The anthology Is a compilation of different texts that have some relation to each other, either because they belong to the same author, or are from different authors but with a common theme.
The anthology has the advantage of bringing together in one place the most outstanding or remarkable about a theme or author; Therefore, requires research and analysis to select what is truly important.
The term comes from the Greek"anthos"meaning"flowers", and"legein"meaning"to choose". It can be said then that in the anthology the best of several pieces is selected to regroup them into a new product, be it literary, musical, scientific, etcetera.
The most popular and popular anthologies have been given in the field of poetry, stories and essays, but there may be musical anthologies, cinematographic and in almost any artistic field.
Every anthology is partial, personal and arbitrary, since it obeys the subjective criterion of its compiler.
However, all in general serve the purpose of offering the reader several angles or points of view on the subject addressed, presenting them with the greatest possible impartiality, so that the reader himself can deepen and elaborate a conclusion based on what has been read, seen Or heard.
Also, the presentation of the anthology must have a coherent order, be it chronological, deductive or inductive.
Main parts of the Anthology
In the following case will explain the parts that must have a written anthology, ie related to some literary genre, although many of them are perfectly translatable to any other type of anthologies, such as a musical anthology, cinematographic, works of art, etcetera .
Cover page
Where will appear the data of the compiler, editor or author of the anthology and, of course, the name or title of the same one. It may or may not be accompanied by any image, illustration or photograph allusive to the content, or some simply decorative.
Dedication
Short text in which the author dedicates the work to one or more persons and / or institutions. It should not be confused with acknowledgments, since the latter refer to those who collaborated to carry out the project.
In some cases the dedication can be to people who have already died or even non-human beings (to God, to life, etc.).
Presentation
It is a sheet that shows the basic data of the anthology, such as the name of the work, the name of the author, the date, name of the publisher, etc.
If it is a school or university job, then also the data of the school or university, city and country of the same, as well as the subject to which the work belongs.
In some cases, the name of the teacher of the subject is also placed, as well as the degree or year and section to which the author belongs (in this case, the student).
Index
It is the list of all the chapters that contains the anthology with the number of the page where each one begins.
It should be structured from the most general to the most particular and can include sub-themes or sub-chapters to better organize the information. You can go to the beginning or the end of the post.
The index is very useful because it helps to locate the reader without having to browse through the book to quickly find a particular data.
The index is the part of the book that is made last, since the page number that is reported in it has to match the actual page number, and this can not be known until the full content is Be sure that it will no longer be modified.
Preface or Introduction
It is the rational explanation of the work; An introduction that places the reader in what is about to find, explaining how the work is presented in terms of division, chapters, and so on.
The prologue can be written by the author himself or by someone who knows much about the subject, who previously read the anthology and wants to discuss it for readers.
In short, the prologue is where it explains how and why the content was organized in the way it was done and warned the points that should be taken into account for the understanding of reading.
To write the prologue you can use a direct (personal, speaking directly to the reader in first person) or indirect (more impersonal, written in third person, establishing a greater distance between author and reader).
The prologue is not a fictional text, so it must have a logical order and a coherent structure. It may or may not include at the end the thanks to those who participated or contributed to the realization of the anthology.
For all of the above, it is understood that the prologue, despite being at the beginning of the book, is written at the end of its elaboration.
Identification of fragments
As already explained, the anthology is a collection of parts, therefore, these parts must be clearly identified.
Whether each chapter of the book belongs to a different author, or in the same chapter there are paragraphs or fragments of different authors, they must be accompanied (either at the beginning or the end) by the title of the work and the name Of the author of the selected fragment.
It should also be cited in quotation marks, with italic typeface (italics) or preceded by the word"Fragment"so that it is clear which parts of the book are their own and which belong to the compiler.
Comments
They are compiler reviews that guide the reader to facilitate reading comprehension. They can be done at the beginning of each chapter or where the compiler considers it pertinent.
Another meaning of Anthology
As already mentioned, the anthology brings together outstanding pieces, remarkable, superior, worthy of highlighting.
That is why the meaning of"anthology"is also commonly used as a term to describe something very good, extraordinary, worthy of being highlighted... will then be something of anthology or something anthological.
References
- Definition of Anthology. Retrieved from concept.definition and definition.de.
- Elaboration of anthologies (2007). Unit of Academic Formation of Teachers of the Autonomous University of Aguascalientes. Recovered from uaa.mx.
- Anthology. Recovered from es.wikipedia.org.