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Literary notes about YOURSELF (AI summary)

In literature, the term "yourself" functions as a multifaceted device that emphasizes personal identity, self-reflection, and individual responsibility. Authors often use it to prompt characters toward introspection or self-assessment, as when someone is urged to "know yourself" [1] or to "look at what you yourself are saying" [2]. In other instances, it instructs characters to take action or care of themselves—commands like "calm yourself" [3] or directives for self-preservation can be found throughout various narratives [4]. Furthermore, "yourself" can underline the intimacy or personal nature of a statement, inviting readers to consider the inner workings of character behavior and emotion, as seen when personal judgments or declarations are made, like advising one to "speak openly to me as you would to yourself" [5]. This versatile usage enriches character dialogue and deepens the exploration of both personal and social identity within the text.
  1. Know yourself, Raymond, and your indignation will cease; your complacency return.
    — from The Last Man by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
  2. Look at what you yourself are saying to me!"
    — from The Best Short Stories of 1917, and the Yearbook of the American Short Story
  3. ‘Calm yourself
    — from The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
  4. If rescuers are near, it would be much better to support yourself on the edge of the ice and wait for them to come to you.
    — from Boy Scouts Handbook by Boy Scouts of America
  5. “N-no...” “Believe me, you can speak openly to me as you would to yourself!
    — from Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

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