Hello everyone and welcome back to another #theorythursday. Last week I started a series that I am calling a #backtobasics series. I began by talking about verbs. Today I am continuing on with this #backtobasics series and I am going to talk about nouns.
Let’s dive into Theory Thursday.
What is a noun?
A noun is a word that is used when an author is referring to a person, a place, or a thing. This is the most straightforward explanation of what a noun is.
Let’s take a look at these two sentences that I am making up to use as an example, “The man walked into the house. He was carrying a heavy shopping bag.” The word “man” is a noun as this sentence is referring to a person. The word “house” is another noun as this is the place the man is going to, and the word “bag” is a noun as a shopping bag is a thing. The bag is the thing that the man is carrying.
A noun can also be a word that is used to refer to an idea and this can become slightly more complicated. The idea of justice, the idea of friendship, the idea of honesty etc., these are ideas that are described as being abstract nouns because these are things that cannot be physically held or seen. You can’t see love, you can’t hold love, you can’t physically touch love, but you feel it, and you can express it through actions and words, but love is a feeling, as is anger and fear etc.
Why is it important to understand what a noun is?
As I said in last week’s discussion when I was talking about verbs, I think it is always useful to have a refresher on what certain things mean. This #backtobasics series that I am exploring will be more useful if you are a student as it is simply covering basic ideas that can sometimes get forgotten over time. If you need to write an essay, or you are studying a lot, then it is important to understand what nouns are and what they mean, and so hopefully students may find these particular Theory Thursday discussions helpful.
I also think that sometimes explanations of what these terms mean can be more complicated than they need to be, which is why I explain everything in my own words and create my own examples so that anyone who is interested in literary theory can read about it in a way that I hope is accessible to everyone. You don’t need to have studied English Literature before in order to read my theory discussions which is sometimes the case. I start from scratch and I aim to explain everything in the most straightforward way possible because I believe that having an understanding of literary theory, even down to the basics, will enhance one’s reading experience.
This has been Theory Thursday. I hope you all enjoyed it. I hope you have a lovely weekend. If there is any aspect of literary theory that you find particularly confusing, then please do let me know because I may be able to help.
Kate xo.
Katelovesliterature.com 