American Literature / Unit 16 AML 1540 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Metafiction, Paranoia, Entropy
Captions available
The idea
Metafiction is self-conscious fiction that calls attention to its own technique, where the true subject is the writer's consciousness rather than the characters. Paranoia names Pynchon's sense of a hidden vast plot, and entropy, the running down of a universe, is his governing metaphor.
In practice
Three terms, one for each effect.
Where people slip
These three terms are commonly tested.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Something wrong in this lesson? Flag it