Topic outline
Breakfast at Tiffany's, by Truman Capote
Travel, initiation stories, exile
Voyage, parcours initiatique, exilTo what extent does this novella (short novel) emphasize that wandering [l'errance] is about:
- a statement against conventions,
- a chosen way of life,
- an answer to personal anguish.
Document(s) portant sur la réception
The Zoo Story, Edward Albee
Meeting the Other, Love and Friendship
La rencontre avec l'autre, l'amour, l'amitiéTo what extent does absurdist drama make Jerry's predicament, which is representative of today's loneliness and isolation in society, more forceful?
Interpreting Chinese-box-effects and mise en abîme:
- The feeling of imprisonment,
- OR the freedom of Jerry as an unconventional character in fiction.
Document(s) portant sur la réception
The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger
The writer's 'I' and the eye of the writer
Jeu de l'écrivain et jeu de l'écritureThe voice and point of view of a prototypical teenager, as the hero-narrator of a text.
- To what extent can we identify with a hero-narrator who is having a nervous breakdown, and whose perceptions are impaired?
- To what extent is Holden Caulfield so iconic as a teenager?
Document(s) portant sur la réception
Satire
The writer/artist in his/her time
L'écrivain dans son siècleTo what extent does satire and its common stylistic devices make the message it conveys more forceful?
Detection novels - Mystery novels
Characters: from evolution to metamorphosis
Le Personnage, ses figures et ses avatars- To what extent are characters always flat in detective novels?
- To what extent is the reader captivated by or involved in the story and its characters, if characters are so flat?
Document(s) portant sur la réception
Source: edited from a document found on NPR.
The Gothic
The World of make-believe - Imagination - Imaginary Worlds
L'imaginaire- Given the characterestics of gothic fiction, how is it that we are fascinated?
- Why do we distance ourselves from horror in gothic fiction?
- How does "delightful horror" operate on the reader?
Document(s) portant sur la réception