Man's Search for Meaning | Study Guide
Viktor Frankl
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Study Guide- Overview
- Context
- Key Figures
- Summary
- Section Summaries
- Preface to the 1992 Edition
- Part 1
- Part 2
- Postscript 1984
- Quotes
- Symbols
- Themes
- Author Biography
How to Cite This Study Guide
MLA
Bibliography
Course Hero. "Man's Search for Meaning Study Guide." Course Hero. 20 Dec. 2019. Web. 25 Jan. 2021. <https://www.coursehero.com/lit/Mans-Search-for-Meaning/>.
In text
(Course Hero)
APA
Bibliography
Course Hero. (2019, December 20). Man's Search for Meaning Study Guide. In Course Hero. Retrieved January 25, 2021, from https://www.coursehero.com/lit/Mans-Search-for-Meaning/
In text
(Course Hero, 2019)
Chicago
Bibliography
Course Hero. "Man's Search for Meaning Study Guide." December 20, 2019. Accessed January 25, 2021. https://www.coursehero.com/lit/Mans-Search-for-Meaning/.
Footnote
Course Hero, "Man's Search for Meaning Study Guide," December 20, 2019, accessed January 25, 2021, https://www.coursehero.com/lit/Mans-Search-for-Meaning/.
Overview
Author
Viktor Frankl
Year Published
1946
Type
Nonfiction
Genre
Memoir, Philosophy
Perspective and Narrator
Part 1 of Man's Search for Meaning is an account of the author's World War II (1939–45) concentration camp experiences. Part 2 is an explanation of the lessons the author distilled from those experiences. Both parts are written from the first-person point of view of the author.
Tense
Man's Search for Meaning alternates between the present and past tenses. The narrator uses present tense to express his ideas and address readers. He uses past tense to recount events in the camps and to provide examples of abstract ideas.
About the Title
The title Man's Search for Meaning embodies the basic principle of logotherapy, a meaning-centered psychotherapy developed by the author. This principle stresses that the primary motivational force—the will that drives human beings—is finding and fulfilling meaning in life. Using his own experiences, author Viktor E. Frankl explores the search for meaning in defense against and in defiance of suffering and death.
Diagrams
Summary
This study guide for Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning offers summary and analysis on themes, symbols, and other literary devices found in the text. Explore Course Hero's library of literature materials, including documents and Q&A pairs.
Key Figures
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