ENG 1102 Reading and Writing Critically about Prose Plot

Reading Fiction Writing about Fiction Plot & Reading and Writing Critically: 

Reading Fiction Writing about Fiction Plot & Reading and Writing Critically

Reading Fiction: 

Reading Fiction Henry David Thoreau wrote, “books must be read as deliberately and reservedly as they were written” (Meyer, 13). When reading for this, and all, classes, you aim for “responsive reading,” or careful, deliberate reading. Remember: How you respond to a work will help to determine its meaning.

Reading Fiction: 

Reading Fiction Remember: How you respond to a work will help to determine its meaning. For this class, this concept means that there are no wrong answers when you respond to a work—there are only ideas that you cannot support.

Reading Fiction: 

Reading Fiction Readers may respond differently to a story because they have different values, assumptions, or expectations, and they may all have great ideas about the story’s meaning. The trick is to have an opinion about what you read. Keep track of your responses (take notes!) and your reactions to your assignments.

Reading Fiction: 

Reading Fiction Reading responsively requires you to focus on the story’s details and their arrangement to develop your interpretation of it. If you read your own biases into the story, you’ll have a biased interpretation. Be an active participant in the process of finding meaning in the work—and then share your responses with others to deepen your understanding.

Formula Fiction: 

Formula Fiction Formula fiction is popular because it provides entertainment and a means of escape into other lives/worlds, but it is written using traditional plot lines, traditional characters, and with one purpose: to be sold. Be aware of the formulas you read—and take note when the author varies from that set formula.

Formulas: 

Formulas Plot: mystery, romance, adventure For each genre, describe the typical… Heroine Hero Secondary Characters Setting Writing Style Length

Reading and Writing: 

Reading and Writing We write about literature to prove our point—that we understand what we’ve read and have some ideas to share about it. Our essays serve as a means of learning as well as proof that we have learned something. Writing a literary response is similar to writing other compositions…for the most part.

Reading and Writing: 

Reading and Writing 1. Read the work closely. How is the work put together? Become familiar with the elements of the work (not just plot!) Avoid reading other writers’ interpretations until you’ve come up with your own.

Reading and Writing: 

Reading and Writing Annotate the text or write notes in a journal. Look at the notes and choose an overall topic. Consider the length of the assignment and narrow your topic to a thesis of appropriate length. Free write to come up with specific ideas about your topic

Reading and Writing: 

Reading and Writing 6. Use a working thesis to begin your first rough draft. 7. Look at your annotations to come up with specific support for your thesis. Use quotations, summaries, and paraphrases of the story as the support for your body paragraphs. Be sure to have a strong introduction and conclusion.

Reading and Writing: 

Reading and Writing 10. ALWAYS revise and edit. 11. Include a Works Cited list of all sources used within your essay/research. Writing a literary response is similar to writing other compositions…for the most part. In the case of literary responses, you write a paper that shares your opinion, but all of your details to prove that opinion are found in the work you’ve read.

Typical Argument Styles: 

Typical Argument Styles An argumentative essay is designed to persuade your audience of the validity of your idea. Formalist Marxist Mythological Biographical New Historicist Reader-Response Psychological Cultural Studies Deconstructive Historical Gender Studies

Writing about Fiction: 

Writing about Fiction Initially, write responses to your reading by annotating or using a journal to look at the author’s form and style.

Plot: 

Plot Does the plot conform to a formula? What is the source and nature of the conflict for the protagonist? Is the story told chronologically? If not, in what order are the events told, and what is the effect of that order on your response to the action? Is the plot unified? Is each incident somehow related to some other element in the story?

Character: 

Character Do you identify with the protagonist? Who (or what) is the antagonist? Did your response to any of the characters change as you read? What do you think caused the change? How does the author reveal the characters? Are they directly described or indirectly presented?

Setting: 

Setting Is the setting used symbolically? Are the time, place, and atmosphere related to the theme? Is the setting used as an antagonist?

Point of View: 

Point of View Who tells the story? Is it a 1 st person or 3 rd person narrator? Is it a major or minor character? Is the narrator reliable? Does the author directly comment on the action? If the story were told from a different point of view, how would your response change?

Theme: 

Theme Did you find a theme? What is it? Is the theme a confirmation of your values, or does it challenge them?

Symbolism: 

Symbolism Did you notice any symbols in the story? How did the symbols contribute to your understanding of the story?

Style, Tone, Irony: 

Style, Tone, Irony Do you think the style is consistent and appropriate throughout the story? Would you describe the level of diction as formal or informal? How does the author’s use of language contribute to the tone of the story? Did it seem, for example, intense, relaxed, sentimental, nostalgic, humorous, angry, sad, or remote?

Critical Strategies: 

Critical Strategies How might biographical information about the author help you to determine the central concerns of the story? How might historical information about the story provide a useful context for interpretation? To what extent do your own experiences, values, beliefs, and assumptions inform your interpretation?

PLOT: 

PLOT

Plot: 

Plot is the author’s arrangement of incidents in a story is the organizing principle that controls the order of events is what remains when the author edits out the irrelevant portions of the story? May be offered chronologically, in medias res, flashback

Plot: 

Plot Chronological In Medias Res Flashback No matter what the format, stories share a standard plot pattern: the character is confronted with a problem leading to a climactic struggle that is followed by a resolution of the problem.

Plot: 

Plot Introduction of Protagonist Introduction of conflict Climactic struggle between protagonist and antagonist Suspense Resolution

Plot: 

Plot Exposition Rising Action/ Conflict Climax Suspense Dénouement