maus notes part i

Maus Notes Part ICreate a new Cornell style page in your notebook titled Maus Notes Part I.

This is item 18 in your table of contents.

Where you stand determines what you see.

• Point of view (POV) — refers to the method of narration used in a short story, novel, narrative poem, or work of nonfiction.

Kinds of Narrators

Real People

“God-like”

First-person — the narrator is a character in the story.

Third-person omniscient — all-knowing, the narrator sees into the minds of the characters.Third-person limited — narrator tells what only one character thinks, feels, and observes.

“It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived.”Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird

There’s a temptation to say that there isn’t a narrator with third- person narrators. Third-person limited is the most common narrator type.

Narrative PowersOmniscient narrators can• Be invisible • Read characters’ minds• Know what will happen• Be trusted to tell the truthOmniscient narrators don’t have

names or lives.

A “real” person has to• Be there or be told• Make inferences or guesses• Only know after the fact• Can’t always be trustedReal people have names and lives

Third-person omniscient“The year that Buttercup was born, the most beautiful woman in the world was a French scullery maid named Annette. Annette worked in Paris for the Duke and Duchess de Guiche, and it did not escape the Duke’s notice that someone extraordinary was polishing the pewter. The Duke’s notice did not escape the notice of the Duchess either, who was not very beautiful, but plenty smart. The Duchess set about studying Annette and shortly found her adversary’s tragic flaw.”From The Princess Bride

Third-person limited“But Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were both looking at Harry

suspiciously, so he decided he’d better skip dessert and escape the table as soon as he could.

Outside in the hall, he leaned against the wall, breathing deeply. It had been a long time since he’d lost control and made something explode. He couldn’t afford to let it happen again. The Hogsmeade form wasn’t the only thing at stake — if he carried on like that, he’d be in trouble with the Ministry of Magic.”From Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Whose eyes are we looking through? Whose central nervous system?

Real person? Omniscient?

• Characterization — the way a writer creates and develops characters’ personalities. Four basic methods:

1. The writer may make direct comments about the character’s personality or nature through the voice of the narrator.

2. The writer may describe the character’s physical appearance.3. The writer may present the character’s thoughts, speech, and actions.4. The writer may present thoughts, speech, and actions of other characters in

response to a character.

CharacterizationShe answered the door in a hurry, still putting her earrings in and telling me to come in for a moment. I entered what looked like an abandoned war zone with clothes and shoes scattered across the floor, dirty plates with crusty tomato sauce and hardened fettucini noodles dusted with old crumbs of buttered bread piled on the table, and magazines piled haphazardly on every spare surface.

• Graphic Novel — a novel with images similar to a comic book. Graphic novels are longer than an ordinary comic book and tend to deal with more serious issues.

Elements• Panels — squares or rectangles that

contain a single scene• Gutters — space between panels• Dialogue balloons — contain

communication between characters• Thought balloons — contain a

character’s thoughts• Captions — contain information

about the scene or character• Sound effects — visual sound clues

e.g. Pow! Smack!

How to read a graphic novel

Left right

Words (boxes, then dialogue bubbles)

picture

Dialogue Balloons• Dialogue balloons are read left to right or top to bottom as is

appropriate.

Next Class: Start Maus