Literary notes about structure (AI summary)
The term "structure" in literature serves as a versatile metaphor, appearing both as a descriptor of physical forms and as a symbol of abstract organization. Authors employ it to evoke tangible constructs like architectural edifices or anatomical forms, as seen when describing the ornate design of buildings or the intricate composition of a duck’s beak ([1], [2], [3]), while also using it as a metaphor for internal systems in human experience—be it the framework of faith, society, or narrative itself ([4], [5], [6]). In other instances, "structure" outlines the order within language, art, and even nature, suggesting that disruptions in this order can signify underlying instability or transformation ([7], [8], [9]). This duality allows writers to bridge the gap between the concrete and the conceptual, enriching their depiction of both the material world and the inner architecture of thought.
- The beak of a shoveller-duck (Spatula clypeata) is a more beautiful and complex structure than the mouth of a whale.
— from The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection by Charles Darwin - The wall was built of rough stones, among which, to give strength to the structure, blocks of hewn stone were at intervals imbedded.
— from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet - [485] —a distance quite in keeping with the mighty proportions of the wonderful structure.
— from The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries by W. Y. Evans-Wentz - Tom’s whole structure of faith was shaken to its foundations.
— from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Complete by Mark Twain - Language has a structure independent of things.
— from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress by George Santayana - The Particular Structure of the New Government and the Distribution of Power Among Its Different Parts.
— from The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton and John Jay and James Madison - The rhythmical structure of The Raven was sure to make an impression.
— from The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe - Observe the antithetical structure of this stanza, both in the Stichomuthia , or balance of line against line, and in the lines themselves.
— from Spenser's The Faerie Queene, Book I by Edmund Spenser - —Original nature is represented in human responses in so far as they are determined by the innate structure of the individual organism .
— from Introduction to the Science of Sociology by E. W. Burgess and Robert Ezra Park
