“Reading the Novel”
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Setting
• Chronological
time
• Novel time
• Place
• Objects
• Environment
• Ambience
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?
Reliable or unreliable narrators
• Should we believe what the narrator tells us?
• What makes a narrator unreliable?
Plot
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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
Characters in novels have more
depth
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How do we learn about them?
Dialogue
Physical actions
Thoughts or mental actions
Judgment by others
Narrator judgment
Author’s judgment
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
Symbolism + Irony
• Personal + cultural symbols
• Dramatic Irony
• Circumstantial Irony