Cyclic composition in literature. What is composition in literature: techniques, types and elements. Plot elements of the internal composition
Today we will talk about ways to organize the structure artwork Let's take a look at the fundamental concept composition. Undoubtedly, the composition is an extremely important element of the work, mainly because it determines the form or shell in which the content is “wrapped”. And if in ancient times the shell was often not given much importance, then since the 19th century a well-built composition has become almost an indispensable element of any good novel, not to mention short prose (novellas and short stories). Understanding the rules for constructing a composition is something like a compulsory program for a modern author.
In general, it is most convenient to disassemble and assimilate certain types of composition using examples from short prose, solely because of the smaller volume. That is what we will do in the course of today's conversation.
Mikhail Veller "Technology of the story"
As I noted above, it is easiest to study the typology of composition using the example of small prose, since almost the same principles are used there as in large prose. Well, if so, then I suggest trusting in this matter to a professional author who has devoted his whole life to working on short prose, Mikhail Weller. Why to him? Well, if only because Weller wrote a number of interesting essays on the craft of writing, from which a novice author can learn a lot of useful and interesting things. Personally, I can recommend two of his collections: Word and destiny», « Word and profession”, which have long been my reference books. For those who have not yet read them, I definitely recommend filling this gap as soon as possible.
Today, to analyze the composition, we turn to the famous work of Mikhail Weller " storytelling technology". In this essay, the author literally breaks down all the features and subtleties of writing short stories and short stories, systematizes his knowledge and experience in this area. Without a doubt, this is one of the best works on the theory of short prose and, no less valuable, it is written by our compatriot and contemporary. Think, the best source for our discussion today, we simply can not find.
Let's first define what composition is.
- this is a specific construction, the internal structure of the work (architectonics), which includes the selection, grouping and sequence of visual techniques that organize the ideological and artistic whole.
This definition is, of course, very abstract and dry. All the same, the formulation given by Weller is closer to me. There she is:
- this is the arrangement of the material selected for the work in such an order that the effect of a greater impact on the reader is achieved than with a simple sequential presentation of facts.
The composition pursues a clearly defined goal - to achieve from the text the semantic and emotional impact on the reader that the author intended. If the author wants to confuse the reader, he builds the composition in one way, if he decides to impress him in the end, in a completely different way. It is from the goals of the writer himself that all types and forms of composition, which we will analyze below, originate.
1. Straight-through composition
This is the most common, well-known and familiar way of presenting the material: at first it was like this, then something happened, the hero did this, and it all ended like that. Main Feature direct-flow composition is a strict sequence of presentation of facts while maintaining a single chain of cause-and-effect relationships. Everything here is consistent, clear and logical.
In general, for this type of composition, the slowness and detail of the narration is very characteristic: the events follow sequentially one after the other, and the author has the opportunity to more thoroughly highlight the points of interest to him. At the same time, such an approach is familiar to the reader: on the one hand, it eliminates any risk of becoming entangled in events, and on the other hand, it contributes to the formation of sympathy for the characters, as the reader sees the gradual development of their character in the course of history.
In general, I personally find direct-flow composition to be a reliable, but very boring option, which, perhaps, is ideal for a novel or some kind of epic, but a story built with its help is unlikely to sparkle with originality.
Basic principles for constructing a direct-flow composition:
- Strict sequence of described events.
2. Ringing
By and large, this is the same straight-forward story with one single, but decisively important nuance - the author's inserts at the beginning and at the end of the text. In this case, we get a kind of nesting doll, a story within a story, where the hero, introduced to us at the beginning, will be the narrator of the main internal story. This move gives rise to a very curious effect: the personal characteristics, worldview and views of the character leading the story are superimposed on the presentation of the plot of the story. Here the author deliberately separates his point of view from that of the narrator and may well disagree with his conclusions. And if in ordinary stories we, as a rule, have two points of view (the hero and the author), then this type of composition brings even more semantic diversity, adding a third point of view - the point of view of the character-narrator.
The use of ringing makes it possible to give the story a unique charm and flavor that is impossible in other circumstances. The fact is that the narrator can speak any language (colloquial, deliberately colloquial, even absolutely incoherent and illiterate), he can broadcast any views (including those that contradict any generally recognized norms), in any case, the author is removed from his image, the character acts independently, and the reader forms his own attitude towards his personality. Such a separation of roles automatically brings the writer to the widest operational scope: after all, he has the right to choose as a narrator even an inanimate object, even a child, even an alien. The degree of hooliganism is limited only by the level of imagination.
In addition, the introduction of a personified narrator creates in the reader's mind the illusion of greater authenticity of what is happening. It is valuable when the author is a public figure with a well-known biography, and the reader knows very well that the beloved author, say, has never been to prison. In this case, the writer, introducing the image of the narrator - an experienced prisoner, simply removes this contradiction in the minds of the public and calmly writes his crime novel.
Ringing is a very effective way of organizing a composition, which is often used in combination with other compositional schemes.
Signs of ringing:
- The presence of a character-narrator;
- Two stories - internal, told by the character, and external, told by the author himself.
3. Point composition
It is characterized by a close examination of a single episode, a moment from life that seemed to the author important and something remarkable. All actions here take place in a limited area of space in a limited period of time. The whole structure of the work is, as it were, compressed to a single point; hence the name.
Despite its apparent simplicity, this type of composition is extremely complex: the author is required to put together a whole mosaic of the smallest details and details in order to end up with a vivid picture of the selected event. Comparison with painting in this context seems to me very successful. Working on a point composition is like painting a picture - which, in fact, is also a point in space and time. Therefore, here everything will be important for the author: intonations, gestures, and details of descriptions. A dotted composition is a moment of life viewed through a magnifying glass.
Point composition is most often found in short stories. Usually these are simple everyday stories in which a huge stream of experience, emotions and sensations is conveyed through little things. In general, everything that the writer managed to put into this point of the artistic space.
Principles of point composition construction:
- Narrowing the field of view to a single episode;
- Hypertrophied attention to trifles and nuances;
- Showing the big through the small.
4. Wicker composition
It differs mainly in the presence of a complex system of depicting a large number of events that occur with different characters at different points in time. That is, in fact, this model is directly opposite to the previous one. Here the author purposefully gives the reader a lot of events that are happening now, that happened in the past, and sometimes should happen in the future. The author uses a lot of references to the past, transitions from one character to another. And all in order to weave a huge large-scale picture of their history from this mass of connected episodes.
Often, such an approach is also justified by the fact that the writer reveals the causes and relationships of the events described with the help of episodes that took place sometime in the past, or the implicit connection of today's incidents with some others. All this develops according to the will and idea of the author as a complex puzzle.
This type of composition is rather characteristic of large-scale prose, where there is room for the formation of all its laces and intricacies; in the case of short stories or short stories, the author is unlikely to have the opportunity to build something large-scale.
The main features of this type of composition:
- References to events that took place before the beginning of the story;
- Transitions between actors;
- Creating scale through many interconnected episodes.
This is what I propose to stop at this time. A strong flow of information often creates confusion in the head. Try to think about what was said and be sure to read " story technology» Michael Weller. Continuation - very soon on the pages of the blog "Literary Workshop". Subscribe to updates, leave your comments. See you soon!
Composition of a work of art
Composition- this is the construction of all elements and parts of a work of art in accordance with the author's intention (in a certain proportion, sequence; the figurative system of characters, space and time, the series of events in the plot is formed compositionally).
Compositional plot parts literary work
Prologue- what led to the emergence of the plot, the previous events (not in all works).
exposition- designation of the original space, time, heroes.
tie- Events that give the development of the plot.
Development of action- development of the plot from the beginning to the climax.
climax- the moment of the highest tension of the plot action, after which it moves to the denouement.
denouement- termination of action in a given conflict direction, when contradictions are resolved or removed.
Epilogue- "announcement" of further events, summing up.
Composite elements
Compositional elements include epigraphs, dedications, prologues, epilogues, parts, chapters, acts, phenomena, scenes, prefaces and afterwords of "publishers" (off-plot images created by the author's imagination), dialogues, monologues, episodes, insert stories and episodes, letters, songs (Oblomov's dream in Goncharov's novel "Oblomov", Tatyana's letters to Onegin and Onegin to Tatyana in Pushkin's novel "Eugene Onegin"); all artistic descriptions (portraits, landscapes, interiors).
Compositional techniques
Repeat (refrain)- the use of the same elements (parts) of the text (in poems - the same verses):
Keep me, my talisman,
Keep me in the days of persecution,
In the days of repentance, excitement:
You were given to me on a day of sorrow.
When the ocean rises
The waves are roaring around me,
When the clouds are storming -
Keep me, my talisman...
(A.S. Pushkin "Keep me, my talisman")
Depending on the position, frequency of appearance and autonomy, the following compositional techniques are distinguished:
Anaphora- repeat at the beginning of the line:
Past the lists, temples,
past temples and bars,
past chic cemeteries,
past the big bazaars...
(I. Brodsky "Pilgrims")
Epiphora- repeat at the end of the line:
My horse does not touch the ground,
Don't touch my forehead stars
Sigh my lips do not touch,
The rider is a horse, the finger is a palm.
(M. Tsvetaeva "Khansky full")
simplock- the subsequent part of the work begins in the same way as the previous one (usually found in folklore works or stylizations):
He fell on the cold snow
On the cold snow, like a pine
(M.Yu. Lermontov “Song about Tsar Ivan Vasilievich ...”)
Antithesis- opposition (works at all levels of the text from the symbol to the character):
I swear on the first day of creation
I swear by his last day.
(M.Yu. Lermontov "Demon")
They agreed. Wave and stone
Poetry and prose, ice and fire...
(A.S. Pushkin "Eugene Onegin")
Compositional techniques associated with time shifts(combination of time layers, retro jump, insertion):
Retardation- stretching the unit of time, slowing down, braking.
Retrospection- the return of the action to the past, when the reasons for the current narrative were laid (the story about Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov - I.S. Turgenev "Fathers and Sons"; the story about Asya's childhood - I.S. Turgenev "Asya").
Change of "points of view"- a story about one event from the point of view of different characters, character and narrator (M.Yu. Lermontov "A Hero of Our Time", F.M. Dostoevsky "Poor People").
Parallelism- the location of identical or similar in grammatical and semantic structure of speech elements in adjacent parts of the text. Parallel elements can be sentences, their parts, phrases, words.
Your mind is as deep as the sea
Your spirit is as high as the mountains
(V. Bryusov "Chinese verses")
An example of compositional parallelism in a prose text is the work of N.V. Gogol "Nevsky Prospekt".
The main types of composition
- Linear composition: natural time sequence.
- Inversion (retrospective) composition: reverse chronological order.
- Ring composition: repetition of the initial moment in the final of the work.
- concentric composition: plot spiral, repetition of similar events in the course of the development of the action.
- Mirror composition: combining the techniques of repetition and opposition, as a result of which the initial and final images are repeated exactly the opposite.
Composition is an important component concerning the organization of an art form, literary, pictorial, volumetric. The composition gives the work integrity and unity, subordinates its elements to each other and correlates with the general idea of the artist. A more precise definition of what a composition is depends on the sphere to which a particular work of art belongs. This may be the distribution of objects in space, the structure of the text, the ratio of volumes, colors, light and shadow.
What is composition in literature
In literature, the concept of composition means the construction of a literary work, the structure of its constituent parts, their sequence and system. But composition in literature is not just a sequence of scenes, chapters, sections, acts. This is the system of the work, which includes all forms of artistic representation used by the writer.
The parts of the composition in literature are: portraits, monologues and dialogues of characters, author's and lyrical digressions, landscapes, descriptions, systems of images, plots and plots of works. Often the authors choose for their works a cyclic structure or a spiral development of the plot, and these are also components of the composition. For example, the composition "The Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov is a novel within a novel. The main plot, which tells the reader about the history of the Master and his girlfriend, contains one more story - the story of Yeshua Ha-Nozri and the procurator Pontius Pilate.
What is the composition of a work of art
Composition in fine arts is the most important organizing factor. The composition of a painting, sculpture, architectural creation gives it integrity, unity, combines all its elements in harmony, gives it content and character.
The composition creates a perfect form that gives harmony to the whole work. For example, Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper is unusually symmetrical. Moreover, the image on the famous fresco is balanced not only visually, but also in the plot itself, the images of the picture.
What is composition in photography
Composition for photography is a harmonious, balanced arrangement of objects in the frame. How often does such a situation arise that the pictures of one photographer seem almost brilliant to us, and the pictures of the second evoke a feeling of hacky or amateur work, although they depict the same cats and trees. Most often, in this case, the whole point is in a successfully or unsuccessfully selected composition. There are the following compositional techniques for building the most successful photograph:
Conciseness
You should not throw all the most beautiful and interesting little things into the frame - the viewer's eye will get tired instantly. Choose one, but one that is the most important and impressive. In a photo in a gray boring building, a girl's red flowing dress can become such a detail.
golden section rule
The face and body of a person obeys the da Vinci rule of the "golden section", the same rule obeys all nature and a successful shot of the photographer.
Guide lines
Leading lines are also important in the frame. Alternating identical fragments will help add dynamics to the picture and direct the viewer's eye from one edge of the photo to another, more important one. For example, a frame from a combination of vertical stripes of massive columns and horizontal stripes of stairs outlined by the sun will look good.
Balance of elements
A person is used to feeling support under his feet and the absence of it, even in a photograph, will create an extremely uncomfortable feeling for him. The balance of light and shadow, color elements, objects in the photo - all this is important for the balance of the frame. A bad example of balance is the girl in the frame in the lower left corner facing the photographer. A good example would be the same girl in the same corner, but facing the sky, where her balloon (in the upper right corner of the frame) is floating in the same color as her dress.
Rhythm
Rhythm is also good for creating frame dynamics. The alternation of light and shadow, colors, repeating elements - it can be anything that your imagination is rich in.
Composition is the construction of a work of art. It is the composition that determines the effect that the text has on the reader, since the doctrine of composition says: it is important not only to be able to tell amusing stories, but also to present them competently.
Literary theory gives different definitions of composition, one of them is this: composition is the construction of a work of art, the arrangement of its parts in a certain sequence.
Composition is the internal organization of a text. Composition is about how the elements of the text are arranged, reflecting the different stages of the development of the action. The composition depends on the content of the work and the goals of the author.
Stages of action development (composition elements):
Composition elements- reflect the stages of development of the conflict in the work:
Prologue - introductory text that opens the work, anticipating the main story. As a rule, thematically related to the subsequent action. Often it is the "gate" of the work, that is, it helps to penetrate the meaning of the further narrative.
exposition- the prehistory of the events underlying the work of art. As a rule, the exposition provides a description of the main characters, their arrangement before the start of the action, before the plot. The exposition explains to the reader why the hero behaves in this way. Exposure can be direct or delayed. direct exposure is located at the very beginning of the work: an example is the novel The Three Musketeers by Dumas, which begins with the history of the D'Artagnan family and the characteristics of the young Gascon. delayed exposure is placed in the middle (in I.A. Goncharov’s novel Oblomov, the story of Ilya Ilyich is told in Oblomov’s Dream, that is, almost in the middle of the work) or even at the end of the text (the textbook example of Gogol’s Dead Souls: information about Chichikov’s life before arrivals in the provincial city are given in the last chapter of the first volume). Delayed exposure gives the work a mystery.
The plot of the action is an event that becomes the beginning of an action. The plot either reveals an already existing contradiction, or creates, “sets up” conflicts. The plot in "Eugene Onegin" is the death of the protagonist's uncle, which forces him to go to the village and enter into an inheritance. In the story of Harry Potter, the plot is a letter of invitation from Hogwart, which the hero receives and thanks to which he learns that he is a wizard.
The main action, the development of actions - the events that the characters take after the beginning and before the climax.
climax(from the Latin culmen - peak) - the highest point of tension in the development of action. This is the highest point of the conflict, when the contradiction reaches its greatest limit and is expressed in a particularly acute form. The climax in "The Three Musketeers" is the scene of the death of Constance Bonacieux, in "Eugene Onegin" - the scene of the explanation of Onegin and Tatyana, in the first story about "Harry Potter" - the scene of the fight over Voldemort. The more conflicts in a work, the more difficult it is to reduce all actions to only one climax, so there can be several climaxes. The climax is the most acute manifestation of the conflict, and at the same time it prepares the denouement of the action, so it can sometimes be preceded. In such works, it can be difficult to separate the climax from the denouement.
denouement- the outcome of the conflict. This is the final moment in the creation of artistic conflict. The denouement is always directly connected with the action and, as it were, puts the final semantic point in the narrative. The denouement can resolve the conflict: for example, in The Three Musketeers, this is the execution of Milady. The final denouement in Harry Potter is the final victory over Voldemort. However, the denouement may not eliminate the contradiction, for example, in "Eugene Onegin" and "Woe from Wit" the characters remain in difficult situations.
Epilogue (from the Greekepilogos - afterword)- always concludes, closes the work. The epilogue talks about future fate heroes. For example, Dostoevsky in the epilogue of Crime and Punishment talks about how Raskolnikov changed in hard labor. And in the epilogue of War and Peace, Tolstoy talks about the life of all the main characters of the novel, as well as how their characters and behavior have changed.
Lyrical digression- deviation of the author from the plot, author's lyrical inserts, little or not at all related to the theme of the work. Lyrical digression, on the one hand, slows down the development of the action, on the other hand, allows the writer to openly express his subjective opinion on various issues that are directly or indirectly related to the central theme. Such, for example, are famous lyric
Types of composition
TRADITIONAL CLASSIFICATION:
Direct (linear, serial)- events in the work are depicted in chronological order. "Woe from Wit" by A.S. Griboyedov, "War and Peace" by L.N. Tolstoy.
Ring - the beginning and end of the work echo each other, often completely coincide. In "Eugene Onegin": Onegin rejects Tatyana, and in the finale of the novel, Tatyana rejects Onegin.
Mirror - combining the techniques of repetition and opposition, as a result of which the initial and final images are repeated exactly the opposite. In one of the first scenes of "Anna Karenina" by L. Tolstoy, the death of a man under the wheels of a train is depicted. That's how he takes his own life main character novel.
A story within a story - The main story is told by one of the characters in the story. According to this scheme, M. Gorky's story "Old Woman Izergil" is built.
CLASSIFICATION A. BESIN(according to the monograph "Principles and methods of analysis of a literary work"):
Linear - events in the work are depicted in chronological order.
Mirror - initial and final images and actions are repeated exactly the opposite, opposing each other.
Ring - the beginning and end of the work echo each other, have a number of similar images, motives, events.
Retrospection - in the process of narration, the author makes "digressions into the past." V. Nabokov's story "Mashenka" is built on this technique: the hero, having learned that his former lover is coming to the city where he now lives, looks forward to meeting her and recalls their epistolary novel, reading their correspondence.
Default - about the event that happened before the rest, the reader learns at the end of the work. Thus, in A.S. Pushkin's The Snowstorm, the reader learns about what happened to the heroine during her flight from home, only during the denouement.
Free - mixed activities. In such a work, one can find elements of a mirror composition, and techniques of default, and retrospection, and many other compositional techniques aimed at holding the reader's attention and enhancing artistic expression.
Composition is the construction of a work of art. It is the composition that determines the effect that the text has on the reader, since the doctrine of composition says: it is important not only to be able to tell amusing stories, but also to present them competently.
It gives different definitions of composition, in our opinion, the simplest definition is as follows: composition is the construction of a work of art, the arrangement of its parts in a certain sequence.
Composition is the internal organization of a text. Composition is about how the elements of the text are arranged, reflecting the different stages of the development of the action. The composition depends on the content of the work and the goals of the author.
Stages of action development (composition elements):
Composition elements- reflect the stages of development of the conflict in the work:
Prologue - introductory text that opens the work, anticipating the main story. As a rule, thematically related to the subsequent action. Often it is the "gate" of the work, that is, it helps to penetrate the meaning of the further narrative.
exposition- the prehistory of the events underlying the work of art. As a rule, the exposition provides a description of the main characters, their arrangement before the start of the action, before the plot. The exposition explains to the reader why the hero behaves in this way. Exposure can be direct or delayed. direct exposure is located at the very beginning of the work: an example is the novel The Three Musketeers by Dumas, which begins with the history of the D'Artagnan family and the characteristics of the young Gascon. delayed exposure is placed in the middle (in I.A. Goncharov’s novel Oblomov, the story of Ilya Ilyich is told in Oblomov’s Dream, that is, almost in the middle of the work) or even at the end of the text (the textbook example of Gogol’s Dead Souls: information about Chichikov’s life before arrivals in the provincial city are given in the last chapter of the first volume). Delayed exposure gives the work a mystery.
The plot of the action is an event that becomes the beginning of an action. The plot either reveals an already existing contradiction, or creates, “sets up” conflicts. The plot in "Eugene Onegin" is the death of the protagonist's uncle, which forces him to go to the village and enter into an inheritance. In the story of Harry Potter, the plot is a letter of invitation from Hogwarts, which the hero receives and thanks to which he learns that he is a wizard.
The main action, the development of actions - the events that the characters take after the beginning and before the climax.
climax(from the Latin culmen - peak) - the highest point of tension in the development of action. This is the highest point of the conflict, when the contradiction reaches its greatest limit and is expressed in a particularly acute form. The climax in "The Three Musketeers" is the scene of the death of Constance Bonacieux, in "Eugene Onegin" - the scene of the explanation of Onegin and Tatyana, in the first story about "Harry Potter" - the scene of the victory over Voldemort. The more conflicts in a work, the more difficult it is to reduce all actions to only one climax, so there can be several climaxes. The climax is the most acute manifestation of the conflict and at the same time it prepares the denouement of the action, therefore it can sometimes precede it. In such works, it can be difficult to separate the climax from the denouement.
denouement- the outcome of the conflict. This is the final moment in the creation of artistic conflict. The denouement is always directly connected with the action and, as it were, puts the final semantic point in the narrative. The denouement can resolve the conflict: for example, in The Three Musketeers, this is the execution of Milady. The final denouement in Harry Potter is the final victory over Voldemort. However, the denouement may not eliminate the contradiction, for example, in "Eugene Onegin" and "Woe from Wit" the characters remain in difficult situations.
Epilogue (from the Greekepilogos - afterword)- always concludes, closes the work. The epilogue tells about the further fate of the heroes. For example, Dostoevsky in the epilogue of Crime and Punishment talks about how Raskolnikov changed in hard labor. And in the epilogue of War and Peace, Tolstoy talks about the life of all the main characters of the novel, as well as how their characters and behavior have changed.
Lyrical digression- deviation of the author from the plot, author's lyrical inserts, little or not at all related to the theme of the work. Lyrical digression, on the one hand, slows down the development of the action, on the other hand, allows the writer to openly express his subjective opinion on various issues that are directly or indirectly related to the central theme. Such, for example, are the famous lyrical digressions in Pushkin's Eugene Onegin or Gogol's Dead Souls.
Types of composition:
Traditional classification:
Direct (linear, serial)–
events in the work are depicted in chronological order. "Woe from Wit" by A.S. Griboyedov, "War and Peace" by L.N. Tolstoy.
Ring - the beginning and end of the work echo each other, often completely coincide. In "Eugene Onegin": Onegin rejects Tatyana, and in the finale of the novel, Tatyana rejects Onegin.
Mirror - combining the techniques of repetition and opposition, as a result of which the initial and final images are repeated exactly the opposite. In one of the first scenes of "Anna Karenina" by L. Tolstoy, the death of a man under the wheels of a train is depicted. This is how the main character of the novel takes her own life.
A story within a story - The main story is told by one of the characters in the story. According to this scheme, M. Gorky's story "Old Woman Izergil" is built.
A.Besin's classification (according to the monograph "Principles and methods of analysis of a literary work"):
Linear - events in the work are depicted in chronological order.
Mirror - initial and final images and actions are repeated exactly the opposite, opposing each other.
Ring - the beginning and end of the work echo each other, have a number of similar images, motives, events.
Retrospection - in the process of narration, the author makes "digressions into the past." V. Nabokov's story "Mashenka" is built on this technique: the hero, having learned that his former lover is coming to the city where he now lives, looks forward to meeting her and recalls their epistolary novel, reading their correspondence.
Default - about the event that happened before the rest, the reader learns at the end of the work. Thus, in A.S. Pushkin's The Snowstorm, the reader learns about what happened to the heroine during her flight from home, only during the denouement.
Free - mixed activities. In such a work, one can find elements of a mirror composition, and techniques of default, and retrospection, and many other compositional techniques aimed at holding the reader's attention and enhancing artistic expression.
