ENGL 102W Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Free Indirect Speech, Taco Bell, Jane Austen

• School: Simon Fraser University
• Department: English
• Course: ENGL 102W
• Professor: Anne Higgins

Document Summary

Jane austen has been credited with many innovations in the development of the novel. The most important one (at least for our purposes) is the way that she uses a technique called free indirect discourse. Free indirect discourse is a specific type of focalization that is often described as a fusion between a third person point of view and a first person point of view. In order to understand free indirect discourse, you first need to have an understanding of the differences between direct and indirect discourse. In direct discourse a character"s thoughts are represented explicitly and in the language that the character would use to express them. Taylor thought, i"m literally starving i bet kandice will come with me to taco bell. In indirect discourse a character"s thoughts are expressed by the narrator, using the narrator"s language and the narrator"s point of view: Taylor noticed that she was hungry and wondered if kandice would go with her to.