What makes this article locally
interesting is that during the important school events, a group of secondary
school teachers convened and ostensibly made a "unified format in teaching
the abstract and technical analysis" of a story as shown below.
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The core in story-and-drama-analysis
stems from a local interest story of personal experiences based on literary
works in Philippine literature. There are full-length interpretative analyses
in story-plot, drama-synopsis and other fictional and nonfictional literary
pieces. Interpolated herewith are thus compacted information and functions of
abstract and technical analysis.
I will give a sample of a topic
outline regarding the abstract and technical analysis in Philippine context. It
will serve as a guide for the teachers and students in analyzing the plot,
theme, point of view, story interpretation, symbolism and allegory, form and
structure, and moral of the story. Here is the topic outline:
I.
Abstract
II. Technical Analysis
A. Plot
1. Exposition
2. Involution
3. Climax
4. Falling Action
5. Denouement
The abstract and technical analysis
are just the benchmarks in analyzing a particular literary piece, either that
literary piece is a short story, a novel or a drama. If you want to expand the
level of interpretation and the level of higher thinking skills, you may use
additional literary parts to come by clearer and more emphasized
technically-analyzed stories.
This is a modern approach to study
literature because the readers get pleasure and contentment in entering a new
world so diverse from our present world. The readers obtain pleasure of reading
and they obtain pleasure of having their emotions and imaginations stimulated.
Most significantly, however, they
come to know the nature of man. As a matter of fact, man has a dual nature: he
is a dreamer of dreams and a doer of deeds.
His dreams and aspirations are jotted down for documentation and his
accomplishments are recorded at the same time. And when this is done in vogue
which is beyond mere statement of facts, then it becomes literature.
For literature is history in itself,
it further points out the literary works which help in pronouncing to us,
especially in all aspects of human life. The Filipino has a passion for the
true, the good and the beautiful. In Philippine literature concepts, I would
like to share with you the published statements and I reprint: "Man can
find it in the sanctuary of Mother Nature." Truth and goodness prevail in
all aspects of human life. In his beatific faith and vision, in his love
relationships, in his rationalized convictions, man discovers beauty, truth,
and virtue. Despite the manifestations of evil, life is fundamentally good.
All these things or scenarios are
sustained by human experiences throughout the world. To reiterate, literature
is history in itself because it records man's life--everything about him is
part of literary works that must be depicted throughout the analytic duration
of study. To expand more of the story as far as technical analysis is
concerned, here are the additional but optional devices and genres to entail
further in the study for in-depth analysis:
B. Theme
C. Point of View
1. First Person Point of View
2. Second Person Point of View
3. Third Person Point of View
a. Limited Point of View
b. Central Point of View
c. Omniscient Point of View
D. Story Levels of Interpretation
1. Literal Level
2. Interpretative Level
3. Evaluative Level
E. Symbolism and Allegory
F. Form and Structure
G. Moral of the Story
H. Questions with Answers
I. Schema of the Story
J. Relevance to Education
K. Justification
To give important values of abstract
and technical analysis in analyzing a story, explanations are herein provided
for clarity, emphasis and helpful guides to determine the uses and functions of
each part.
Abstract should be written in a third person point of view (see
example of the abstract in the 3rd person point of view on the other
page below). It is a shortened version of a longer piece of writing that
highlights the major points covered, briefly depicting the content and scope of
writing, and reviews the writing's contents in encapsulated form. It is not
long and it is only about a paragraph. Six sentences are enough for writing an
abstract.
Technical analysis refers to thinking in a conditioned pattern analyzing
comprehensively the uses and functions of the plotted parts of the story. It is
the study of literary charts and indicators to determine the progress and
chronological order of the story with the use of plotted schema and techniques
to examine various aspects of literary levels of interpretation.
Plot is the story line or the structure of a story. It is a
series of meaningful events in the story like for example, you have the
exposition where all the characters, setting, language and style are recognized
and you find the involution or rising action where it may raise to another part
and then there is the climax which is where the excitement or interest takes
place which where they work out the problem and second to last there is the
falling action which commences by degrees to end the story and last there is
the denouement or resolution which ends the story.
Exposition is the background information on the characters, setting,
language and style explained at the beginning of the story. It will often have
information about events that transpired before the story commenced. It is
often the very first part of the plot.
Involution of a story is the series of events that build up and create
rising action or tension. This tension is an outcome of the fundamental
conflict that exists and makes the story interesting. The types of conflict are
man vs. nature, man vs. man, man vs. society, man vs. God and man vs. himself.
Climax is when the situation or major part finally gets excited
and resolved. It is the turning point and it is where something unexpected will
occur and things start going to the falling action and resolution of the story.
Falling action is done after the excitement or turning point of an event;
the falling action can seem something of an anti-climax and it is the sequence
of events that follow the climax and end in the denouement. This is in contrast
to the involution which leads up to the plot's climax. It can always be found
after the climax when it goes down until it reaches the denouement.
Denouement refers to the events following the climax of a drama or
novel in which such a resolution or clarification happens. It is the conclusion
or final resolution of a dramatic or narrative plot. Denouement is also the
resulting outcome from the events and problems throughout the entire story. The
ending part of a story is sad, happy, adventurous, comedic or tragic.
Theme is the notion that becomes apparent to the reader when he
comes to the ending part of a story. It is a message, a broad concept or moral
of a story wherein the message itself indicates life, society or human nature.
It is the insight that is worth-keeping and sharing with in-depth analysis in
analyzing a meaningful event of a story. It can also be taken into account as
subject of discourse, discussion, meditation or composition to be banked on a
story.
Point of view refers to the angle from which a story is told. It is the
position which the narrator takes in the story or the perspective from which a
speaker recounts a narrative. Every author has a genre in apprising or telling
a story. He may use his character to relate the incidents or he may tell the
story himself. The kinds of point of view are first person point of view,
second person point of view, third person point of view (limited, central and
omniscient).
Story interpretation is based solely on literal level, interpretative level and
evaluative level. It is the act of interpreting something as expressed in an
artistic story performance from something denotative and from something
metaphorical or evaluative. The portion of a text will be extracted literally
from a book and will be expounded on it according to implicit standpoints.
Symbolism and allegory may have been used by the teachers as classroom artists since the
beginning of time. Symbols are used to represent abstract concept instead of a
literal meaning. They will point out as regards the importance of a test
symbolically and the allegory is something like a comparison or contrast, more
on spiritual aspects. In other words, it has moral, social, religious, or
political significance, and characters are often personifications of abstract notions. Thus an
allegory is a story with two meanings, a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning. To give more examples of an
allegory, say for instance, the apple that Adam receives from Eve is symbolic
of the "knowledge of God and Evil" and is thus allegorical. The
serpent is often read as an allegory signifying the tempter, or true evil. In
the New Testament, the Good Samaritan is an allegory representing the
right thinking and compassionate person. This is a precise rhetorical use of an
allegory .
Form and structure of a story will determine the overview or perspective of
the entire story. Thus, the form can be a comedy, a drama, a narrative or an
adventure while the structure is something that recounts and segregates the
major events to encapsulate the whole story in a chronological order with
prescribed "complete sentences" (from 5 to 10 sentences).
Moral of the story is like giving something, a very important lesson which is
extracted implicitly from a book. The moral values are important for the kids
to learn: fairytale and happy endings with romance and riches are nice but some
family movies and adventures have the best example for bonding together that
can further give a moral to the members of the family. Likewise, the story is
moral if it is spiritually injected with some values and inspiring lessons--a
few sentences to make the teachers and students publicly known. The teacher
will give insightful ideas to his students about morality according to the
norms of society and vantage points.
In giving the opinions about the
story, it is understood that the reader must fathom the story precisely based
on the levels of interpretation and the abstract itself. The abstract is not
too long and it must be based on the third person point of view with limited
six sentences in order to come up with a unified and logical paragraph. In
reading a full-length story, the reader must underscore the major points only,
especially in a series of meaningful events in the story just to come by what
we called synopsis. After getting the gist of the story, the technical story
analysis will follow. Make sure that the sequence can't be interchanged in
order to have a smooth sailing and orderly manner in expounding on a
"rising action or involution" of a story. The readers will only
differ in the story levels of interpretation, especially in the plot.
Finally, these are all the devices,
techniques and genres in analyzing a story using the technical format and
approach. If you think these are helpful, you may press the button for like
to indicate that this article helps you also in fathoming a full-length story.
Here are the samples of a story based on the aforecited format guide.
I have two samples of the stories
submitted to me by my students in first year level of a science high school.
I. Abstract
Story 1:
In a story entitled "The Piece
of String," Maitre Hauchecorne picks up a piece of string that gets him
into a mess and a world of troubles where he is also criticized unrelentingly
for having picked up a piece of string. He has been blamed for picking up a
wallet instead of his small innocent piece of string which eventually leads to
his death; consequently, he dies from the "injustice pressure" of
society, particularly to his detractors, his enemies. His non-ability to handle
not being forgiven also contributes to his death and the people are responsible
for Hauchecorne's death because they did not believe him. Monsieur Malandain,
Hauchecorne's rival, told the authorities that Hauchecorne had picked up a lost
wallet. The mayor questioned him but did not believe that he had picked up a
piece of string out of the mud. The mayor said that Hauchecorne could not
persuade him that Monsieur Malandain, who is a man of trust, mistook that piece
of string for a wallet.
Story 2:
Miss Brill is set at the Jardins
Publiques in France. Every Sunday Miss Brill looks forward to getting dressed
up and visiting the park where she could enjoy people watching. Her weekly
visits to the park are undoubtedly the highlight of her week, bringing her
great joy and satisfaction. There are many illusions in this story and it shows
three diverse illusions where Miss Brill uses to make her happy and how her
reality is shattered at the end of the story by a chance remark.
II. Technical Analysis
A. Plot:
1. Exposition
a. Characters (from story 1):
Maitre Hauchecorne, of Breaute -- a
humble peasant
Maitre Malandain -- the harness
maker at Goderville
Maitre Houlbreque, of Manneville --
a woman who lost her black leather pocketbook
containing five hundred francs and business papers
containing five hundred francs and business papers
Characters (from story 2):
Round characters
--Miss Brill is a middle-aged,
unmarried English woman who lives alone in a small apartment in France; she
teaches English to students and reads the newspaper to an elderly man several
times a week
--The Band
Flat characters
--The young and romantic couple
approaches the bench from which Miss Brill is watching the crowd
--The woman in the ermine toque who
has been observed by Miss Brill in the park symbolizes the title character
herself and her rebuff by a man in a gray suit foreshadowing Miss Brill's
rejection later in the story
--gentleman in gray
--boy and girl who sat where the old
couple had been staying
--many other passers-by
b. Setting
(from story 1):
Place -- it happened at the market place at Goderville
Time -- it took place during "market day" in the
afternoon
Setting (from story 2):
Place -- it took place in the little
dark room as compared to a cupboard; the beautiful park
Time -- it occurred in the regular
Sunday afternoon
c. Language
(from story 1) -- modern but British style of English language
Language (from story 2) -- the text
is written in the modernist mode
d. Style (from
story 1) -- it was a narrative type of story
Style (from story 2) -- the story is
written in formal style as Miss Brill presents the interior monologue of a
woman on a Sunday trip to the park whose pleasant illusions are shattered when
reality infringes on her thoughts
2. Involution (from story 1)
-- man vs. man because Maitre Hauchecorne was accused of taking the pocketbook
by Maitre Malandain
Involution (from story 2) -- man vs.
himself because Miss Brill is struggling in a way that she can be beyond normal
and the things what she can do to come by her future
3. Climax (from story 1) --
the turning point was about the next day in the afternoon where Marius Paumelle
a farm hand of Maitre Breton, a market gardener at Ymauville returned the
pocketbook and its contents to Maitre Holbreque, of Mainneville. This man said,
indeed, that he had found it on the road, but not knowing how to read, he had
carried it home and given it to his master. The news spread out to the
community; Maitre Hauchecorne was informed and he started off at once and began
to relate his story up to the end'"he was triumphant!
Climax (from story 2) -- Miss Brill
thinks of herself as an actress in a play because it gives a great pleasure as
well as exhilaration as she thinks she really is. She thinks of the sky and the
park as the set of the play; thus, she believes that all of the park patrons
weren't only the audience but also the actors in a great play. When she sees a
dog that happens to be walking across the park, she thinks that it is a theatre
dog. She also believes that somebody would have noticed if she hadn't been
there for her Sunday performance, and she would be greatly missed. Actually,
Miss Brill is not an actress instead she is the one that many people are
enjoying in the park with their peak of enthusiasm about her.
4. Falling action (from story
1) -- it took place when the rumors circulated that Maitre Hauchecorne gave the
wallet to the other man who spread the news to the community. They accused him
of having had the pocketbook with him and brought back by an accomplice, by a
confederate.
Falling action (from story 2) --
just at that moment, a boy and a girl came and sat down together where the old
couple had been staying. They were beautifully dressed and in love. The hero
and heroine just arrived from the father's yacht, made that soundlessly singing
and that trembling smile. Miss Brill's regret did not stop her from
surrendering; her illusions came crashing down around her when a young couple
makes a rude remark through Miss Brill's actions'"we see how her fantasy
is destroyed.
5. Denouement (from story 1)
-- the ending part was melancholic because Maitre Hauchecorne died trying to
prove himself "not guilty."
Denouement (from story 2) -- it was
somewhat imaginative, mysterious but happy because Miss Brill panned out in
passing the baker's by, climbed the stairs, went into the little dark room and
sat down on the red eiderdown. She sat there for a long time. The box that the
fur came out was on the bed; she unclasped the necklet quickly without looking
and laid it inside but when she put the lid on, she thought she heard someone
crying.
Continuation from story 1:
B. Theme -- man's innocence
The theme of the story is proving a
man's innocence. Don't judge a man if he's guilty or innocent by the way he
acts and by the way he looks.
C. Point of view -- the point
of view of the story is the first person narrative mode because the narrator
addresses the character as "I" and the narrator feels like he is a
character in the story.
If you think the article
"Philippine literature: abstract and technical analysis" may find it
helpful and interesting to you, you can still keep track of the other article
"Philippine literature: abstract and technical analysis part 2" as an
avenue and a continuation of each part as particularly mentioned in the
preceding texts.
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