Fiction Analysis THINGS THAT …from a Writer ’’’s AFFECT STORY! Perspective
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First, there ’’’s Definition: GENRE! GENRE: …is the term for any category of literature.
Genres can be singular or mixed.
1 Genre Types Then, there ’’’s
Absurdist Historical Fiction Romantic Adventure Horror Saga “““ ””” STORY! Alphabet Book How to Book Satire Animal Book Legend Science Fiction Autobiography Memoir Short Story Biography Metafiction Suspense Color Book Modern Fantasy Tall Tale Comedy Mystery Thriller Creative Non-Fiction Myth Tragedy Dramatic Occupational Fiction Urban Fiction Epic Parody Western Essay Philosophical Fiction Young Adult Experimental Poetry Fable Political Fiction Fairy Tale Pulp Fiction Folktale Realistic Fiction Graphic Novel Religious Fiction
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Definition: Next, there ’’’s PLOT! STORY: (otherwise known as Narrative Structure) …is the sequence of incidents found in the plot, plus the emotion, motivation, reaction, and personal involvement of the characters.
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2 Definition: There are PLOT (NARRATIVE STRUCTURE) : …is a sequence of TWO KINDS incidents in which the of PLOT! characters contest over the resolution of a dramatic problem.
2. NON-CHRONOLOGICAL 1. CHRONOLOGICAL (TIME): the plot is arranged in (TIME): the plot is arranged in straight line whatever order to tell the time, with a story. clear beginning, middle, and end.
3 This plot will have: Subplot Flash______A plot
within Subplot 3 the major and plot and
related to Major Plot the Flash______Subplot Subplot plot. 2 1
Subplot Freytag ’’’s Pyramid Major plot and sub-plot(s) must connect by the end of the story.
4 Dramatic Structure Then, there ’’’s Basic Dramatic Structure for Story: FORESHADOWING! (FREYTAG ’’’S Pyramid)
1. EXPOSITION: Sets the tone and the theme. 2. INITIAL INCIDENT 3. RISING ACTION 4. CLIMAX 5. FALLING ACTION 6. RESOLUTION (DENOUEMENT)
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Foreshadowing builds FORESHADOWING: are hints or by hinting to the clues to suggest events that will SUSPENSE reader/audience of possible occur later in the story. events or situations to come. It Not all foreshadowing is OBVIOUS. allows the reader/audience to be Frequently, future events are merely "IN ON THE STORY." hinted at through dialogue, description, or the attitudes and Characters are NEVER aware of reactions of the characters. Foreshadowing, though the Narrator might be.
5 Now, it’s time for Recognizing Tone & Tone & Mood! Mood are important in discovering literary themes and appreciating an author ’’’s style.
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Mood Tone According to the Dictionary of Literary According to the Dictionary of Literary Terms, by Martin Gray… Terms, by Martin Gray…
Mood is: TONE is: The climate of feeling in the work. It is the The author ’s attitude (stated or implied) atmosphere of the writing. toward the work, events, characters, or the reader/audience. The choice of setting, objects, details, A writer’s tone can be revealed through images, and words all contribute choice or words, imagery, description towards creating a specific mood. and approach to the subject..
6 Next, is BUILDING A CHARACTER! STORY STARTS WITH CHARACTER!!!
Definition: Definition: CHARACTER: REPRESENTATION: …is the REPRESENTATION …is the repeated display of of a personality in a literary ideas, issues, or themes in a or dramatic work of art. written piece of work.
7 Character: Is defined by: • Personality 2 + 3 = Character • Costume 2 Character Kinds & • Words (dialogue) 3 Character Types • Physical traits • Goals
The Protagonist 2 Character Kinds Usually the MAIN CHARACTER(S) who wants to change or change something.
Not always “The Good Guy!”
8 Example: The Antagonist The character(s) or thing that does not want change to occur.
Not always “The Bad Guy!” Harry Potter Credit: vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net
Example:
3 Character Types
Tom Riddle (aka) Voldemort Credit: vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net
9 The Dynamic Character Example: Dynamic (Developing) Character: One who undergoes at least one permanent, important change in some aspect of their personality, nature, or attitude.
Hermione Granger Credit: vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net
Example: The Static Character Static Character: A character who does not change in personality, nature, or attitude; he/she is the same sort of person from the beginning of the story until the very end.
Severus Snape Credit: vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net
10 Example: Example:
Ron Weasley Draco Malfoy Credit: vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net Credit: vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net
The Stock Character Definition: Stock Character: STEREOTYPE: A fictional character based on literary …is a standardized and simplified or social STEREOTYPES. Stock belief about groups or individuals characters rely heavily on cultural based on prior assumptions. types or names for their personality, By itself, a stereotype is not a negative thing. manner of speech, and other It allows for quick, albeit inaccurate, characteristics. understanding.
11 Example: Example:
Dobby Peter Pettigrew Credit: vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net Credit: vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net
Character = Conflict 4 Types of Character Conflict:
Protagonist vs…
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12 1. Protagonist-versus-ANTAGONIST 2. Protagonist-versus-NATURE Conflict: This conflict involves the (Antagonistic Force) Conflict: This conflict protagonist and an antagonist struggling involves something that must be defeated, over a problem or goal. endured, or sent on its way—a disease, a beast, an alien life-form, a storm, a natural power, and so on.
Anger Management . Photo still courtesy of Revolution Studios .
3. Protagonist-versus- 4. Protagonist-versus- “““THE SELF ””” “““THE SYSTEM ””” (Antagonistic Force) Conflict: This conflict features inner, Conflict: This conflict pits the protagonist personal conflicts that test the protagonist ’s against a faceless bureaucracy. values, beliefs, or morals.
The Matrix . Photo still courtesy of Groucho II Film Partnership . Me, Myself & Irene . Photo still courtesy of Conundrum Entertainment .
13 The main cause of a weak conflict is a ’ weak ANTAGONIST . Now, let ’’s go deeper into One of the surest ways to beef up a weak story Character! is to beef up the antagonist by making the character or force: • OBSESSIVE • CHARMING • CLEVER • POWERFUL
• DIABOLICAL Hannibal . Photo still courtesy of Dino De Laurentiis Company . • or whatever turns the antagonist into a THREAT .
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When we meet people for the first time, We form expectations, predictions, and we immediately begin evaluating and attitudes about a person based on these judging them based on: criteria.
• Their Actions Everything that you • Their Language read, see, or do • Their Thoughts -- no matter what it is -- • Their Body Language is always filtered • Their Physical Description • Their Values through you. • and on how WE relate to them. It ’’’s Called Inference!
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14 The same values and judgments we place on real people…we also place on Let’s see what this is like. literary characters. In the following slides, you will Getting to really know literary characters enriches our reading, and our lives. see nine photos of famous and not so famous people.
None of which will you know, probably.
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Instructions:
On a sheet of paper, list the SINGLE most striking characteristic of the person you see. Then, explain what evidence you relied upon to Here make your inference.
Evidence equals connections you make to the photo from: We • Your life (memories and experiences) • What you know (facts and information) • What you’ve read or seen Go! Finally, share your “first impression ” with your us.
15 1. 2. Credit: culture24.org.uk Credit: media.photobucket.com
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16 5. 6. Credit: cafedesartistes.bangordailynews.com Credit: thisiscolossal.com
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17 Rating Roommates
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Character Clues Character Clues Write this sentence down exactly as you see it. Do it six (6) times.
“______is ______because (name) (characteristic) he or she ______.” (evidence from the text)
18 Character Clues Point of View Look at your number at your table (1-4). Read the instructions at the top of each page. Now, complete that sentence for each person that matches your number.
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Definition: Narrator Definition: POV: The way a story gets told and who tells it. The character or "voice" that It is the method of narration that speaks or tells the story. determines the position, or angle of vision, from which the story unfolds. IT IS NOT THE SAME AS Point of view governs the reader's access THE AUTHOR! to the story.
19 Definition: First Person POV
For our purposes, we’ll deal Here the narrator speaks as "I” with seven (7) types of and the narrator is a character in narrators…seven types of the story who may or may not points of view. influence events within it. If you see “I,” “me,” or “we,” you know it’s 1 st Person POV
First Person POV Example: (Past Tense) Here the narrator is remembering events that have happened to her in the past. She is the protagonist, and we are inside her head as she recounts the events she has experienced, as she believes them to have happened.
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20 First Person POV Example: (Present Tense) A little more modern, here the narrator is not remembering past events, but is narrating events as they happen to him, the way he believes them to be happening.
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Unreliable POV Example: “““If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you ’’’ll probably want to The Unreliable Narrator: is a know is where I was born, and what my 1st Person narrator who describes lousy childhood was like, and how my events in the story, but seems to make parents were occupied and all before obvious mistakes or misinterpretations they had me, and all that David that may be apparent to a careful Copperfield kind of crap, but I don ’’’t reader. feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. ”””
-- Opening line of The Catcher in the Rye , by J.D. Salinger
21 Second Person POV Example:
This POV is less common, but “You are not the kind of guy who would be at a place like this at this here the narrator is talking to time of the morning. But here you the reader. are, and you cannot say that the If you see the word “you,” then terrain is entirely unfamiliar, although nd the details are fuzzy. You are at a it’s 2 Person POV nightclub talking to a girl with a shaved head.” --From Bright Lights, Big City, by Jay McInerney
Third Person POV Third Person POV
Here the narrator seems to be someone standing outside There are three special types the story who refers to all the of third person narrators… characters by name or as he , she , they , and so on.
22 Third Person POV Example:
Third Person Objective: is when the narrator reports speech and action, but never comments on the thoughts of other characters. They just describe like a reporter.
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Third Person POV Example:
Third Person Omniscient: is a narrator who knows everything that needs to be known about the characters and events in the story, and is free to move at will in time and place, and who has privileged access to a character's thoughts, feelings, and motives.
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23 Third Person POV Example:
Third Person Limited: is a narrator who is confined to what is experienced, thought, or felt by a single character, or at most a limited number of characters.
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• How credible is the narrator? • How does the narrator think of us? So, when you read something • -- anything -- here is what How do we feel about the you should pay attention to… narrator? • Do we believe the narrator or not? • Do we agree or not with the judgments of the narrator?
24 Rating Reliability SETTING!
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Definition: Setting: Is defined by: SETTING: • …the time, place, physical details, and Time: time of day, year, era/age circumstances in which a situation occurs. • Place : city, country? Outside, inside? Rich Settings include the background, atmosphere and opulent or poor and simple? Stark and or environment in which characters live and barren landscape? move, and usually include physical • Atmosphere : weather: rainy or sunny? characteristics of the surroundings. Beautiful or adversarial? Dark or light? Dangerous or safe?
25 Setting: Setting is Understanding the setting is useful Psychological! because it enables us to see how an author captures the attention of the reader by painting a mental picture using words.
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KEY POINT! Typically, we think of Any human activity -- whether ourselves as separate from internal (thinking) or external our environments. (action) -- is in fact allowed, NOT TRUE! encouraged, shaped, and What we do, how we think, constrained by the particular and even who we are, are setting in which it occurs. influenced by where we are at any given moment.
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26 Every setting has rules for Lastly, there ’’’s behavior. How characters follow, adapt, or violate these Theme & rules says a lot about them Symbolism! and the setting they are in.
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Theme What Theme is NOT Definition: Theme is not a one word definition. THEME: the controlling idea or For example: central insight. Love, death, pain, revenge, conceit, prejudice, boredom, loss, deceit, nostalgia, hunger, The Theme of a piece of literature is a cruelty, salvation, foolishness, impatience, family, judgment, self, duty, survival, conformity, message about people, life, and the world individualism, deception, race relations, we live in that the author wants the reader suffering, alienation, discovery, birth, heroism, to understand. escape, journey, growth, patriotism, peace, war, hope, hopelessness, home, folly, betrayal, Not every story has a theme. power, isolation, etc.
27 What Theme Really Theme REQUIRES a is… comment or attitude on Theme addresses the the subject or topic. question: What does it all mean? There must be a statement or opinion about the subject or topic.
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Again, the theme makes some Theme is an idea the writer STATEMENT about or expresses returns to time and again. It some OPINION on that topic. becomes one of the most Example: important ideas in the story. The subject of a story might be WAR while the theme might be the And, the reader must respond idea that to that theme in some way. War is useless or War is noble .
28 Theme is often A Motif is… A RECURRING object, concept, or supported by a structure in a story. motif. A motif may also be two contrasting elements in a work, such as good and evil.
So, what is a A motif is important because it allows one to see main points and themes that the writer MOTIF? is trying to express, in order that one might be able to interpret the work more accurately.
Motif Examples: Vice The (Victorious) Underdog Violence 5 ways in which Punishment The Bewitching Woman Prophesy Absurdity The Damsel In Distress Lists Clothing The Wicked Ogre Isolation Seasons Struggle Of The Poor/Rich Old Age Colors The Journey Of Escape Materialism themes are Paradise The Lost Stereotypes Apparent Death The Miracle Transformation Supernatural Adversaries Journey From Innocence To Awareness Music Supernatural Helpers Sacrificial Friend/ Savior Family Gatherings Extraordinary Animals The Inward Struggle Revenge expressed in Magical Objects The Quest Dreams And Visions Magical Powers The Faithful Friend Obsession Magical Transformations The Love Triangle Games Deep Sleeps The Betrayal The Rebel As Savior Witches Corruption Is Everywhere Food stories: Wishes Meeting The Supernatural Rules Trickery The Search For Identity Power And Freedom Consequences Of Greed Justice For All Virtue Beautiful Princess Born Again/Recalled To Life The Returning Soldier Foolish Or Dimwitted Hero The Corruption Of Power Separation Importance Of Threes Oppression Of The Poor The Temptation The Beauty And The Beast Big Brother Is Watching Madness Flowers/Plants The Wild Woman Illness
29 1. FEELINGS and REACTIONS of the main character. SYMBOLISM 2. CONVERSATIONS (dialogue). 3. What does the main character LEARN. 4. ACTIONS, EVENTS, and SETTING. 5. MOTIFS.
The INTERACTION between character, narrative, dialogue, and imagery produces the theme.
SYMBOLISM Our everyday lives are heaped with symbols: when an image has more than one meaning.
These commonly accepted symbols are called Public Symbols
30 Symbols in Example: Moby Dick
Literature The white whale in Moby Dick is a very real • Writers create new, personal symbols in white whale in the novel, and Captain their work. Ahab spends the whole book chasing it. But - certain passages let the readers know • In literature, a symbol is an object, a that the whale is ASSOCIATED with the setting, an event, an animal, or even a mystery of evil in the world. person that functions in the story the way you ’d expect it to, but also stands for something more than itself, usually for Symbols work by something abstract. ASSOCIATION!
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What Symbolism isn ’’’t… A sign with just one meaning: the picture of a cigarette in a circle with a line drawn through it is a sign meaning precisely and specifically, “No Smoking. ”
31 32 One More Thing about Fiction Analysis
Pulizter Prize winning photo taken by Kevin Carter, 1994.
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33 Drawing an Evidence Matters! Inference A conclusion made based on evidence and reason.
There Are Two Kinds! Credit: jodoran.files.wordpress.com
Explicit Evidence Example: The writer has written: This is evidence that is plainly “…at 29,029 feet, Mount Everest is the stated or found in the text. tallest mountain above sea level.”
It’s kind of obvious and just pops out at you!
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34 Implicit Evidence Example: The writer has written: This is evidence that is only “..and that is why for most of my life I implied by what is stated in have avoided heights.” the text.
You have to figure out what the author is suggesting from
the text. Credit: phoenixrecoverycenter.com Credit: dohiy.com
From this, we can INFER that he probably doesn’t want a job as a professional mountain climber!
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