Contemporary Literature

Mrs. CaseyFall Semester 2011

Why Read?

Reading takes dedication and disciplineIf you want to learn about yourself, learn

about others--people both real and fictional.  

You gain insight into their struggles, fears, longings, beliefs, habits, and relationships; then you can apply that insight as you make sound decisions for your own life.

Why Read?

Through the power of the imagination we are literally transported to another place without actually leaving the comforts of our own home, classroom, etc.

Cheaper than travel; book $10….airfare $400

You are the creator- what people look like, where they live, what they wear, etc.

Plot

To understand a quality story, you must understand PLOT

A plot is a causal sequence of events, the "why" for the things that happen in the story.

The plot draws the reader into the character's lives and helps the reader understand the choices that the characters make.

More Plot

A plot's structure is the way in which the story elements are arranged.

Exposition is the information needed to understand a story.

Conflictis the catalyst that begins the major conflict.

Climax is the turning point in the story that occurs when characters try to resolve the complication.

Resolution is the set of events that bring the story to a close.

Point of View

Refers to who tells us the story and how it is told

Narrator- teller of the story; affects our understanding of the characters’ actions by filtering what is told through his or her perspective; not the author

Categories

2 broad categories of points of view: 3rd person and 1st person narrator

3rd person narrator (nonparticipant)1. Omniscient (narrator takes us inside the

character/s)2. Limited omniscient (narrator takes us inside

one or two characters)3. Objective( narrator is outside the characters)NO type of 3rd person narrator appears as a

character

Categories, con’t

Omniscient narrator is all-knowing; can move from place to place and pass back and forth through time, slipping into and out of characters as no human being possibly could in real life. They can report the characters’ thoughts and feelings as well as what they say and do.

If a narrator makes judgments about the characters, it is called editorial omniscience.

Categories, cont

If the narrator allows the characters’ actions and thoughts to speak for themselves- neutral omniscience.

Limited omniscient narrator- confined to a single perspective of either a major or minor character.

Categories, con’t

Stream-of-consciousness technique- most intense use of a central consciousness in narration;

James Joyce, Virginia Wolf, William Faulkner;takes a reader inside a character’s mind to

reveal perceptions, thoughts, and feelings; suggests the flow of thought as well as its content

May include fragments, complete sentences as the character’s mind makes rapid associations free of conventional logic or transitions.

Categories, cont

Example:

Coffin now. Got here before us, dead as he is. Horse looking around at it with his plume askew. Dull eye: collar tight on his neck, pressing on a blood vessel or something. Do they know what they cart out of here every day? Must be twenty or thirty funerals a day. Funerals all over the world everywhere every minute. Thousands every hour. Too many in the world.

– Ulysses by James Joyce

Journals

You will be required to journal each day we read.

Journaling helps you remember what you read.

It allows you to write down questions you have about the reading.

You can reflect on the section and relate it to your own life or question the motives of the characters in the story.

Journal Requirements

Each journal entry should be one page long (minimum). It will include:

A summary of the sectionCharacterization of the characters met (flat,

round, dynamic, static, protagonist, antagonist); descriptions, what other characters think about them, what you think about them, etc.

One favorite line from the sectionOne question about the reading

OIRIQ!

Each day we will have an “Of course I read it!” quiz. These quizzes are 10 points each, usually with a bonus question.

We will count each and every quiz, so read and journal thoroughly.

If you do the reading, it makes the class discussions much more interesting.

Reading Fiction

Fiction isn’t “fact” but good fiction is “true.”It should show something that is true to life

through the characters and events.Think about the title; why did the author

choose it?As you read, try to predict what will happen

next.Record your thoughts as you read: agree,

disagree, why did they do that? Would I do that?

Book List

The Hunger GamesCatching FireMocking J*The Book ThiefAnd Then There Were None

All of these are available from the public libraryAlso, Fiction Addiction has cheap used copiesAmazon.com (really cheap used books)Mr. K’s on Laurens Road (cheap used books)