Analyzing Fiction

Two types of literature Commercial fiction: best sellers, reading people do to escape every day life or for immediate pleasure Literary fiction: Serious literary intentions “to broaden, deepen, and sharpen the reader’s awareness of life” Makes the reader think more deeply Makes a lasting impression Do authors plan for one or the other?

Both types of fiction use standard elements Conflict: “clash of actions, ideas, desires or wills” Protagonist-the central character in the conflict; there can be more than one in a work Antagonist-any force against the protagonist: “persons, things, conventions of society, or the protagonist’s own character traits” Good literary fiction uses several types of conflict: internal and external of various forces

Suspense: “the quality in a story that makes the reader ask ‘What is going to happen next?’ or ‘How will this turn out?’.” In literary fiction most often the question is not what but why: Why is the character behaving like this? Two common devices of suspense: Mystery- “an unusual set of circumstances for which a reader craves an explanation” Dilemma- placing the protagonist in a situation where he/she must chose between to undesirable choices

Characterization pages 161-166 Literary writers are usually more interested in complex characters; character is more important than plot Literary characters may be unsympathetic; good and bad like real people; memorable; allow us into their inner lives Commercial writers must have a main character who is attractive or sympathetic

Definition of characterization Direct characterization-author or other characters give information about the character; good writers use sparingly Indirect characterization-author shows the character through his/her actions or words Principles of good characterization Behavior is consistent Motives are believable/understandable Characters must be plausible/lifelike

Types of characters Flat-one or two predominant traits Stock characters or stereotypes that reoccur Round-complex, multi-sided Static characters remain basically the same person Developing (dynamic)-distinct/significant change in personality, character or outlook; has an epiphany

Point of View First person A character tells the story There is no direct interpretation by the author This allows for dramatic irony Omniscient Third Person Narrator’s knowledge is unlimited This POV is most flexible This POV is most easily abused Narrator may get in the way Narrator may break down coherence and unity

Limited Third Person Objective One character tells the story Readers must remain in the mind of this character which limits the field of observation and may create bias since readers are limited to this character’s thoughts Offers an unifying element Stream of consciousness-random thoughts joined by psychological rather than logical links Objective Narrator records as a camera only action and dialogue Another name for dramatic point of view Reader must infer thoughts from actions and words

Theme: pages 188-195 Theme is the controlling idea or central insight in a piece of fiction Theme is a unifying generalization about life Theme exists only when the author has attempted to record life accurately or reveal some truth about it Theme exists only when the author has deliberately introduced a concept as an unifying element

Theme is usually the purpose of literary fiction, but not as important in commercial fiction Theme may be expressed in one sentence up to an entire essay; in one sentence readers have to choose the insight that unifies the most elements of a story and relates them to each other Theme is usually implied rather than stated directly

To determine theme, Determine the purpose of the story: what life view does it support Commercial fiction usually represents life as we would like it to be not as it is Literary writers look for deeper insight into life which means they may develop more serious truths

Theme is the central and unifying concept of the story It accounts for all the major details of the story It is not contradicted by details of the story It must rely on facts of the story, either stated or clearly implied, not by supposition THERE IS NO ONE CORRECT WAY OF STATING THEME, BUT avoid stating a familiar, even trite, saying

Forms of irony Verbal-says the opposite of what is meant; not sarcasm which is used to ridicule Dramatic-difference between what the character says and what the reader knows to be true Situational-discrepancy is between appearance and reality or expectation and fulfillment or between what is and what would seem appropriate