An axiom is a maxim or aphorism whose truth is held to be self-evident. In logic an axiom is a premise accepted as true without the need of demonstration and is used in building an argument. (Handbook to Literature)
Origin
late 15th cent.: from French axiome or Latin axioma, from Greek axiōma ‘what is thought fitting,’ from axios ‘worthy.’ (New Oxford American)
Axiom Writing Exercise
What axiom does your main character hold? How might this axiom align with or challenge a reader’s preconceptions?
Choose a section you are currently writing and explore the main character’s axiom. Build a scene in which the main character’s focus is on this axiom and feels misunderstood by another character.
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“[Much like consonance], assonance is generally a patterning of vowel sounds without regard to consonants. The patterning may be successive” (A Handbook to Literature). “Repetition of vowel sounds in a sequence of words with different endings—for example, ‘The death of the poet was kept from his poems’ in W. H. Auden’s ‘In Memory of W. B. Yeats'” (Norton).
Origin
early 18th cent.: from French, from Latin assonare ‘respond to,’ from ad- ‘to’ + sonare (from sonus ‘sound’). (New Oxford American)
Assonance Writing Exercise
Choose a section of summary narration from a current writing project that is close to being completed. Summary narrations are excellent moments for using lyrical language to not only add atmosphere but also to drawn your reader more closely. Using the above example, employ the same repetitive vowel phonetics in a line or two of your summary narration. Study the rest of the section for moments when the same assonance might be used in order to create additional fluidity. You might also open and close the summary narration with the same vowel repetition. Revisiting a previous linguistic pattern can create an effective cyclical movement within a section. It can also be a way to alert the reader to the patterning.
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Arkhe is of Greek origin [arche] meaning primary as of the senses or “the beginning.” The Greek prefix can be found in archetype.
Arkhe Writing Exercise
What was the impetus for your current writing project? If you cannot remember the exact moment when the idea struck, what would you say is the primary intention for this work as you create it now?
If you’re having trouble answering this question, don’t worry. This is a difficult question for many writers, and it should be. We often do not know what the primary intention is as we are writing the work. In fact, it is in the act of writing the work that we begin to unveil the intention, sort of like trying to quiet our conscious selves so that our subconsciouses can speak to us.
Whether or not you subscribe to Jung’s archetypal (primordial) theories, we can agree that we hold within us a vault of symbols we’ve developed from the beginning of our lives. Some of these symbols (archetypes) are shared among many or even all consciousnesses and subconsciousness simply because we live in a shared world. For instance, we would be hard-pressed to find a person who does not understand what a cross signifies or thumbs up, a smile or a frown.
Arkhe in literature can be fun with which to play. Your reader will have primordial expectations and so you can align with these expectations and/or challenge them at the most fundamental levels. For instance, if your character smiles when s/he is angry, this is a challenge to the arkhe. The first time the reader understands this about the character, it then becomes a shared secret and anticipation that other characters will not yet understand. By turning the character’s smile/arkhe into an irony, the narrative simultaneously deepens in characterization and draws the reader intimately into the narrative. When creating unique attributes for your characters, playing with arkhe’s can be the most effective as they challenge the reader’s primordial preconceptions.
What arkhe does your character possess that would make an ironic attribute if inverted? Revise a scene where your character unveils this ironic arkhe.
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