Literary notes about List (AI summary)
The word "list" is used in literature with a surprising range of functions that enrich both its narrative and poetic dimensions. In older texts it sometimes serves as a call to attention, inviting readers to "listen" as in the exhortation to hear the tread of travelers ([1]). More frequently, however, "list" appears as a noun signifying a catalogue or an ordered record—be it of names representing fated destinies ([2]), of structured orders like those of prisoners ([3]) or moral virtues ([4]), or even as a tool for practical tasks in technical contexts ([5]). At times it even transcends its common usage to become a surname, adding to the character and wit of a passage ([6]). Thus, across a variety of genres and eras, "list" is not only a means of cataloguing information but also a device that invites a deeper engagement with the text.
- Peace! lie down; lay thine ear close to the ground, and list if thou canst hear the tread of travellers.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare - Artfully counterfeiting his master's hand, he showed them, in a long and bloody list, their own names devoted to death.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon - The prisoners were placed in a certain order, according to the list (Pierre was sixth), and were led to the post.
— from War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy - On the contrary, there are acknowledged to be many forms of moral virtue, and there is a long list of them, with their correlative vices enumerated.
— from The Ethics of Aristotle by Aristotle - Using the down-arrow key, highlight the free space entry in the partition list.
— from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass - ‘Don’t be hard upon him, Jowl,’ said Isaac List.
— from The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens
