Last class,we looked closely at chapters 5&6.
- We took note of PK's evolving understandings(and misunderstandings) of the themes and motifs we have been charting.
- We noted the significance of seemingly simple things/acts ex. food, greetings, body language, making a bet, watching a winning fight.
- We began to explore the notion, and utility of Objective correlatives.
As promised, I am placing additional resources on Objective correlatives here for you.
I hope you find them useful.
Please remember to read at least to the end of Chapter 8 for when you return.
Enjoy your break!
" [T]he idea is to turn an object, event or character in the story
into a translating mechanism that poses some greater question that’s not
directly on the page. The qualities or questions these objects evoke aren’t
intrinsic to their make or design; they’re deliberately put there by the
author, infused by circumstance, description and typically lots of repetition.
By repeatedly invoking objects that correspond with the circumstance of the
story, the reader is eventually brought to accept their being as something
greater than the sum of their parts, and their presence serves as a sort of
bridge that brings the reader to accept a larger, thematic meaning in the work.
There are other benefits in using objective correlatives. For
one, it’s great way to abide by the writer’s “show, don’t tell” axiom, which
essentially means stories should reveal details through dialogue, scene, and
action instead of a laundry list of descriptive details. “Showing” is to
present details by having your characters or plot exemplify them, instead of
simply “telling” us those details outright. Objective correlatives do this
naturally: they repeatedly offer an article that relates to the circumstances
of the story, and the reader puts its meaning together on his/her own. No
instruction required.”
Objective
correlatives are exercises in economy, but more importantly, they allow writers
to communicate universal concepts tastefully and subtlety.
