Literary notes about SCREAM (AI summary)
Literature uses the word "scream" as a potent auditory symbol that encapsulates the extremes of human emotion. It can signify sudden terror and physical pain—as when a character’s cry of agony punctuates a violent encounter ([1],[2],[3])—or express the overwhelming intensity of inner turmoil and despair ([4],[5]). At times, it also conveys unexpected bursts of joy or mischief ([6],[7]), blurring the line between fear and exuberance. Moreover, the term is applied not only to human experience but also to nature and even inanimate causes, suggesting a universal, primal response to crisis ([8],[9]). In these varied contexts, "scream" transforms from a mere descriptive term into a multi-layered motif that enhances narrative tension and deepens the reader’s emotional engagement ([10],[11]).
- This state lasted but for an instant; the scream was repeated, and I rushed into the room.
— from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley - The coachman turning around, gave Friquet a slash with his whip which made him scream with pain.
— from Twenty years after by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet - The dead woman rose for a moment of agony, while she was lapped in the flame, and her bitter scream of pain was drowned in the thundercrash.
— from Dracula's Guest by Bram Stoker - Had he screamed in agony, that scream would not have struck such horror into Princess Mary’s heart as the tone of his voice.
— from War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy - In despair Mr. Prohartchin tried to speak, to scream, but his voice failed him.
— from White Nights and Other Stories by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - Katie always greeted his return from the woods with a scream of joy, holding up her fair arms to clasp the neck of her dark favourite.
— from Roughing It in the Bush by Susanna Moodie - “Hit!” shouted I, with something between a scream and a cheer.
— from The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells - I heard the owl scream and the crickets cry.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare - But the bird set up such a loud scream that all the soldiers awoke, and they took him prisoner and carried him before the king.
— from Grimms' Fairy Tales by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm - The scream had been heard but a few seconds when it was followed by sudden deafening report that echoed through the room and stupefied them all.
— from Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy - The creature IS nervous, after all. LIZA [gives a suffocated scream of fury, and instinctively darts her nails at his face]!!
— from Pygmalion by Bernard Shaw
