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Literary notes about Opening (AI summary)

The word "opening" in literature functions as a versatile motif that bridges the literal and the figurative. It often evokes the image of a physical threshold—a door, an entrance, or even a gateway—providing passage from one state to another, as when a door is swung aside to reveal what lies beyond [1][2] or a narrow gap offers a glimpse into a room [3]. Beyond its tangible implications, "opening" frequently marks the inception of ideas or phases in a narrative. It can introduce a work through initial lines that set the tone [4][5][6], signal the start of an important venture or period, such as the beginning of a shop or a new act in a play [7][8], or even symbolize the natural unfolding of life through motifs like budding flowers [9] or the gradual emergence of thought [10][11]. This dual capacity to denote both concrete passage and conceptual beginnings enriches literary language by inviting readers to explore transitional moments on various levels.
  1. He seized the lock, turned the key, and opening the door, saw his wife and Limousin standing before him on the stairs.
    — from Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant
  2. Opening the door, he glided inside, leaving the door ajar.
    — from Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
  3. At last his father and mother were aroused by it, and ran to the room and looked in through the opening in the door.
    — from Grimm's Fairy Stories by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm
  4. It is thus that the tragedy of Menalippus originally began, but the clamour of the Athenians compelled Euripides to change these opening lines.
    — from Emile by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
  5. These opening bars he sang and translated extempore .
    — from Ulysses by James Joyce
  6. (2) Pay special attention to the opening sentence.
    — from Helps to Latin Translation at Sight by Edmund Luce
  7. M. Baret will be able to come and sleep with you every night, and start early enough in the morning to be in time for the opening of his shop.”
    — from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova
  8. At the opening of the Second Act we see him with Fleance crossing the court of the castle on his way to bed.
    — from Shakespearean Tragedy: Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth by A. C. Bradley
  9. And she turned to spring and the opening buds.
    — from The Rainbow by D. H. Lawrence
  10. It is the infant Thought of man opening itself, with awe and wonder, on this ever-stupendous Universe.
    — from On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History by Thomas Carlyle
  11. If another and a better future is opening, let us see it and rejoice in it as a new gift of Providence.
    — from History of Woman Suffrage, Volume I

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