What is the theme and idea of a literary work. Theme of a literary work

SUBJECT- The subject, the main content of reasoning, presentation, creativity. (S. Ozhegov. Dictionary of the Russian language, 1990.)
SUBJECT(Greek Thema) - 1) The subject of presentation, images, research, discussion; 2) the formulation of the problem, which predetermines the selection of life material and the nature of the artistic narrative; 3) the subject of a linguistic statement (...). (Dictionary of foreign words, 1984.)

Already these two definitions can confuse the reader: in the first, the word "theme" is equated in meaning with the term "content", while the content of a work of art is immeasurably wider than the theme, the theme is one of the aspects of the content; the second makes no distinction between the concepts of topic and problem, and although topic and problem are philosophically related, they are not the same thing, and you will soon understand the difference.

The following definition of the topic, accepted in literary criticism, is preferable:

SUBJECT- this is a vital phenomenon that has become the subject of artistic consideration in the work. The range of such life phenomena is THEME literary work. All phenomena of the world and human life constitute the sphere of the artist's interests: love, friendship, hatred, betrayal, beauty, ugliness, justice, lawlessness, home, family, happiness, deprivation, despair, loneliness, struggle with the world and oneself, solitude, talent and mediocrity, joys of life, money, social relations, death and birth, secrets and mysteries of the world, etc. and so on. - these are the words that call life phenomena that become themes in art.

The task of the artist is to creatively study the life phenomenon from the sides interesting to the author, that is artistically reveal the theme. Naturally, this can only be done asking a question(or several questions) to the phenomenon under consideration. This very question, which the artist asks, using the figurative means available to him, is problem literary work.

So,
PROBLEM is a question that does not have a unique solution or involves a set of equivalent solutions. The ambiguity of possible solutions of the problem differs from tasks. The collection of such questions is called PROBLEMS.

The more complex the phenomenon of interest to the author (that is, the more subject), the more questions ( problems) it will cause, and the more difficult these issues will be to solve, that is, the deeper and more serious it will be issues literary work.

The theme and the problem are historically dependent phenomena. Different eras dictate different themes and problems to artists. For example, the author of the ancient Russian poem of the XII century "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" was worried about the topic of princely strife, and he asked himself questions: how to make the Russian princes stop caring only about personal gain and quarrel with each other, how to unite the disparate forces of the weakening Kiev state? The 18th century invited Trediakovsky, Lomonosov and Derzhavin to think about scientific and cultural transformations in the state, about what an ideal ruler should be like, raised in literature the problems of civic duty and equality of all citizens without exception before the law. Romantic writers were interested in the secrets of life and death, penetrated into the dark recesses of the human soul, solved the problems of human dependence on fate and unsolved demonic forces, the interaction of a talented and extraordinary person with a soulless and mundane society of inhabitants.

The 19th century, with its focus on the literature of critical realism, drew artists to new themes and forced them to reflect on new problems:

Through the efforts of Pushkin and Gogol, the “small” man entered literature, and the question arose about his place in society and his relationship with “big” people;
the women's theme became the most important, and with it the so-called public "women's question"; A. Ostrovsky and L. Tolstoy paid much attention to this topic;
the theme of home and family acquired a new meaning, and L. Tolstoy studied the nature of the connection between upbringing and a person’s ability to be happy;
the unsuccessful peasant reform and further social upheavals aroused a close interest in the peasantry, and the theme of peasant life and fate, discovered by Nekrasov, became the leading one in literature, and with it the question: what will be the fate of the Russian peasantry and all of great Russia?
tragic events in history and public moods brought to life the theme of nihilism and opened up new facets in the theme of individualism, which were further developed by Dostoevsky, Turgenev and Tolstoy in an attempt to resolve the questions: how to warn the younger generation against the tragic mistakes of radicalism and aggressive hatred? How to reconcile the generations of "fathers" and "children" in a troubled and bloody world? How is the relationship between good and evil to be understood today, and what is meant by both? How, in an effort to be different from others, do not lose yourself?
Chernyshevsky addresses the topic of the public good and asks: "What should be done?" so that a person in Russian society can honestly earn a comfortable life and thereby increase public wealth? How to "equip" Russia for a prosperous life? Etc.

Note! The problem is question, and it should be formulated mainly in interrogative form, especially if the formulation of problems is the task of your essay or other work in the literature.

Sometimes in art, it is the question posed by the author that becomes a real breakthrough - a new one, previously unknown to society, but now burning, vital. Many works are created in order to pose a problem.

So,
IDEA(Greek Idea, concept, representation) - in literature: the main idea of a work of art, the method proposed by the author for solving the problems posed by him. The totality of ideas, the system of author's thoughts about the world and man, embodied in artistic images is called IDEA CONTENT artistic work.

Thus, the scheme of semantic relations between the topic, problem and idea can be represented as follows:

When you are engaged in the interpretation of a literary work, you are looking for hidden (in scientific terms, implicit) meanings, analyze explicitly and gradually the thoughts expressed by the author, you just study ideological content works. While working on task 8 of your previous work (analysis of a fragment of M. Gorky's story "Chelkash"), you dealt precisely with questions of its ideological content.

When performing tasks on the topic "Content of a literary work: Author's position" pay attention to the contact statement.

You have set a goal: to learn to understand a critical (educational, scientific) text and correctly, accurately state its content; learn to use analytical language when presenting such a text.

You must learn to solve the following tasks:

highlight the main idea of the entire text, determine its topic;
highlight the essence of individual statements of the author and their logical connection;
convey the author's thoughts not as "one's own", but through indirect speech ("The author believes that ...");
expand your vocabulary of concepts and terms.

Source text: With all his creativity, Pushkin, of course, is a rebel. He certainly understands the correctness of Pugachev, Stenka Razin, Dubrovsky. He, of course, would be, if he could, on December 14 on Senate Square, along with his friends and like-minded people. (G.Volkov)

Variant of the completed task: According to the firm conviction of the critic, Pushkin is a rebel in his work. The scientist believes that Pushkin, realizing the correctness of Pugachev, Stenka Razin, Dubrovsky, would definitely be, if he could, on December 14 on Senate Square, along with like-minded people.

Gasoline is yours, our ideas

When analyzing a literary work, the concept of “idea” is traditionally used, which most often means the answer to a question allegedly posed by the author.

The idea of a literary work - this is the main idea that summarizes the semantic, figurative, emotional content of a literary work.

Artistic idea of the work - this is the content-semantic integrity of a work of art as a product of emotional experience and development of life by the author. This idea cannot be recreated by means of other arts and logical formulations; it is expressed by the entire artistic structure of the work, by the unity and interaction of all its formal components. Conditionally (and in a narrower sense) the idea stands out as the main idea, ideological conclusion and “life lesson”, naturally arising from a holistic comprehension of the work.

An idea in literature is a thought contained in a work. There are a lot of ideas expressed in the literature. Exist logical ideas And abstract ideas . Logical ideas are concepts that are easily transmitted without figurative means, we are able to perceive them with the intellect. Logical ideas are inherent in documentary literature. But artistic novels and stories are characterized by philosophical and social generalizations, ideas, analyzes of causes and effects, that is, abstract elements.

But there is also a special kind of very subtle, barely perceptible ideas of a literary work. artistic idea is a thought embodied in a figurative form. It lives only in figurative implementation and cannot be expressed in the form of a sentence or concepts. The peculiarity of this thought depends on the disclosure of the topic, the worldview of the author, transmitted by the speech and actions of the characters, on the depiction of pictures of life. It is in the clutch of logical thoughts, images, all significant compositional elements. An artistic idea cannot be reduced to a rational idea that can be concretized or illustrated. The idea of this type is inseparable from the image, from the composition.

The formation of an artistic idea is a complex creative process. In literature, it is influenced by personal experience, the writer's worldview, and understanding of life. An idea can be nurtured for years and decades, and the author, trying to realize it, suffers, rewrites the manuscript, looking for suitable means of implementation. All themes, characters, all events selected by the author are necessary for a more complete expression of the main idea, its nuances, shades. However, it is necessary to understand that an artistic idea is not equal to an ideological concept, the plan that often appears not only in the head of the writer, but also on paper. Exploring non-artistic reality, reading diaries, notebooks, manuscripts, archives, literary critics restore the history of the idea, the history of creation, but often do not discover the artistic idea. Sometimes it happens that the author goes against himself, yielding to the original idea for the sake of artistic truth, an inner idea.

One thought is not enough to write a book. If everything that I would like to talk about is known in advance, then you should not turn to artistic creativity. Better - to criticism, journalism, journalism.

The idea of a literary work cannot be contained in one phrase and one image. But writers, especially novelists, sometimes try to formulate the idea of their work. Dostoevsky about The Idiot he wrote: "The main idea of the novel is to portray a positively beautiful person." For such a declarative ideology Dostoevsky scolded, for example, Nabokov. Indeed, the phrase of the great novelist does not clarify why, why he did it, what is the artistic and vital basis of his image. But here it is hardly possible to stand on the side Nabokov, the mundane writer of the second row, never, unlike Dostoevsky that does not set itself creative supertasks.

Along with the attempts of the authors to determine the so-called main idea of their work, opposite, although no less confusing, examples are known. Tolstoy to the question “what is “War and Peace”? answered as follows: “War and Peace is what the author wanted and could express in the form in which it was expressed.” Unwillingness to translate the idea of your work into the language of concepts Tolstoy demonstrated once again, speaking of the novel "Anna Karenina": "If I wanted to say in words everything that I had in mind to express in a novel, then I would have to write the very one that I wrote first" (from a letter to N.Strakhov).

Belinsky very accurately pointed out that “art does not allow abstract philosophical, and even more rational ideas: it allows only poetic ideas; and the poetic idea is<…>not a dogma, not a rule, this is a living passion, pathos.

V.V. Odintsov expressed his understanding of the category “artistic idea” more strictly: “The idea of a literary work is always specific and is not derived directly not only from the individual statements of the writer lying outside of it (the facts of his biography, social life, etc.), but also from the text - from replicas of goodies, journalistic inserts, remarks of the author himself, etc.”

2000 ideas for novels and short stories

Literary critic G.A. Gukovsky also spoke about the need to distinguish between rational, that is, rational, and literary ideas: “By an idea, I mean not only a rationally formulated judgment, statement, not even just the intellectual content of a work of literature, but the entire sum of its content, which constitutes its intellectual function, its goal and task. And further he explained: “To understand the idea of a literary work means to understand the idea of each of its components in their synthesis, in their systemic interconnection.<…>. At the same time, it is important to take into account the structural features of the work - not only the words-bricks that make up the walls of the building, but the structure of the combination of these bricks as parts of this structure, their meaning.

The idea of a literary work is the attitude to the depicted, the fundamental pathos of the work, a category that expresses the author's tendency (inclination, intention, preconceived idea) in the artistic coverage of this topic. In other words, idea is the subjective basis of a literary work. It is noteworthy that in Western literary criticism, based on other methodological principles, instead of the category “artistic idea”, the concept of “intention”, some kind of premeditation, the author’s tendency to express the meaning of the work, is used.

The grander the artistic idea, the longer the work lives. The creators of pop literature, who write outside of great ideas, will soon be forgotten.

V.V. Kozhinov called the artistic idea the semantic type of the work, which grows out of the interaction of images. An artistic idea, unlike a logical idea, is not formulated by the author's statement, but is depicted in all the details of the artistic whole.

In epic works, the idea may be partly formulated in the text itself, as was the case in the narrative. Tolstoy: "There is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness and truth." More often, especially in lyrics, the idea permeates the structure of the work and therefore requires a lot of analytical work. A work of art as a whole is much richer than a rational idea, which critics usually isolate, and in many lyrical works, it is simply impossible to single out an idea, because it practically dissolves in pathos. Therefore, one should not reduce the idea of a work to a conclusion or a lesson, and in general it is imperative to look for it.

When analyzing a work of art, it is always important not only what the author wanted to say in it, but also what he did - “it affected”. The writer's intention can be realized to a greater or lesser extent, but it is the author's point of view in assessing the characters, events, problems raised that should be the ultimate truth in the analysis

Concept definition

illustrative examples

Let us recall one of the masterpieces of Russian and world literature of the 19th century - Leo Tolstoy's novel War and Peace. What the author said about him: he loved in the book "people's thought." What are the main ideas of the work? This is, first of all, the assertion that the people are the main asset of the country, the driving force of history, the creator of material and spiritual values. In the light of this understanding, the author develops the narrative of the epic. Tolstoy persistently leads the main characters of "War and Peace" through a series of trials, to "simplification", to familiarization with the people's worldview, worldview, worldview. So, Natasha Rostova is much closer and dearer to the writer and to us than Helen Kuragina or Julie Karagina. Natasha is far from being as beautiful as the first, and not as rich as the second. But it is precisely in this “countess”, who almost does not speak Russian, that there is something primordial, national, natural, which makes her related to the common people. And Tolstoy sincerely admires her during the dance (the episode "Visiting Uncle"), and describes it in such a way that we also fall under the amazing charm of the image. The author's idea of the work is wonderfully revealed on the examples of Pierre Bezukhov. Both aristocrats, at the beginning of the novel living with their personal problems, go through - each their own - the path of spiritual and moral quest. And they also begin to live in the interests of their country and ordinary people.

Causal relationships

The idea of a work of art is expressed by all its elements, interaction and unity of all components. It can be considered a conclusion, a kind of "life lesson" that the reader makes and learns, joining the literary text, getting acquainted with its content, imbued with the thoughts and feelings of the author. It is important to understand here that there are parts of the writer's soul not only in positive, but also in negative characters. In this regard, F. M. Dostoevsky said very well: in each of us, the “ideal of Sodom” is fighting with the “ideal of the Madonna”, “God with the devil”, and the battlefield of this is the human heart. Svidrigailov from "Crime and Punishment" is a very revealing personality. A libertine, a cynic, a scoundrel, in fact - a murderer, sometimes pity, compassion and even some decency are not alien to him. And before committing suicide, the hero does several good deeds: he places Katerina Ivanovna’s children in, lets Dunya go… Yes, and Raskolnikov himself, the main person of the work, obsessed with the idea of becoming a superman, is also torn apart by conflicting thoughts and feelings. Dostoevsky, a very difficult person in everyday life, reveals different sides of his “I” in the characters. From biographical sources about the writer, we know that at different periods of his life he played a lot. Impressions from the destructive impact of this pernicious passion are reflected in the novel "The Gambler".

Theme and idea

It remains to analyze one more important question - how the theme and idea of the work correlate. In a nutshell, this is explained as follows: the topic is what is described in the book, the idea is the assessment and attitude of the author to this. For example, Pushkin's story "The Stationmaster". It reveals the life of a "little man" - powerless, oppressed by everyone, but having a heart, soul, dignity and awareness of himself as part of a society that looks down on him. This is the theme. And the idea is to reveal the moral superiority of a small person with a rich inner world in front of those who are above him on the social ladder, but poor in soul.

1. Theme, subject matter, problematics of the work.

2. The ideological concept of the work.

3. Paphos and its varieties.

Bibliography

1. Introduction to literary criticism: textbook / ed. L.M. Krupchanov. - M., 2005.

2. Borev Yu.B. Aesthetics. Theory of Literature: Encyclopedic Dictionary of Terms. - M., 2003.

3. Dal V.I. Explanatory dictionary of the living Great Russian language: in 4 volumes. - M., 1994. - V.4.

4. Esin A.B.

5. Literary encyclopedic dictionary / ed. V.M. Kozhevnikov, P.A. Nikolaev. - M., 1987.

6. Literary encyclopedia of terms and concepts / ed. A.N. Nikolyukin. - M., 2003.

7. Soviet Encyclopedic Dictionary / ch. ed. A.M. Prokhorov. - 4th ed. - M., 1989.

Literary critics rightly assert that it is not the hero who gives the literary work a holistic character, but the unity of the problem posed in it, the unity of the idea being revealed. Thus, in order to delve deeper into the content of the work, it is necessary to determine its components: theme and idea.

"Subject ( Greek. thema), - according to the definition of V. Dahl, - a proposal, position, task, which is discussed or explained.

The authors of the Soviet Encyclopedic Dictionary give the topic a slightly different definition: “Theme [what is the basis] - 1) the subject of description, image, research, conversation, etc.; 2) in art, an object of artistic representation, a circle of life phenomena displayed by a writer, artist or composer and held together by the author's intention.

In the "Dictionary of Literary Terms" we find the following definition: "Theme is what is the basis of a literary work, the main problem posed in it by the writer" .

In the textbook "Introduction to Literary Studies" ed. G.N. Pospel's theme is treated as a subject of knowledge.

A.M. Gorky defines a theme as an idea "which originated in the author's experience, is prompted by life, but nestles in the receptacle of his impressions still unformed and, requiring embodiment in images, arouses in him the urge to work on its design."

As you can see, the above definitions of the topic are diverse and contradictory. The only statement with which one can agree without reservations is that the theme is indeed the objective basis of any work of art. About how the process of birth and design of the theme takes place, how the writer studies reality and selects life phenomena, what is the role of the writer's worldview in the choice and development of the theme, we have already spoken above ( see the lecture "Literature is a special type of human artistic activity").

However, the statements of literary critics that the theme is a circle of life phenomena displayed by the writer, in our opinion, are not exhaustive enough, since there are differences between the life material (the object of the image) and the theme (theme) of the work of art. The subject of the image in works of fiction can be a variety of phenomena of human life, the life of nature, the animal and plant world, as well as material culture (buildings, furnishings, types of cities, etc.). Sometimes even fantastic creatures are depicted - talking and thinking animals and plants, various kinds of spirits, gods, giants, monsters, etc. But this is by no means the theme of a literary work. Images of animals, plants, types of nature often have an allegorical and auxiliary meaning in a work of art. They either mark people, as happens in fables, or are created to express human experiences (in lyrical images of nature). Even more often, the phenomena of nature with its flora and fauna are depicted as an environment in which human life takes place with its social characteristics.

When defining a theme as the vital material taken for depiction by a writer, we must reduce its study to an analysis of the objects depicted, and not to the characteristic features of human life in its social essence.

Following A.B. Esin, under topic literary work, we will understand " object of artistic reflection , those life characters and situations (the relationship of characters, as well as the interaction of a person with society as a whole, with nature, life, etc.), which, as it were, pass from reality into a work of art and form the objective side of its content ».

The theme of a literary work encompasses everything depicted in it and therefore can be comprehended with the necessary completeness only on the basis of penetration into all the ideological and artistic richness of this work. For example, to determine the theme of the work of K.G. Abramov "Purgaz" ( the unification of the Mordovian people fragmented into many often warring clans at the end of the 12th - beginning of the 13th centuries, which contributed to the salvation of the nation, the preservation of its spiritual values), it is necessary to take into account and comprehend the multilateral development of this topic by the author. K. Abramov also shows how the character of the protagonist was formed: the influence of the life and national traditions of the Mordovian people, as well as the Volga Bulgars, among whom, by the will of fate and his desire, he happened to live for 3 years, and how he became the head of the clan , how he fought with the Vladimir princes and the Mongols because of dominance in the western part of the Middle Volga region, what efforts he made to ensure that the Mordovian people became united.

In the process of analyzing the topic, it is necessary, according to the authoritative opinion of A.B. Esin, firstly, to distinguish between the actual reflection object(topic) and image object(specific depicted situation); secondly, it is necessary distinguish between concrete historical and eternal themes. Specific historical themes are characters and circumstances born and conditioned by a certain socio-historical situation in a particular country; they are not repeated outside of a given tense, they are more or less localized (for example, the theme of the “superfluous person” in Russian literature of the 19th century). When analyzing a specific historical topic, one must see not only the socio-historical, but also the psychological definiteness of character, since the comprehension of character traits helps to correctly understand the unfolding plot, the motivation for its ups and downs. Eternal themes fix recurring moments in the history of various national societies, they are repeated in different modifications in the life of different generations, in different historical eras. Such, for example, are the themes of love and friendship, life and death, relationships between generations and others.

Due to the fact that the topic requires various aspects of consideration, along with its general concept, the concept is also used. topics, i.e., those lines of development of the theme that are outlined by the writer and constitute its complex integrity. Careful attention to the diversity of topics is especially necessary when analyzing large works in which there is not one, but many topics. In these cases, it is advisable to single out one or two main themes associated with the image of the central character, or a number of characters, and consider the rest as secondary.

When analyzing the content aspects of a literary work, the definition of its problems is of great importance. Under the problems of a literary work in literary criticism, it is customary to understand the area of comprehension, understanding by the writer of the reflected reality: « Issues (Greek. problema - something thrown forward, i.e. isolated from other aspects of life) – this is the ideological comprehension by the writer of those social characters that he depicted in the work. This comprehension lies in the fact that the writer singles out and enhances those properties, aspects, relations of the characters depicted, which he, based on his ideological worldview, considers the most significant.

In works of art that are large in volume, writers, as a rule, pose various problems: social, moral, political, philosophical, and so on. It depends on what sides of the characters and what contradictions of life the writer focuses on.

For example, K. Abramov in the novel "Purgaz" through the image of the main character realizes the policy of uniting the Mordovian people scattered into numerous clans, however, the disclosure of this problem (socio-political) is quite closely connected with the moral problem (refusal of a beloved woman, order to kill Tengush , one of the leaders of the clan, etc.). Therefore, when analyzing a work of art, it is important to realize not only the main problem, but the whole problem as a whole, to identify how deep and significant it is, how serious and significant are the contradictions of reality that the writer depicted.

One cannot but agree with the statement of A.B. Esin that the problematic contains a unique author's view of the world. Unlike the subject matter, the problematic is the subjective side of the artistic content, therefore, the author's individuality, "the original moral attitude of the author to the subject" is maximally manifested in it. Often different writers create works on the same topic, however, there are no two major writers whose works would coincide in their problems. The originality of the problem is a kind of visiting card of the writer.

For a practical analysis of the problem, it is important to identify the originality of the work, comparing it with others, to understand what is its uniqueness and originality. For this purpose, it is necessary to establish in the researched work type problems.

The main types of problems in Russian literary criticism were identified by G.N. Pospelov. Based on the classification of G.N. Pospelov, taking into account the current level of development of literary criticism A.B. Esin proposed his own classification. He singled out mythological, national, novel, sociocultural, philosophical problems. In our opinion, it makes sense to highlight the issues moral .

Writers not only pose certain problems, they look for ways to solve them, correlate the depicted with social ideals. Therefore, the theme of the work is always connected with its idea.

N.G. Chernyshevsky in his treatise "The Aesthetic Relations of Art to Reality", speaking about the tasks of art, argues that works of art "reproduce life, explain life and pass judgment on it." It is difficult to disagree with this, since works of fiction always express the ideological and emotional attitude of writers towards those social characters that they depict. The ideological and emotional assessment of the depicted characters is the most active side of the content of the work.

"Idea (Greek. idea - idea, prototype, ideal) in literature - an expression of the author's attitude to the depicted, the correlation of this depicted with the ideals of life and man approved by the writers”, - such a definition is given in the Dictionary of Literary Terms. A somewhat refined version of the definition of an idea can be found in the textbook by G.N. Pospelova: " The idea of a literary work is the unity of all aspects of its content; this is a figurative, emotional, generalizing thought of the writer, manifested both in the choice, and in the comprehension, and in the assessment of the characters ».

When analyzing a work of art, the identification of an idea is very important and essential for the reason that a progressive idea, corresponding to the course of history, the trends of social development, is a necessary quality of all truly artistic works. Understanding the main idea of a work should follow from the analysis of its entire ideological content (the author's assessment of events and characters, the author's ideal, pathos). Only under this condition can we judge correctly about it, about its strength and weakness, about the nature and roots of the contradictions that exist in it.

If we talk about the novel by K. Abramov "Purgaz", then the main idea that the author expresses can be formulated as follows: the strength of the people lies in its unity. Only by uniting all the Mordovian clans, Purgaz, as a talented leader, was able to resist the Mongols, liberate the Mordovian land from the conquerors.

We have already noted that the themes and problems of works of art must meet the requirements of depth, relevance and significance. The idea, in turn, must meet the criterion of historical truthfulness and objectivity. It is important for the reader that the writer express such an ideological and emotional understanding of the characters portrayed that these characters really deserve in terms of the objective, essential properties of their lives, in their place and significance in national life in general, in the prospects for its development. Works containing a historically true assessment of the depicted phenomena and characters are progressive in their content.

The primary source of artistic ideas in reality, according to I.F. Volkov, are "only those ideas that entered the flesh and blood of the artist, became the meaning of his existence, his ideological and emotional attitude to life." V.G. Belinsky called such ideas pathos . “A poetic idea,” he wrote, “is not a syllogism, not a dogma, not a rule, it is a living passion, it is pathos.” The very concept of pathos was borrowed by Belinsky from Hegel, who in his lectures on aesthetics meant the word "pathos" ( Greek. pathos - a strong, passionate feeling) the high inspiration of the artist by comprehending the essence of the depicted life, its "truth".

E. Aksenova defines pathos in this way: “Paphos is an emotional animation, a passion that permeates a work (or parts of it) and gives it a single breath, which can be called the soul of a work.. In pathos, the feeling and thought of the artist form a single whole; it contains the key to the idea of the work. Paphos is not always and not necessarily a pronounced emotion; here the creative individuality of the artist is most clearly manifested. Along with the authenticity of feelings and thoughts pathos gives the work liveliness and artistic persuasiveness, is a condition for its emotional impact on the reader ". Paphos is created by artistic means: the image of the characters, their actions, experiences, the events of their lives, the entire figurative structure of the work.

Thus, pathos is the emotional and evaluative attitude of the writer to the depicted, which is distinguished by a great strength of feelings .

In literary criticism, the following main types of pathos are distinguished: heroic, dramatic, tragic, sentimental, romantic, humorous, satirical.

Heroic pathos affirms the greatness of the feat of the individual and the whole team, its great importance for the development of the people, nation, humanity. Figuratively revealing the main qualities of heroic characters, admiring them and singing them, the artist of the word creates works imbued with heroic pathos (Homer "The Iliad", Shelley "Prometheus Unchained", A. Pushkin "Poltava", M. Lermontov "Borodino", A. Tvardovsky "Vasily Terkin", M. Saygin "Hurricane", I. Antonov "In a single family").

Dramatic pathos characteristic of works that depict dramatic situations that arise under the influence of external forces and circumstances that threaten the desires and aspirations of the characters, and sometimes their lives. Drama in fiction can be both ideologically affirmative pathos, when the writer deeply sympathizes with the characters (“The Tale of the Devastation of Ryazan by Batu”), and ideologically negative, if the writer condemns the characters of his characters in the dramatic nature of their position (Aeschylus “Persians”).

Quite often, the drama of situations and experiences arises during military clashes between peoples, and this is reflected in works of fiction: E. Hemingway “Farewell to Arms”, E.M. Remarque “A time to live and a time to die”, G. Fallada “A wolf among wolves”; A. Beck "Volokolamsk Highway", K. Simonov "The Living and the Dead"; P. Prokhorov "Stood" and others.

Often, writers in their works depict the drama of the position and experiences of the characters, arising from the social inequality of people (“Father Goriot” by O. Balzac, “Humiliated and Insulted” by F. Dostoevsky, “Dowry” by A. Ostrovsky, “Tashto Koise” (“ According to old customs”) K. Petrova and others.

Often the impact of external circumstances gives rise to internal inconsistency in the mind of a person, a struggle with oneself. In this case, the drama deepens to tragedy.

tragic pathos its roots are associated with the tragic nature of the conflict in a literary work, due to the fundamental impossibility of resolving existing contradictions, and is most often present in the tragedy genre. Reproducing tragic conflicts, writers depict the painful experiences of their heroes, difficult events in their lives, thereby revealing the tragic contradictions of life that have a socio-historical or universal character (W. Shakespeare "Hamlet", A. Pushkin "Boris Godunov", L. Leonov "Invasion", Y. Pinyasov "Erek ver" ("Living Blood").

Satirical pathos. Satirical pathos is characterized by the denial of the negative aspects of public life and character traits of people. The tendency of writers to notice the comic in life and reproduce it on the pages of their works is determined primarily by the properties of their innate talent, as well as by the peculiarities of their worldview. Most often, writers pay attention to the discrepancy between the claims and the real possibilities of people, as a result of which a comedy of life situations develops.

Satire helps to realize the important aspects of human relationships, gives orientation in life, frees from false and obsolete authorities. In the world and Russian literature there are a lot of talented, highly artistic works with satirical pathos, among which are: the comedies of Aristophanes, Gargantua and Pantagruel by F. Rabelais, Gulliver's Travels by J. Swift; "Nevsky Prospekt" by N. Gogol, "History of a City" by M. Saltykov-Shchedrin, "Heart of a Dog" by M. Bulgakov). In Mordovian literature, no significant work with a pronounced satirical pathos has yet been created. Satirical pathos is characteristic mainly of the fable genre (I. Shumilkin, M. Beban, and others).

Humorous pathos. As a special kind of pathos, humor stood out only in the era of romanticism. As a result of false self-esteem, people, not only in public life, but also in everyday and family life, can discover internal contradictions between who they really are and who they pretend to be. These people claim to be significant, which they really do not have. Such a contradiction is comical and causes a mocking attitude, mixed more with pity and sadness than with indignation. Humor is laughter at the relatively harmless comic contradictions of life. A striking example of a work with humorous pathos is the story "The Posthumous Notes of the Pickwick Club" by C. Dickens; “The Tale of how Ivan Ivanovich quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich” by N. Gogol; “Lavginov” by V. Kolomasov, “Sas the agronomist to the collective farm” (“The agronomist came to the collective farm” by Yu. Kuznetsov).

Sentimental pathos It is characteristic primarily for sentimental works created in the 18th century, characterized by exaggerated attention to the feelings and experiences of heroes, depicting the moral virtues of socially humiliated people, their superiority over the immorality of a privileged environment. As vivid examples are the works “Julia, or the new Eloise” by J.J. Rousseau, "The Suffering of Young Werther" by I.V. Goethe, "Poor Lisa" N.M. Karamzin.

Romantic pathos conveys spiritual enthusiasm, which arises as a result of identifying a certain sublime beginning and the desire to designate its features. Examples include the poems of D.G. Byron, poems and ballads by V. Zhukovsky, etc. In Mordovian literature, there are no works with a pronounced sentimental and romantic pathos, which is largely due to the time of the emergence and development of written literature (the second half of the 19th century).

CONTROL QUESTIONS:

1. What are the definitions of the topic in literary criticism? Which definition do you think is the most accurate and why?

2. What is the problematic of a literary work?

3. What types of problems are distinguished by literary critics?

4. Why is the identification of problems considered an important step in the analysis of works?

5. What is the idea of the work? How is it related to the concept of pathos?

6. What types of pathos are most often found in the works of native literature?

Lecture 7

PLOT

1. The concept of the plot.

2. Conflict as a driving force for the development of the plot.

3. Plot elements.

4. Plot and plot.

Bibliography

1) Abramovich G.L. Introduction to Literary Studies. – 7th ed. - M., 1979.

2) Gorky A.M.. Conversations with the Young (any edition).

3) Dobin E.S. Plot and reality. Art details. - L., 1981.

4) Introduction to literary criticism / ed. G.N. Pospelov. - M., 1988.

5) Esin A.B. Principles and methods of analysis of a literary work. - 4th ed. - M., 2002.

6) Kovalenko A.G.. Artistic conflict in Russian literature. - M., 1996.

7) Kozhinov V.V.. Plot, plot, composition // Theory of Literature: Main problems in historical coverage: in 2 books. - M., 1964. - Book 2.

8) Literary encyclopedic dictionary / ed. V.M. Kozhevnikova, P.A. Nikolaev. - M., 1987.

9) Literary encyclopedia of terms and concepts / ed. A.N. Nikolyukin. - M., 2003.

10) Shklovsky V.B.. The energy of delusion. A book about the plot // Selected: in 2 vols. - M., 1983. - T 2.

11) Brief literary encyclopedia: in 9 volumes / ch. ed. A.A. Surkov. - M., 1972. - V.7.

It is well known that a work of art is a complex whole. The writer shows how this or that character grows and develops, what are his connections and relationships with other people. This development of character, the history of growth are shown in a series of events, which, as a rule, reflect the life situation. The direct relationships of people presented in the work, shown in a certain chain of events, in literary criticism are usually denoted by the term plot.

It should be noted that the understanding of the plot as the course of events has a long tradition in Russian literary criticism. It developed in the 19th century. This is evidenced by the work of A.N. Veselovsky "Poetics of plots".

The problem of plot has occupied researchers since Aristotle. G. Hegel also paid much attention to this problem. Despite such a long history, the problem of the plot remains largely debatable to this day. For example, there is still no clear distinction between the concepts of plot and plot. In addition, the definitions of the plot that take place in textbooks and teaching aids on literary theory are different and rather contradictory. For example, L.I. Timofeev considers the plot as one of the forms of composition: “Composition is inherent in any literary work, since we will always have one or another ratio of its parts in it, reflecting the complexity of the phenomena of life depicted in it. But not in every work we will deal with the plot, i.e. with the disclosure of characters with the help of events in which the properties of these characters are revealed ... We should reject the widespread and erroneous idea of the plot only as a distinct, fascinating system of events, due to which they often talk about the "non-plot" of certain works in which there is no such distinctness and fascination of the system of events (actions). Here we are talking not about the absence of a plot, but about its weak organization, ambiguity, and so on.

The plot in a work is always evident when we are dealing with certain actions of people, with certain events that happen to them. By linking the plot with the characters, we thereby determine its content, its conditionality by the reality that the writer is aware of.

We thus approach both the composition and the plot as a means of revealing, revealing a given character.

But in a number of cases the general content of a work does not fit only into the plot, cannot be revealed only in the system of events; hence, along with the plot, we will have elements outside the plot in the work; the composition of the work will then be wider than the plot and will begin to manifest itself in other forms.

V.B. Shklovsky considers the plot as "a means of knowing reality"; in the interpretation of E.S. Dobin's plot is a "concept of reality".

M. Gorky defined the plot as "connections, contradictions, sympathies, antipathies and, in general, the relationship of people - the history of growth and organization of one or another character, type." This judgment, like the previous ones, in our opinion, is not accurate, because in many works, especially dramatic ones, characters are depicted outside the formation of their characters.

Following A.I. Revyakin, we tend to adhere to the following definition of plot: « The plot is an event (or system of events) selected in the process of studying life, realized and embodied in a work of art, in which conflict and characters are revealed in certain conditions of the social environment.».

G.N. Pospelov notes that literary plots are created in different ways. Most often they quite fully and reliably reproduce real life events. These are, firstly, works based on historical events(“Young Years of King Henry IV” by G. Mann, “Damned Kings” by M. Druon; “Peter I” by A. Tolstoy, “War and Peace” by L. Tolstoy; “Polovt” by M. Bryzhinsky, “Purgaz” by K. Abramov ); Secondly, autobiographical stories(L. Tolstoy, M. Gorky); thirdly, known to the writer life facts. The events depicted are sometimes fully fiction, a figment of the author's imagination ("Gulliver's Travels" by J. Swift, "The Nose" by N. Gogol).

There is also such a source of plot creativity as borrowing, when writers widely rely on already known literary plots, processing them and supplementing them in their own way. In this case, folklore, mythological, antique, biblical and other plots are used.

The driving force behind any story is conflict, contradiction, struggle or, according to Hegel, collision. The conflicts underlying the works can be very diverse, but they, as a rule, have general significance and reflect certain life patterns. Allocate conflicts: 1) external and internal; 2) local and substantial; 3) dramatic, tragic and comic.

Conflict external - between individual characters and groups of characters - is considered to be the simplest. There are quite a few examples of this type of conflict in the literature: A.S. Griboedov "Woe from Wit", A.S. Pushkin "The Miserly Knight", M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin "History of one city", V.M. Kolomasov "Lavginov" and others. A conflict is considered more complex, embodying the confrontation between the hero and the way of life, personality and environment (social, everyday, cultural). The difference from the first type of conflict is that no one specifically opposes the hero here, he does not have an enemy with whom he could fight, who could be defeated, thereby resolving the conflict (Pushkin "Eugene Onegin").

Conflict interior - a psychological conflict, when the hero is not in harmony with himself, when he carries certain contradictions in himself, sometimes contains incompatible principles (Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, etc.).

Sometimes in a work one can simultaneously find both named types of conflict, both external and internal (A. Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm").

Local(Solvable) conflict implies the fundamental possibility of resolving with the help of active actions (Pushkin "Gypsies", etc.).

Substantial(unsolvable) conflict depicts a persistently conflicted existence, and real practical actions capable of resolving this conflict are unthinkable (Shakespeare's Hamlet, Chekhov's Bishop, etc.).

Tragic, dramatic and comic conflicts are inherent in dramatic works with the same name of genres. (For more on the types of conflict, see the book A.G. Kovalenko "Artistic conflict in Russian literature", M., 1996).

The disclosure of a socially significant conflict in the plot contributes to understanding the trends and patterns of social development. In this regard, we should note some points that are essential for understanding the multifaceted role of the plot in the work.

The role of the plot in the work of G.L. Abramovich defined it as follows: “Firstly, it must be borne in mind that the artist’s penetration into the meaning of the conflict presupposes, as the modern English writer D. Lindsay rightly says, “penetration into the souls of people who are participants in this struggle.” Hence the great educational value of the plot.

Secondly, the writer "willy-nilly gets involved in the mind and heart in the conflicts that make up the content of his work." Thus, the logic of the development of events by the writer affects his understanding and assessment of the depicted conflict, his social views, which he somehow conveys to readers, inspiring them with the necessary, from his point of view, attitude towards this conflict.

Thirdly, every great writer focuses his attention on the conflicts that are important for his time and people.

Thus, the plots of the works of great writers have a deep socio-historical meaning. Therefore, when considering them, it is necessary first of all to determine what kind of social conflict underlies the work and from what positions it is depicted.

The plot will only fulfill its purpose when, first, it is internally complete, i.e. revealing the causes, nature and ways of development of the depicted conflict, and secondly, it will attract the interest of readers and make them think about the meaning of each episode, every detail in the course of events.

F.V. Gladkov wrote that there are different gradations of plot: “... one book is plot calm, there is no intrigue in it, cleverly tied knots, it is a chronicle of the life of one person or a whole group of people; another book from exciting plot: these are adventure novels, mystery novels, detective, criminal. Many literary scholars, following F. Gladkov, distinguish two types of plots: the plot is calm (adynamic) and the plot is sharp(dynamic). Along with the above types of plots, modern literary criticism also offers others, for example, chronic and concentric (Pospelov G.N.) and centrifugal and centripetal (Kozhinov V.V.). Chronicles are plots with a predominance of purely temporary connections between events, and concentric - with a predominance of causal relationships between events.

Each of these types of plots has its own artistic possibilities. As G.N. Pospelov, the chronicle of the plot is, first of all, a means of recreating reality in the diversity and richness of its manifestations. Chronicle plot construction allows the writer to master life in space and time with maximum freedom. Therefore, it is widely used in large-scale epic works (“Gargantua and Pantagruel” by F. Rabelais, “Don Quixote” by M. Cervantes, “Don Juan” by D. Byron, “Vasily Terkin” by A. Tvardovsky, “Wide Moksha” by T. Kirdyashkin, Purgaz by K. Abramov). Chronicle plots perform various artistic functions: they reveal the decisive actions of the heroes and their various adventures; depict the formation of a person's personality; serve the development of socio-political antagonisms and the way of life of certain sections of society.

The concentricity of the plot - the identification of causal relationships between the events depicted - allows the writer to explore any one conflict situation, stimulates the compositional completeness of the work. Such a plot structure dominated drama until the 19th century. Of the epic works, one can cite as an example “Crime and Punishment” by F.M. Dostoevsky, "Fire" by V. Rasputin, "At the beginning of the journey" by V. Mishanina.

Chronicle and concentric plots often coexist (“Resurrection” by L.N. Tolstoy, “Three Sisters” by A.P. Chekhov, etc.).

From the point of view of the emergence, development and completion of the life conflict depicted in the work, we can talk about the main elements of the plot construction. Literary critics distinguish the following elements of the plot: exposition, plot, development of action, climax, ups and downs, denouement; prologue and epilogue. It should be noted that not all works of fiction that have a plot structure contain all the indicated elements of the plot. Prologue and epilogue are quite rare, most often in epic works, large in volume. As for exposition, it is quite often absent in short stories and short stories.

Prologue is defined as an introduction to a literary work, not directly related to the developing action, but, as it were, preceding it with a story about the events that preceded it, or about their meaning. The prologue is present in "Faust" by I. Goethe, "What is to be done?" N. Chernyshevsky, “Who should live well in Rus'” by N. Nekrasov, “The Snow Maiden” by A. Ostrovsky, “Apple Tree by the High Road” by A. Kutorkin.

Epilogue in literary criticism it is characterized as the final part in a work of art, reporting on the further fate of the characters after those depicted in a novel, poem, drama, etc. events. Epilogues are often found in the dramas of B. Brecht, the novels of F. Dostoevsky ("The Brothers Karamazov", "The Humiliated and Insulted"), L. Tolstoy ("War and Peace"), K. Abramov's "Kachamon Pack" ("Smoke Above the Earth" ).

exposure (lat. expositio - explanation) call the background of the events underlying the work. The exposition sets out the circumstances, preliminarily outlines the characters, characterizes their relationships, i.e. the life of the characters before the start of the conflict (tie) is depicted.

In the work of P.I. Levchaev "Kavonst kudat" ("Two matchmakers") the first part is an exposition: it depicts the life of the Mordovian village shortly before the first Russian revolution, the conditions in which people's characters are formed.

The exposition is determined by the artistic objectives of the work and can be different in nature: direct, detailed, scattered, supplemented throughout the entire work, delayed (see "Dictionary of Literary Terms").

outstretched in a work of art, the beginning of the conflict is usually called, the event from which the action begins and due to which subsequent events arise. The tie can be motivated (in the presence of exposure) and sudden (without exposure).

In the story of P. Levchaev, the plot will be the return of Garay to the village of Anai, his acquaintance with Kirei Mikhailovich.

In the subsequent parts of the work, Levchaev shows action development, That the course of events that follows from the plot: meeting with his father, with his beloved girl Anna, matchmaking, Garay's participation in a secret gathering.

Hello author! Analyzing any work of art, a critic/reviewer, and just an attentive reader, starts from four basic literary concepts. The author relies on them when creating his work of art, unless, of course, he is a standard graphomaniac, who simply writes everything that comes to mind. You can write rubbish, template or more or less original without understanding these terms. But here is a text worthy of the reader's attention - it is rather difficult. So let's go over each of them. I'll try not to load.

Translated from Greek, the theme is that which is the basis. In other words, the theme is the subject of the author's image, those phenomena and events to which the author wants to draw the reader's attention.

Examples:

The theme of love, its origin and development, and possibly its end.
The theme of fathers and children.
The theme of the confrontation between good and evil.
The theme of betrayal.
The theme of friendship.
The theme of the formation of character.
Space exploration theme.

Topics change depending on the era in which a person lives, but some topics that worry humanity from era to era remain relevant - they are called "eternal topics". Above, I listed 6 "eternal themes", but the last, seventh - "the conquest of space" - has become relevant for mankind not so long ago. However, apparently, it will also become an "eternal theme".

1. The author sits down for a novel and writes everything that comes to mind, without thinking about any topics of literary works.
2. The author is going to write, say, a science fiction novel and starts from the genre. He does not care about the topic, he does not think about it at all.
3. The author coldly chooses a topic for his novel, scrupulously studies and thinks it over.
4. The author is concerned about some topic, questions about it do not let him sleep at night, and during the day he mentally returns to this topic every now and then.

The result will be 4 different novels.

1. 95% (the percentages are approximate, they are given for a better understanding and nothing more) - it will be an ordinary graphomaniac, slag, a meaningless chain of events, with logical errors, cranberries, blunders where someone attacked someone, although there was none there is no reason for that, someone fell in love with someone, although the reader does not understand at all what he / she found in her / him, someone quarreled with someone for no reason (In fact, of course, it’s understandable - so the author needed it in order to continue to freely sculpt his writings)))), etc. and so on. There are many such novels, but they are rarely printed, because few people can master them even with a small volume. Runet is littered with such novels, I think that you have watched them more than once.

2. This is the so-called "stream literature", it is printed quite often. Read and forget. For once. Will pull with beer. Such novels can captivate if the author has a good imagination, but they do not touch, do not excite. A certain man went there, found something, then became powerful, and so on. A certain young lady fell in love with a handsome man, from the very beginning it was clear that in the fifth or sixth chapter there would be sex, and in the final they would get married. A certain "nerd" became the chosen one and went to distribute whips and gingerbread left and right, to all those who he did not like and liked. And so on. In general, everything ... such. There are plenty of such novels both on the Web and on bookshelves, and, most likely, while reading this paragraph, you remembered a couple of three, or maybe a dozen or more.

3. These are the so-called "handicrafts" of high quality. The author is a pro and skillfully leads the reader from chapter to chapter, and the ending surprises. However, the author does not write about what he sincerely cares about, but he studies the moods and tastes of readers and writes in such a way that the reader is interested. Such literature is much rarer than the second category. I will not name the authors here, but you are probably familiar with suitable crafts. These are fascinating detective stories and exciting fantasy and beautiful love stories. After reading such a novel, the reader is often satisfied and wants to continue to get acquainted with the novels of his favorite author. They are rarely re-read, because the plot is already familiar and understandable. But if the characters fell in love, then re-reading is quite possible, and reading the author’s new books is more than likely (if he has them, of course).

4. And this category is rare. Novels, after reading which people walk for several minutes, or even hours, as if knocked down, under the impression, often ponder what was written. They can cry. They can laugh. These are novels that stagger the imagination, which help to cope with life's difficulties, to rethink this or that. Almost all classical literature is like that. These are novels that people put on a bookshelf in order to re-read and rethink what they read after some time. Novels that have an impact on people. Novels that are remembered. This is Literature with a capital letter.

Naturally, I'm not saying that choosing and working on a theme is enough to write a strong novel. Moreover, I will say frankly - not enough. But in any case, I think it is clear how important the topic is in a literary work.

The idea of a literary work is inextricably linked with its theme, and that example of the influence of a novel on the reader that I described above in paragraph 4 is unrealistic if the author paid attention only to the topic, but forgot to even think about the idea. However, if the author is concerned about the topic, then the idea, as a rule, is comprehended and worked out by him with the same attention.

What is the idea of a literary work?

The idea is the main idea of the work. It shows the attitude of the author to the theme of his work. It is in this display by artistic means that the difference between the idea of a work of art and a scientific idea lies.

"Gustave Flaubert vividly expressed his ideal of the writer, noting that, like the Almighty, the writer in his book should be nowhere and everywhere, invisible and omnipresent. There are several important works of fiction in which the presence of the author is unobtrusive to the extent that Flaubert wanted it, although he himself failed to achieve his ideal in Madame Bovary, but even in works where the author is ideally unobtrusive, he is nonetheless scattered throughout the book and his absence turns into a kind of radiant presence.As the French say, "il brille par son absence "("shines with its absence")" © Vladimir Nabokov, "Lectures on Foreign Literature".

If the author accepts the reality described in the work, then such an ideological assessment is called an ideological statement.
If the author condemns the reality described in the work, then such an ideological assessment is called an ideological denial.

The ratio of ideological affirmation and ideological negation in each work is different.

It is important not to go to extremes here, and this is very, very difficult. The author who forgets about the idea at the moment, the emphasis on artistry will lose the idea, and the author who forgets about artistry, since he is completely absorbed in the idea, will write journalism. This is neither good nor bad for the reader, because it is a matter of the reader's taste - to choose how to relate to this, however, fiction is precisely what fiction is and precisely what literature is.

Examples:

Two different authors describe the NEP period in their novels. However, after reading the novel by the first author, the reader is filled with indignation, condemns the events described and concludes that this period was terrible. And after reading the novel by the second author, the reader would be delighted, and would draw conclusions that the NEP is a wonderful period in history and will regret that he does not live in this period. Of course, in this example, I am exaggerating, because the clumsy expression of the idea is a sign of a weak novel, poster, popular print - which can cause rejection in the reader, who considers that the author is imposing his opinion on him. But I exaggerate in this example for a better understanding.

Two different authors wrote stories about adultery. The first author condemns adultery, the second understands the reasons for their occurrence, and the main character, who, being married, fell in love with another man, justifies. And the reader is imbued with either the ideological negation of the author, or his ideological affirmation.

Without an idea, literature is waste paper. Because the description of events and phenomena for the sake of describing events and phenomena is not only boring reading, but also tritely stupid. "Well, what did the author mean by that?" - the dissatisfied reader will ask and shrugging his shoulders, he will throw the book into a landfill. Junk, because.

There are two main ways of presenting an idea in a work.

The first - by artistic means, very unobtrusively, in the form of an aftertaste.
The second - through the mouth of the character-resonator or direct author's text. Head-on. In this case, the idea is called a trend.

It is up to you to choose how to present an idea, but a thoughtful reader will surely understand whether the author gravitates toward tendentiousness or artistry.

Plot.

The plot is a set of events and relationships between characters in a work, unfolding in time and space. At the same time, the events and relationships of the characters are not necessarily presented to the reader in a causal or temporal sequence. A simple example for better understanding is a flashback.

Attention: the plot is based on the conflict, and the conflict unfolds due to the plot.

No conflict, no plot.

This is very important to understand. Many "stories" and even "novels" on the Web do not have a plot, as such.

If the character went to the bakery and bought bread there, then came home and ate it with milk, and then watched TV - this is a plotless text. Prose is not poetry, and without a plot, it is usually not accepted by the reader.

And why is such a "story" not a story at all?

1. Exposure.
2. Tie.
3. Development of action.
4. Climax.
5. Decoupling.

It is not at all necessary for the author to use all the elements of the plot; in modern literature, authors often do without exposition, for example, but the main rule of fiction is that the plot must be completed.

More about plot elements and conflict in another topic.

Do not confuse plot with plot. These are different terms with different meanings.
The plot is the content of events in their sequential connection. Causal and temporal.
For a better understanding, I explain: the author conceived the story, in his head the events are arranged in order, first this event happened, then that, this follows from here, and this from here. This is the plot.
And the plot is how the author presented this story to the reader - he kept silent about something, rearranged the events somewhere, and so on. and so on.
Of course, it happens that the plot and the plot coincide when the events in the novel line up strictly according to the plot, but the plot and the plot are not the same thing.

Composition.

Oh, this composition! The weak point of many novelists, and often writers of short stories.

Composition is the construction of all elements of a work in accordance with its purpose, character and content, and largely determines its perception.

Difficult, right?

I'll say it easier.

Composition is the structure of a work of art. The structure of your story or novel.
This is such a big house, consisting of various parts. (for men)
This is such a soup, in which there are just no products! (for women)

Each brick, each soup component is an element of the composition, an expressive means.

The character's monologue, description of the landscape, lyrical digressions and inserted novels, repetitions and point of view on the depicted, epigraphs, parts, chapters and much more.

The composition is divided into external and internal.

The external composition (architectonics) is the volumes of the trilogy (for example), parts of the novel, its chapters, paragraphs.

The internal composition is portraits of characters, descriptions of nature and interiors, point of view or change of points of view, accents, flashbacks and much more, as well as extra-plot components - a prologue, inserted short stories, author's digressions and an epilogue.

Each author strives to find his own composition, to get closer to his ideal composition for a particular work, however, as a rule, in terms of composition, most texts are rather weak.
Why so?
Well, firstly, there are a lot of components, many of which are simply unknown to many authors.
Secondly, it is banal due to literary illiteracy - thoughtlessly placed accents, overdoing it with descriptions to the detriment of dynamics or dialogues, or vice versa - continuous jumping-running-jumping of some cardboard Persians without portraits or continuous dialogue without attribution or with it.
Thirdly, because of the inability to capture the volume of the work and isolate the essence. In a number of novels, without prejudice (and often for the benefit) of the plot, whole chapters can be thrown out. Or, in some chapter, a good third is given information that does not play on the plot and characters of the characters - for example, the author is fond of describing the car up to the description of the pedals and a detailed story about the gearbox. The reader is bored, he scrolls through such descriptions ("Listen, if I need to get acquainted with the device of this car model, I will read the technical literature!"), And the author believes that "This is very important for understanding the principles of driving the car of Peter Nikanorych!" and thereby makes a generally good text dull. By analogy with soup - it is worth overdoing it with salt, for example, and the soup will become too salty. This is one of the most common reasons why executives are encouraged to first practice on small form before taking on novels. However, practice shows that quite a few chief writers seriously believe that literary activity should begin with a large form, because it is exactly what publishing houses need. I assure you, if you think that all you need to write a readable novel is the desire to write it, you are greatly mistaken. You have to learn how to write novels. And learning is easier and with greater efficiency - on miniatures and stories. Despite the fact that the story is a different genre, you can perfectly learn the internal composition by working in this genre.

Composition is a way to embody the author's idea, and a compositionally weak work is the author's inability to convey the idea to the reader. In other words, if the composition is weak, the reader simply will not understand what the author wanted to say with his novel.

Thank you for attention.