Time and sequence
AO2 Time within the story Form Structure (chapters in The Road are not named showing no organisation) Language (Imagery and metaphors, choice of words and how they shape meaning) AO4 Context - sets the scene (reasons they're on their journey in The Road) Context is everything that surrounds the narrative. >Contexts differs according to time. For example in Victorian times there were no telephones while today we have a lot of forms of communication at our disposal >Time influences both story and narrative >Things don't have to happen chronologically (for example Pulp fiction) >Chronology is a sequence, chronological means in order >Non linear narrative is non chronological narrative >Denouement is when all lose ends are tied >Verisimilitude - realism >Time - can be compressed |
Porphyria's lover
The narrative unfolds over a night The narrative is somewhat contemporary as it's raunchy. It is set in the 1840's as the need to light The poem is set in an isolated cottage during a storm. Pathetic fallacy in motion as the storm and rain foreshadows the fact that something bad is about to happen and is a bad omen. The fact that the cottage is isolated indicates there is no escape for the women and that the women will be trapped. The Road The narrative unfolds over month's. The narrative slowly feeds information about his wife and the background information The end of the book signifies the beginning for the boy The passing of days and time is shown through the portrayal of weather. He says that winter is coming which signifies the passing of time It is set in the future in an apocalyptic world so in a sense time loses meaning due to the decline of civilisation an deterioration of society. The time drives narrative forward. Time creates emphasis as the man doesn't have long to live so it places emphasis on the seriousness and urgency of their situation. The extract I chose where time plays a significant role is when the man and the boy discover the bunker and find lots of supplies of canned food such as cans of fruit. They live in the bunker for around three days and the man makes the boy breakfast with eggs and beans and coffee and they enjoy canned peaches and coke however the man is paranoid of being found in the bunker as he believes the trapdoor to the bunker is in plain sight. He decides to pack their supplies and set out on the road again. Here time is significant because this is one of the most comforting and reassuring part of the book and it relieves the reader as the man and the boy are able to live comfortably with sufficient food and supplies for a few days and the time they stay at the bunker is explicitly given to be three days. The passing of time is shown by the when the man checks outside to see if it is night or day and from the weather outside. The pace of the novel picks up here as the three days fly by and are over very quickly before they set out on the road again. This may be because when things are going right in the book there is not much to say however when difficulties arise, it drives the narrative forward and takes time to overcome. The concept of time does adhere to verisimilitude here as generally speaking when people tend to be enjoying themselves time flies by and when people don't, time tends to feel like it's going very slowly as they are more concious of the passing of time. The story is set in a dull, dark and grey which is symbol of the darkness of the world they reside in and the hopeless of their situation. The setting of a road is a metaphor for the journey that they take, The falling trees and destruction of landscape shows the deteriorating of nature and the world dying. |