Selected Reading of American Literature

Tutor: Fisch SunOffice Number: A321

Contact: fischsun@gmail.com

Requirements

Attendance of no less than 15 weeks Finish assignment on time Read as widely as possible, even do

some further research No late for class No cell-phone at class time

Assessment

20% of attendance and class participation

10% of paper assignments70% of final examination

Authors and Works Hawthorne Mark Twain Crane Hemingway Fitzgerald Faulkner Steinbeck

Young Goodman Brown Adventure of Huckleberry

FinnThe Red Badge of Courage Indian CampThe Great GatzbyDry September The Grapes of Wrath

Elements of Fiction

*Plot*Character*Point of View

*Theme*Setting*Style*Tone

Plot and StructurePlot- The sequence of incidents or events

through which an author constructs a story.

The king died and then the queen died.

The king died, and then the queen died of grief.

Exposition: the start of the story, the situation before the action starts

Complication : the series of conflicts and crisis in the story that lead to the climax

Climax: the turning point, the most intense moment—either mentally or in action

Falling Action: all of the action which follows the climax

Resolution: the conclusion, the tying together of all of the threads

Plot Components

Important elements of Plot*Conflict- A clash of actions, ideas, desires, or wills

Types of Conflict: character vs. character, character vs. Environment (nature or society), character vs. Self.

*Protagonist- The central character in a conflict *Antagonist- Any force arranged against the protagonist-

whether persons, things, conventions of society, or the protagonists own personality traits.

*Suspense- The quality in a story that makes readers ask “what’s going to happen next?”. In more literary forms of fiction the suspense involves more “why” than “what”. Usually produced through two devices; either mystery (an unusual set of circumstances for which the reader craves an explanation) or dilemma (a position in which a character must choose between two courses of action, both undesirable.)

Charactercharacterization

• Direct Presentation (telling)- The reader is told straight out what the character is like.

• Indirect Presentation (showing)- The author shows the character through their actions, dialogues, psychological revelation… the reader determines what the character is like by what they say or do.

Types of CharactersFlat : Usually

presenting one or two predominant traits. No growth, static.

Static : A character that remains essentially the same throughout.

Round : Complex and many faceted; showing the qualities of real people.

Dynamic: experiencing changes

The adventure of Tom Soyer by Mark Twain

Tom resumed his whitewashing, and answered carelessly: "Well, maybe it is, and maybe it ain't. All I know, is, it suits Tom Sawyer."

"Oh come, now, you don't mean to let on that you like it?"

 The brush continued to move.

 "Like it? Well, I don't see why I oughtn't to like it. Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?"

That put the thing in a new light. Ben stopped nibbling his apple. Tom swept his brush daintily back and forth -- stepped back to note the effect -- added a touch here and there -- criticised the effect again -- Ben watching every move and getting more and more interested, more and more absorbed.

Presently he said: "Say, Tom, let me whitewash a little."

Point of View POV is simply who is telling the story.

Omniscient POV- The story is told in third person by a narrator who has unlimited knowledge of events and characters.

Third Person Limited POV- The story is told in third person but from the view point of a character in the story. POV is limited to the character’s perceptions and shows no direct knowledge of what other characters are thinking, feeling, or doing.

POV (continued)First Person POV- The author disappears into one

of the characters. Shares the limitations of third person limited. Uses the pronouns “I” and “we”.

Objective POV- Records only what is seen and heard. In its purest form, objective POV would consist of only dialogue. Forces the author to refrain from interpretation.

Second Person POV- Uses the pronoun “you”. Infrequently used.

Theme

The theme of a piece of fiction is its controlling idea or its central insight. It is the unifying generalization about life stated or implied by the story.

Theme

a: Them is not the issue, or problem, or subject matter that the author deals with, but rather the comment or statement the author makes about the subject matter.

b: A theme does not exist as an intellectual abstraction that an author adds to the work; it is originated from the interact of the various elements of the work and is organically related to the work’s total structure and texture.

c: It is entirely possible that the intelligent readers will differ, at times radically, on just what the theme of a given work is. Differences of opinion are perfectly acceptable as long as the interpretation being offered is reasonably derived from the facts of the story.

SettingThe setting of a story is its overall context- where, when and in what

circumstances the action occurs.

Setting as Place- The physical environment where the story takes place. The description of the environment often points towards its importance.

Setting as Time- Includes time in all of its dimensions. To determine the importance, ask, “what was going on at that time?”

Setting as Cultural Context- Setting also involves the social circumstances of the time and place. Consider historical events and social and political issues of the time.

Dry September by William Faulkner

 Through the bloody September twilight, aftermath of sixty-two rainless days, it had gone like a fire in dry grass---the rumor, the story, whatever it was. Something about Miss Minnie Cooper and a Negro. Attacked, insulted, frightened: none of them, gathered in the barber shop on that Saturday evening where the ceiling fan stirred, without freshening it, the vitiated air, sending back upon them, in recurrent surges of stale pomade and lotion, their own stale breath and odors, knew exactly what had happened.

Main Functions of Setting

AS a background for action As an antagonist As a means to create a proper

atmosphereAs a means to reveal the personality of a

characterAs a means to reinforce the theme

Style

It refers to the way in which the author uses language, selecting and arranging words to say what he or she wants to say.

In other words, style is made up of an author’s choice and arrangement of diction to convey both a theme and the author’s individuality.

StyleDiction- Central to an author’s style. Includes:

1. Choice of words or syntax 2. Figure of speech

Symbolism; Imagery; Metaphor; Simile; etc

Tone

Author’s implicit attitude toward the reader or the people, places, and events.

Tone may be characterized as serious or ironic, sad or blissful, private or public, angry or affectionate, bitter or nostalgic, or any other attitudes and feelings that human beings experience.

How to Interpret Fiction?

Look at the plot Analyze the charactersIdentify the setting Examine the point of view Analyze the style Focus on symbolism and allegory Identify the themes

How to Interpret Fiction?

What conflicts occur in the story?How are these conflicts developed and resolved?Who are the protagonist and antagonist?What are the characters most striking traits?At what time period and in what geographic location

does the story take place?How does the setting affect the characters and serve for

the theme? Does the writer use imaginative figures of speech ?

What are they?What styles of speech are associated with a particular

character?What is the central theme? Are other themes explored?

Assignment

Close-reading of Young Goodman Brown( page 164)

Retell the story Arrange the sequence of events Identify the characters