lit. room: Analysing Literature: LITERARY DEVICES

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Lord of the Flies is a thought-provoking novel authored by William Golding in 1954. The book describes in detail the horrific exploits of a band of young children who make a striking transition from civilized to barbaric. Lord of the Flies commands a pessimistic outlook that seems to show that man is inherently tied to society, and without it, we would likely return to savagery.

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Theme Analysis
The theme of Lord of the Flies has been questioned and speculated about for decades. To answer the critics, Golding said that the theme was to trace the problems of society back to the sinful nature of man. He wrote the book to show how political systems cannot govern society effectively without first taking into consideration the defects of human nature.
The defects of human nature are exemplified in Golding抯 novel through the characters of Jack and his hunters. Here, Golding shows that men are inherently evil; if left alone to fend for themselves, they will revert back to the savage roots of their ancestors. This is seen in the novel near the end, when the tribe is hunting Ralph. Matters had become quite out of hand by this time. Even the naval officer who saves the boys knows their society has become savage.

Yet Golding抯 last comment in his press release criticizes not only the boys on the island but also the society of adults in which the officer lives. Golding asks

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Conrad's works, Heart of Darkness in particular, provide a bridge between Victorian values and the ideals of modernism. Like their Victorian predecessors, these novels rely on traditional ideas of heroism, which are nevertheless under constant attack in a changing world and in places far from England. Women occupy traditional roles as arbiters of domesticity and morality, yet they are almost never present in the narrative; instead, the concepts of "home" and "civilization" exist merely as hypocritical ideals, meaningless to men for whom survival is in constant doubt. While the threats that Conrad's characters face are concrete ones梚llness, violence, conspiracy梩hey nevertheless acquire a philosophical character. Like much of the best modernist literature produced in the early decades of the twentieth century, Heart of Darkness is as much about alienation, confusion, and profound doubt as it is about imperialism.

Imperialism is nevertheless at the center of Heart of Darkness. By the 1890s, most of the world's "dark places" had been placed at least nominally under European control, and the major European powers were stretched thin, trying to administer and protect massive, far-flung empires. Cracks were beginning to appear in the system: riots, wars, and the wholesale abandonment of commercial enterprises all threatened the white men living in the distant corners of empires. Things were clearly falling apart. Heart of Darkness suggests that this is the natural result when men are allowed to operate outside a social system of checks and balances: power, especially power over other human beings, inevitably corrupts. At the same time, this begs the question of whether it is possible to call an individual insane or wrong when he is part of a system that is so thoroughly corrupted and corrupting. Heart of Darkness, thus, at its most abstract level, is a narrative about the difficulty of understanding the world beyond the self, about the ability of one man to judge another.

Although Heart of Darkness was one of the first literary texts to provide a critical view of European imperial activities, it was initially read by critics as anything but controversial. While the book was generally admired, it was typically read either as a condemnation of a certain type of adventurer who could easily take advantage of imperialism's opportunities, or else as a sentimental novel reinforcing domestic values: Kurtz's Intended, who appears at the novella's conclusion, was roundly praised by turn-of-the-century reviewers for her maturity and sentimental appeal. Conrad's decision to set the book in a Belgian colony and to have Marlow work for a Belgian trading concern made it even easier for British readers to avoid seeing themselves reflected in Heart of Darkness. Although these early reactions seem ludicrous to a modern reader, they reinforce the novella's central themes of hypocrisy and absurdity.

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The Hypocrisy of Imperialism - Heart of Darkness explores the issues surrounding imperialism in complicated ways. As Marlow travels from the Outer Station to the Central Station and finally up the river to the Inner Station, he encounters scenes of torture, cruelty, and near-slavery. At the very least, the incidental scenery of the book offers a harsh picture of colonial enterprise. The impetus behind Marlow's adventures, too, has to do with the hypocrisy inherent in the rhetoric used to justify imperialism. The men who work for the Company describe what they do as "trade," and their treatment of native Africans is part of a benevolent project of "civilization." Kurtz, on the other hand, is open about the fact that he does not trade but rather takes ivory by force, and he describes his own treatment of the natives with the words "suppression" and "extermination": he does not hide the fact that he rules through violence and intimidation. His perverse honesty leads to his downfall, as his success threatens to expose the evil practices behind European activity in Africa.
However, for Marlow as much as for Kurtz or for the Company, Africans in this book are mostly objects: Marlow refers to his helmsman as a piece of machinery, and Kurtz's African mistress is at best a piece of statuary. It can be argued that Heart of Darkness participates in an oppression of nonwhites that is much more sinister and much harder to remedy than the open abuses of Kurtz or the Company's men. Africans become for Marlow a mere backdrop, a human screen against which he can play out his philosophical and existential struggles. Their existence and their exoticism enable his self-contemplation. This kind of dehumanization is harder to identify than colonial violence or open racism. While Heart of Darkness offers a powerful condemnation of the hypocritical operations of imperialism, it also presents a set of issues surrounding race that is ultimately more troubling.

Madness as a Result of Imperialism - Madness is closely linked to imperialism in this book. Africa is responsible for mental disintegration as well as for physical illness. Madness has two primary functions. First, it serves as an ironic device to engage the reader's sympathies. Kurtz, Marlow is told from the beginning, is mad. However, as Marlow, and the reader, begin to form a more complete picture of Kurtz, it becomes apparent that his madness is only relative, that in the context of the Company insanity is difficult to define. Thus, both Marlow and the reader begin to sympathize with Kurtz and view the Company with suspicion. Madness also functions to establish the necessity of social fictions. Although social mores and explanatory justifications are shown throughout Heart of Darkness to be utterly false and even leading to evil, they are nevertheless necessary for both group harmony and individual security. Madness, in Heart of Darkness, is the result of being removed from one's social context and allowed to be the sole arbiter of one's own actions. Madness is thus linked not only to absolute power and a kind of moral genius but to man's fundamental fallibility: Kurtz has no authority to whom he answers but himself, and this is more than any one man can bear.

The Absurdity of Evil - This novella is, above all, an exploration of hypocrisy, ambiguity, and moral confusion. It explodes the idea of the proverbial choice between the lesser of two evils. As the idealistic Marlow is forced to align himself with either the hypocritical and malicious colonial bureaucracy or the openly malevolent, rule-defying Kurtz, it becomes increasingly clear that to try to judge either alternative is an act of folly: how can moral standards or social values be relevant in judging evil? Is there such thing as insanity in a world that has already gone insane? The number of ridiculous situations Marlow witnesses act as reflections of the larger issue: at one station, for instance, he sees a man trying to carry water in a bucket with a large hole in it. At the Outer Station, he watches native laborers blast away at a hillside with no particular goal in mind. The absurd involves both insignificant silliness and life-or-death issues, often simultaneously. That the serious and the mundane are treated similarly suggests a profound moral confusion and a tremendous hypocrisy: it is terrifying that Kurtz's homicidal megalomania and a leaky bucket provoke essentially the same reaction from Marlow.

marquez

Silberpish tu cover dia racer X yang lukis....

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Originally posted by marquez at 16/12/03 04:54 PM:
Silberpish tu cover dia racer X yang lukis....

:eek::stp::stp::stp:

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Originally posted by gorgonz at 1/12/03 03:29 PM:
cuba try anta ker ... SILVERFISH

[img]http://www.silverfishbooks.com/Silverfish/Version3/Reviews/bookpix/S ...

ooo...yg nih...
lenkali masuk kasik
salam dulu...

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lambung gak..nanti nak post yg baru...

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Analysing Literature

Close detailed analysis of a piece of literature is sometimes called close reading, or practical criticism. It involves looking at a literary text with attention and in some detail to work out what is happening within a given text and how the writer has used language and literary devices to communicate and create meaning. Words are the medium of literature as paint is the medium of pictorial art and necessary to pay close attention to the verbal structure of a piece of literature to grasp its meaning fully.
There is a sense in which the reader produces meanings from any text: we have different personal and cultural expectations and experiences which we bring to our reading: a poem which means nothing to us at fifteen might, when re-read at thirty, seem much more significant. The text hasn't changed, but we have, and our reading has changed. There is, therefore, not one absolute definitive reading of any literary text but a range of possible readings. In close reading you are required to illuminate the text and show how you have reached your reading.
In practice this means providing a detailed analysis of your chosen poem or prose extract which explores the language and literary devices used by the writer and explains how these produce meaning and what meanings they produce.
You will be expected to use literary terms where appropriate, although do avoid "trotting them out" just for the sake of it.
Approaches to literary analysis
Here are suggested approaches to help you work through and write about a poem or piece of prose. These are not prescriptive: you don't have to do it this way, but it may help you if you're finding it difficult to "get going" and start writing about literature.

Writing about a poem

1. Take the poem as a whole - What is it saying? What is the situation? What is its meaning? Who is speaking?
You may not be able to answer every question for every poem, but it's a good idea to begin by showing that you've considered the poem as a whole. John Peck (How to Study a Poet) suggests looking for a central opposition in the poem which you may find useful. Don't lapse into summary, you may need no more than a couple of sentences.
2. Work through the poem systematically (not necessarily top to bottom) to show how meaning is conveyed.
3. Show an alertness to: choice of words; images; form; rhyme, rhythm, alliteration etc. and show how these contribute to meaning.
4. Give your personal response, your own appraisal and judgement. This does not necessarily mean saying whether or not you like the poem, but do summarise your overall response.

Writing about a piece of prose

This may present more difficulties than a poem as it may be an extract from a longer work, making it impossible to consider the work as a whole. The literary devices employed by the writer may not be as readily evident, but the general principles of close reading remain the same: to show what is happening and how the writer has used language and literary devices to create meaning.

You need to examine:

1. The overall effect of the piece - What is it saying? What is the setting? Subject, theme?
2. What point of view is presented? Is there a narrator? Is it written in the first or third person.
3. Work through the text to show how meaning has been produced. Comment specifically on words or phrases, punctuation, changes in points of view, descriptive or figurative language, characterisation, tone, irony. How is the text constructed?
4. Your personal response, you appraisal and judgement of the writing, based on the evidence of your close reading.

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what literary devices can you find from this poem??

Love has to spring spontaneously from within
and it is no way amenable to any form of inner or outer force.
Love and coercion can never go together;
But though love cannot be forced on anyone,
It can be awakened in him through love itself.
Love is essentially self communicative;
Those who do not have it catch it from those who have it.
True love is unconquerable and irresistible,
And it goes on gathering power and spreading itself,
Until eventually it transforms everyone whom it touches.

~ Meher Baba

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here love is personification.....what is personification???
personification is when something is describe as though
having human quality..here LOVE is described as though
a living thing...

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:cak:Adakah setuju dengan ciri wanita yang diilusikan melalui
hasil karya atau masih ada prejudis atau diskriminasi mahupun
exploitasi yang diserlahkan:hmm:

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Tidak terlalu fanatik tentang paparan wanita di dalam hasil karya...lihat samada ia relevan dgn karya tersebut卹asanya banyak hasil karya sekarang yang mengangkat martabat wanita卬anti senaraikan...

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positive portrayal by a woman writer...will find a man writer...



review from a reader...

A Woman of Substance is one of the best books that I have ever read in my eighteen years of living. The book's heroine, Emma Harte, inspired me in ways both big and small.

Emma Harte came from miserable circumstances. As a child, Emma grew up in abject poverty, and she had to toil for the demeaning Fairleys just to support herself and her family. However, through working for the Fairly's at a young age, she learned the value of hard work and determination in achieving one's goals. Impregnated and abandoned by Edwin Fairley before the age of 20, Emma's situation seemed only to worsen.

However, Emma refused to become victimized by her adversities. She refused to let the Fairleys or her poverty get the best of her. Her work ethic and strength of character enabled her to gloriously triumph over her circumstances. Towards the end of the book, Emma becomes one of the richest, most powerful women in the world.

Watching Emma's inspirational triumph over adversity has motivated me to never let any obstacles get in the way of my dreams. I am grateful that I read this book because I learned many powerful lessons about life and endurance through Emma.

Emma Harte is an amazing woman. She is a remarkable force. She is a woman of substance.

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nih ilusi penulis lelaki...

Salina
    Oleh  A.Samad Said

            Novel Salina diterbitkan pada tahun 1989 oleh A.Samad Said dan diterbitkan oleh Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, Kuala Lumpur. Salina merupakan salah satu novel yang mempunyai keunikan tersendiri di dunia sastera Melayu moden. Karya A. Samad Said. Karya ini mempunyai nilai budaya dan sastera yang tinggi yang mana ia  dikatakan sudah pun meninggikan kedudukan sastera Melayu. Siti Salina dalam Salina merupakan seorang yang  bersifat jahil dan  tidak beriman. Walaupun begitu, dia mendapat simpati  dari kalangan pembaca kerana A. Samad Said berhasil mewujudkan amanatnya yang ingin beliau sampaikan akibat peperangan yang buruk.
            Di dalam novel ini banyak unsur pemberontakan akibat daripada kesan peperangan. Sebagian besar  watak dalam karya ini adalah sebenarnya korban Perang Dunia Kedua. Dalam pada itu, segala tindak-tanduk Salina juga berpunca daripada perang yang kejam itu. Dia kehilangan  orang tua, kekasih, dan cita-cita juga dihancurkan oleh peperangan. Maka, Salina memaparkan imej pemberontakannya dengan menceburkan diri dalam situasi syiqaq     Pemberontakan Salina dapat digolongkan satu pemberontakan yang bersifat pembalasan dendam. Menurut A. Camus pemberontakan seperti ini tidak dapat memberi kesan yang  mendalam. Pemberontakannya dipandang juga sebagai satu pemberontakan yang bersifat penyakit(morbid).
            Kalau ditinjau dalam konteks ini, pemberontakan ini adalah salah satu tindakan untuk menghasilkan valuasi baru selepas memusnahkan ketidakadilan yang  merupakan formula dasar untuk kehidupan dan juga satu proses untuk menyelamatkan jiwa manusia. A. Samad Said dengan sengaja menciptakan watak Salina sedemikian rupa, kerana masyarakat Melayu yang mementingkan keimanan tidak dapat menerima Salina  yang dengan mentaliti yang sihat bertingkah laku seperti yang ditunjukkan dalam novel ini. Bagaimanapun novel yang diciptakan oleh seorang penyair agung ini dapat dikatakan  karya sastera yang memberi warna baru kepada dunia novel Melayu.

sayang_mulut

guys..korang ni kan rajin baca novet..so aku angap tahap litreture krang mesti tahap dewa...so ..leh tak tolong kan aku explain precisely bout this watak..plzzz....yang aku tau watak ni tak menyumbang pape dalam sesubah drama

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leh citer lebih spesifik...watak dari buku apa...otak tgh 'blur' ni?

sayang_mulut

sorry..ni tajuk novel nyer...

Sejauhmanakah watak-watak kodi dalam Okonkwo dan Tuan Gatsby memainkan  peranan penting dalam perkembangan dan pemantapan jalan cerita?

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sori...masih tak faham...mendernya watak kodi?
Okonkwo citer Things Fall Apart n Tuan Gatsby
tu dlm The Great Gatsby kan?

sayang_mulut

yup..thts rite..actually..i havent read these novels yet...thats my frens stuff..dier suro aku carikkan ape watak kodi tu sebab dier nak wat research pasal buku ni...kalau tak silap aku..watak kodi tu watak yang tampil dengan dialog..tapi tak sumbang aper...