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The narrator of a work of fiction or the speaker of a poem is a creation of the author, just as the characters in the work are. It's easy to confuse the author and the narrator because, in fact, some narrators do speak in a voice that may closely echo that of the writer (for example, in interviews with the writer that you have read). This confusion can also occur easily when a work is autobiographical and has a first-person narrator. Nevertheless, the narrator is a construction---not the same person as the author. To decide whether you should refer to the author or to the narrator, ask yourself the following question. Are you quoting the words of the narrator (or the speaker, in the case of a poem)? If so, you need to attribute those words, and the feelings or ideas directly expressed in them, to the narrator. If you are discussing the artistic effect achieved by those words, or speculating on a meaning suggested by the word, then it is appropriate to refer to the author.For example, suppose you are discussing the following passage from F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby: One of my most vivid memories is of coming back West from prep school and later from college at Christmas time . . . . I remember the fur coats of the girls returning from Miss This-or-That's and the chatter of frozen breath and the hands waving overhead as we caught sign of old acquaintances . . . . It would be incorrect to write the following analysis:
Even though Fitzgerald himself actually did attend prep school, we cannot attribute these memories to the author. It is the narrator, Nick Carraway, who is actually doing the reporting. Instead, the analysis should read as follows:
Remember: The author is outside of the work; the narrator is part of it.
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