Literary notes about Target (AI summary)
The word “target” is employed in literature with remarkable versatility. At times it functions as a literal mark for marksmanship or competition—think of the archery targets and scoring systems described in instructional contexts [1], [2], [3], [4]—while at other moments it becomes a metaphor for the object of misfortune or criticism, as when life itself is depicted as a target constantly under assault [5], [6]. In political and strategic narratives, the term underscores focused intent or vulnerability, identifying both physical aims, such as enemy positions [7], and symbolic ones, as in personal or ideological attacks [8]. Even in playful or ironic contexts, "target" serves as a fulcrum around which character dynamics or social commentary rotate, reinforcing its adaptability across genres [9], [10].
- The apparatus required is some light spears and an archery target.
— from Boy Scouts Handbook by Boy Scouts of America - 3. Make a total score of 300 with 72 arrows, using standard target at a distance of fifty yards.
— from Boy Scouts Handbook by Boy Scouts of America - Now, the puzzle is to say in just how many different ways it is possible to form a square on the target with four shots.
— from Amusements in Mathematics by Henry Ernest Dudeney - The standard target for men is four feet across with a nine-inch bull's-eye, and around that four rings, each four and three quarter inches wide.
— from Boy Scouts Handbook by Boy Scouts of America - “Human life, Mr. Betteredge, is a sort of target—misfortune is always firing at it, and always hitting the mark.
— from The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins - The fact is I was born to be an example of misfortune, and the target and mark at which the arrows of adversity are aimed and directed.
— from Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra - In striking, therefore, at her coal supply, the French politicians were not mistaking their target.
— from The Economic Consequences of the Peace by John Maynard Keynes - The autocracy and inefficiency of the German government provided an excellent target.
— from Psychological Warfare by Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger - And well thou knowest that no target is nigh to make good thy wager.
— from The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle - So she would lie and sob out her grief upon his shoulder, while he gazed at her, as helpless as a wounded animal, the target of unseen enemies.
— from The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
