While we often talk about a novel in terms of its broad themes, we can frequently discover rich nuances simply by focusing on individual, highly “textured” words in the text — where they appear, how they are used, what their significance is outside of the text, and what their significance is inside the text. For this investigation you will analyze a single word (including various stems of that word) from Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle’s Lucifer’s Hammer. Think of this assignment as an extreme sports version of close reading.
- Pick a single “textured” word and trace its use in Lucifer’s Hammer using Google Books. Note how often the words occurs, in what contexts, how it might be clustered, and any thing else significant about the word’s appearance, prevalence, and relevance.
- Write a post that considers the patterns that emerge from this word’s use: Is it associated with one character or context? Does its meaning shift throughout the novel? Are there exceptions to the pattern? Are there differences between the literal and symbolic use of the word? Are there tensions between the word’s use in the novel and its use in everyday, real life? What themes come into focus by concentrating on this individual word?