Showing and Telling as Techniques in Literary Writing: A Study of Selected Corpora from Ayi Kwei Armah’s The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born

Citation: Maria Jennifer Iyere, Acheoah John Emike, "Showing and Telling as Techniques in Literary Writing: A Study of Selected Corpora from Ayi Kwei Armah’s The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born", Universal Library of Languages and Literatures, Volume 01, Issue 01.

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

This paper examines Showing and Telling as discrete literary techniques in fiction, through a study of selected samples from Ayi Kwei Armah’s (168) The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born. There are a wide range of techniques deployed by literary writers in conveying themes, and such techniques are chosen for specific reasons. This study hinges on theText Analysis Theory. The theory is suitable for the study as it explains how clause structure impinges on the narration of experiences, actions and events in literary texts. The study concludes that showing and telling perform significant functions in narration: providing useful details, describing settings, amplifying themes, making narration believable, and facilitating interpretation of events from readers’ end. Although neither of the two techniques should be extraneous in a literary text, literary writers should combine both techniques for effective writing.

Keywords: Literary Writing, Showing, Telling, Fiction, Text Analysis Theory, The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born

https://doi.org/10.70315/uloap.ullli.2024.0101003