The Sunday News
Charles Dube
WE have not deliberately chosen to ignore discussing Literature, but, it was a case of covering other areas of study as well. We are back this week discussing various aspects of Literature as demanded by learners of the subject. It should be noted from the onset that strategies of studying Literature used here are from various sources provided by scholars of repute. Use them where applicable to improve your coursework and grades when it comes to examinations. Some might work for you.
How do you become an active learner in English Literature or Literature in English? Your success in learning Literature depends on the detailed and thorough revision of your set texts and development and practice of key skills. You can do this by reading texts — such as the drama and prose texts — before lessons if you can. Begin your revision of texts straight away. After lessons, find time when you can re-read closely the sections of texts you have covered in class.
Read with a dictionary available nearby. Meanings of words are not going to be clearer unless you use a dictionary. Be an active reader and make notes — lots of them. Then add to your notes as you re-read them. Annotate key words to show how the writers achieve their effects. This also applies to sound words you find in poetry. You need to do more than spot and define sound devices such as alliteration and onomatopoeia. If you are to achieve high marks in essays you need to explore the effects such devices create and how they help to convey the meaning.
(Annotate means to make notes providing brief explanations or comments). When reading any text for the first time, note your first impressions. Look at particular words or phrases and listen to particular sounds that you find striking, especially poetry where words such as the following are constantly likely to appear: simile — A simile is one thing compared to another. It is easy to spot them, as they signal comparison by using the words “like”, “as” or “as if”.
A metaphor does not use words such as “like” to compare things; it says that one is actually another. Personification is used when something is given human (or animal) characteristics. As already stated, it is not enough simply to identify devices such as these; you must say why you think the writer used these particular words in the text, and what effects she or he creates.
Study guides — many learners are fond of using study guides which tend to influence their personal responses to texts. Study guides are said to be helpful early on in the text in providing an overview of the plot or characters. However, learners are reminded that such guides should not be used as a substitute for their own informed personal responses to texts.
Characters are an integral part in the study of Literature. You encounter characters in prose texts you might study for examinations and other sources. As you study characters in whatever text, consider the following questions. Your answers to these questions will help you to acquire a detailed knowledge of the characters in the prose texts you study. These questions, we believe, encourage you to appreciate the various ways in which prose writers present characters.
Five main aspects of a character you should consider: What does a particular character look like? What does the character do? What does the character say and think? What do other characters say and think? What do other characters say and think about the character? How does the character develop as the text develops? You can explore the following features of characterisation — What does the character add to the plot?
How big a role does the character play in the text? How does the writer describe the character’s appearance? How does the writer describe the character’s personal qualities? Are there deliberate contrasts or conflicts with other characters? Is the character at odds with the society in which they live? In what ways does the writer convey a distinctive voice for the character? What do characters feel?
Methods or strategies learners can try to improve their appreciation of characters and the way they are presented in stories: Highlight and annotate key words, list points, use quotation and comment tables, write chapter summaries, write notes from the character’s view point and mark key lines spoken by the character. All these strategies, if followed to the dot, help learners improve the quality of their answer in both coursework and examinations.
Learners should bear in mind that “characterisation refers to the ways in which writers present their characters. Good essays about characters consider carefully the role of the writer. The characters do not live independent lives — it is the writer who creates and develops characters in novels and stories”. Take note that prose writers mingle description, story-telling and dialogue to bring their stories convincingly to life.
This is the same concept applied in essay writing in English Language. When a question asks learners to write a narrative, descriptive and other types of compositions, it does not limit them to one type of writing. Learners are also free to mingle the stated examples like description, story-telling and dialogue to bring about good essay answers.
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