“a long, written story, about imaginary people and events” long: “war and peace” by leo...

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What is a novel? A long, written story, about imaginary people and events” Long: “War and peace” by Leo Tolstoy = 1000 pages A short story or story is about eighty pages long Written: “not a poetry ” like the one we did of William Blake, but in prose Imaginary people and event: it does not strictly apply to historical novels (War and Peace for instance deals with the war between France and Russia and Napoleon)

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  • Slide 1
  • A long, written story, about imaginary people and events Long: War and peace by Leo Tolstoy = 1000 pages A short story or story is about eighty pages long Written: not a poetry like the one we did of William Blake, but in prose Imaginary people and event: it does not strictly apply to historical novels (War and Peace for instance deals with the war between France and Russia and Napoleon)
  • Slide 2
  • 18 th Century English Novel The modern novel was born in England between the end of 17 th century and the beginning of the 18 th century due to big social and economic transformations or as we say in English make-over. The first important novels were: Robinson Crusoe (1719)(where he relates his shipwreck in minute detail in a journal) and Moll Flanders (1722) by DANIEL DEFOE Tom Jones (1749) by HENRY FIELDING Gullivers Travels (1726) by JONATHAN SWIFT
  • Slide 3
  • The modern novel: becomes very popular with the middle class for different reasons: Actual time (novels are stories of now) Man in his true physical setting: poor or rich, Man who feel sensations; Centered in the individual Emergence of the woman from under the veil Conflict between bourgeois values (money, advancement justice retribution) and traditional values of the gentleman (manner, fashion, noblesse oblige)
  • Slide 4
  • The increase of literacy (alfabetizzazione) was also helped by many factors: (p. 92) The expansion of commercial printing (the most important from the time of Gutemberg (1450) The spread of circulating libraries The popularity of bookselling (also second-hand books) The Copyright Act (1709) which safeguard the authors from having their work reproduced without their permission and which enabled them to have some profits from sales, thus becoming professional writers in the modern sense
  • Slide 5
  • First and third-person narrator First- person narrator: the story is told by an I who may be the main character in the novel. Vocabulary: Plot: what happens in it. A summary of a plot is called synopsis Setting is the time and place, the where and when of the plot. Third-person narrator: the story is told by a narrator outside the story, who refers to the characters by their names, or by he or she. An advantage over the first- person narrator is that there is greater liberty to move around in time and place and to include more characters.
  • Slide 6
  • Narrator the omniscient point of view: means that the narrator knows everything about the events and the characters and knows their thoughts and motives the intrusive narrator: tells the reader things, commenting on the characters and explaining events. The objective (or unintrusive narrator) simply shows things, without commenting or explaining: he is more like a camera. Multiple narrators and multiple points of view A writer may choose to let several narrators tell the story from different points of view
  • Slide 7
  • Characters The people in a novel are referred as characters, and the way the novelist presents them to us is called characterization. Flat characters: are two-dimensional and do not change during the course of a novel. They are often described briefly, with one or two vivid details Round Characters: have complex personalities and normally develop during the course of a novel. Like people in real life they reveal themselves gradually, they can surprise us. They tend to be a mixture of main characters, to be round. Charles Dickens was able to create great flat characters
  • Slide 8
  • Style Is a world that we use every day. We talk about different styles of clothes, cooking, furniture, playing footballand different styles of writing. Instinctively, we probably all agree on identifying styles of writing such as romantic, simple, journalistic, bureaucratic, scientific, and so on. But to talk about the style, or styles, used in a novel, we need to be more explicit. It is a useful first step to look at the syntax and the vocabulary.
  • Slide 9
  • Style and symbols Plain style: simple syntax and vocabulary Complex style: complex syntax and vocabulary which reflects the philosophical, psychologicalpoint of view of the character. Similes (explicit comparisons) and metaphors (implicit comparisons): can be seen as ways of using denotations (refers to the literal meaning of a word) and connotations (refers to the associations that are connected to a certain word or the emotional suggestions related to that word)of words to produce a special, powerful effect. Generally speaking, symbols are signs _ words or pictures which represent something else. The use of symbols is called symbolism.
  • Slide 10
  • What is a theme of a novel? The theme of a novel is its main ideas. For instance, a main theme of the novel "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain is whether racism is correct or not. A simile is a literary device where the writer employs the words "like" or "as" to compare two different ideas. It can be a strong word to use as a describing word in a simile or metaphor. He flew like a dove He is acting like a clown.
  • Slide 11
  • Similes and metaphors A simile is a literary device where the writer employs the words "like" or "as" to compare two different ideas. It can be a strong word to use as a describing word in a simile or metaphor. He flew like a dove He is acting like a clown A metaphor is similar to a simile, however this literary device makes a comparison without the use of "like" or "as". He has a hyena's laugh. Her face is a garden.
  • Slide 12
  • Lamb to the Slaughter Roald Dahl Mary slowly heads to the garage where she takes a frozen leg of lamb out of the freezer. She brings it into the kitchen and unwraps it. When she returns, Patrick is getting ready to leave. She hits him on the back of the head with the frozen leg of mutton she has brought from the cellar. the lamb, symbol of innocence is used as a murder weapon the lamb is also an explicit religious symbol, and, here, instead of being sacrificed on the altar of the Jewish Passover (Pasqua Ebraica) or metaphorically in the person of Jesus Christ. As soon as Mrs. Maloney puts the meat in the oven, the reader knows that the police will never find the murder weapon.
  • Slide 13
  • The Open Window - Saki "The Open Window'' is Saki's most popular short story Saki's wit is at the height of its power in this story of a spontaneous practical joke played upon a visiting stranger. The practical joke recurs in many of Saki's stories, but "The Open Window'' is perhaps his most successful and best known example of the type. Saki dramatizes here the conflict between reality and imagination, demonstrating how difficult it can be to distinguish between them. Not only does the unfortunate Mr. Nuttel fall victim to the story's joke, but so does the reader. The reader is at first inclined to laugh at Nuttel for being so gullible (credulone).
  • Slide 14
  • William Blake- pre-romantic and romantic poetry O Rose, thou art sick! The invisible worm That flies in the night, In the howling storm, Has found out thy bed Of crimson joy: And his dark secret love Does thy life destroy.
  • Slide 15
  • William Blake In William Blakes poem, The Sick Rose, the narrator describes the devastating effects of addiction and obsession. The term rose as used by Blake in this context is a metaphor for a young, pure, innocent woman. The innocent rose, is unaware of the dangers that the worm, her addiction, poses to her life. The insidious worm, whether it be an older married man, alcohol or heroin, manifests itself in the night while the world sleeps. Once the worm enters the young womans bedroom, after flying through the howling storm, she succumbs to its dark secret appeal.
  • Slide 16