Module 1 Lesson 3 - Read

Read: Language, Source, Form, and Structure of Literature 

Overview

Language, source, form, and structure are the broad categories used for discussing the different elements of literature and how those elements affect the reading experience. These categories help us understand works of literature and aid in describing how authors achieve specific effects in their writing. Using these categories as a foundation, we can more easily discuss literature with others. Understanding these categories will also help us design basic reading strategies to better understand literature.

Breaking it Down

Let’s begin with brief definitions and descriptions of these four categories.

Language – The words, sentences, and structures of a text are important factors in determining how we read. Authors of literary works are careful about the words they choose and how they put them together. They design combinations of words to have specific impacts on the reader and to evoke thought and feeling.

Sources – Every work of literature has one or more sources, such as an author or an originating event or context. It is common for works of literature to have multiple sources, both direct and indirect. The direct source, for the reader, is the author of the text being read. The author is the reader’s direct connection to the story and ideas of a work. But often, there are also indirect sources for a work of literature. For example, an author may be retelling a story that originated with another writer or could be providing a new perspective on a pre-existing myth shared by a culture.

Form – This is the genre, sub-genre, or type associated with a work of writing. There are many genres of literature, such as novels, tragedies, sonnets, scripts, and satire. Each of these examples is a different form of writing an author might use to tell a story. Each one provides different elements for conveying the author’s message. By recognizing basic forms of literature, the reader begins with some understanding of the author’s motivation. The choice of form can tell us a great deal about an author’s intentions.

Structure – There is a structural framework that determines the order and manner in which the events of a work of literature are presented to a reader. More specifically, the structure of a work dictates how events of the plot are ordered. Does the work provide an even, linear presentation of events or does it jump about, unevenly, between different time periods? Another way to think about structure is in terms of how the elements of a particular form are put together. For example, the author of a poem may choose to structure his or her work as one long unbroken sentence that runs over 30 lines, each containing exactly seven words. The structure of a literary text can provide hints to help in analyzing the text.

Reading Strategies

Here are some basic reading strategies to help you discern the language, source, form, and structure of the literature you are reading and apply what you’ve learned to your understanding of the literary work.

1. Recognize special uses of language. Unlike the writer of a news article, authors of literature invite the reader to read beyond the literal meaning of the words on the page. They do this by using images, symbols, and special language devices that, at once, conjure multiple layers of meaning and significance.
2. Learn something about the sources of the work before you read. Understanding the context in which a work of literature is written can provide useful insights into an author’s circumstances and motivation for writing. This also presents an opportunity to look at how a work was received by audiences when it was first produced.
3. Pay close attention to the form of a work before you begin reading. Just as we don’t read novels with the same assumptions we have for news articles, we don’t read poems with the same assumptions we have for short stories. Authors choose specific forms for writing because they seem most appropriate for communicating the experience or message they want to convey.
4. Remember that structure contributes to meaning in literature. Authors make careful determinations about the structure of their works. The decisions authors make about structure include length, division, sequencing within the work, and point of view.

 

Expand: Applying Language, Source, Form, and Structure

Discover

A good way to become more comfortable with the concepts of language, source, form, and structure is to think about them in terms of specific works of literature. Here are two brief examples.

Aesop: “The Tortoise and the Hare”

This is a popular fable about the tortoise who, offended by the hare, declares that he can beat the hare in a race. The hare is much faster, but is so confident of a win that he stops to take a nap. As a result, the tortoise, slow but ever-steady, wins the race. The message of the story presented at the end is that idleness and conceit will not prevail over hard work and perseverance.

Language – “The Tortoise and the Hare” is told naturally, using everyday language. This makes the story easy to follow and understand. The simplistic language helps us understand why these stories have such an enduring impact and how they are so effective for a wide variety of audiences.

Source – This fable originated in ancient Greece and is attributed to a storyteller named Aesop. Although no writings of Aesop have survived, ancient sources place his birth around 620 BCE. These fables are part of an oral tradition in which stories are told and retold for entertainment and education, keeping the core of the story but using different details and flourishes.

Form – This story is presented in the form of a fable. Fables generally contain the bare minimum of a story: character (s), a short plot, and a message. The message is generally explicit and presented either before or after the fable. By understanding the form, we know that the purpose of the work is to teach a lesson.

Structure – The structure of the fable is simple and linear. It introduces two characters, establishes a conflict and subsequent challenge, relates a brief series of events, and ends with a resolution and message.

Robert Louis Stevenson: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

This is a well-known story involving the mysterious relationship between Dr. Jekyll and his new friend, Mr. Hyde. Throughout the course of the novel, we discover that Mr. Hyde is actually the evil side of Jekyll’s personality, and that the doctor has discovered a chemical formula that will transform him into this other self. After Hyde commits numerous atrocities, including murder, and begins to take control without the aid of Jekyll’s serum, the doctor despairs and kills himself.

Language – The novel is heavily dependent on language and style to (1) depict a world in which the lines between the ordinary and impossible are blurred, (2) make the reader accept the “scientific” plausibility of Dr. Jekyll’s drug, and (3) make the evil of Mr. Hyde believable. To accomplish this, Stevenson relies on scientific language, dark descriptions, and abundant symbolism.

Source – Apparently, Robert Louis Stevenson had been interested for some time in the perspectives of good and evil that exist in everyone. He claimed that the story came to him in a nightmare. Some suggest the inspiration came from his friendship with a teacher, Eugene Chantrelle, who was executed for the murder of his wife in May of 1878. In addition to Stevenson’s own imagination and personal experiences, the novella is also written on a foundation of gothic literature that developed during the 19th century. There was a preoccupation with the struggle between good and evil in such works.

Form – The author uses a short novel, or novella, as the form for telling his story. More specifically, the work is a gothic novella, meaning it combines fiction, horror, and death, a form made popular by authors such as Mary Shelley and Edgar Allan Poe. Using this form, Stevenson is able to create elements of mystery and tell the story from multiple perspectives.

Structure – This story explores the struggle between good and evil through multiple perspectives. The novel’s mystery and solution are revealed gradually through conversations, observation, and letters. The primary perspective in the novel is that of Gabriel John Utterson, an attorney and friend of Jekyll. He listens to stories told by others and observes both men on occasion. In addition to these perspectives, we have information related through the letters of Dr. Hastie Lanyon and, posthumously, of Henry Jekyll himself. The latter provides the final explanation of events.

 

Module 1 Lesson 3 of 5