Reading the Novel

1
Reading the Novel
Click speaker icon for sound
2
Setting

• Chronological
• time
• Novel time
• Place
• Objects
• Environment
• Ambience

3
Who is the narrator?

• First person Narrator as I 
• Third Person he/she (Omniscient, limited
  omniscient, intrusive, objective - recorder)
• Stream of consciousness
• Does the author ever intrude?

4
Reliable or unreliable narrators

• Should we believe what the narrator tells us?
• What makes a narrator unreliable?

5
Plot

• Order of events See Dramatic Structure
• Exposition (who, what, where, when)
• Conflict (problem)
• Climax (pivotal point in action)
• Resolution ( How it ends up)

Climax
Conflict
Resolution
Expo
6
Characters in novels have more depth

• How do we learn about them?
• Dialogue
• Physical actions
• Thoughts or mental actions
• Judgment by others
• Narrator judgment
• Authors judgment

7
   Theme versus Subject

• Subject general topic of the book
• Ex Marriage
• Theme what we should think about that topic
• Ex Marriage sometimes makes people unhappy

8
Symbolism Irony

• Personal cultural symbols
• Dramatic Irony
• Circumstantial Irony