Question

Match the example to the traditional criterion it illustrates. 1. "At times, it seems that even the author doesn't believe his characters' stilted emotions." aesthetics 2. "All that are human can relate to the feeling of loss felt by Ophelia." universality 3. "The author displays innovative use of language and form." subject matter 4. "Teenage romance simply is not the stuff of high literature." authenticity

Answer 1

1. "At times, it seems that even the author doesn't believe his characters' stilted emotions." - authenticity. Authenticity in literature refers to an author providing enough evidence and proof to support his or her claims. If this author doesn't believe his characters' emotions, it means he didn't develop them well enough to make them believable humans.

2. "All that are human can relate to the feeling of loss felt by Ophelia." - universality. Universality as a term refers to something which is felt all over the world, by any individual. It means that there are some ideas, thoughts, and emotions that everyone can feel equally. So according to this sentence, everyone, no matter where they live, can relate to Ophelia's loss.

3. "The author displays innovative use of language and form." - aesthetics. Aesthetics refers to the style of an author's writing. So this author (Shakespeare) created a style of his own which he implemented into Hamlet to make it a legendary play that it is today. Every author has his or her own aesthetics which is somewhat unique.

4. "Teenage romance simply is not the stuff of high literature." - subject matter. According to this sentence, the author believes that the romantic love which Ophelia feels towards Hamlet is either not real love (given that she is only a teenager), or that this love is not serious enough to be considered important for high literature as a subject matter.