7/30/2019 Analysis of Fiction - Novels and Short Stories

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Engelsk  – OCT

CHARACTERS

Who is (are) the main character(s) = the

 protagonist(s) ?/ the minor (secondary) characters?

Characterization: What do the characters look like?

Qualities, virtues / flaws? How do they speak?

Attitudes, habits, behaviour, characteristics? … Are the characters stereotyped or individualized?

`Round´ (complex, many-sided) vs. `flat´ (one-

sided, stereotyped) characters (= does the character 

change or develop? How?)

What are the relationships / interactions between

the characters?

The characters’ motivation, goals, objectives 

How are the characters created:

1. by name ? 2. physical appearance ? 3. through

speech, how they talk / what they speak about ?4. from what other charcters say about them ?5. from descriptions or actions of the character ? 

SETTING - time, place, milieu,

atmosphere (the background against

which the story unfolds)

Time? When does the action take place – past /

 present / future –  season, year, period, …?

What is the time span of the story?

Are there any jumps in time (flashbacks / flash

forwards)?

Place? House, outside, town, countryside? One

 place or several?

Is the setting important for the plot or secondary?

Environment / milieu (social class, traditional or 

modern society, modern life vs. old-fashioned,…)? 

Lifestyle, norms, values (idealistic vs. materialistic;religious, modern, old-fashioned?)

NARRATIVE TECHNIQUE &

LANGUAGE - How is the story told?? 

I.  Narrator & Point of View: How does the reader get

information (description, action, dialogue, thoughts,

statements made by characters,…)? From which angle

are the characters and the action observed?

 Narrator: who tells the story? Omniscient (=all-knowing) narrator (i.e. moves freely in

time and space)? Or a narrator with limited knowledge?

First-person vs. third-person narrator? Is the (first-person)narrator a character in the story (does he take part in the

events)? / Is she/he an anonymous observer?

Is the narrator reliable or unreliable (i.e. can she/he betrusted)?

Adult narrator? A child or young person?

One or several narrators?

How does the choice of narrator affect the story?

 Narrative perspective : Through whose eyes are characters and events seen ?

When is the story told ? (the situation of the narrator ̀ now´

vs. ̀ then´?)

Did the events happen a long/short time ago (cf. Does thenarrator tell what happened from a mature / immature point

of view, from ̀ now´or ̀ then´)?

II. Language & style: Vocabulary

Sentence structure (simple / complicated)?

Literary language / colloquial / slang?

Figures of speech: symbols, metaphors, comparisons, … 

In what tone of voice does the narrator speak (matter-of-fact, seriously, ironically, humorously)?

PLOT - What happens?

Basic plot scheme:

Starting point (the initial situation)?

Conflict: what problems/complications

arise? How do they arise?

The climax (confrontation, fight, …) 

Resolution: Is / How is the conflict

solved?

Happy or unhappy ending?

Open ending?

The conflict:

What kind of conflict? `Inner conflict´(the characters are struggling within

themselves) or `relational conflict´ (the

character is struggling with someone

else)

Conflict between man and man? / manand nature? / man and society? / …

Causes of the conflict?

Consequences (personal / social /

economic/…)?  Is the conflict solved in the end?

Have things changed or not?

ANALYSIS OF FICTION

novels

short stories

…you discuss   themes and  messages (2)  and  put the text into  perspective .

Some questions you can  ask a text of fiction (1) before … 

(1) Not all questions are always relevant  – it all depends on the text.(2) There is not always a message in the text.