Genre
Non-fiction
Setting and Context
Collection of essays
Narrator and Point of View
The essays are written from Lethem's perspective and are heavily informed by his experiences, interests, and opinions.
Tone and Mood
The tone is entertaining and sometimes comical.
Protagonist and Antagonist
Lethem himself might be seen as the protagonist.
Major Conflict
The major conflict of this text is in presenting Lethem's opinions about various works of art.
Climax
The climax of the essay The Ecstasy of Influence is Lethem's set of conclusions about the essential nature of plagiarism.
Foreshadowing
N/A
Understatement
Lethem suggests that often great works of literature and art are understated in popular culture.
Allusions
Lethem makes many pop culture references in this text, from the TV Show M*A*S*H, to thE Mary Tyler Moore Show.
Imagery
Lethem uses imagery to describe language:
"Language, as a vehicle, is a lemon, a hot rod painted with thrilling flames but crazily erratic to drive, riddled with bugs like innate self-consciousness, embedded metaphors and symbols, helpless intertextuality, and so forth."
Paradox
Lethem offers a somewhat paradoxical account of memory, telling us that it is a "rehearsal for a show that never goes on."
Parallelism
The ideas of influence and plagiarism are compared and contrasted in "The Ecstasy of Influence."
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
Surf bubbles are described as "riding" the top of the sea.
