Location
- Location is the arrangement and presentation of physical and temporal elements in a work.
Time
- time of year (season)
- time of day (morning, afternoon, evening)
- month (September, January)
- era, century, decade (Victorian, 20th century, 1920’s)
- duration of the narrative
- details of the passage of time (falling leaves – autumn, snow – winter)
- sequencing of time
- use of time as a direction of movement in the narrative (flashbacks – looking back; flash forwards – looking ahead)
- life (youth/age)
Space
- relationship between time and place (WWI – trench warfare)
- description of the surroundings, colours, shapes
- movement from place to place
- creations of new societies (futuristic, fantastical)
- the physical height of the action and the relationship of the objects around
- the angle from which the action is viewed (vantage point)
- urban versus rural settings (regionalism/locality/metropolis)
- macrocosm/microcosm
- symbolic elements of setting
- garrison mentality of the characters due to an isolated environment
- features of the physical setting
- presence of the elements (weather) and its significance
- exterior/interior
- relationship of that setting to the actual world
- tone/atmosphere created by the location (pathetic fallacy)
Tone
- The tone is the dominant emotion(s) the writer wishes to establish in the work.
- parody/satire (Parody imitates the characteristic style of an author or an existing work for the purpose of ridicule; satire mocks the folly and voice of people and institutions, inspiring the reader to correct the faults.)
- verbal irony, situational irony, litotes, hyperboles, and wit are also used to convey sarcasm and humour
- Diction, detail, imagery, and syntax all contribute to tone
- types (comedy, tragedy, gothic novel, etc.) of literature contribute to tone
- Tone Words
- Abusive
- Affectionate
- Forceful
- Hypercritical
- Laudatory
- Bitter
- Confident
- Contemptuous
- Cynical
- Somber
Tropology
- Tropology is the use of image, metaphor, symbol and archetype in a work to manipulate the literal meaning of what is said or to substitute one meaning for another.
- Image – triggers the reader to recall visual, olfactory, tactile, auditory, and gustatory memories he/she has of the physical object being described. (five senses)
- Simile – explicit comparison between two things using “like” or “as”
- Metaphor – implicit analogy between two things; it depends more on the reader’s imagination; it is more abstract
- Symbol – Like an image, the symbol should bring to the reader’s mind a picture of an object.
- However, a symbol goes much farther in that it should also summon up abstract associations with the object (ex. In Christian symbolism, a cross.
- This is an example of a culturally based symbol.
- In addition, a symbol can be private to the author only, but with repetition throughout a work or a series of works, this symbol comes to carry the abstraction.
- With specific reference to an object the writer’s personal symbol becomes obvious to the reader.
