Literary notes about shown (AI summary)
The word "shown" functions as a versatile device in literature, often signifying both a literal display and a metaphorical revelation. In some cases, it refers to concrete objects or visual details—as when an illustration or artifact is presented to the reader ([1], [2], [3])—while in other instances it marks the unveiling of abstract ideas or character traits, such as demonstrating an argument or exposing a hidden quality ([4], [5], [6]). Authors also employ "shown" to emphasize sudden, dramatic revelations or the manner in which a character’s essence or actions are revealed over time ([7], [8], [9]), thereby linking visual description with narrative disclosure. This dual usage underscores the technique of making the unseen seen, whether it is a tangible object or an intangible quality, deepening both thematic and aesthetic engagement with the text ([10], [11]).
- The folding cup shown in the illustration is made of brass and is nickel plated.
— from Boy Scouts Handbook by Boy Scouts of America - This got accidentally torn in half, so that 3 0 was on one piece and 2 5 on the other, as shown on the illustration.
— from Amusements in Mathematics by Henry Ernest Dudeney - Arrange them in a circle, as shown in the illustration.
— from Amusements in Mathematics by Henry Ernest Dudeney - 80 All abstract knowledge gives only motives; but, as was shown above, motives can only alter the direction of the will, not the will itself.
— from The World as Will and Idea (Vol. 1 of 3) by Arthur Schopenhauer - I have shown that children have not the mental development they appear to have, while they really do what they seem to do.
— from Emile by Jean-Jacques Rousseau - It has been shown already that a surety could be sued in debt until the time of Edward III.
— from The Common Law by Oliver Wendell Holmes - Do you remember your last letter to me, three weeks ago?” “Can you have shown her that?” cried Stepan Trofimovitch, leaping up in horror.
— from The possessed : by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - You have not shown yourself since the day before yesterday and she is expecting the money.
— from The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - though of late he has been so weak that he has hardly shown himself even to the people.”
— from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - If education had the smallest value, it should have shown its force in Gladstone, who was educated beyond all record of English training.
— from The Education of Henry Adams by Henry Adams - History has shown it to be the enormous advantage of monarchies that they unify the political interests of the popular mass.
— from Introduction to the Science of Sociology by E. W. Burgess and Robert Ezra Park
