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.