then let their themes grow 100% organically. What an honor to have your book selected for analysis by a student!
I love that, “literature happens.” I usually have readers telling me what they’ve discovered in my books–things I never thought about putting in there.
In English class back in high school, as we discussed literature and all the symbolism, etc., the teacher said that when the author was writing, those words just seemed “right” for the context, and that most were probably unaware of the details he made us examine.
Terry
Terry’s Place
Romance with a Twist–of Mystery
That sounds like quite a school assignment!
Like you, if I stop to think about it, I used most of the devices you listed without realizing I was doing so.
So true, Elizabeth. I doubt that the great writers who preceded us — note how I got us lumped in the “great” category — thought much about those literary elements as they wrote. I think we all just focus on the story, the people, and those elements work their way in as we master more and more of the craft.
Margot–Who knew we were so literary! :)
Helen–I think it might depend on both the author and the reader, too. I know, for instance, if I got *too* literary, my editor would suspect I was stepping away from my voice…which is usually folksy and approachable. My readers might be a little surprised, especially in the middle of a series. But many of these devices could be slipped in without a radical difference in voice and style, I’d imagine.
Jane–I don’t remember getting assignments like this in 8th grade. Pretty sure my book reports were just book reports!
Elspeth–That’s the conclusion I came to with my books, too!
Katie–I think for literary fiction, it’s really a *must* to plan ahead–it’s really expected of the genre, I think. For genre fiction, it does seem to happen by accident almost!
I use all of ’em, and I think they are all important in creating a full bocquet in your fiction. Excellent post on a good topic, as usual, Liz.
Best wishes for son’s assignment – bet if he’s got some of Mom’s genes he’ll do just fine! ;-)
Terry–That’s happened to me at book club meetings before. I’m always so pleased to find out that I’ve been clever when I didn’t realize I had been! Ha! Symbolism that’s hidden…even from the author. :)
I like that your teacher said that! I don’t think I ever heard that in class and I kept imagining these writers conspiring to include all the different devices. But he’s right–it *does* seem like the right word choice or the right way of putting something, even if we’re not consciously choosing to use devices.
The Old Silly–He has the talent–sometimes not the enthusiasm. :) But he always gets the job done..a good thing!
Wow Elizabeth – how scary! I’ve had people analyse my books and tell me there were hidden layers I hadn’t intended, which can get interesting. I tend to allow story and character to lead me to what happens, and the themes emerge by themselves and thrum through it all. As you say, a lot of it is not conscious, but what ‘feels right’, for one reason or another.
Maryann–I think I like us being lumped in with the greats! :)
dirtywhitecandy–Hi Roz! I’ve heard the same sort of thing..from book clubs. I’m always sort of surprised. :) I’m thinking, though, that books are like art and music–everyone sees something different and brings a little of their worldview into the analysis.
Oh, I use ALL of those at some point! I have kind of a problem with the whole “literary” label, anyway. I really think it’s kind of a genre in itself, even though its Ivy League, starched shirt fans prefer not to agree. It has its own formula, just like genre work does.
Those elements are just storytelling elements, I think. To say they’re “literary” is accurate, but that word is scary to us genre writers, and it needn’t be. Just tell a good story, and all of those elements will emerge at one time or another. :)
Hi Elizabeth!
It’s so exciting to me to find blogs about writing. I love learning about process and influences. How interesting that your child’s assignment made you think about your own writing! Public school English classes tend to make literature too formulaic, if you ask me.
-Ashley
Lovable homebody–I think that there can be a tendency to look at a story within certain guidelines at school–and the funny thing is that I’m usually writing and thinking about a *different* set of guidelines! Mine are more genre-specific and reader-driven. :)
Modicum of talent–Yes! I’m with you–I *absolutely* see lit fic as a genre. Although we do share some similarities. (Sometimes I think we have more fun, though.) :)