Essential Steps for Literary Analysis and Genres

Essential Steps for Literary Analysis

Step 1: Reading, Vocabulary, and Context

The first step involves reading the text thoroughly while focusing on vocabulary and context. This includes researching the author's biography, the title text, and the title of the work to which the passage belongs.

Step 2: The Background—What Does the Text Say?

In the second stage, we examine the background. We ask: what is the text saying? This involves identifying the theme and the plot.

Step 3: The Form—How Is It Said?

The third stage focuses on the form and the literary genre. If the text is narrative, we analyze the following elements:

• Characters: Identifying main and secondary characters and their characterization.
• Place and Time: The setting where the action develops and the characterization of the environment.
• Order of the Story: Whether the story is chronological or discontinued.
• Point of View: The location of the narrator:
  • Within the history: The narrator may be a leading or secondary character (first person).
  • Outside the history: An omniscient narrator (who knows everything) or an objective narrator (who tells only what they observe and hear in the third person).
• Presentation Forms: The use of narration, description, and dialogue.

Biography of Ramon Llull

Ramon Llull was born in Palma in the early thirteenth century, three years after James I had conquered the island. He came from a noble family in Barcelona. He married a noble girl of good family named Blanca Picany, and they had a son and a daughter.

Understanding Literary Genres

Poetry and Narrative Fiction

Poetry: Any composition written in verse, encompassing a wide variety of genres.

Narrative: This genre aims to explain real or fictitious events, defend an idea, or teach. It is divided into two main categories:

• Narrative Fiction: Includes two similar sub-genres: the novel and the short story.
  • The novel tells a fictional story or one based on real events. It revolves around a protagonist, and the plot follows three levels: introduction, knot (climax), and outcome.
  • The short story is a narrative shorter than a novel. It usually features a simple plot and fewer characters. It can be categorized as popular or literary.

Didactic Narrative and Essays

Didactic Narrative: This form is used to expose teaching knowledge (scientific, technical, etc.) or to defend a thesis on a topic of social interest (politics, religion, etc.).

• Journalism: Usually shorter than an essay.
• Essay: This form has more extension, allowing the author to delve deeper into the subject, providing additional information and arguments.

Theater and Dramatic Arts

Theater: A representation where characters act out a story of fiction or one based on real events. The representation consists of elements such as sets, costumes, lighting, and music. Another essential element is the public.

Theatrical Genres: These include tragedy, comedy, tragicomedy, skits, and farces. A special theatrical genre is the opera, considered a total spectacle because it involves almost all artistic elements.