the basics of understanding literature. fiction fiction comes from the latin fingere/fictio, which...
TRANSCRIPT
The Basics of Understanding Literature
FICTIONFiction comes from the Latin fingere/fictio, which means “to form” or “to create” and composition, pretence, invention.” It is therefore the storytelling of imagined events, produced by the imagination and is not necessarily based on fact, even if Fictional works may, however, include or reference factual occurrences.
in contrast to non-fiction, which makes factual claims about reality.
Think about the last 5 –10 Think about the last 5 –10 things you read things you read
You may have thought You may have thought about…about…
NovelsNewspapersAspirin bottleComic booksDirectionsRecipesInternet pages
There are three main There are three main purposes for readingpurposes for reading
Reading to be informed
Reading for literary experience
Reading to perform task
Reading to be informed is reading to gain information.
Reading for literary experience is reading for enjoyment.
Reading to perform a task is reading to accomplish a specific job.
The Very BasicsFiction
Any writing or story that is made upOpposite of…nonfiction
Short StoryBrief fiction work.Only one or two main ideas usually.
NovelLonger fiction work with more complex eventsMore people, actions, and main ideas
NOVEL
50,000 words or more
Many characters
Complex story
Deeper understanding of life or individuals
NOVEL
50,000 words or more
Many characters
Complex story
Deeper understanding of life or individuals
SHORT STORY
5,000 words or less
Few or one character
Focuses on one event
Better understanding of an event or character
SHORT STORY
5,000 words or less
Few or one character
Focuses on one event
Better understanding of an event or character
Plot
Theme
Setting
Character
Point of View
Plot is the literary element that describes the structure of a story. It shows the arrangement of events and actions within a story.
Plot mustn't be confused withb) story, which refers to the sequence of events in a chronological order. The story is known to the writer, who has in mind from the beginning the series of facts and incidents he is going to narrate, and chooses to present them to the reader integrated into a certain plot in order to create determined effects. The author reveals his skill as a writer through the careful blending of the following basic elements of the plot:
Exposition
Ris
ing A
ctio
n Falling A
ction
Climax
Resolution
PLOTPlot Components:1. Exposition: the start of the story, the situation
before the action starts2. Rising Action: the series of conflicts and crises
in the story that leads to the climax3. Climax: the turning point, the most intense
moment—either mentally or in action4. Falling Action: all of the action which follows
the climax5. Resolution: the conclusion, the tying together
of all of the threads
The major problem in a story.Internal
person vs. selfExternal
person vs. person person vs. society person vs. nature
Character trapped by circumstances of birth Character trapped by circumstances of birth
Character falsely accused by society Character falsely accused by society
Character feels apart from society and Character feels apart from society and discovers own valuesdiscovers own values
Great ExpectationsGreat ExpectationsEnglish Society during the Industrial AgeEnglish Society during the Industrial AgeTrapped between two worldsTrapped between two worldsMiddle class audienceMiddle class audience
“... my infant tongue could make of both names nothing longer or more explicit than Pip. So, I called myself Pip, and came to be called Pip. ...”
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Individual’s triumph over cultural expectations of society
Character finds inner strength despite poor Character finds inner strength despite poor oddsodds
Character must develop moral compass Character must develop moral compass
Character must discover self-worthCharacter must discover self-worth
Defoe Dickens Hawthorne
Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Own sense of morality
Journeyed along Mississippi River
Defines who he is as a man
Returns home—”outgrown” society
“But I reckon I got to light out for the Territory aheadof the rest, because Aunt Sally she's going to adoptme and civilize me, and I can't stand it. I been therebefore.”
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
High-seas adventure
Forsakes everything to hunt the great whale
“Enveloped in the whale-lines”
“All men live enveloped in whale-lines. All are born with halters round their necks; but it is only when caught in the
swift, sudden turn of death, that mortals realize the silent, subtle, ever present perils of life.”
Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Good vs. evil
Frodo
“I will take the Ring,” he said,“though I do not know the way.” —Frodo
Elrond raised his eyes and looked at him...“This is the hour of the Shire-folk, when they arisefrom their quiet fields, to shake the towers and counsels of the Great. Who of all the Wise could have foreseen it?”
One character must battle another character to gain power, true love, freedom, justice or acceptance
One group of characters must free themselves from another
One character must confront another to survive
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Creature
Companionship
“All men hate the wretched; how, then, must I be hated, who am miserable beyond all living things! Yet you, my creator, detest and spurn me, thy creature, to whom thou art bound by ties only dissoluble by the annihilation of one of us. You purpose to kill me.
How dare you sport thus with life? Do your duty towards me, and I will do mine towards you and the rest of mankind.”
War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
Science Fiction masterpiece
War erupts: Martians and mankind
“Yet across the gulf of space, minds that are to our minds as ours are to those of the beasts that perish, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely drew their plans against us.”
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Plane crash—boys left marooned on island
Psychologically fascinating yet horrifying
Mankind’s worst qualities exposed
“But Ralph soon regained his senses. Homesick and tired, he again competed with Jack for the role of leader. Sensing Jack's unstable nature, most of the boys again voted for Ralph, whereupon, Jack gathered his loyal hunters and struck out into the jungle to become his own tribal chieftain.”
CharactersCharactersPeople who take part in the story!!
Main Main CharactersCharacters
Characters who the events of the story center
around.
Minor Minor CharactersCharacters
Less important
characters. The story does not revolve
around them.
ProtagonistThe “good guy.” The leading character in a particular story.
AntagonistThe “bad guy.” The character who strives against the protagonist.
CHARACTERSThe people (or animals, things, etc. presented as
people) appearing in a literary work.
1. Round Characters are convincing, true to life; have many different and sometimes even contradictory personality traits,(Dynamic Characters) they undergo some type of change or development in the story, often because of something that happens to them.
1. Flat Characters are stereotyped, shallow, and often symbolic; have only one or two personality traits. Static Characters do not change in the course of the story.
Methods of CharacterizationDirect CharacterizationThe author develops the personality of a character by direct statements.
Jack had been in basic training in Florida and Dottie was there on vacation with her parents. They’d met on the beach and struck up a conversation. Dottie was the talker, the outgoing one—the extrovert. Jack was too shy around girls to say much at all.
“Furlough—1944” by Harry Mazer
Indirect CharacterizationRevealing a character’s personality through:
1. the character’s thoughts, words, and actions
2. the comments of other characters3. the character’s physical appearance
Methods of Characterization
Setting
Time and place events occur in story.
Where and when a story takes place
Time of day or yearGeographical locationClimate or weatherImmediate surroundings
of character
In addition, the context or historical background in which the story is set provides us with additional plot information.
Become the antagonist (the arctic cold in Jack London’s The Call of the Wild or White Fang)
Create atmosphere
(Puritan New England in The Scarlet Letter or the 1930s South in
Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird),
Tell about a character(the isolation of the ocean in Moby Dick or the desolate landscape in
Frankenstein)
Reinforce an overall idea(the “red weed” that grows over the earth in War of the Worlds or the
slave conditions at southern plantations in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin).
ThemeMain idea or message an author wishes to
shareThe “moral” of the storyNovels often have more than one themeRarely stated directly. The reader has to
interpret.
• Discrimination • Pride
• Trust • Resourcefulness • Challenges
• Ethical dilemmas • Nature • Leadership
• Euthanasia • Commitment • Diversity
• Freedom • Guilt • Love
• Convictions • Heroes • Community
• Social change • Loss • Patriotism
• Communication • Evil • Family
• Friendship • Loyalty • Power
• Acceptance • Hope • Friendship
• Customs • Loneliness • Values
• Money • Death • War
• Choices • Prejudice
• Denial • Poverty
Point of View
• Author’s choice of narrator for a story
• A story can be told in many different ways
First Person: in first-person point of view, the narrator is a character in the story. The narrator, or the one telling the story, may or may not be reliable in first person narratives because the narrator is a character within the story and is likely not entirely objective.
(Pronouns: I, me, us, we, our, etc.)
“It's lovely to live on a raft. We had the sky up there, all speckled with stars, and we used to lay on our backs and look up at them, and discuss about whether they was made or only just happened.” ––Huckleberry Finn, from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
“Call me Ishmael.” ––from Moby Dick
Narrator is not a character in the story
Third person point of view written in variety of ways
OMNISCIENT, when they know everything about the characters and the facts they present, or
NON-OMNISCIENT, when their knowledge of the characters and incidents is incomplete. He mainly observes people and events and report what he hears and sees.
When narrators address the reader directly with comments about the characters and events, they are normally said to be INTRUSIVEINTRUSIVE, as they intrude into the story. NON-NON-INTRUSIVE INTRUSIVE narrators, on the contrary, are detached in relating the events of their fictional world.
•Author’s Purpose
•Symbolism
•Style
•Mood
An author’s reason for creating a particular work is called the author’s purpose. Sometimes the author will state his or her purpose up front. Other times you’ll need to make inferences (reasonable guesses) about the author’s purpose.
There are four basic reasons an author might choose to write:to explain or informto entertainto persuadeto enlighten or reveal an important truth
Tone• The moodmood of the story: the feelings that a
writer wants readers to have while reading. It’s the atmosphere that’s created.
• Writers can choose words, phrases, and images to create a whole range of moods—from anger and sadness to excitement and fear.
Examples:The dark, gloomy house loomed over our heads
in dreary silence.Each fabulous moment is thrilling and exciting!
Style• Style is the way writers express their ideas. It’s
how they say something, not what they say. • Style involves these three elements:
• Word choice• Sentence structure and length• Literary devices, such as figurative language,
symbols, dialogue, and imagery
ImageryWords or phrases that appeal to the sensesMake a picture in your mindExamples:
Sight – “big, blue eyes like the ocean”Sound – “a thundering boom filled the room”Touch – “The puppy’s fur was soft and fluffy.”Taste – “The hot, spicy sauce burned my
tongue.”Smell – “The putrid odor of the rancid meat
made me gag.”
• Realistic Novel• Historical Novel• Science Fiction• Fantasy and Fables• Bildungsroman Novel• Picaresque Novel• Comedy of Manners• Gothic Novel• Trilogy Novel• Novelette or Novella• Nonfiction Novel
Realistic FictionLiterature that
depicts imaginary characters in
Real-life situations
Historical FictionLiterature with
imaginary characters
Based on events related to history
The Historical NovelThe Historical Novel
Fiction that has its basis in historical factThe Scarlet LetterThe Red Badge of CourageThe Grapes of WrathAll Quiet on the Western Front
(Erich Maria Remarque’s famous novel of a soldier’s
experiences in World War I)
Science FictionLiterature based
on actual or imaginary developments or discoveries in science
Often futuristic or fantasy
Fantasy and FablesFantasy books
contain elements that could not happen in the world as we know it today.
Fables are short, brief stories that teach a lesson or moral.
Main character struggles toward maturity
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Huckleberry Finn matures
Finn experienced: Enslavement
Hypocrisy in society
Greed
The Picaresque Novel
Main character is a likeable scoundrel
Spanish word “picaro” means rascal
Tom Jones
Jane Austen and the Novel of Manners
Novels dominated by the customs, manners, conventional behavior and habits of a particular social class
Often concerned with courtship and marriage
Realistic and sometimes satiric
Focus on domestic society rather than the larger world
Gothic NovelsNovels characterized by magic, mystery and horrorExotic settings – medieval, Oriental, etc.Originated with Horace Walpole’s Castle of Otranto
(1764)William Beckford: Vathek, An Arabian Tale (1786)Anne Radcliffe: 5 novels (1789-97) including The
Mysteries of Udolpho Contemporary Gothic novelists include Anne Rice
and Stephen King
Length between a short story and novel
The Heart of Darkness
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Stream of Consciousness
Narration that mimics the ebb and flow of thoughts of the waking mind
Uninhibited by grammar, syntax or logical transitions
A mixture of all levels of awareness – sensations, thoughts, memories, associations, reflections
Emphasis on how something is perceived rather than on what is perceived
James Joyce, Dorothy Richardson, Virginia Woolf, Thomas Wolfe, William Faulkner
James Joyce1882-1941
The DublinersPortrait of an Artist
UlyssesFinnegan’s Wake
Virginia Woolf1882-1941
To the LightHouseThe Waves
Mrs. DallowayOrlando
ModernismOn or about December 1910, the world changed.” -- Virginia Woolf
Non-FictionBooks that
discuss facts, deal with real or historical characters, circumstances or events.
Examples: science, sports, drawing, math animals, or transportation
BiographiesTrue stories
about a person’s life or parts of his/her life
Some are collective biographies with many biographies groups together.
AutobiographiesAutobiographies
are where people write about their own life.
You can find them in the 920/921 section of the Learning Center.
Newspapers/MagazinesNewspapers and
magazines contain articles relating to current events, new discoveries, and important people.