Composition

The arrangement of plot structure components may be represented in a variety of ways. Thus, composition is the way, in which the literary work is arranged [5, p. 45]. Accordingly, composition may be [3, p. 15]:

· Level (or straight line)– all the element of the plot structure are presented in their logical or chronological sequence (e.g. Checkmate by Jeffrey Archer [7]);

· Retrospective or rocky – the exposition may be placed inside the story so that the reader is at once plunged into the event development; or there are flashbacks to the past events (e.g. Nothing Lasts Forever by Sidney Sheldon [52]);

· Circular – the closing event in the story returns the reader to the introductory part e.g. A Stranger in the Mirror by Sidney Sheldon [55]);

· Frame – there is a story within a story; the two stories may be contrastive or parallel (The Notebook by Nicholas Spark [62])

L.V. Borisova [3] also speaks of three kinds of techniques for plot structure arrangement or kinds of presentational sequencing (i.e. the order in which the writer presents the information included into the story), which may affect the intensity of the reader’s impression:

1. retardation – suspense which constantly mounts in the course of the story;

2. flashback – a scene of the past inserted into the narrative;

3. foreshadowing – a look towards the future, a remark or hint that prepares the reader for what is to follow

The composition of a literary work may be represented through different types of narration [3, p. 47-48;5, p.45]:

· the first person narration (the narrator being his own protagonist)

E.g. “Once I had so much. I had everything a woman could possibly ant. And I lost it all. For the past five years since that fateful winter of 1988, I have lived with pain and heartache and grief. I have lived with a sorrow that has been, and still is, unbearable. And yet I have endured. I have gone on.” /B.T. Bradford Everything to Gain / [11]

· the third person narration (the narrator focuses on some other character or characters)

E.g. The defendant had left his client a few minutes after six. He understood she had intended to change before going out to dinner with her sister in Fulham. He had arranged to see her the following Wednesday at his office for the purpose of drawing up the completed policy. /Jeffrey Archer The Perfect Murder from A Twist in the Tale / [7]

· anonymous (the narrator has no direct relation to the persons he speaks about, or he may not be present at all)

E.g. Downstairs the rooms opened off the long gallery, upstairs from a central landing. Because its core was very old it had a genuine quietness to it, with floors that dipped, ceilings that sloped, beams that were lopsided. Some of the windows had panes made of antique blown glass dating back to the previous century. /B.T. Bradford Everything to Gain / [11]

Any type of narration (first-person, third-person or anonymous) is based on the following narrative forms:

1. Interior monologue (the narrator or the character he narrates about speaks to himself)

E.g. For her part Rosie was lost in her thoughts, which were centred on Nell and Kevin. Naturally she was consumed with curiosity about them until they were back at the hotel to ask Nell about this new development in their lives. If it was new. Perhaps the two of them had been involved for a long time, and is this was so why hadn’t either of them mentioned it to her?” /B.T. Bradford Angel / [54]

2. Dramatic monologue (the narrator or the character speaks alone but there are those he addresses himself to)

E.g. “You were wrong to think I’d come crawling back. Why on earth would I? What do you have to give me that I can’t get elsewhere? You’ve never been much of a giver anyway, Michael. You only give when you’re sure of getting back twice as much. You’re basically a taker.” /Dean Koontz The Eyes of Darkness / [35]

3. Dialogue (the speech of two or more characters addressed to each other). (the term is too obvious for illustration)

4. Narration (the presentation of events in their development)

E.g. “At three o’clock Sunday afternoon, Tony Rizzoli walked out of his hotel and strolled towards the Platia Omonia. Two detectives were trailing him. At Metaxa Street, Rizzoli hailed a taxi. The detective spoke in his walkie-talkie. ‘The subject is getting into a taxi heading west.’ An unmarked grey sedan pulled in behind the taxi, keeping a discreet distance.” /Sidney Sheldon Memories of Midnight / [52]

5. Description (the presentation of the atmosphere, the scenery and the like of the literary work)

E.g. “On the pleasant shore of the French Riviera, about half way between Marseilles and the Italian border, stands a large, proud, rose coloured hotel. Deferential palms cool its flushed façade, and before it stretches a short dazzling beach. […]The hotel and its bright prayer rug of a beach were one. In the early morning the distant image of Cannes, the pink and cream of old fortification, the purple alp that bounded Italy, were cast across the water and lay quavering in the ripple and rings sent up by sea-plants through the clear shallows.” /F. Scott Fitzgerald Tender is the Night / [15]

6. Exposition (explanation of some phenomena, argument, comparison, analysis, etc)

Composition is the arrangement and disposition of all the forms of the subject matter representation.

Genre

Genre is a historically formed type of a literary work. The following genres may be mentioned [5, p. 47]:

· Epic (with the narrative prose) – its main variety, events, are objectively narrated

· Lyric (with poetry) – reality is reflected in the author’s inner world

· Dramatic (tragedy, comedy, drama) – present day conflicting events are represented through the characters’ speech and actions.

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