Stream of consciousness — English definition
A technique that renders the continuous, unfiltered flow of a character's thoughts, often loosely ordered and associative.
Where it is taught
- Characterization & Narrative Technique — Close Reading & Literary Analysis, English 11: American Voices, Identity & Public Memory, Grade 11
In use
Modernist writers pushed narration inward with stream of consciousness, which renders the raw, associative flow of a mind before it has been tidied into orderly sentences.
Characterization & Narrative Technique
Questions using stream of consciousness
Problem 1
Which passage style best fits STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS?
- The prose follows a character's thoughts as they leap, unfiltered and loosely linked, from a smell to a memory to a sudden worry.
- A character's speech is set off with quotation marks and dialogue tags.
- The narrator directly states each character's single defining trait.
- A neutral narrator lists the events of the day in tidy order.
Answer and explanation
The prose follows a character's thoughts as they leap, unfiltered and loosely linked, from a smell to a memory to a sudden worry.
Stream of consciousness renders the raw, associative flow of a mind, jumping between sensations, memories, and worries the way real thought does.