Comprehensive Study Notes on Narrative Conflict, Poetic Analysis, Literary Structures, and Psychoanalytic Theory
Narrative Conflict
Definition of Conflict: Conflict is the driving force that moves a narrative forward. It is characterized by the struggle or tension between two opposing forces. It often reveals a deeper meaning in a narrative while highlighting the character's motivations, values, and weaknesses.
Categories of Conflict:
Internal Conflict: Occurs within the character and often forces character development. Driven by morality, desires, fears, or beliefs.
Example: Hamlet's indecision on avenging his father's death in William Shakespeare's play Hamlet.
External Conflict: A struggle between the character and an outside force, such as society, nature, another character, or fate.
Example: John Proctor in The Crucible, who must navigate between protecting his family and reputation while facing a corrupt system and a community gripped by fear.
Specific Types of Conflict:
Character vs. Self: A form of internal conflict where the character faces opposition coming from within, typically involving doubt, ethical dilemmas, or tough decisions. (All other conflict types are classified as external or coming from outside forces).
Character vs. Character: A type of external conflict where a character is in opposition with two or more characters. This struggle can manifest physically, intellectually, morally, or emotionally.
Character vs. Nature: A type of conflict that pits the character with natural forces such as harsh weather conditions, wild animals, geographical challenges, or diseases. The plot revolves around the struggles of the character to survive or to achieve a goal despite these natural obstacles.
Character vs. Society: A type of conflict where the character clashes with the norms, expectations, or laws of their society. This societal force can be represented by a tyrannical government, rigid social structures, or deep-rooted traditions or beliefs. The character may rebel against these forces for various reasons, such as fighting injustices, pursuing identity, or bringing about positive change.
Narrative Point of View
Definition: Point of view refers to the perspectives through which a story is told—essentially "whose eyes" the reader sees the story unfold through. It shapes how readers experience the narrative and understand the characters.
Points of View in Prose Narratives (Short Stories and Novels):
First-person Point of View:
Narrated by a character within the story (the protagonist, a minor character, an observer, or the writer themselves).
Uses first-person pronouns: "I", "me", "my", "we", and "us".
Creates a sense of intimacy with the narrator's inner thoughts and feelings.
Limit: Knowledge is constrained exclusively to what the narrator knows.
Third-person Limited:
Narrated by an outside voice acting as an observer.
Uses third-person pronouns: "he", "she", "they", and "it".
Access is limited to the thoughts and feelings of only one character (typically the protagonist).
Balances insight into the protagonist's mind with narrative objectivity.
Third-person Omniscient:
Narrated by an all-knowing outsider.
Access to the thoughts, feelings, and motivations of all characters.
Allows the reader to view the story from multiple angles and comprehend comprehensive character motivations.
Point of View in Dramas and Plays:
Drama does not always utilize a distinct narrative point of view like prose. Instead, the story unfolds through dialogues, actions, and stage directions, requiring the audience to interpret thoughts and feelings.
Perspectives of Viewing Drama:
Limited View: The audience experiences the narrative from a limited perspective, piecing together information solely from what characters say and do onstage without direct access to inner thoughts. This builds suspense and encourages critical interpretation.
Omniscient View: A less common theatrical approach achieved through a chorus or narrator providing external context and insight into character motivations.
Dramatic Irony: A literary technique where the audience understands key information that the characters do not, creating tension and engagement.
Example: In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the audience is aware that Juliet has faked her death, but Romeo is unaware. Believing she is dead, Romeo takes his own life.
Contextual Analysis of Poetry
Sociocultural Context: Examines the specific society, culture, traditions, values, and social expectations reflected within a poem.
Historical Context: Explores historical events, political climates, and time periods that influenced the creation of a poem.
Biographical Context: Connects the poet's personal life experiences, beliefs, and individual background to the poem's underlying themes and ideas.
Psychological Context: Analyzes the speaker's or characters' inner thoughts, emotions, motivations, desires, and psychological conflicts.
Nature, Elements, and Devices of Poetry
Nature of Poetry:
A creative and evocative literary form that utilizes language in a condensed manner.
Aims to transmit information, stir emotions, and utilize symbols.
Specifically designed to be read aloud or recited.
Poetic Elements:
Diction: Meaning revealed through word choices, imagery, and denotative (literal) versus connotative (associated) meanings.
Images and Sense Impressions: Used to directly appeal to the five human senses: sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch.
Figures of Speech:
Simile: Comparison between two unlike things using explicit connecting words.
Metonymy: A figure of speech where one word or phrase is substituted for another word with which it is closely associated.
Examples: "The White House", "Hollywood", "The Crown", "Silicon Valley".
Synecdoche: A figure of speech where a part of something represents the whole, or the whole represents a part.
Distinction: Metonymy calls something by another related thing; synecdoche uses an actual piece/part to represent the whole (or vice versa).
Onomatopoeia: Words that naturally imitate the physical sounds they describe.
Oxymoron: Combining two contradictory terms or ideas to generate a new meaning.
Examples: Bittersweet, love-hate, clearly confused, pretty ugly.
Paradox: A statement that appears self-contradictory or absurd on the surface, but reveals an underlying truth upon examination.
Examples: "Nobody goes to the bar any more because it's too crowded", "The only constant in this world is change".
Personification: Gives human qualities, characteristics, or actions to animals, inanimate objects, or abstract ideas.
Hyperbole: An extreme exaggeration used for emphasis or effect.
Alliteration: Repetition of the same initial consonant sound in a sequence of words.
Assonance: Repetition of internal vowel sounds across neighboring words.
Consonance: Repetition of consonant sounds, typically located at the middle or end of words.
Irony: A situation where what actually occurs is substantially different from what was expected.
Poetic Rhythm and Meter:
Meter: The regularity of the rhythm; measures how many feet or stressed/unstressed syllables exist within a single line of poetry.
Iambic Foot: Consists of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.
Trochaic Foot: Consists of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable.
Example Word Stress Pattern: "fragile" (stressed followed by unstressed).
Literary Elements: Character and Characterization
Character Definition: A person, animal, being, creature, or thing within a narrative. Writers utilize characters to perform actions and speak dialogue, driving the story along its plot line.
Types of Characters:
Major Characters: The most essential characters in the narrative.
Minor Characters: Characters who play supporting roles that are less central, yet still necessary to the plot.
Protagonist: The main character around whom the entire central story revolves.
Antagonist: The character or force that causes conflict for the protagonist.
Characterization: The act of creating and describing characters in literature.
Direct Characterization: Explicitly telling the audience what a character is like.
Indirect Characterization: Implicitly showing the audience what kind of character an individual is through their thoughts, words, actions, and interactions.
Literary Elements: Plot Structures
Plot Definition: A series of interconnected events in which every specific occurrence serves a explicit purpose by establishing connections, suggesting causes, and demonstrating relationships.
Episodic Plot: Consists of a series of loosely related incidents—usually chapter-length—tied together by a overarching common theme and/or shared characters.
Parts of Plot (Freytag's Pyramid):
Exposition: Introduction of setting, characters, and basic situation.
Conflict: The primary problem or driver of tension.
Rising Action: Events building tension and complicating the conflict.
Climax: The turning point and emotional high point of the narrative.
Falling Action: Events following the climax leading toward resolution.
Resolution: The final outcome and tying together of plot threads.
Psychoanalytic Theory and the Structure of the Psyche
Freud's Personality Theory (1923):
Perceptual Levels of Mind:
Conscious
Preconscious
Unconscious
The Tripartite Psyche:
The Id:
The unconscious reservoir of libido.
Described as an obscure, inaccessible part of personality: "a chaos, a cauldron of seething excitement [with] no organization and no unified will, only impulses to obtain satisfaction with instinctual needs, in accordance with the pleasure principle" (cited in Guerin et al., 2005).
"Naturally, the id knows no values, no good and evil, no morality" (Freud, 1923).
Governed strictly by the pleasure principle.
The Ego:
The rational governing agent of the human psyche.
Regulates the instinctual impulses of the id so they can be released through non-destructive behavioral patterns.
Represents "good reason and good sense", contrasting with the id which represents "untamed passions".
Governed strictly by the reality principle.
The Superego:
The moral censoring agency of the mind.
Serves as the repository of conscience and pride.
Described as: "the representative of all moral restrictions, the impulse toward perfection, in short it is as much as we have been able to apprehend psychologically of what people call higher things in human life".
Governed strictly by the morality principle.
Character vs. Nature: A type of conflict that pits the character with natural forces such as harsh weather conditions, wild animals, geographical challenges, or diseases. The plot revolves around the struggles of the character to survive or to achieve a goal despite these natural obstacles.
Character vs. Society: A type of conflict where the character clashes with the norms, expectations, or laws of their society. This societal force can be represented by a tyrannical government, rigid social structures, or deep-rooted traditions or beliefs. The character may rebel against these forces for various reasons, such as fighting injustices, pursuing identity, or bringing about positive change.