1. Analyzing Literature Reading Beyond the Surface Perrine’s pages 61-67
All quotes unless otherwise marked are from these pages
Analyzing Literature

2. Why Read? For entertainment For understanding
Some reading is just fun with but does not add to or refine our ways of thinking
Some literature is fun to read but also leaves readers with a greater understanding of themselves or the world around them
For understanding
“Like all serious art, fiction of this …kind provides an imagined experience that yields insights into some significant aspect of life.”
What books are just entertainment?
Have you read something that would be considered “for understanding?”

3. “Art is a lie that leads to the truth.” Picasso
What does this mean? How does it relate to literature?

4. 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?

5. Many works fall in the middle
“Any fiction that illuminates some aspect of human life or behavior with genuine originality and power may be called ‘literary’.”
Many works fall in the middle
What works in school fit this category, out of school

6. The difference is not
1. Presence or lack of a moral 2. Presence of lack of facts 3. Presence of lack of fantasy
How do the works we just listed fit? Before next slide-what do you expect from reading

7. How to read fiction Expect to be challenged by language & structure
Expect to have “an enhanced understanding of life”
Read through twice
First to enjoy and understand
Second to gain understanding
Why was the story written this way?
Why are certain things important to the author?
1. Which works did that?

8. Expect certain things Evaluate what you read A new style or vision
An unsettled or resolved ending
To need and open mind
Evaluate what you read
If you put your time and/or money into a book you should be rewarded

9. Plot and Structure Pages 103-111
“The sequence of incidents or events through which an author constructs a story”
Not to be confused with the content of the story; plot is not the action but the way the action is arranged.
Order is significant

10. Commercial Fiction Usually follows a standard structure
Beginning
Middle
End
Conventional 3-part structure

11. 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
Know three terms: conflict, protagonist, antagonist

12. Two common devices of suspense:
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
Why is suspense important? Why is why important?
What is the difference between mystery and dilemma

13. Commercial vs Literary Fiction
Commercial fiction must rely heavily on suspense to keep readers interested
Commercial fiction is not usually re-read
Literary fiction relies on other traits than suspense: character, style, questions it creates
Literary fiction is often a better read the second or third time

14. For example,
A story written about a man on a 17th story ledge could be commercial or literary. If commercial the reader wonders “What is going to happen?, Will he jump? Will he be saved?” A literary story of this man will make the reader wonder, “What brought him to the point that he crawled out on this ledge? How is this event going to affect other characters?”

15. Surprise is closely connected to suspense.
Surprise ending-a radical change from the expected-more commercial than literary
Commercially these endings often are meant to make up for weakness in the story
In literary works these endings add to the meaning instead of reversing the expected outcome
Judging surprise endings
“by the fairness with which the surprise is achieved”
“by the purpose it serves”
Commercially-you get an ending you would have wanted but didn’t’ see coming to make up for not writing the beginning well

16. The Ending Commercial fiction most often ends happily
Literary fiction most often ends unhappily but logically
Two justifications for that are
Many real life circumstances do not end with everyone living “happily ever after” and literary fiction “must acknowledge human defeats as well as triumphs.”
“Its value in forcing us to ponder the complexities of life.” We question why things went that way, what would we have done.
How many times win/lose
If one wins how many lost? Isn’t life that way-we ponder what may have happened
Cinderella vs. Hester/Janie

17. An indeterminate ending
Some real life problems are never solved. The same is true of fiction with an indeterminate ending; there is no definite conclusion
These endings leave readers to ponder the dynamics of the story as they relate to human relationships
There must be artistic unity, though, to have a good plot.

18. Artistic unity
Plot manipulation is when an author has an unjustified situation in the work
The plot cannot rely to heavily on chance or coincidence.
“Chance is the occurrence of an event that has no apparent cause in previous events or in predisposition of character.”
“Coincidence is the chance occurrence of two events that may have peculiar correspondence.
Too m uch of this and the story loses its power

19. 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
Literary vs commercial characters-think about those

20. 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
Know direct vs indirect

21. 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
Have clear understanding of these types-activity with story characters

22. Literary characters must meet these conditions
Be consistent with the story
Be motivated by the character’s circumstances
Have sufficient time for a change to be believable
Are the characters in the story meeting these

23. Who tells a story and how it gets told
Point of View

24. First person A character tells the story
There is no direct interpretation by the author
This allows for dramatic irony
Differences between these types of points of view

25. 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

26. Third person limited 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
Pros and cons of stream of consciousness

27. Objective point of view
Narrator records as a camera only action and dialogue
Another name for dramatic point of view
Reader must infer thoughts from actions and words

28. Theme: pages
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

29. Theme is usually the purpose of literary fiction, but not as important in commercial fiction
Theme may be expressed in one sentence and elaborated upon in 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

30. 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

31. The word theme is better than the word moral
A story is not a sermon
Theme keeps readers from overworking a story for a saying about life

32. The ability to state theme come from understanding of the story
How has the main character changed or what has he/she learned
Explore the conflict and its outcome
Five principles to keep in mind:
Must be expressed in a complete sentence(s)
Should be stated as a generalization about life
Avoid making over generalizations
Avoid the words every, all, always
Use some, sometimes, may as more accurate

33. 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

34. There is NO ONE WAY of stating theme
Avoid stating a familiar, even trite, saying

35. Symbol, Allegory and Fantasy Pages 274-285
“The most successful stories are characterized by compression. The writer’s aim to say as much as possible as briefly as possible.” (274)
Symbol, allegory and fantasy are three methods to “achieve compression.”
What is compression

36. Symbol Something that means more than what it suggests on the surface
May be an object, person, situation, action or other element
Name symbolism
Symbolic use of objects and actions
Name some
Don’t “run wild” looking for symbols in every part of the story

37. Use these cautions
The story must furnish the clue that a detail is symbolic
Signals include emphasis, repetition or position
The symbol’s meaning must be established and supported by the entire context of the story
A symbol may have more than one meaning
The symbol must suggest a meaning different in kind from its literal meaning
Don’t say is a symbol of if is an example of fits

38. Allegory A story with a second meaning beneath the surface
A story that gives a “cluster of characters, objects or events [added significance.]
A story that often relates the literal item[s] to a corresponding abstract idea or moral principle
It’s different from symbolism in that it puts more emphasis on the meaning than the literal

39. Fantasy Nonrealistic story
Stories that require what Samuel Taylor Coleridge called “a willing suspension of disbelief.”
Magical realism: “fantastic and magical events are woven into mundane and ordinary situations”
Ghost stories, fables and science fiction

40. Humor & Irony Pages
Humor and Irony are often used to achieve compression and impact
Irony is a form of humor which involves some sort of discrepancy to convey a truth about human experience
Sentimentality is contrived or excessive emotion which works trying to elicit unearned emotions

41. 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
Know these three

42. Sentimental writers
Try to get emotion through words rather than situation (plot)
Editorialize-telling us how to feel
Poeticize-use heightened language to get emotion
Make excessively selective use of details which point in one direction or simplify reality
Rely on stock responses from stock materials (babies, puppies)

43. Read 370-374 and take notes as you see fit