European Literature Essay

In distinguishing between the genres of short story, novel and annovel, it is important to take into considerations such factors as: rather social or individual subtext, size, coverage of certain topic, the presence of mythology and spirituality, confrontation either with daily routines or with unusual situations. In this sense, novel is probably the most ;social’ genre, as it necessarily points to certain societal pathologies, describes the antagonism between private and public interests and normally consists of a number of chapters, gradually developing the plot. Furthermore, novel is characterized by the authenticity to material facts and thorough depiction of events and social interactions. Annovel is close to novel in terms of genre, as both works of fiction cover much space, yet the entire novel is as a rule dedicated to putting into chronological order the lives of certain characters, whose fates are normally depicted completely, especially if they are protagonists. Annovel, in turn, can contain a collection of short stories, which fit into the context of the creative work, but describe completely different characters and develop dissimilar plotlines. Nevertheless, annovel should be viewed as an entity, as sometimes certain characters can ‘wander’ among stories, so that they are depicted in various situations. Short story, as a genre, is characterized by the considerable impact of individual and spiritual (mystic) components: as a rule, they have either oversimplified abstractive plots or extremely multifaceted plotlines, presented briefly, as they usually cover short time period (conversely to novels and annovels, which give details for epochal changes). Furthermore, lyrical, intuitive and personality aspects are also attributed to short story, as it is aimed at highlighting certain human impulse or momentary change in human life (sudden death, irrational decisions and so forth). Whereas novels are viewed as well-organized and structured works, short stories might switch between various temporal phases (from the future to the past, for instance) and usually include peculiar temporal discourse. The most prominent example of annovel genre is â€Å"Dubliners† by James Joyce. The writing contains more than ten stories, which, if integrated, present the topic of Irish lifestyle, beliefs and social order and constitute a brief encyclopedia of Dublin urban dynamics. Different characters are thrown into various troubles, so that the annovel provides several plots. Annovel therefore to some extent combines the elements of short story and novel Charles Dickens’s â€Å"Hard Times† is a typical novel, relatively large in volume – its considerable size is intended to create the impression of reality and allow the reader to dive into both social and psychological contexts of the basic plotline, which seems to be developed gradually. The short stories ‘Araby’ and ‘Clay’ from Dubliners   to some extent reaffirm the existence of ‘parallel’ or ‘absurd’ reality, as both, in spite of their conciseness, in fact depict the interrelation between the past, the present and the future and note each character’s reflections upon the past events, i.e. necessarily contain conscience flow and use psychological tools like ‘sublime object’. Dramatic monologue in fact includes two key terms – ‘dramatic’ and ‘monologue’. The ‘dramatic’ shows it can be acted out like drama, while the ‘monologue’ points to certain person’s speech, so dramatic monologue is a poem, in which attention is paid to both situation and character. This poetry form implies the presence of listener or audience, so that the monologue is intended as a component or independent part of dramatic performance. For instance, in Yeats â€Å"Leda and the Swan† the author present his lyrical dramatic monologue as a set of rhetorical questions, upon which the audience is supposed to reflect. In order to strengthen the overall effect and impression, the author refers to mythological characters (the reference tool is widely used, as it allows incorporating the others’ ideas and experiences into the monologue) and utilizes metaphorical language in order to enrich the argumentative aspect of the monologue with the emotions, feelings, perceptions and therefore appeal to the reader’s affection and emotional intelligence. ‘Sailing to Byzantium’ is a dramatic monologue, presenting certain case or situation: the lyrical character or protagonist, feeling aged and tired, sails towards the sun, in order to reach the holy city. The monologue, as one can note, contains certain argument: the poet depicts rather negative discourse between the realms of the young and the elderly and substantiates each viewpoint through representing social issues through metaphors and parallelisms.