Literary notes about typify (AI summary)
In literature, "typify" is employed to indicate that a person, object, or phenomenon embodies certain characteristic qualities or represents a broader idea. Writers use the term to draw a link between a specific instance and an entire class or concept, as when a portrait of an old man and a boy is used to embody the spirit of liberty [1] or when a free-born Virginian effortlessly represents the experiences of an entire group [2]. The word also bridges concrete imagery with abstract qualities, such as linking regal symbols to the notion of sovereignty [3] or uniting intricate designs with conceptual themes [4], [5]. Thus, typification becomes a crucial device for encapsulating and communicating complex cultural, social, or emotional attributes in a succinct creative gesture.
- In that inspiring painting, "The Spirit of '76," the old man and the boy, equals in enthusiasm, typify the soul love of liberty of an aroused people.
— from Letters from an Old Railway Official. Second Series: [To] His Son, a General Manager by Charles De Lano Hine - Let one life typify all: Louise De Mortie, a free-born Virginia girl, had lived most of her life in Boston.
— from Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil by W. E. B. Du Bois - The god wears the white crown with feathers, and he holds in his hands a sceptre, a crook, and whip, or flail, which typify sovereignty and dominion.
— from Egyptian Ideas of the Future Life by Budge, E. A. Wallis (Ernest Alfred Wallis), Sir - The two examples typify the ornate and the simple in design.
— from Chats on Old Sheffield Plate by Arthur Hayden - They typify the fixation and the organization of meanings.
— from How We Think by John Dewey
