Fiction originally meant anything made up or shaped. As we understand the world now, it refers toprose stories, short or long-a meaning it has retained...

Fiction originally meant anything made up or shaped. As we understand the world now, it refers to
prose stories, short or long-a meaning it has retained its first recorded use in this sense.

Fiction is distinguished from the works it imitates such as historical accounts, reports,biographies,
autobiographies , letters, personal memoirs and meditations. While fiction often resembles these
forms, it has a separate identity because it originates not in historical facts but in the imaginative and creative of powers the author. Writers of fiction may include historically accurate details, but their primary goal is to tell a story and say something significant about life.

The essence of fiction, as opposed to drama, is narration, the recounting or telling of a sequence of
events or actions. The earliest works of fiction relied almost exclusively on narration , with speeches
or dialogue being reported rather or quoted directly. Much recent fiction includes extended passages of dialogue, thereby becoming more dramatic even though narration is still the primary mode.

Fiction is rooted in ancient legends and myths. Local priests narrated stories about their gods and
heroes, as shown in some of the narratives of ancient Egypt. In the course of history, travelling story
tellers would appear in a court or village to entertain listeners with tales of adventure in faraway
countries.Although many of these were fictionalized accounts of events and people who may not
even have existed, they were largely accepted as fact or history. An especially long tale, an epic, was
recited over a period of days. To aid their memories and to impress and entertain their listeners, the
storytellers chanted their tales in poetry often accompanying themselves on a stringled instrument.
Indeed, fiction is strong because it is so real and personal. Most characters have both first and last
names; the countries and cities in which they live are modeled on real places; and their actions and
interactions are like those which readers themselves have experienced, could experience, or could
easily imagine themselves experiencing.

Along with attention to character, fiction is concerned with the place of individuals in their
environments. In the simplest sense, environment is a backdrop or setting within which characters
speak, move and act. But more broadly, environment comprises the social, economic, and political
conditions that affect the outcomes of people’s lives. Fiction is usually about the interaction among
people. Indeed, in typical work of fiction there are always many forces, both small and large , that
influence the ways in which characters meet and deal with their problems.
The first true works of fiction in Europe, however were less concerned with society or politics than
adventure. These were the lengthy Spanish and French romances of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries . In English the word novel was borrowed from French and Italian to describe these works and to distinguish them from medieval and classical romances as something that was new. Once great numbers of people could read for themselves, the paying audience for literature expanded. A writer could write a novel and receive money for it from a publisher, who could then profit from a wide sale.

Reading a novel could even be a social event , for people would reach to each other as a means of
sharing the experience. With this wider audience , authors could make a career out of writing. Fiction
had arrived as a major genre of literature.
(Adapted from Literature. An introduction of reading and writing .By Edger V Roberts and Henry
E Jacobs.Preictice Hall, Inc.)

(a) What is fiction as hinted out in the first paragraph?
(b) Why is fiction distinct from other forms of writings?
(c) Using information from the passage , what is the significance of environment to writing of fiction?
(d) In what ways had fiction writing become an economic activity?
(e) The first true works of fiction in Europe, however were less concerned with society or politics than adventure. (Rewrite adding a question tag)
(f) What is the writer’s attitude towards fiction? Give reasons from the passage to support your answer.
(g) Identify the methods the storyteller has used to make the story interesting and explain their effects.
(h) Fiction had arrived as a major genre of literature. What is the meaning of this statement?
(i) Explain the meaning of the following words as used in the passage.
(a) Narration
(b) Backdrop

Answers

(a) . Something made up or shaped.
. It refers to prose stories, short or large

(b) . It is distinct from other forms of writings because it originates not only in the historical facts but in the imaginative and creative power of the author

(c) Environment is/ provides:
- Backdrop /setting within which fiction is set
- Social , economic and political conditions that affect people’s live
- Fiction is concerned with the place of individuals in their environment

(d) People would pay for literature (to watch plays)
- Writers would receive money from book publishers for their novels.
- Writers / authors made a career out of writing

(e) ......................, won’t they?

(f) Praiseworthy - Highlights why fiction is important.

(g)
- Use of hyperbole – events /people may not even - fantasy
- Use of repetition - tales recited over a period of days.-aid morabilty
- Use of stringed instruments and chants

h) Fiction had gained ground / Its effect started to be felt.
It was recognized as a genre of literature

(i)
(a) recounting/ telling of a sequence of events.
(b) set up.

Wilfykil answered the question on October 2, 2019 at 13:12

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