Introduction to the Theory of Text 1.1

Tue October 18 - Our next discussion in the week to come (24-28 Oct) will be about narrative instances, that is, Authors and readers, Narrators and Narratees, as well as the relationships between them. I have distributed a few handouts containing 7 texts with different narratorial situations. Those of you whe did not get them --as well as those who prefer an original to a copy of a copy-- can downoad the Narrative instance handout from HERE. October 7, 2005:

Hi, folks! Here's the promised text of Jerome David SALINGER's A Perfect Day for Banana Fish. It is a part of a collection of nine stories. My other favorite short story in this volume is For Esme with Love and Squalor.

The text is in PDF format, readible with Acrobat reader. If you don't have Acrobat Reader you may download it from HERE.

After reading this story, remember my questions:

1. Who SEES this? Or, in other words: through whose eyes do we see the events?
2. Who TALKS? Whose is the voice speaking?
3. Does this voice know MORE or LESS than the (any of) characters? More or less than Muriel or Seymour?
4. What do you think about Seymour? What would be the possible HYPOTHESES regarding the end of the story? (Come up with at least two hypotheses!).

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