"It is the narrative voice that is largely responsible for providing the moral perspective in works of prose fiction." To what extent is this statment true.
I agree with the exerpt that the narrative voice is responsible for providing the moral perspective in works of prose fiction. With the narrative voice we could see the traits of each character and be able to distinguish which character is good and which character is bad. We are also able to see the mental and physical state of the characters. The narrative voice hepls to make the novel more comprehendible.
The narrative voice is responsible to a large extent for providing the moral perspective in the works of prose fiction. This statement is true to the fact that the narrative voice refers to its characters by their persona to which are being acted out by each, whether in a good or bad situation. The voice is clear whichg helps one to understand the deep morals that are conveyed to the readers of the characters and their struggles to retain one's status in the novel. What you think?
I agree with the statement that the narrative voice is responsible for providing the moral perspective in the works of prose fiction because it enables reader to get a vivid understanding of the persona feelings and thoughts and also a clear understanding of the other character traits, and the role they play in the novel. It enables us picture the different situation the characters faced with throughout the novel from childhood straight into adult hood.
I will have to strongly agree with Annesia and Marlia. The narrative voice is one that tells the story, and that voice is largely responsible for providing the moral perspectives in works of prose fiction. The statement goes in depth whereas the narrative voice palys a vital role in getting the reader to understand what is taking place in the story and why this situation has happened. It also tells the reader who the characters really are and what role they play in the story. It also enables the reader to envision exactly what is taking place to an extent where he/she comes to grasp the whole idea, theme and moral of the story. What are your thoughts classmates?
Narrative Voice- leads me to look at the literary term "Point-of-view, in this term the ways in which prose fiction or even poetry is brought out is explained quite accurately. Immediately I am able to say that the Novel, 'Clear light of day", is told in the first person. According to the dictionary of literary terms when a story is told in the first person, this gives the story an autobiographical look, because as the name suggests, it is only told from one individuals perspective. Words such as "I" and "We" can be found under the aformentioned heading. Now Bim is the person telling the story and i'm sure it is quite safe to say that, the whole book is an autobiography of Bims life,. and of course the people that were a part of its foundation. After reading the story, it would be only wise to say that the narrative voice is indeed responsible for providing moral perspective in works of prose fiction. The way in which Bim told the story, readers were able to grasp all the character traits and also create mental vivid impressions of the exact surroundings in the book. I may be in agreement with what the excerpt is based on, but i do not agree with Glori Ann's statement about, being able to see the mental state of each character. Physical i do agree with because it has to do with vision, which is a concrete form of evidence, but mental has to do with the inner human functions. For all we know, Baba may just be pretending to be ill, but because of Bims take on his physicality, human nature would immediately lead us assume that he was ill. Assumptions are all we can come up with, when we look at mentality and because the story was told in the first person and not from and omniscient point of view, we cannot say that we know exaclty what was going on in each characters mentality but only what Bim thought instead.
Hmmm, i must agree with Phylicia it is quite mind-boggling. Bim is the narrative voice which tells the story in her mind's eye. Let's suppose Tara, Raja or even Baba was the narrative voice of the story, would the novel been different? What are your comments classmates?
Jahmeel...your excerpt doesn't make much sense, stop running from the question and just answer it. If we waste time trying to suppose, the narative voice was another character then, no plausible or feasible views could come from that idea...answer the question and allow people a chance to see what you think...Remember it is an essay question, so you would need more input to gain a decent mark...
I strongly agree with the statement that the narrative voice (Bim) is responsible for providing the moral perspective in the works of prose fiction. This statement is true to a large extent because the narrative voice gives vivid illustrations of the persona's thoughts and feelings along with that of the other characters. It also enlightens readers about the difficulties that each character had to deal with from childhood and straight into adulthood. The narrative voice also enlightens readers as to what has taken place or is about to happen throughout the novel. In my opinion, Bim told the story well because by reading, one will be able to have a vivid understanding of what is taking place.
Yes the narrative voice is largely responsible for providing the moral perspective in work of prose fiction.For instance in clear light of day the story is first told as Tara as the narrative in chapter one.Readers are given her point of view and her perspective on her home and family. Readers form their opinion based on how she descibes and interpret what she sees,because of that readers automatically adopt her view that change is necessary.While in the second chapter Bimla becomes the narrative and readers switch to her point of view and share her sentiments of her family's life in Old Delhi.
The narrative voice in Clear Light of Day is very important as it gives the readers a clear understanding as to what exactly is going on. The narrative voice is indeed responsible for the moral perspective in the wok of prose fiction. There must be someone to tell us what is going on and to describe the scenery. Like, for example, "the koels began to call before daylight" this tells us that the birds had risen before the sun and were calling out to each other. As the story proceeds, we also learn that it is these same koels that eventually awaken Tara because of their wining. The narrative voice within the novel, "Clear Light of Day" gives us a very detailed explanation of what is occurring within the story and without this voice we would be clueless as to what was going on, as a matter of fact, there would be no story. The narrative voice keeps the story going and keeps the readers hanging on to find out what is going to happen next.
The way in which the author brings across the story is also important and this is known as the point of view, as was mentioned before. The author may write in the first person as if the story was autobiographical. He may write in the third person giving only one character's view of the story or he may choose to write in an omniscient; all knowing view, giving more than one character’s view of the story. Before a writer could create his/her own unique narrative voice, the point of view must first be established. Whatever point of view the writer chooses, a narrative voice is always present and with that we are able to follow through from beginning to end.
The narrative voice in the novel, "Clear Light of Day" is told by the writer in third person and not first person. It is my opinion that this is so and is true since the writer does not use the phrase, “I said or we said” in the story. The words “I and we” are used but in a different sense. For example, “We are strange, I told you, ‘laughed Bim, striding across the tiled floor to the cane chairs and the tea tray”. If the story was written in the first person it would have been phrased like this, “We are strange, I told you”, I laughed as I stride across the tiled floor to the cane chair and the tea tray. The novel was therefore written in the third person.
Remember, this is Prose Fiction. That means, the story is not real but with the author’s use of characterization, the characters seem real. The author, Ms. Anita Desai, is the one telling this fictional story and not actually giving us an autobiography of her life.
If the story was indeed autobiographical and written in the first person by Bim, Tara or Raja, then we would have been given a more partial view of the story. We would have only been presented with what Bim thought or what Tara thought etc., excluding the other character’s opinion. However, that is not the case. The story has been written in the third person, like in an observation mode. This third person point of view tells us a little about each character and, since the story was not presented through each character’s point of view, it is this piece of detail that we use to try and draw a conclusion about each of the character’s thoughts and values. For example, from the character of Bim, we know that she is very independent and is afraid of change. While Tara, although more reserved, knows exactly what she wants and makes an attempt to achieve such, by getting married and becoming not only a wife but a mother as well. Through the third person, I think we are given a more impartial, free and clearer view of what the author is saying.
It is in fact the narrative voice that is responsible for providing the moral perspective in works of prose. This statement is true to a great extent in that everything that the story is about is based solely on the narrative voice. For each character the narrative voice is what enables us to analyze each person. Their beliefs and moral standards are present as a result of this. The narrative voice is what makes prose fiction. In other words Clear Light of Day for example would not have been a prose fiction without the narrative voice. It is the author’s way of creating life from her imagination. The narrative voice is essential to prose fiction, here is where the author gets to chance to share her story and is still able to capture an audience.
Yes I would definitely agree with the fact that the narrative voice is responsible for the moral perspective within prose fiction. A narrative voice aids in understanding any novel or play for characters are brought to light, readers learn of characters and their traits. Through this voice readers are able to visualise both setting and atmosphere, which opens up the readers' senses. The Point of view and tone of the author all help with making the reader understand exactly what is going on in the novel. It could even be said that their might have been a reason as to why Anita Desai chose to have both Tara and Bim as narrative voices. By having two different voices telling their story of their childhood, from two different point of views, she probably wants her readers to open their minds to what is happening in the novel, and be able to fully comprehend each of the characters.
The narrative voice is largely responsible for providing the moral perspective in works of prose fiction.
Carol Kluz posited: "Narrative voice is another name for the persona telling the story. Someone needs to let the reader know that John tripped over his cat as he darted out the door, that the dark clouds were roiling like eddies in the sky, that Sarah’s heart pounded in her chest when her handsome neighbor smiled at her, or that the policeman drew his gun.
It isn’t so much what is said…as how. This sets the tone. The two spoken words, ‘Come here,’ could depict completely different meanings depending on who speaks them and how. A stern father commanding his miscreant son to step forward has a completely different tone than a young man asking his sweetheart to ‘Come here,’ so he can show her an engagement ring and ask her to marry him."
It is submitted that without the narrative voice telling us the context within which words were spoken or acts were done the moral perspective would be sadly abscent. THe reader would be sent on a wild goose chase to try to discern motive, tone and many other factors which help to form plot and storyline of a literary work. Though one is free to form his own conclusions on events and situations, the reader is afforded a given moral backdrop on which to compare and contrast his own perspective. This may be in corolation with or in opposition to that of the narrators.
I do believe that the narrative voice gives us a moral pespective in this novel. Clear Light of Day is written in the first person but from two angles: Tara and Bim. We are able to get an insight into their deeper emotional feelings, and are able to relate to the characters through this. Tara and Bim are clearly to totally different persons and through their views we are able to see two sides to the story and are able to pick "the sense out of nonsense". Not literally nonsense but rather we are able to pick out the logics out of their views.
The same way one can not build a house without a foundation, is the principle apply to the narrative voice. the narrative voice is the foundation needed to provide the moral perspective in any story or poem. It dictates the situation, time context and tone in a story. In"Clear light of day" the narrative voice provides us with the underlying idea of the book, it creates the backdrop of the story. This book was written in a third person point of view which provides flexibility since the reader is able to grasp his or her own perception of the story. I would have to disagree with the idea that the point of view need to be an auto biography in order to present some type of partiality. "Clear light of day" is mostly focus on one character (BIM) and to some extent Tara as well.This type of narration is subjective and the perception of one character is highlighted, thus the reader thoughts are limited only to the focal character.We the readers are not given the opportunity to see how characters such as Baba and Raja perceive the events in the story, we mostly rely on Bim's feeling and point of view. So therefore even though the story is told in third person there is biasness present.
I agree with the exerpt that the narrative voice is responsible for providing the moral perspective in works of prose fiction. With the narrative voice we could see the traits of each character and be able to distinguish which character is good and which character is bad. We are also able to see the mental and physical state of the characters. The narrative voice hepls to make the novel more comprehendible.
ReplyDeleteThe narrative voice is responsible to a large extent for providing the moral perspective in the works of prose fiction. This statement is true to the fact that the narrative voice refers to its characters by their persona to which are being acted out by each, whether in a good or bad situation. The voice is clear whichg helps one to understand the deep morals that are conveyed to the readers of the characters and their struggles to retain one's status in the novel. What you think?
ReplyDeleteI agree with the statement that the narrative voice is responsible for providing the moral perspective in the works of prose fiction because it enables reader to get a vivid understanding of the persona feelings and thoughts and also a clear understanding of the other character traits, and the role they play in the novel. It enables us picture the different situation the characters faced with throughout the novel from childhood straight into adult hood.
ReplyDeleteI will have to strongly agree with Annesia and Marlia. The narrative voice is one that tells the story, and that voice is largely responsible for providing the moral perspectives in works of prose fiction. The statement goes in depth whereas the narrative voice palys a vital role in getting the reader to understand what is taking place in the story and why this situation has happened. It also tells the reader who the characters really are and what role they play in the story. It also enables the reader to envision exactly what is taking place to an extent where he/she comes to grasp the whole idea, theme and moral of the story.
ReplyDeleteWhat are your thoughts classmates?
Jahmeel Jones
Narrative Voice- leads me to look at the literary term "Point-of-view, in this term the ways in which prose fiction or even poetry is brought out is explained quite accurately. Immediately I am able to say that the Novel, 'Clear light of day", is told in the first person. According to the dictionary of literary terms when a story is told in the first person, this gives the story an autobiographical look, because as the name suggests, it is only told from one individuals perspective. Words such as "I" and "We" can be found under the aformentioned heading.
ReplyDeleteNow Bim is the person telling the story and i'm sure it is quite safe to say that, the whole book is an autobiography of Bims life,. and of course the people that were a part of its foundation. After reading the story, it would be only wise to say that the narrative voice is indeed responsible for providing moral perspective in works of prose fiction.
The way in which Bim told the story, readers were able to grasp all the character traits and also create mental vivid impressions of the exact surroundings in the book. I may be in agreement with what the excerpt is based on, but i do not agree with Glori Ann's statement about, being able to see the mental state of each character. Physical i do agree with because it has to do with vision, which is a concrete form of evidence, but mental has to do with the inner human functions. For all we know, Baba may just be pretending to be ill, but because of Bims take on his physicality, human nature would immediately lead us assume that he was ill. Assumptions are all we can come up with, when we look at mentality and because the story was told in the first person and not from and omniscient point of view, we cannot say that we know exaclty what was going on in each characters mentality but only what Bim thought instead.
Hmmm, i must agree with Phylicia it is quite mind-boggling. Bim is the narrative voice which tells the story in her mind's eye. Let's suppose Tara, Raja or even Baba was the narrative voice of the story, would the novel been different?
ReplyDeleteWhat are your comments classmates?
i'm sorry but I don't fully understand the question
ReplyDeletecould someone please explain it for me.
the persona telling the Story Grace ann, explain the significance and how it affects ur view on each characters personality!!!
ReplyDeleteJahmeel...your excerpt doesn't make much sense, stop running from the question and just answer it. If we waste time trying to suppose, the narative voice was another character then, no plausible or feasible views could come from that idea...answer the question and allow people a chance to see what you think...Remember it is an essay question, so you would need more input to gain a decent mark...
ReplyDeleteI strongly agree with the statement that the narrative voice (Bim) is responsible for providing the moral perspective in the works of prose fiction. This statement is true to a large extent because the narrative voice gives vivid illustrations of the persona's thoughts and feelings along with that of the other characters.
ReplyDeleteIt also enlightens readers about the difficulties that each character had to deal with from childhood and straight into adulthood. The narrative voice also enlightens readers as to what has taken place or is about to happen throughout the novel.
In my opinion, Bim told the story well because by reading, one will be able to have a vivid understanding of what is taking place.
Yes the narrative voice is largely responsible for providing the moral perspective in work of prose fiction.For instance in clear light of day the story is first told as Tara as the narrative in chapter one.Readers are given her point of view and her perspective on her home and family. Readers form their opinion based on how she descibes and interpret what she sees,because of that readers automatically adopt her view that change is necessary.While in the second chapter Bimla becomes the narrative and readers switch to her point of view and share her sentiments of her family's life in Old Delhi.
ReplyDeleteThe narrative voice in Clear Light of Day is very important as it gives the readers a clear understanding as to what exactly is going on. The narrative voice is indeed responsible for the moral perspective in the wok of prose fiction. There must be someone to tell us what is going on and to describe the scenery. Like, for example, "the koels began to call before daylight" this tells us that the birds had risen before the sun and were calling out to each other. As the story proceeds, we also learn that it is these same koels that eventually awaken Tara because of their wining. The narrative voice within the novel, "Clear Light of Day" gives us a very detailed explanation of what is occurring within the story and without this voice we would be clueless as to what was going on, as a matter of fact, there would be no story. The narrative voice keeps the story going and keeps the readers hanging on to find out what is going to happen next.
ReplyDeleteThe way in which the author brings across the story is also important and this is known as the point of view, as was mentioned before. The author may write in the first person as if the story was autobiographical. He may write in the third person giving only one character's view of the story or he may choose to write in an omniscient; all knowing view, giving more than one character’s view of the story. Before a writer could create his/her own unique narrative voice, the point of view must first be established. Whatever point of view the writer chooses, a narrative voice is always present and with that we are able to follow through from beginning to end.
The narrative voice in the novel, "Clear Light of Day" is told by the writer in third person and not first person. It is my opinion that this is so and is true since the writer does not use the phrase, “I said or we said” in the story. The words “I and we” are used but in a different sense. For example, “We are strange, I told you, ‘laughed Bim, striding across the tiled floor to the cane chairs and the tea tray”. If the story was written in the first person it would have been phrased like this, “We are strange, I told you”, I laughed as I stride across the tiled floor to the cane chair and the tea tray. The novel was therefore written in the third person.
Remember, this is Prose Fiction. That means, the story is not real but with the author’s use of characterization, the characters seem real. The author, Ms. Anita Desai, is the one telling this fictional story and not actually giving us an autobiography of her life.
If the story was indeed autobiographical and written in the first person by Bim, Tara or Raja, then we would have been given a more partial view of the story. We would have only been presented with what Bim thought or what Tara thought etc., excluding the other character’s opinion. However, that is not the case. The story has been written in the third person, like in an observation mode. This third person point of view tells us a little about each character and, since the story was not presented through each character’s point of view, it is this piece of detail that we use to try and draw a conclusion about each of the character’s thoughts and values. For example, from the character of Bim, we know that she is very independent and is afraid of change. While Tara, although more reserved, knows exactly what she wants and makes an attempt to achieve such, by getting married and becoming not only a wife but a mother as well. Through the third person, I think we are given a more impartial, free and clearer view of what the author is saying.
It is in fact the narrative voice that is responsible for providing the moral perspective in works of prose. This statement is true to a great extent in that everything that the story is about is based solely on the narrative voice. For each character the narrative voice is what enables us to analyze each person. Their beliefs and moral standards are present as a result of this. The narrative voice is what makes prose fiction. In other words Clear Light of Day for example would not have been a prose fiction without the narrative voice. It is the author’s way of creating life from her imagination. The narrative voice is essential to prose fiction, here is where the author gets to chance to share her story and is still able to capture an audience.
ReplyDeleteKeshane
Yes I would definitely agree with the fact that the narrative voice is responsible for the moral perspective within prose fiction. A narrative voice aids in understanding any novel or play for characters are brought to light, readers learn of characters and their traits. Through this voice readers are able to visualise both setting and atmosphere, which opens up the readers' senses. The Point of view and tone of the author all help with making the reader understand exactly what is going on in the novel. It could even be said that their might have been a reason as to why Anita Desai chose to have both Tara and Bim as narrative voices. By having two different voices telling their story of their childhood, from two different point of views, she probably wants her readers to open their minds to what is happening in the novel, and be able to fully comprehend each of the characters.
ReplyDeleteThe narrative voice is largely responsible for providing the moral perspective in works of prose fiction.
ReplyDeleteCarol Kluz posited:
"Narrative voice is another name for the persona telling the story. Someone needs to let the reader know that John tripped over his cat as he darted out the door, that the dark clouds were roiling like eddies in the sky, that Sarah’s heart pounded in her chest when her handsome neighbor smiled at her, or that the policeman drew his gun.
It isn’t so much what is said…as how. This sets the tone. The two spoken words, ‘Come here,’ could depict completely different meanings depending on who speaks them and how. A stern father commanding his miscreant son to step forward has a completely different tone than a young man asking his sweetheart to ‘Come here,’ so he can show her an engagement ring and ask her to marry him."
It is submitted that without the narrative voice telling us the context within which words were spoken or acts were done the moral perspective would be sadly abscent. THe reader would be sent on a wild goose chase to try to discern motive, tone and many other factors which help to form plot and storyline of a literary work.
Though one is free to form his own conclusions on events and situations, the reader is afforded a given moral backdrop on which to compare and contrast his own perspective. This may be in corolation with or in opposition to that of the narrators.
The previous comment was posted by Roland Moore
ReplyDeleteI do believe that the narrative voice gives us a moral pespective in this novel. Clear Light of Day is written in the first person but from two angles: Tara and Bim. We are able to get an insight into their deeper emotional feelings, and are able to relate to the characters through this. Tara and Bim are clearly to totally different persons and through their views we are able to see two sides to the story and are able to pick "the sense out of nonsense". Not literally nonsense but rather we are able to pick out the logics out of their views.
ReplyDeleteThe same way one can not build a house without a foundation, is the principle apply to the narrative voice. the narrative voice is the foundation needed to provide the moral perspective in any story or poem. It dictates the situation, time context and tone in a story.
ReplyDeleteIn"Clear light of day" the narrative voice provides us with the underlying idea of the book, it creates the backdrop of the story. This book was written in a third person point of view which provides flexibility since the reader is able to grasp his or her own perception of the story.
I would have to disagree with the idea that the point of view need to be an auto biography in order to present some type of partiality. "Clear light of day" is mostly focus on one character (BIM) and to some extent Tara as well.This type of narration is subjective and the perception of one character is highlighted, thus the reader thoughts are limited only to the focal character.We the readers are not given the opportunity to see how characters such as Baba and Raja perceive the events in the story, we mostly rely on Bim's feeling and point of view. So therefore even though the story is told in third person there is biasness present.