analysis of fiction - novels and short stories
TRANSCRIPT
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.