Page 116 - Aldi Lukman Nurhakim_How to Write Critical Esays: A Guide for Students of Literature

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broadly, to European Romanticism? If the former, do you use
the term merely to identify a chronological period and apply it
to any work at all that was written between, say, 1780 and
1830? Or do you mean the adjective to be descriptive, crediting
some text with certain characteristics which you think typify a
particular kind of literature that was produced at that time? If
the latter, you must make clear exactly what characteristics you
have in mind.
The same care must be used with comparable terms like
‘Augustan’ or ‘Victorian’. If you call Webster a ‘Jacobean’
dramatist, do you mean no more than that he was writing
during the reign of James I rather than a few years earlier when
Elizabeth I was on the English throne? Or do you hope to
suggest particular changes in theatrical and literary fashion? If
so, be precise about what qualities in Webster’s work do strike
you as significantly typical of the later period’s dramatic
literature.
‘Dramatic’ is itself another word that in a literary context
carries specific connotations quite different from those which
a non-specialist might intend. The writer of a critical essay
should remember that ‘dramatic’ has definite associations with
a particular medium or genre. Do not use it as a casual
synonym for ‘exciting’, ‘eventful’ or ‘strikingly emotive’. If a
poem or novel reminds you of theatrical conventions you need
to show your reader just where and how and with what effect
it does so.
I have been able to discuss here only a few of the many terms
that critics need to use with care. You might make your own list
of other words that will usually need to be supported by
localized definitions before the reader can know what is
intended. When you want to deploy such a term, ask yourself
what it can mean in the context of the particular text under
discussion, and make sure that your answer is included in your
essay.

ELIMINATE PHRASES WHICH IMPLICITLY CONFESS VAGUENESS

Spot the admissions of woolly-mindedness in the following:
‘This speech’s fragmented syntax, boisterous rhythm and so on
suggest a comedy of sorts. A good many of the words have a