Основы интерпретации художественного текста (на материале английского языка). Учебно-методическое пособие

The author resorts to parallel constructions consisting of short simple sentences to create a downcast atmosphere of dull, monotonous evening and at the same time presentiment and alarming anticipation of something that is likely to happen in the nearest time. In such deadly boring evening the American girl saw a cat in the rain. ―The cat sat under the table and tried to make herself so compact that she wouldn't be dripped on‖. Suddenly the girl felt strong inexplicable desire to get this cat. May be she just pitied it. It must have been a miserable spectacle: wet, homeless cat crouching under the table in the empty square. The girl decided to go down and get this cat. Here the reader gets acquainted with her husband. He is lying on the bed and reading and he has no desire to go out in such weather for the cat his wife wants so much. Although he proposed it but sooner out of politeness and he did not insist. ―Don‘t get wet‖- he said, but it wasn't a care - he said it just to say something. Later the reader can see that the hotelkeeper gives the girl more attention than her own husband. That's why she liked the owner of the hotel so much. Emphasizing the girl's attitude to the hotel-keeper the author resorts to repetition: "She liked the deadly serious way he received any complains. She liked his dignity. She liked the way he wanted to serve her. She liked the way he felt about being a hotelkeeper. She liked his old, heavy face and big hands ". Unconsciously comparing him with her indifferent husband she liked him because he displayed a kind of attention to her. He always bowed seeing her. His attention can be explained by the fact that he was the owner of the hotel and it was his due to take care of his clients, especially if they were foreigners. He just wanted them to feel comfortable and convenient. He displayed paternal care and attention to her. May be the girl was disposed to the hotelkeeper because he reminded her of her own father who was always kind to her. Anyway, it was so pleasant for the girl to feel sympathy and care. The author says: " The pardon made her feel very small and at the same time really important. She had a momentary feeling of being of supreme importance". That is the reason she liked him. He made her feel important. He listened to her every word and request, and she knew that her every little whim will be fulfilled, and that can not be said about her husband who never worried about her feelings.

Quite the opposite picture the reader can see when the girl went upstairs in her room. The only reaction of her husband was the question if she got the cat. He did not notice her disappointment. Suddenly the girl felt unhappy. Through her sad monologue the writer shows all her dissatisfaction with the life, beginning with the absence of the cat and ending with her short clipped hair. "I get so tired of it―- she says about her hair, but it is not just looking like a boy that she is tired of. She is tired of a boring life, of her indifferent and selfish husband who remains deaf to her despair. She does not say directly that she is not satisfied with her family life. But the reader can see it in the context.

She says: "I want to pull my hair back tight and smooth and make a big knot at the back that I feel. I want to have a kitty to sit on my lap and purr when I stroke her". She wants to have long hair to look solid and respectable. She wants to have children and her own house, which she associates with silver and candles. And the cat in her dreams is a symbol of refuge, something that she corresponds with such notions as home and coziness.

The author underlines the idea of dissatisfaction using repetition. In importunate repetition of the construction "I want" the reader can see the girl's emotional state. This stylistic device discloses her excitement; she is on the verge of hysterics. The emotional tension increases. "And I want to eat at a table with my own silver, and I want candles. And I want it to be spring and I want to brush up my hair out in front of the mirror and I want the kitty and I want some new clothes ". Here is an example of polysyndeton. The abundant use of the conjunction and makes the members of enumeration more conspicuous and also serves to emphasize the girl's state of confusion.

The syntax also contributes to the effect of extreme agitation of the girl. The writer deliberately avoids the use of commas in the girl's speech to show uninterrupted, without any pauses flow of speech, which testifies to her emotional excitement.

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This abstract may be regarded as the climax of the story. Here the emotional tension reaches its highest degree. The girl throws out all her discontent, all her negative emotions which she accumulated during her joint life with her husband. Then the peak of the climax comes: "Oh, shut up and get something to read" says her husband. Estrangement grows between two people. The girl feels insulted and stays looking out of the window. It is still raining. The rain is present during the whole narration. It is the silent witness of the running high drama. The rain pierces the plot of the story and has a symbolic meaning. It symbolizes their unfortunate family life.

The girl stubbornly continues: "Anyway I want a cat - she says. -I want a cat. I want a cat now. If I can't have long hair or any fun, I can have a cat". Suddenly she realizes that her marital life was not successful and the cat for her is the only possibility to feel satisfaction. But her husband does not care about it. He even does not listen to her. Probably he never mused over their joint life. To the end of the story the author gratifies the girl's wish and she gets the cat. But it is not that very cat from the street. It is a fat replete Tomcat sent by the hotelkeeper. Then the writer impartially leaves the reader to guess further development of the events. But it is this very device that makes the reader realize that the girl won't be satisfied, that she never be happy with her husband. And this big tortoise-shell cat does not symbolize home and coziness; it won't bring her happiness, sooner it symbolizes missed opportunity.

The main stylistic device the story is built upon is suspense. The author deliberately postpones the denouement keeping the reader in pressing anticipation. Hemingway's wonderful mastery of the language permits him to keep the reader tense till the denouement. Although everything seems to lie on the surface, but indeed the reader should make a great effort to derive the unspoken reference from the description of the facts. Hemingway's scrupulous attention to details permits him to introduce the hidden idea between the lines, without saying it directly. Hemingway's talent lies in deep psychological insight into human nature.

Khanina M.

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The analysis of the text

“The Oval Portrait”

The story I‘m going to analyze is titled ―The Oval Portrait‖, written by a famous writer, a pioneer of a detective genre, Edgar Allan Poe. His vivid and remarkable manner had a great impact on his readers. Only man who had experienced a lot could realize a human nature so deeply.

The events are represented through the eyes and mind of the author-observer. The opening sentence introduces us with the main character, the narrator, who had just arrived at an old abandoned castle in his “desperately wounded condition”. The author tried to convey his suffering with the help of epithet. The events are set in the château, which is “one of those piles of commingled gloom and grandeur which have so long frowned among the Appennines, nor less in fact than in the fancy of Mrs. Radcliffe”. The author mentioned this woman to draw a parallel between what she was writing and the setting of the story. She was a writer best known for her stories about ghosts who lived in old remote castles, which she described very gloomily and ominously. It is a stylistic device called antonomasia. Also with the help of simile – “piles which have frowned”, it was shown the abandonment of the castle.

From the very beginning of the story the author plunged us into the gloomy and mysterious atmosphere in order to convey the tone of loneliness and remoteness of the narration. With the help of epithets and metaphors the author depicted the sumptuousness of interior of the château: “sumptuously furnished apartments”, “rich golden arabesque”, “rich decorations yet tattered and antique”, “tongues of a tall candelabrum”. It helps us to make a vivid image of the setting of the story. “I bade Pedro to close the heavy shutters of the room – since it was already night – to light the tongues of a tall candelabrum which stood by the head of my bed, and to throw open far and wide the fringed curtains of black velvet which enveloped the bed itself». The author also used the archaic words as “turret”, “wrought” and words of bookish style as “hitherto”, “vehemently”, and “purport”. It produced the effect of being there, in that epoch.

With the help of parallel construction – “Long, long I read – and devoutly, devoutly I gazed”, and inversion – “Rapidly and gloriously the hours flew by…”, the author tried to express the interior emotions of the main character and state of environment as their reflection.

“The position of candelabrum displeased me, and outreaching my hand with difficulty, rather than disturb my slumbering valet, I placed it so as to throw its rays more fully upon the book”.

The tone of the story varied from a sombre and gloomy in the first part to the lyrical in the second part, when the central character noticed the portrait he hadn‘t seen before. “The rays of the numerous candles (for there were many) now fell within a niche of the room which had hitherto been thrown into deep shade by one of the bedposts. I thus saw in vivid light a picture all unnoticed before. It was a portrait of a young girl just ripening into womanhood”. It impressed the hero from the first glance so deep that he couldn‘t believe his eyes. “That I now saw aright I could not and would not doubt; for the first flashing of the candles upon that canvas had seemed to dissipate the dreamy stupor which was stealing over my senses, and to startle me at once into waking life”.

The author described the portrait with almost visible admiration and used such epithets as

“the ends of radiant hair”, “richly gilded”, “immortal beauty”, “in a vignette manner”, “filigreed in Moresque”. These words were bolded because the author wanted to pay our attention on the technical merit of the portrait and add to credibility. “It was mere head and shoulders, done…much in the style of the favourite heads of Sully”. The allusion refers us to the famous portraitist of the first half of the XIX century Thomas Sully, which painted more than two thousand portraits.

“I had found the spell of the picture in an absolute life-likeliness of expression…” The author used the compound epithet to convey the main feature that struck the central character.

The tone and atmosphere of the story develop and become more pathetic and dramatic by the third part, when the main hero found the description and origin of the portrait. This is shown

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with the help of gradation – “finally confounded, subdued, and appalled me”. “With deep and reverent awe I replaced the candelabrum in its former position. The cause of my deep agitation being thus shut from view, I sought eagerly the volume which discussed the paintings and their histories. Turning to the number which designated the oval portrait, I there read the vague and quaint words…” Here the author used the construction rather like one in ―Hamlet‖ of Shakespeare – ―the story within the story‖.

“She was a maiden of rarest beauty, and not more lovely than full of glee.” With the help of epithets the author emphasized the youth and tenderness of the girl. “And evil was the hour when she saw, and loved, and wedded the painter.” Here stylistic devices are used in convergence. It comprises inversion, polysyndeton, and gradation.

“He, passionate, studious, austere, and having already bride in his Art: she a maiden of rarest beauty, and not more lovely than full of glee; all light and smiles, and frolicsome as the young fawn; loving and cherishing all things; hating only the Art which was her rival; dreading only the pallet and brushes and other untoward instruments which deprived her of the countenance of her lover. Here we also can observe the convergence. It is used to create an effect of a very colorful lady‘s character. All her feelings, both good and bad, are very deep. The convergence comprises ellipsis, anti-climax, repetition, metaphor, simile, personification.

The passionate nature of the painter, his unwillingness to tear himself away from his work is reflected in the ascetic furniture of his studio – “dark high turret-chamber where the light dripped upon the pale canvas only from overhead”. With the help of gradation the author conveyed the interior state of the painter – “a passionate, and wild, and moody man, who became lost in reveries”.

Here is the interior conflict in the mind of the girl – the conflict between her love to her husband and hatred to his work. But she was ―humble and obedient” and couldn‘t contradict her husband. The painter worked ―from hour to hour, from day to day” to portray her, “so he would not see that the light which fell so ghastly in that lone turret withered the health and the spirits of his bride…” The author used the italic type to make us notice that the painter was so excited and so deep in his thoughts that he didn‘t see anything but his work.

“And in sooth some who beheld the portrait spoke of its resemblance in low words, as of a mighty marvel, and a proof not less of the power of the painter than of his deep love for her whom he depicted so surpassingly well.” “The labour drew nearer to its conclusion…” By the end of the story the plot develops very fast, the author used a lot of conjunctions and. This repetition cemented the text and added fabulousness. “And he would not see”, “and when many weeks had passed”, “and but little remained to do”, “and one tint upon the eye”, “and then the brush was given”, “and then the tint was placed”, “and the painter stood entranced”.

The climax and denouement are combined together. The painter have finally finished his work and turned to his bride but the life had already left her. It is very tense and tragic moment. The readers can almost hear a scream of despair and infinite grief that the husband experienced.

“This is indeed Life itself! – he turned suddenly to regard his beloved: She was dead!”

Manukyanz V.

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“Dandelion Wine” (extracts) by Ray Bradbury

TEXT ANALYSIS

The extracts from the novel ―Dandelion Wine‖ by Ray Bradbury, being a fine example of emotive prose, depict a twelve-year-old boy‘s poetical vision of the world which is full of miracles in the most common and ordinary things for him. The mere title of the novel —

―Dandelion Wine‖ — half-opens Douglas Spaudling‘s perception of summer which is the following: dandelions are not common flowers, weeds, but ―a patch of sunlight‖ and the embodiment of summer. That‘s why the wine made of them can warm the boy throughout autumn, winter, and spring months.

The author conveys the idea that everything comes to an end but the warmth of summer remains forever in child‘s heart.

The wonderful magic world of the twelve-year-old boy is skillfully described in three extracts of the novel.

EXTRACT 1.

The first episode depicts the first morning. Compositionally it falls into 3 parts. In exposition the general outline of the subject matter tackled in the text (i.e. summer is the time of awakening and freedom) is briefly presented. The asyndeton ―It was a quiet morning, the town covered over with darkness and it ease in bed‖ gives a quick description of the world being on the threshold of summer. The metonymy ―the town… at ease in bed‖ sets a peaceful atmosphere of this description. The romantic tone of the exposition is achieved with the help of the metaphor

―… the breathing of the world was long and warm and slow‖. The parallel construction with the use of the periphrasis ―… this indeed was the first morning of summer‖ draws the readers‘ attention to the coming summer. Besides, the use of the word ―indeed‖ stresses the idea of summer being the season of awakening.

It is followed by the description of the main character — Douglas Spaudling. It is done in the form of narrative. The metaphor ―Douglas… let summer idle him on its early morning steam‖ creates a sleepy, relaxed atmosphere. The detached construction ―Lying in this third-story cupola bedroom, he felt the tall power it gave him, riding high in the June wind, the grandest tower in town‖, where the epithet ―tall power‖ and the literary word ―grandest‖ are used, adds to the image of the boy trying to fall asleep in the atmosphere of freedom which is set with the help of the metaphor ―riding high in the June wind‖.

In such an atmosphere the boy is seeking the features of summer in nature. The simile ―he flashed his gaze like a beacon from this lighthouse in all directions‖ creates the image of this search. The epithet ―swarming seas‖ together with the metaphor ―swarming seas of oak and elm and maple‖ make the image of nature which is fighting with the spring for the summer to come.

The exposition ends with the unfinished sentence ―Now…‖ which not only catches the reader‘s attention, but presupposes an emotional outburst, i.e. the colloquial exclamatory word ―Boy!‖ that opens complication. From now on there is no doubt the summer is the winner of the fight.

The complication starts with unuttered represented speech ―A whole summer ahead to cross off the calendar, day by day…‖ which helps the reader penetrate into Douglas‘s inner life. The simile ―like the Goddess Siva in the travel books‖ creates the image of the boy falling asleep and finding himself in a kind of adventure. His mood gets more excited by means of the enumeration ―pluck sour apples, peaches, and midnight plums‖. The metaphoric enumeration ―He would be clothed in trees and bushed and rivers‖ makes the reader feel that the boy becomes part of nature sharing its eagerness to feel summer in every leaf, bud and drop of water. The parallel constructions ―He would freeze, gladly… He would bake, happily…‖ together with the oxymoron ―freeze, gladly‖ make semantically opposed things sound equal in the growing emotional tension of the boy‘s speech.

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Although, the emotional tension increases, the climax is delayed by means of the suspense

―But now — a familiar task awaited him‖. The suspense is aimed at describing the boy‘s lively imagination which creates a fairy-tale. It is done with the help of the metaphor ―in this sorcerer‘s tower sleep with thunders and visions‖, the onomatopoeia ―the jingle of milk bottles‖, the epithet ―the crystal jingle‖. They gave a more vivid picture of the fairy-tale the boy is part of.

Unfortunately, the boy‘s dream can‘t last forever. Daybreak is not many minutes around the corner of the world. The simile ―The street lights, like candles on a black cake, went out‖ creates the image of the dawn. The repetition of the verb ―exhale‖ followed by the phrases ―the street light went out,‖ ―… the stars began to vanish‖ gives rise to the feeling that the boy is a magician who hurries up the dawn. It is shown by means of the parallel constructions and the repetition

―There, and there. Now over here, and here…‖

The dawn is masterfully described by the author with the help of the metaphor ―a sprinkle of windows came suddenly alive…‖ and the epithets ―the dim morning earth‖, ―dawn country‖.

The nature, awakened by the boy, wakes up people. The metonymy together with the zeugma

―the great house stirred below, the warm scent stirred the boarders‖ redouble the effect of everybody and everything being woken up. Finally, the enumeration ―to stir the boarders, the aunts, the uncles, the visiting cousins‖ creates an illusion of the whole world up. However, the repetition of the word ―below‖ remind the reader of the magician (i.e. the boy) who sees everybody and everything going on at the time. Besides, the switch from the direct speech to unuttered represented speech shows that the magician can foresee future:‖ … the old women would glide…‖, ―… the town trolley would sail…‖

Finally, the epithet‘s ―baleful dragon eyes‖ and ―the revering brick streets‖ create the atmosphere of the fairy-tale with a realistic background where ordinary and mysterious things, events overlap and run together.

Unfortunately, every fairy-tale has its ending. The boy‘s awakening starts with the words ―Clock alarms tinkled faintly‖. The onomatopoeia ―tinkled‖, ―boomed‖ together with the gradation ―Clock alarms tinkled faintly. The courthouse clock boomed‖ lead the readers to the climax of the first extract which is the end of the boy‘s dream — ―the sun began to rise‖.

The simile ―Birds leaped from trees like a net thrown by his hand‖ and the detached construction ―Birds leaped from the trees…, singing‖ create the image of a person who rules the world off-hand. The metaphor ―conducting an orchestra‖, the periphrasis ―he smiled a magician‘s smile‖ show Douglas‘s magician-like attitude to summer and his feeling of sharing this magic by awakening everything and everybody. The gradation ―Doors slammed open; people stepped out. Summer 1928 began.‖ Presupposes not a fairy-like, but a realistic description of that summer which the second extract is devoted to.

EXTRACT 2

The second extract is a description of the process of making dandelion wine. The whole extract has a touch poetry. The rhyme ―… the water was silk in the cup. It softened the lip and the throat and the heart.‖ Creates a melodic effect serving as a poetic atmosphere-setter.

The periphrasis ―a common flower, a weed‖, the metaphoric periphrases ―the flower that floated the world‖, ―the golden tide‖, ―the balm of sun‖, ―the essence of this fine fair month‖ mark out the word combination ―dandelion wine‖.

This part can be called the emotional center of these extracts.

The inversion ―And yet…‖, ―And there…‖, the exclamatory word ―Hey!‖ add to the description of the boy‘s emotional state. The boy worships the qualities of the dandelion wine. The exaggerations ―Peer through it on a wintry day — the snow melted to grass, the trees were rein habited with bird, leaf and blossoms‖ make it vivid. The peak of the exaggeration is the simile ―the trees… like a continent of butterflies breathing on the wind‖ which creates the image of summer being the season of living and freedom. The metaphors used in the gradation ―hold summer in your hand, pour summer in a glass, tilt summer in‖ serve to associate the dandelion wine with this wonderful season.

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The boy is not the only person whose emotional tension rises at seeing, smiling, feeling dandelions. The simile ―Grandfather stood on the wide porch like a captain surveying the vast calms of season dead ahead.‖ Creates the image of an experienced person who remembers all the harvests he has had in life, these harvests being his life stages. The anaphoric repetition ―Even Grandma…‖, the simile ―Grandma like a June goddess‖ serve to strengthen the feeling of happiness the dandelion wine arouses. Besides, it is different microbes medicine the image of which is created by means of the simile ―… throats raw as butcher‘s meat, noses like bottled cherries‖. The enumeration based on the grammatical inversion ―… even Grandma, as did Grandfather and Father and Uncle Bert, or some of the boarders…‖ proves that these magic qualities of the dandelion wine are known by everybody. That‘s why the climax of the second extract is the repetition ―Dandelion wine. Dandelion wine. Dandelion wine.‖ Which emphasized the idea that the dandelion wine arouses nostalgic feelings in the author, too.

EXTRACT 3

The nostalgic atmosphere is transferred to the third extract of the novel. The last extract creates contrast to the first extract. Such an antithesis is marked not only lexically (―everything runs backwardly‖ as in the first extract ―… doors slammed open; people stepped out…‖ and in the third extract ―…people run in the houses; doors slam…‖), but also by means of the simile ―People run in the house now like birds jumping back inside clocks.‖ The enumeration ―One minute… Next minute…‖ adds to this effect.

No doubt, the beginning of autumn is unwelcomed. It is masterfully shown with the help of the following stylistic devices. The parallel construction based on the antitheses ―Come September you push down the windows you pushed up, take off the sneakers you put on, pull on the hard shoes you threw away last June.‖ Proves the fact that autumn is accorded an unhearty welcome by the boy. The epithet ―Steely clouds‖, the simile ―… leaves fall off trees like crazy…‖ reveal the way nature makes the similar to the boy‘s welcome. The boy foresees the consequences of such welcome, i.e. ―birds would wheel south‖, ―… he would smell the pumpkins ripening toward the knife‖.

The gradation ―But it was late and getting later.‖ Expresses the idea of everything and everybody preparing for winter which is opposed to summer. The parallel construction based on the polysyndeton ―he lay in his bed and the town slept around him and the ravine was dark and the lake was moving quietly on its shore and everyone… slept on one street or; another, in one house or another, or slept in the far country churchyards.‖, where the metonymy ―the town slept‖ is used, created the image of a dream when time flies by pending summer. Hence, the dandelion wine is the only embodiment of the summer, the season of freedom and living, during autumn, winter and spring months.

At the end of the analysis it must be said that although the narration is third person, the extracts have the structure of a flashback sequence. Moreover, the punctuation of the text is the way the author expresses his own attitude to the events and notions described. For instance, his nostalgia is felt in the repetition of the word combination ―Dandelion wine. Dandelion wine. Dandelion wine.‖

POINTS FOR DISCUSSION

I. Discuss the wonderful magic world of the twelve-year-old boy who sees miracles in the most common and ordinary things. Do you think all children have got the capacity to build up a world like this?

II. Recollect an episode from your childhood. Did you take things the way you do it now? Is there a specifically ―children‘s‖ world? What marks it off from that of the grown-ups‘?

III. Comment on the famous words of Antoine de Saint-Exupery: ―Childhood is a big country from where we all come. Where am I from? I am from my childhood as one comes from a country.‖

A child has already developed half of his total adult intellectual capacity by the time he is four years old and 80 percent of it by the age of eight. After that, regardless of what kind of schooling and environment a child has, his mental abilities can only be altered by 20 percent.

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Supplement 1.

Phrases for Translating Ideas into Words_

The story / article deals with / is concerned with / describes / examines / reveals / exposes / dwells on / explains / addresses / discusses / presents / covers / outlines / states / offers / considers / looks into / treats

The story is set in ...

The scene is laid in ...

The story is written in a form of... (the author's recollections, the dialogue, narration, autobiography)

The action takes place in ...

As the story unfolds, ...

The plot of the story centres round ...

The basic plot of the story develops slowly towards a violently dramatic incident and an ironical conclusion.

The plot of the story is complicated (intricate, tangled up, trite, commonplace, simple). The plot of the story baffles the reader.

The gist/core of the problem raised in the story is ...

The subject taken up in the story/article is ...

The issues/problems of... are the concern of this article. This problem is the subject of the article.

The problems addressed in the article are acute / urgent / vital / burning. The main idea/message of the story is ...

... is the main thread of the story.

The idea is conveyed through the presentation of ... (the dialogue of...) The moral of the story is ...

The central conflict of the story is ...

With the beginning of Chapter ..., the novel gains momentum and the mood changes. The story has a deep emotional/intellectual appeal.

The content is an objective/subjective reflection of reality.

The story deals with the burning problems of life: politics, economics, education, marriage, and so on.

The story is a broad reflector of the aims, confusions, concerns, ideas, and attitudes of ...

This story is intended to provoke thought. This story gives food for thought.

This story is realistic in style, cordial in comedy, sympathetic in mood.

The story is full of problems, but they emerge as part of life which is so energetically, vividly, frankly offered for our inspection.

The story provokes contradictory assessments. The story is marked with pessimism/optimism.

The story is characterized by gripping narrative and deep emotional impact. The story is permeated with irony/lofty ideas/strong feelings.

The story is a remarkable insight into human character. The story is an in-depth study of human nature.

The story reveals human virtues and vices.

This story reflects the author's preoccupation with the moral self. The story shows the author's concern with the moral principles.

The story has a(n)interesting / entertaining / exciting / gripping / amusing / enjoyable / funny / witty / banal / skillfully developed / slow-moving / fast-moving plot.

The charm of the story lies in a realistic portrayal of the characters and a truthful description of...

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This story is a delight to read, even though it is made of material which is so disgusting and depressing.

Whatever is sick, sad and ugly in modern urban life is depicted in the story; its rare moments of beauty too.

The author reveals the nature of his characters through (actions, details, dialogues, etc.)...

The author gives an account of...

The author conveys his emotions to the reader using ...

The author brings to the reader's notice ...

The author gives a comprehensive and vivid picture of...

The author remains concentrated on these problems throughout the story. In this story the author voices dissatisfaction with ...

The author shows (presents) complex / complicated / simple / imaginary / realistic / (un)convincing / superficial / flat / round / well(badly) portrayed characters.

The author seems to be the spokesman of the spirit of time.

The author's aim is to concentrate the reader's attention on the inner world of his characters. The author displays a mastery in rendering the subtleties and contradictions of life.

The author is focused on human feelings and relationships, actions and motives. The author explores the complexity of human character/ smb's inner motives.

There is one trait always present in this author's books, which singles him out of commonplace writers.

The author unfolds a theme in which stupidity, hypocrisy and ambition play their sorry parts. The author's attention is focused on ...

The author portrays /depicts a man in close cooperation with society. In his story the author turns to the conflicts of contemporary life.

The reader can easily understand the author's own attitude towards his characters. The reader grasps the idea that ...

... serves to convey to the reader the mood of the narrator / author. It is ... that falls under the author's observation.

The author's strong point lies in a vivid description of the beliefs, customs, manners, costumes, language of the epoch plus the energy and movement which his story displays.

The author's sympathy lies with ...

The author's real central figure seems to be ...

The author's irony exposes the vices of this society: hypocrisy, money-worship, and moral degradation. That is why one can hardly find any positive character in the novel.

The author is known for a deep psychological analysis of his heroes and a very thoughtful attitude to the burning political and social problems of the day.

The author starts a new tradition of bringing the language of literature (in the author's speech, no less than in that of the personages) close to the language of real life. He does away with the elaborate syntax of the 19th century prose and cultivates somewhat abrupt sentences, true to the rhythm and the intonation of the spoken language and full of low colloquialisms and even slang.

The author's method of developing a story often involves a turn which takes the audience half by surprise, as it may have taken the dramatist himself.

There is not a character in the story that is not worth studying, nor a scene that is not life-like, not a reflection that has not a deep meaning.

The character of the heroine is drawn with admirable skill. She is full-blooded and many-sided: adventurous, gifted, with a keen sense of humour and deep understanding of people.

He is the only character worthy of the author's positive estimate. His life is characteristic of/typical of/peculiar to...

She is an embodiment of beauty.

Money becomes the prime object of their worship and respect. This character enjoys all the sympathy of the reader.

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