Interpretation of literary

§10. Role of the Title in Revealing Conceptual Information of 
the text 
In virtue of its close interaction with the content of the text, the 
title has great importance for revealing conceptual information. 
Sometimes in explicit and concrete form, sometimes in veiled and 
implicit form, the title expresses the scheme, idea, concept incarnated by 
the author in the text. Comprising the quintessence of the book's content, 
the title represents the nucleus of the content conceptual information. At 

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first the title denotes a vague abstract notion, later on it fills with 
concrete meaning. 
In the course of plot development, the words chosen by the author 
for the title begin to acquire some additional, connective shades of 
meaning, extend their semantic structure. The title can be metaphorically 
depicted as a wound up spiral, revealing its potentialities in the process 
of unwinding.
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As an example we can take the title of W.Saroyan's story "Lau-
ghter". The story describes a small episode from school life. Its content 
can be briefly reduced to the following: the teacher, Miss Wissig, makes 
her pupil Ben laugh for a whole hour, because he had laughed at the 
lesson. Laughter— a punishment! Laughter under coercion! The 
conceptions expressed by the word "laughter" in the aspect of the 
described concrete situation distinctively contradict the general 
conception of laughter, containing a positive emotional evaluation. The 
writer imparts quite a different shade of meaning to the word "laughter". 
It is associated with something doleful, sad, joyless and even tragic. This 
thought is getting its development alongside in lime with the unfolding 
of the content-factual information. 
Even the initial lines ("You want me to laugh?" He felt lonely and 
ill in the empty classroom ...) comprise the contrast of moods, rooting, 
on one. Side, in the word "laugh" and, on the other side, in the words 
"ill, lonely". This contrast is increased by the conveyance of feelings 
experienced by the boy: surprise, perplexity (it was strange), fear (it was 
frightening), disgust (it was disgusting), sorrow, sympathy (he felt sorry, 
he was sorry), shame (he was ashamed, shameful weeping in his voice). 
Revealing the child's inner struggle the writer shows how the text of the 
story is modifying the semantics of the title, which acquires the 
following implicit meanings: pity and sorrow, indignation and contempt, 
sympathy and support. 
Very often the title of imaginative texts is connected with content-
conceptual information only indirectly. 
Sometimes the meaning of a title is veiled by a metaphor or metonymy. 
In E.Caldwell's story "Wild Flowers", the title, expressed by a metaphor, 
helps the reader to penetrate deeper into the content of the story, to 
understand its idea. The story shows tragic destiny of two young people 
dismissed and evicted by the landlord. The main idea of the story lies on 
the surface—-it exposes the brutal foundation of bourgeois society. 
Using the example of the young family which for failing to pay the rent 

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was turned out of the house in spite of the fact that the young woman 
was expecting a child, the author shows the calamitous position of the 
destitute working class and exposes cruelty and inhumanity of the 
exploitative class. The title of the story "Wild Flowers" prompts one 
more idea to us. Even before reading the story one can feel that the title 
presents a metaphor comprising a poetic image and this (act helps to 
create a certain emotional predisposition. 
The character of the personages' mutual relations — their genuine love, 
care concern for each other — acquire special significance. In some of 
his stories Caldwell speaks about the influence of poverty in human 
soul, how poverty instigates hungry people to treachery, to mean actions 
and crimes. However in this story we see the opposite —torment 
sufferings and hard conditions do not embitter the hearts of people, don't 
kill their love. If we retrospectively reconsider the whole story in this 
aspect we'll sec the possibility of a new interpretation prompted by the 
title of the story. The poetic image of wild flowers which bloom 
irrespective of conditions and circumstances, irrespective of the soil, on 
which they grow, exhaling fragrance and giving pleasure for the eyes, 
helps the author to show courage, staunchness, strength of spirit and 
love of the two young people who preserved their tender feelings in spite 
of the hard human conditions in which they found themselves. "Wild 
Flowers" is not only a tragic story, it also symbolizes belief in 
kindness, love and beauty. 
A title—symbol reflects the content-conceptual information in the 
most conspicuous manner. The title of J.Galsworthy's novel "The White 
Monkey" can serve as an example. The image of the white monkey, 
given in the title, symbolizes ravageness of the younger generation of 
English bourgeoisie. It is an image of the white monkey from the 
Chinese picture, which Soames presented to his daughter. 
The monkey is eating an orange and throws about its rind, her eyes 
reflecting deep yearning and dissatisfaction. In the yearning eyes of the 
monkey, in her troubled look and dissatisfaction Galsworthy incarnates 
the perception of life by the younger generation of English bourgeoisie. 
The representatives of this generation have no faith, no aim in life, no 
moral principles to guide their conduct by. 
It is possible to classify titles according to their form and CGI or 
CFI reflected in them: I) a title-symbol, 2) a title-thesis, 3) a title—
quotation, 4) a title—report, 5} a title—hint, 6) a title—narration. 

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