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Literary notes about Instructive (AI summary)

In literature, "instructive" is deployed to highlight passages or accounts that not only entertain but also shed light on deeper truths or historical processes. It may denote something that offers a clear lesson, whether in the development of a philosophical idea [1] or through a vivid recounting of events that illustrate broader social or moral principles [2]. Authors often use the term to mark narrative details that educate the reader subtly and effectively, as seen when a historical event is described with an eye for both precision and insight [3]. Similarly, it characterizes dialogues and experiences that enrich character understanding or cultural commentary, adding layers of meaning to the text [4]. This dual function—as both a marker of enlightenment and as an enhancer of narrative texture—is evident throughout classic and modern literature alike [5][6].
  1. p. 406) has given an instructive account of the gradual development in Kant’s mind of the main idea of the Critique of Judgement.
    — from Kant's Critique of Judgement by Immanuel Kant
  2. One of the most instructive proofs of motor localization in the cortex is that furnished by the disease now called aphemia, or motor Aphasia .
    — from The Principles of Psychology, Volume 1 (of 2) by William James
  3. It is instructive to notice that the result in it was the same as in all others fought on the same principle.
    — from The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783 by A. T. Mahan
  4. In this connection it is instructive to compare the child's regard for his brothers and sisters with that which he has for his parents.
    — from A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud
  5. But perhaps, for our purpose, the most instructive of these mimic executions is the following Bohemian one.
    — from The Golden Bough: A Study of Magic and Religion by James George Frazer
  6. “This is most interesting and instructive,” said he.
    — from The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

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