Context
Context is the history, environment, setting, framework, or environment of events or occurrences. Simply, context way instances forming a background of an event, idea or statement, in such a way as to enable readers to apprehend the narrative or a literary piece. It is important in writing to offer statistics, new concepts, and words to increase thoughts.
Whenever writers use a quote or a truth from some source, it turns into important to provide their readers a few data about the source, to provide context to its use. This piece of statistics is known as context. Context illuminates the meaning and relevance of the text, and can be something cultural, historical, social, or political.
Examples of Context in Literature
Example #1: A Tale of Two Cities (via Charles Dickens)
Dickens begins his novel, A Tale of Two Cities, in 1770, by way of describing the discharge of Doctor Manette from Bastille, earlier than taking the story to 1793 and early 1794. In this time span, the narrative covers a broad tale. In a larger view, this novel begins in 1757, even as its very last scene appears forward to the situation of the post-revolutionary Paris.
This story has a historical context, which Dickens has prepared around numerous events that came about at some point of the French Revolution. He has drawn ancient capabilities from primary occasions, such as the fall of Bastille, the September Massacres, and the Reign of Terror. This backdrop is the tale’s context.
Example #2: Animal Farm (through George Orwell)
George Orwell felt disillusioned by means of Soviet Communism, and its revolution all through his time. In the phenomenal novel, Animal Farm, Orwell has expressed himself by using using satire via the allegorical characters of Old Major and Boxer; bearing on them to the Russian Revolution and its characters. Orwell uses animals to explain records and context of Soviet Communism, some of which relate to party leaders. For instance, the pig Napoleon represents Joseph Stalin, and Snowball represents Leon Trotsky. In fact, Orwell makes use of this fable for political and aesthetic reasons, following the Russian Revolution as its context.
Example #3: Dr. Faustus (by means of Christopher Marlowe)
Historical context of Christopher Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus is religious, because it hints at cultural adjustments taking region at some point of Marlowe’s time. In sixteenth century Europe, there was a struggle among Roman Catholicism and the Protestant English Church. During this entire period, Calvinism become popular within the English churches; however, it became controversial. According to Calvinistic doctrine, the repute of the humans became predestined as stored or damned. Scholars and readers have debated on the stance that Marlowe’s play takes regarding the Calvinist doctrine, in whether Faustus is predestined to hell or not. The Renaissance period provides context for this play through Marlowe.
Example #4: Oedipus Rex (by way of Sophocles)
There is a popular saying that testimonies suggest values and cultures of the societies in which their authors live. In Oedipus Rex, Sophocles presents his protagonist, Oedipus, struggling to put into effect his will in opposition to the future set forth with the aid of the Greek gods. During this procedure Sophocles reveals Greek values of the period in the course of which he wrote the play.
He has illustrated the context of this play via the words and actions of Oedipus and different characters; as their Greek ideals concerning their governance, fate, and human relationships with the gods. These had been a number of the more famous themes of that era, and so form context of the Oedipus Rex.
Example #5: Lord of the Flies (by using William Golding)
“While stranded on a deserted island, a collection of boys believe there is a risky creature lurking in the underbrush; Simon is the primary to discover this menace, suggesting to the boys that ‘maybe,’ he stated hesitantly, ‘maybe there is a beast’.”
This excerpt provides an amazing instance of context, as it narrates an incident involving a set of young men on a abandoned island. Context describes why they were afraid, giving a clear picture of the state of affairs and setting.
Function
Context is all approximately supplying a background or image of the scenario, and of who's involved. Context is an essential a part of a literary text, which enables to interact the audience. If writers forget about context, they'll overlook a critical component of the tale’s intent. Without context, readers won't see the real picture of a literary work. Context enables readers understand the cultural, social, philosophical, and political thoughts and movements accepted in society on the time of the writing.
Popular Literary Devices
- Ad Hominem
- Adage
- Allegory
- Alliteration
- Allusion
- Ambiguity
- Anachronism
- Anagram
- Analogy
- Anapest
- Anaphora
- Anecdote
- Antagonist
- Antecedent
- Antimetabole
- Antithesis
- Aphorism
- Aposiopesis
- Apostrophe
- Archaism
- Archetype
- Argument
- Assonance
- Biography
- Cacophony
- Cadence
- Caricature
- Catharsis
- Characterization
- Cliché
- Climax
- Colloquialism
- Comparison
- Conflict
- Connotation
- Consonance
- Denotation
- Deus Ex Machina
- Dialect
- Dialogue
- Diction
- Didacticism
- Discourse
- Doppelganger
- Double Entendre
- Ellipsis
- Epiphany
- Epitaph
- Essay
- Ethos
- Eulogy
- Euphemism
- Evidence
- Exposition
- Fable
- Fallacy
- Flash Forward
- Foil
- Foreshadowing
- Genre
- Haiku
- Half Rhyme
- Hubris
- Hyperbaton
- Hyperbole
- Idiom
- Imagery
- Induction
- Inference
- Innuendo
- Internal Rhyme
- Irony
- Jargon
- Juxtaposition
- Limerick
- Line Break
- Logos
- Meiosis
- Memoir
- Metaphor
- Meter
- Mood
- Motif
- Narrative
- Nemesis
- Non Sequitur
- Ode
- Onomatopoeia
- Oxymoron
- Palindrome
- Parable
- Paradox
- Parallelism
- Parataxis
- Parody
- Pathetic Fallacy
- Pathos
- Pentameter
- Persona
- Personification
- Plot
- Poem
- Poetic Justice
- Point of View
- Portmanteau
- Propaganda
- Prose
- Protagonist
- Pun
- Red Herring
- Repetition
- Rhetoric
- Rhyme
- Rhythm
- Sarcasm
- Satire
- Simile
- Soliloquy
- Sonnet
- Style
- Superlative
- Syllogism
- Symbolism
- Synecdoche
- Synesthesia
- Syntax
- Tautology
- Theme
- Thesis
- Tone
- Tragedy
- Tragicomedy
- Tragic Flaw
- Transition
- Utopia
- Verisimilitude