English Literature (Eng. Lit.), Literary Criticism, Style, Figures of Speech, Redefiguren, Stilmittel, Metaphors, Metaphorik, Summary, Essay Writing, etc.

1. How to write a summary

1. To summarize a text in a Klausur, cut the original to about one third.

2. Mention only the main ideas, condensing them into the fewest possible words.

3. Change both direct and reported speech into statements, with the exception of important quotations.

4. Do not include minor ideas, unnecessary details, or ideas of your own.

5. Use present tense throughout. Although most fiction is narrated in the past tense, and although stories and plays may be set in the past, it is conventional to summarize the action that takes place in them using the present tense.
Not: After their father's death, the sons thoroughly dug up the fields.
But: After their father's death, the sons thoroughly dig up the fields.

6. Use the past tense only when you refer back to events that happened at an earlier time: They understand what their father wanted to teach them – that prosperity comes as a result of industry.

As a rule, it is advisable to follow these steps:

1. Read the text quickly, noting down, underlining or marking the main ideas.

2. Write down key words, i.e. words of your own that sum up the main ideas.

3. Expand the key words into simple sentences.

4. Combine the simple sentences by using conjunctions like as, though, because, since or participle constructions or infinitives.

Model summaries

Text to be summarized (276 words)

An old farmer who was about to die called his two sons to his bedside. "What I own," he said to them, "belongs to you in equal shares. There's the farm, the fields, the cattle, and a little ready money, but the bulk of my wealth is hidden somewhere in the ground, not more than eighteen inches from the surface. I'm sorry I don't exactly know the spot where it is buried."

Soon afterwards he died and the sons immediately started searching for the hidden treasure. They dug up every square yard of earth on the farm without, however, finding what they were looking for.

When they had thus dug up the fields, they thought they might as well sow a crop so that the work had not been done in vain. This they did, and their efforts were rewarded with a good harvest.

In the autumn they continued their search for the treasure, again digging up all the fields, and the same they did in the spring as soon as the ground was no longer frozen. Again they could not discover a sign of the hidden money, but since their fields had been dug up much more thoroughly than those of their neighbours, they again reaped a much better harvest than they did.

And so it went on year after year, and the two brothers became prosperous men. They also became much wiser and at last it dawned on them that there never had been a treasure buried in their fields, and they began to understand the simple lesson that their father had wanted to teach them – that prosperity comes as a result of industry.

Summary (92 words)

Shortly before his death a farmer tells his two sons that the fields they will inherit have a treasure hidden in them, not far from the surface. After their father's death, the sons thoroughly dig up the fields. They don't find the treasure but sow a crop, reaping a rich harvest. During the following years they do the same, not finding the treasure but becoming rich because their fields are dug up so thoroughly. Eventually they realize what their father wanted to teach them: that prosperity comes as a result of industry.

Text to be summarized (302 words)

Talking about New York

Joan: Amazing city this, isn't it, David?

David: Yes, the pace is terrific. The moment you sit down in the coffee shop there's the waiter saying "Hi, sir, how are you today?" and expecting you to rattle off your order at the speed of a machine gun.

Peter: And even before he takes your order, he puts down a glass of iced water in front of you.

David: And your coffee's there in no time, and your eggs and toast follow in a flash.

Joan: New Yorkers don't waste any time, do they?

Peter: No, they don't. Time is money. You need a lot of money to live in this city, so they're always in a hurry.

Joan: And that's why they don't like it when you're late.

David: Yes, that's something I had to learn: never keep a New Yorker waiting.

Joan: And never "stiff" anyone.

Peter: "Stiff" anyone - what does that mean?

David: Not giving a tip when you ought to.

Peter: Yes, I noticed that: New Yorkers give big tips. It's usual to give 15 per cent, but they often give more.

David: I've heard that taxi drivers throw the tip back at you if it's too small.

Joan: Well, they are doing it for the money, and not as a hobby, so you have to be fair.

Peter: Yes, New Yorkers believe in fair play.

David: And they're very disciplined.

Joan: They wait in line and wait their turn.

David: And they expect good service round the clock. That's why you find so many stores open late at night - there's a really good bookstore on Fifth Avenue that's open till midnight.

Joan: And a lot of delis are open all night.

Peter: And every one of them is "the best in town".

Summary (93 words)

New York is a breathtaking city and New Yorkers are constantly in a hurry. The waiter in the coffee shop will greet a stranger like an old acquaintance but he won't like it if guests are slow placing their order. New Yorkers believe in fair play, so they tip generously for good service, are punctual for appointments, and don't jump the queue. People can shop for books on Fifth Avenue till midnight and buy groceries at their neighbourhood deli round the clock. And every shop, eatery and hotel is "the best in town".

2. Figures of Speech

Alliteration: Repetition of the same sound, usually initial, in two or more words. This term normally applies to consonants and accented initial vowels. Example: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

Allusion: An indirect reference to a person, event, legend or theme found in literature, religion, the arts, etc. Example: Dictators ride to and fro upon tigers which they dare not dismount. And the tigers are getting hungry. (Churchill) (This is a reference to the limerick There was a young lady of Niger / Who smiled as she rode on a tiger. / They returned from the ride / With the lady inside, / And a smile on the face of the tiger.)

Dead metaphor: A phrase once recognized as a metaphor that has become so familar that it is no longer recognized as a metaphor. Example: He knows the ropes.

Ellipsis: Omission of one or more words that are necessary to the sense but which can be understood from the context. Example: Ever seen one? (= Have you ever seen one?)

Hyperbole: The use of exaggeration for effect. Example: There are thousands of channels on the TV but nothing interesting.

Image: A word-picture, a description of some visible scene or object. Example: I wandered lonely as a cloud / That floats on high o'er vales and hills, / When all at once I saw a crowd, / A host of golden daffodils ... (Wordsworth)

Imagery: Often used synonymously with "figures of speech", i.e. the devices an author uses to express abstract ideas in a vivid and innovative way, e.g. metaphors, similes, etc.

Irony: The use, clearly intentional or apparently unintentional (dramatic irony), of words with a meaning contrary to the situation. Example: Imagine that you have come home after a day on which you failed a test, wrecked your car, and had a fight with your best friend. If your roommate were to ask you how your day went and you replied "Great day. Best ever", you would be using irony.

Leitmotif: An image or phrase that recurs repeatedly. Example: "Happens all the time" in the car-buying scene of The Tortilla Curtain.

Litotes: An understatement for emphasis, usually an assertion of something by denying its opposite. Examples: not bad at all (= very good). He's not exactly the epitome of generosity. (= He's stingy.)

Meiosis: Intentional understatement for humorous or satiric effect. Example: If a woman describes a loud argument she had with her husband as "a little discussion", she is using understatement.

Metaphor: A way of expression in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable. Example: Love Is a Dog from Hell (title of a book by Charles Bukowski).

Metonymy: Use of one noun that evokes, through close association, another noun without actually naming it, e.g., the inventor for the invention, the container for that which contained, the symbol for the thing symbolized. Example: The pen is mightier than the sword.

Onomatopoeia (adj. onomatopoeic): Use of words whose sound suggests the sense. Examples: hiss, sizzle, spurt, suck, fuck.

Oxymoron: The use of apparently contradictory words in the same phrase. Examples: a wise fool, the bittersweet taste of this marmalade, an eloquent silence.

Paradox: A statement that seems self-contradictory or nonsensical on the surface but that, on closer examination, may contain an underlying truth. Examples: In married life three is company and two none. (Oscar Wilde) He's so successful and yet such a failure.

Parallelism: The building up of a sentence or statement using repeated syntactic units. Example: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us ... (Dickens)

Personification: Treatment of inanimate objects as human. Example: The trees laid their dark arms about the field.

Repetition: Repeating a word or phrase for emphasis. Example: Five years have passed: five summers, with the length / Of five long winters!

Rhetorical question: A question asked for its rhetorical effect and not intended to be answered. Example: If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? (Shakespeare)

Simile: An expressed comparison, introduced by a word such as as or like. Example: He saw a train winding out of the station, like a worm with a fiery head through the darkness.

3. Examples of paratactic and hypotactic style

Parataxis

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

And God said, Let there be light; and there was light.

And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. (The Bible)

Hypotaxis

On the night of the tenth of May (1940), at the outset of this mighty battle, I acquired the chief power in the State, which henceforth I wielded in ever-growing measure for five years and three months of world war, at the end of which time, all our enemies having surrendered unconditionally or being about to do so, I was immediately dismissed by the British electorate from all further conduct of their affairs. (Winston Churchill)

4. Literature vocabulary

literature – literary	(die) Literatur – literarisch
literary criticism	Literaturkritik
literary history / history of literature	Literaturgeschichte
literary genre	Literaturgattung
narrative	erzählend; Erzähl-; Erzählung
first-person narrator	Ich-Erzähler(in)
fiction	Erzähl- / Romanliteratur; Belletristik

Kinds of fiction (= Arten von Erzählliteratur)

novel (= Roman) à historical novel (= historischer Roman) à Gothic novel (= Schauerroman)  à detective novel (= Kriminalroman) à detective story (= Detektivgeschichte)  à whodunit (= Krimi)  à thriller / cliffhanger (= Thriller)  à novella (= Novelle) à short story (= Kurzgeschichte)  à short short story à anecdote (= Anekdote) à light fiction (= Trivialliteratur) à science fiction (= wissenschaftlich-utopische Literatur)  à pulp fiction (= Schundliteratur)  à pulp novel (= Schundroman) à penny dreadful BE (= Groschenheft)

fairy tale – folk tale	Märchen
Grimm's fairy tales	Grimms Märchen
legend	Legende; Sage
biography	Biografie; Lebensbeschreibung
autobiography	Autobiografie
biographer	Biograf(in)
(auto)biographical	(auto)biografisch
diary	Tagebuch
an essay on ...	ein Essay über ...
drama	(das) Drama
the development of modern drama	die Entwicklung des modernen Dramas
comedy – tragedy	Komödie – Tragödie
comic – tragic	komisch – tragisch
comic relief	befreiende Komik
satire – satirical	Satire – satirisch
parody	Parodie
prose	(die) Prosa; Prosa-
lyric poet – lyric poetry	Lyriker(in) – (die) Lyrik
epic	Epos; episch
epic poetry	(die) Epik
poetry	(die) Lyrik / (Vers-)Dichtung
an anthology of modern poetry	eine Anthologie moderner Lyrik

Kinds of poetry (= Arten von Lyrik)

poem (= Gedicht)  à occasional poem (= Gelegenheitsgedicht)  à ballad (= Ballade) à sonnet (= Sonett)  à limerick (= witziges fünfzeiliges Gedicht, Reimschema aabba)

refrain / chorus	Refrain
verse	Vers; Strophe
written in verse	in Versform
(the first / final) stanza	(die erste / letzte) Strophe
rhyme	Reim; (sich) reimen
"Kind" rhymes with "find".	"Kind" reimt sich auf "find".
rhyme scheme / pattern	Reimschema
metre	Metrum; Versmaß
poet – poetic	Dichter(in) – dichterisch / poetisch
Poet Laureate BE	Hofdichter(in)
writer	Schriftsteller(in)
author	Autor(in); Verfasser(in)
novelist	Romanautor(in)
interpretation	Interpretation; Auslegung
interpret a text	einen Text interpretieren
content and form	Inhalt und Form
(deep) structure	(Tiefen-)Struktur
plot – subplot	Handlung – Nebenhandlung
setting	Schauplatz; Zeit und Ort der Handlung
atmosphere	Atmosphäre
local colour	Lokalkolorit
point of view	Erzählperspektive
stage direction	Bühnenanweisung
flashback	Rückblende
suspense	Spannung
climax	Höhepunkt
surprise ending	überraschender Schluss
a rhetorical device	ein rhetorisches Mittel
imagery	Bilder(sprache); Metaphorik
metaphor	Metapher
use a word metaphorically	ein Wort metaphorisch gebrauchen
irony	(die) Ironie
pun	(ein) Wortspiel (machen)
bowdlerize a book	ein Buch von (angeblich) anstößigen Stellen befreien
plagiarize – plagiarism	plagiieren – Plagiat
He's been accused of plagiarism.	Man hat ihn des Plagiats beschuldigt.
romantic	romantisch; Romantiker(in)

Literary -isms (= literarische "Ismen")

romanticism (= Romantik)  à realism (= Realismus) à naturalism (= Naturalismus)  à expressionism (= Expressionismus)

(Aus: Großer Lernwortschatz Englisch.)