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Literature Study GuidesThe Satanic Verses

The Satanic Verses | Study Guide

Salman Rushdie

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MLA

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Course Hero. "The Satanic Verses Study Guide." Course Hero. 31 Aug. 2017. Web. 30 Mar. 2023. <https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Satanic-Verses/>.

In text

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APA

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Course Hero. (2017, August 31). The Satanic Verses Study Guide. In Course Hero. Retrieved March 30, 2023, from https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Satanic-Verses/

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(Course Hero, 2017)

Chicago

Bibliography

Course Hero. "The Satanic Verses Study Guide." August 31, 2017. Accessed March 30, 2023. https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Satanic-Verses/.

Footnote

Course Hero, "The Satanic Verses Study Guide," August 31, 2017, accessed March 30, 2023, https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Satanic-Verses/.

Overview

The Satanic Verses infographic thumbnail

Author

Salman Rushdie

Year Published

1988

Type

Novel

Genre

Fiction

Perspective and Narrator

The events of The Satanic Verses are narrated in first person by an omniscient narrator. This unusual point of view occurs because the story is narrated by the devil, who at times speaks directly to the reader and refers to himself in the first person. However, being a supernatural being, he narrates from all perspectives, sometimes narrating the same events more than once, from two or more different perspectives.

Tense

The Satanic Verses is written in the past tense.

About the Title

The title The Satanic Verses refers to an event, recorded in some stories of Muhammad's life, in which he mistakenly believed words from the devil were verses of angelic revelation. The verses seemed to acknowledge three goddesses as divine beings whose favor is to be desired. In the story, which is contested by many scholars and generally thought to be inaccurate, Muhammad later says that the verses are not from Allah, but from Satan. These verses came to be known as the "satanic verses." Rushdie includes a fictionalized account of this story as one of Gibreel Farishta's dream sequences.

Summary

This study guide and infographic for Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses offer 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.

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