Literary notes about during (AI summary)
In literature, "during" is frequently employed as a preposition to set the temporal scene, pinpointing when specific actions or events take place. For instance, it marks the interval in which events unfold, such as "during their flight" when the birds become separated [1] or "during the forenoon" to indicate a shift in public usage [2]. The term also serves to link events to notable historical or situational contexts, as seen when the tumult is described "during an eclipse" [3] or when the struggles of an individual are situated "during his life" [4]. Authors extend its use to denote seasonal, daily, or even duration-specific activity—whether it is the winter in Dresden [5], military movements during early empires [6], or moments of reflection during a night walk [7]. Across these examples, "during" provides a clear temporal framework, enriching narratives by anchoring actions firmly within their unfolding time.
- During their flight the two birds became separated from each other by a dense cloud.
— from Filipino Popular Tales - Some baths are appropriated solely to men; others, only to women; and others, again, to men during the forenoon, and in the afternoon to women.
— from The Thousand and One Nights, Vol. I. - Hence the tumult [ 12 ] made during an eclipse by the Malays, who imagine that if they make a sufficient din they will frighten the monster away.
— from Malay Magic by Walter William Skeat - “During his life,” answered she, “which was above a dozen years, I most solemnly assure you I had not.
— from History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding - I have no recollections of any importance regarding my activities in Dresden during this winter.
— from My Life — Volume 1 by Richard Wagner - 116 To their influence and example we may partly ascribe the modest obedience of the legions during the two first centuries of the Imperial history.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon - At intervals during that day and the next I looked in, and usually found him writing.
— from What Is Man? and Other Essays by Mark Twain
