Topic nine 'tool summary
In this topic we have learned that writers of fiction have a fairly wide
range of presentational choices at their disposal when presenting the
speech of their characters.
We have looked at how to spot, or define, the different speech presentation
categories (e.g. Direct Speech, Free Indirect Speech, Indirect Speech)
and position them on the speech presentation scale:
NRA - NV - NRSA - IS - FIS - DS
We have also seen how our canonical assumptions concerning the degrees
of faithfulness to an original of the different speech presentation categories
gives rise to particular effects when those categories are used by writers
in novels and short stories.
We have looked at a range of fictional extracts to explore in more detail
the uses and effects of the speech presentation categories and we have
also seen that the same categorisation system can be applied to the novelist's
presentation of character thought but that the effects of the categories
are different on the speech presentation and thought presentation scales.
This is an area in which a lot of research is being carried out in Lancaster.
If you are interested in knowing more about that work, email Mick Short
(m.short@lancaster.ac.uk) but it is probably a good idea to make sure
you have done the course reading for this topic first!
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