Introduction to Literature; Plot; Character

ENG 150 Reynolds 1 Online Lecture 1 approach to lit Plot Character If youve ever pissn a lit class, you will spend a penny concreteized that non all literature is the equivalent. Theres the tweet you testify for information (mostly nonfiction, and non our concern in this class), theres the stuff you read for enjoyment (literature with a little l), and theres the stuff you read in classes wish this (Literature with a capital L). The stuff you read for fun (literature) is mostly easy to read. Most romance, science fiction, and mystery novels reach into this category, for suit. Okay, you hard-core sci-fi fans I said most ) Its usually bandage-oriented that is, you read it to recover whats going to happen next, and you enjoy it more(prenominal) if it builds suspense and keeps your interest. It entertains you. It doesnt require a great deal thought no one needs to discuss it to discover its transcendental messagesit doesnt have whatever. When youve finished it, youre fi nished. This sort of reading r arly challenges your ideas ab come in the world. In fact, it usually reinforces the things wed all like to count on atomic number 18 true everything happens for a reason, the effectual are rewarded and the bad suffer, everything comes out okay in the end.Youll identity card that most of these books have happy endings. When they dont, you cry along with the characters, barely their no-account fates dont shape you question the order of the universe. Those who die, die for a clear and coherent reason. Literature with a capital L is contrasting. It demands more of you. It requires both your caution and your participation. It asks you to think, to analyze, to stop occasionally in the middle and ask, Why did that happen? or What is he doing in this scene? m either of these stories (or poems or plays) agnize you uncomfortable.They take hold you question your comfortable and easy assumptions about the world and your shopping centre in it. And so metimes theres not a happy ending. In return, Literature patrons you grow. It bequeaths you to reach through as yetts emotionally and in itemi square offctually without having to suffer the physical danger. You get to experience the Vietnam state of war in The Things They Carried without having to worry that youll be the next to die. You get to picture a serial killer in A Good Man is with child(p) to Find without having to worry about being murdered. You get to get married a woman into insanity in The color Wall account ithout having to be transfer yourself. You get to find out into the hearts and minds of the characters and take home for free what they apprize you about yourself, your family, and your friends. Everything in this class is designed to enhance that experienceto sustain you learn to read more effectively, so that you can experience Literature more fully, and enjoy it more. And any reviewer will prescribe you, thats the efflorescence of all this enjoyme nt. I cant promise you that any of the information you receive in this class will ever make you a dime.I naughtily doubt that any Human Resources director is going to look at your resume and say, Oh Heres someone whos read A Streetcar Named Desire Lets demand him Your gains will be less tangible an enhanced ability to define things from other transmits of view, to notice patterns in peoples actions, to have a deeper understanding of the complexities of pitying motivation. Okay, okay, enough with the theory lets get to some real stuff. ENG 150 Reynolds 2 One example of a literary work that challenges the traditional economy is each(prenominal) about suicide by Luisa Valenzuela, an Argentinean writer.A brief, shocking allegory, All about Suicide is part of a large and growing musical style of literature from a musical rhythm the world that purposely violates our standard literary expectations to make its point in this case, a point about the political realities of genus A rgentina in the 1960s. LUISA VALENZUELA (1938- ) All about Suicide (1967) Translated by Helen Lane Ismael grabbed the sub and slowly rubbed it across his face. Then he pulled the trigger and there was a shot. Bang. One more person dead in the city. Its getting to be a vice.First he grabbed the revolver that was in a desk drawer, rubbed it quietly across his face, put it to his synagogue, and pulled the trigger. Without saying a word. Bang. Dead. Lets recapitulate the office is grand, determine for a minister. The desk is ministerial too, and covered with a glass that must have reflected the scene, the shock. Ismael knew where the gun was, hed hidden it there himself. So he didnt lose any time, all he had to do was open the right-hand drawer and exhaust his hand in. Then he got a good hold on it and rubbed it over his face with a certain pleasure before displace it to his temple and pulling the trigger.It was something close sensual and quite unexpected. He hadnt even had time to think about it. A trivial gesture, and the gun had fired. Theres something wanting(p) Ismael in the bar with a glass in his hand mentation over his future act and its possible consequences. We must go support farther if we want to get at the honor Ismael in the rock n roll musician crying beca exercise his diapers are dirty and nobody is changing him. Not that far. Ismael in the first grade fighting with a classmate wholl one daylight become a minister, his friend, a traitor. No, Ismael in the ministry without being able to tell what he knew, forced to be silent. smael in the bar with the glass (his third) in his hand, and the irrevocable decision better death. Ismael pushing the revolving door at the penetration to the building, pushing the swinging door leading to the office section, saying good morning to the guard, opening the door of his office. Once in his office, seven steps to his desk. Terror, the act of opening the drawer, taking out the revolver, and rubbing i t across his face, almost a private gesture and very quick. The act of putting it to his temple and pulling the trigger another act, immediately following the previous one.Bang. Dead. And lsmael flood tide out of his office (the other mans office, the ministers) almost relieved, even though he can predict what awaits him. (When reading this, remember that the ENG 150 Reynolds 3 paper takes place in Argentina there, a minister is a extremely placed government employee, similar to a Cabinet member in the U. S. ) Then tell me what happened? Did Ismael kill himself? What details of the score make you think he did or didnt? Did Ismael kill the minister? What details of the story make you think he did or didnt? Are there other possibilities?How does the use of pronouns (he, him, his) contri stille to the ambiguity of the story? (Ambiguous means susceptible to more than one provideation. ) If Ismael didnt kill the minister, why is the story called All closely Suicide? Why doesnt Va lenzuela tell the story in chronological order (that is, in the order in which the events happened)? Do you think Valenzuela is deliberately confusing the reader? What point big businessman she be making about the political agency in her country by doing that? Theme When I asked that last question, I was asking you to think about the authors intentions.Most authors, in addition to recounting a story, want their stories to explore ideas. The floor is the dominant or underlying idea of the story. It is seldom stated explicitlymost stories do not have a Moral at the end. A theme is not the same as a plot. The plot is what happens in a story, the events that take place in the story. A theme is the ideas the story asks you to think about. For example, in All About Suicide, Luisa Valenzuela is telling you about Ismaelbut not meet about Ismael. We know hes just one of many people in the country who have died. (Its becoming a vice. ) So maybe the story is asking you to think about wh at its like to hump in a country where you cant speak freely and where its easy for the government to kill. How major power that coin a persons character? How might it affect his way of handling problems? And Valenzuela doesnt tell her story straightforwardly, in the same way that people may not be able to speak straightforwardly in this country. So the truth gets confused, and you never really know what it isjust as someone lifetime in this country would have to deal with never knowing the real truth the most he could hope for would be the official discrepancy of the truth for that day.A story may have one theme more often, it has several, as you can con from Valenzuelas story. Interpreting Literature As you can see, it is possiblein fact, its likely, that contrastive readers will come up with different expositions of stories and poems. Many works are deliberately written so as to allow more than one interpretation. So if, in the discussions, you point out yourself disagre eing with anyone elses ideas about the story, please dont hesitate to say so, and volunteer your ideas. The point of having the discussions is to allow readers to learn from each other, to show each other things they might not have noticed themselves.ENG 150 Reynolds 4 But A argument of caution here. While it is usually true that there is no single correct reading of a text, your interpretation must be back up by the text. It is often tempting to read into a work things that are not there. After all, we all bring our own experiences and preconceptions to anything we read. Like scientific theory, literary interpretation must have a basis in fact you must be able to support your interpretation with dialogue, descriptions, events, or other details from the text. The Reading Process To read more effectively, follow these steps Read the story once, all the way through.Highlight or otherwise mark the text to identify key elements words, phrases, or images that are repeated any elements that seem out of place or unnecessary. come upon notes in the margins of any ideas that occur to you about what the writers theme(s) might be, any questions you might have, or the definitions of any words you didnt know and had to look up. Read the story a second time, and make note of anything else that occurs to you. Literary Criticism Many books and articles have been written by professional literary critics who analyze and interpret literature.Reading their work can help you gain new perspectives on particular works and help you understand them better. But you should not cause the ideas of any critic unquestioningly. Each critic, like other readers, has his own interpretation. And different critics come up with very different conclusions about the same work. For an example of this, look on pp. 1912-1920 followed by a sample student paper on page 1921-1926 each with a different interpretation of a story. Plot The plot of a story is simply the events that take place in the story . Most people read only for plotbut you now know to look for theme, too.And often, clues to the authors intentions can be found in the plot. For example, pay attention to amazenings and endings of stories, and ask yourself questions Why did the author choose to begin the story with this event? Why choose to end it with that event? What has wobbled amongst the beginning and the end? The Secret Lion, for instance, begins when the male childs are in junior high, and whence moves back in time. Why wouldnt Rios choose to begin when the boys were younger, and then work his way up to junior high? And what has changed in the boys, and in their lives, sur lucubrateed by the beginning and the end of the story?Look also at the stages in all the important changes. What happens to change things or people? Why do you think the author chose to take this course of action? In contented Endings, A dickensod ENG 150 Reynolds 5 details the possible outcomes of a single event. What is her point i n showing us all these alternatives? Look for events, people, and/or destiny that work against the action of the story. In The Things They Carried, for example, the narrator tells us what happens to the soldiersbut he also repetitively tells us what they carry, and this slows down the story. Why would OBrien choose to involve all this information?Why not just tell us what happened? Look for characters, events, and details which seem to make no contribution to the plot or movement of the story, and ask yourself why they are there. In This Is What It heart to Say Phoenix, Arizona, (pg. 474) for instance, the narrator tells us a lot of stories about Victors and Thomass medieval which seem to have nothing to do with the events taking place on their trip. Why tell us? We are told about a gymnast they meet but the gymnast is unnecessary to the plot why is she there? The reservation where the boys live is described what details are we told about the reservation?What is left out? Why? L ook for repetition of events and details. What details repeat themselves in Faulkners A Rose For Emily? (pg. 29) Is there any sort of pattern that you can detect in this repetition? The narrator of The Tell-tale Heart also repeats himself why? scar the conflicts that occur in the story, whether they are between the characters, the characters and their surroundings, or within the characters themselves. And look at how those conflicts are resolved. In Kansas, the narrator describes the conflict between the boy and the farmer why is he so frightened? How does this affect his later on actions?And how is the conflict resolved? What does this resolution reveal about the boy? About the reader? Character Characters in books and stories can function in two ways they can be individuals, with unique characteristics, habits, quirks, and personalities, so that they seem like real people or they can be typesthat is, they can stage or represent something larger than themselves. The best charact ers do both. In a story, the main character is called the jockstrap. The protagonists opponent is the antagonist. The antagonist is usually another person, but in some stories it is an animal, or a spirit, or even a natural force.Figuring out which character is the protagonist can help you to interpret the storys theme. For example, in A Rose for Emily, we might say the protagonist is Emilyor we might say the protagonist is the town. If we choose Emily, we might see the storys theme as having to do with fear, loneliness, or mental illness. If we choose the town, we might see the story as having to do with social isolation or social class. Some characters are flat others are round. Flat characters may play a small or a large fiber in a story, but they experience no change or development throughout the course of the story.Round characters change, grow, develop. (This does not make round characters superior to flat characters it simply means they serve a different function in the story, depending on the authors ENG 150 Reynolds 6 intention. ) In The Yellow Wallpaper, (pg. 436) for instance, the husband is flat we do not see him experience any growth or development during the story. But the narrator, his wife, is round her experiences change her. sometimes it is not easy to figure out whether a character is round or flat, and that in itself can help you arrive at an interpretation of the story.For example, is the narrator of The Tell-tale Heart flat or round? Does he change or develop during the course of the story, or does he stay the same? The way you answer this question may affect the way you see the theme(s) of the story. Often, the names of characters are revealing. Authors are usually careful to give their characters get names. Charles Dickens, for example, in Nicholas Nickleby, names a schoolmaster Mr. Choakumchild right away, we know that Nicholas is in for a rough time at this school. Sometimes, the