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Methods of Effective Literary Commentary

            
            
             - Understanding of literary techniques.
            
            
             - Onomatopoeia - words that are spelt in a similar way to the sound.
             - Allegory - narrative using symbols.
             - Euphemism - cold slumber (death).
             - Similes - white as snow (figurative language as opposed to literal language).
             - Oxymoron - silent scream.
             - Hyperbole.
             - Visual imagery.
             - Personification - the howling wind, dancing grass, smiling moon.
             - Punctuation.
             -Structure - paragraphs.
             - Objectification - opposite of personification - standing like a statue.
             - Pun - humorous and literal meaning.
             - Symbol - an object representing an idea. .
             - Motif - an idea or a theme that recurs throughout a play, story or poem.
             - Setting .
             - Paradox - idea that cannot be understood but has a deeper meaning alienation .
             Ability to explain author's use of techniques to affect reader.
             (Balance sharp-edged critical analysis with personal impression.).
             Preparation.
             - Read briefly. Highlight outstanding words or phrases.
             - Make brief notes about context (specific situation surrounding a setting). How this fits into the scope of the overall text.
             - Why was this passage chosen?.
             - Make brief notes for characters (who? why are they important?)/plot (entire story/text)/theme (main ideas)/tone/.
             mood/feeling/atmosphere)/structure (punctuation/ etc.)/diction (use of language)/etc.
             Logical organization includes the following:.
             - Meaning: What's the central impact? Irony or ambiguity? Stated or implied meaning?.
             - Tone/Voice: Who's the speaker? Does voice shift? Is it overheard or consciously projected?.
             - Mood: Usually depends on the tone. Emotional atmosphere of the whole passage. Mood and tone can shift.
             - Form: Structure and pattern. Linear development, circular structure, echoing motif. What's the connection between .
             form and content? Idea structure. Shift in tone point of view.
             - Diction/Syntax: Describe effects and success, your impressions. .
             - Word Choice: Chosen for sound/syntax: sentences complete?.


Essays Related to Methods of Effective Literary Commentary

1. An Examination of Symbolism in Sir Gawain and the Green Knig

(Griffith 7) The Medieval masterpiece "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" provides many excellent examples of the effective use of symbolism in literature. ... According to Ithaca University English Professor Michael Twomey: Several late medieval writers moralized heraldry - provided moral commentaries on heraldic images and colors - and in these writers green can represent a range of things, including spring. ... (ClassicNote 17) The three different animals that Bercilak hunts (a deer, a boar, and a fox) each represent the method Gawain uses ...

  • Word Count: 2124
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

2. Evolution of the Horror Movie

Also, unlike The Night Of the Living Dead, Boyle uses a mastery of literary and visual techniques in order to propel his story and induce fear into the audience while still using his film as his own form of social commentary. ... While other ways of transferring the disease have been created, the bite remains the primary method of destruction. ... The last two concepts, "the chase" and "the fall" rely on each other in order to be effective. ... It is through these characters that Boyle's social commentary shines through. 28 Days Later was released one year prior ...

  • Word Count: 2066
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Grade Level: High School

3. The Book of the Duchess and Other Poems

Not even the famous Biblical interpreter of dreams, Joseph, who read dreams for Pharaoh (see  Genesis, Book 41), nor Macrobius, the late Roman author who wrote a famous (in Chaucer's day) commentary on  Cicero's  Dream of Scipio, would have the skill to read the fantastic dream the narrator had that night. ... Nevertheless, in a common literary reversal, the narrator endeavors to tell the reader anyway. ... The story of Joseph from the Hebrew Bible would have been known to most people through stories, but the reference to Macrobius's Latin commentary on the earlier Latin writ...

  • Word Count: 5753
  • Approx Pages: 23
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Vox Populi..

One of Thompson's fans in the literary circle, Kurt Vonnegut, present at the bombing of Dresden (which gives him much ammunition with which to attack war and suffering), is perhaps more renowned for his unique narrative style than political agenda. ... Thompson, who passionately believe he is a valuable literary commodity to be treasured and the one true hero of Gonzo; a breed of 60's "New Journalism" that would spawn a bible for the disillusioned sixties - Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. ... A better explanation would be to say Gonzo is written in the style of Rock n" Roll, punct...

  • Word Count: 4213
  • Approx Pages: 17

5. Policy Failure and Evidence-Based Policy

The paper concludes with some exhortatory commentary on the dangers of politicizing research. 2. ... They remain cynical about the rhetoric of scientific empiricism (Pearson & Mclean 2010, Watts 2014) claiming policy is driven by efficiency, methods and practicality, over justice and trust. ... Despite this political rhetoric7, there is nothing novel about using knowledge generated through scientific methods in order to address social problems (Sanderson 2002: p1). ...

  • Word Count: 2455
  • Approx Pages: 10
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

6. Film and Historiography

Historic film has played and enormous role over the past fifty years in communicating ideas and commentary on issues in history to a mass audience. ... Film, today, is one of the most efficient and prevalent methods for reaching the wider public. ... With film comes television, the most effective source of global communication. ...

  • Word Count: 3868
  • Approx Pages: 15
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

7. Arthur Miller

Arthur Miller, winner of many literary and dramatic awards, is an incredibly influential force in American drama. ... Elsom writes that Arthur Miller wrote about witch-hunting in Salem but it was really an indirect commentary on Joe McCarthy and the congression sub-committees investigating un-American activities. (140) Joe McCarthy probably thought of Arthur Miller as a dangerous communist subversive, but in Europe he was regarded to be agreeably left wing (Elsom 139). ...

  • Word Count: 11015
  • Approx Pages: 44
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

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