Character, Setting, Plot, Point of View: Meat and
Potatoes of Literary Analysis
Rebecca McFarlan
mcfarlan@ih.k12.oh.us
Reading Maketh a Man Full, Writing a Man Exact, and Conference a Man Ready
From “Of Studies” by Francis Bacon
Levels of Questions
2004 AP Free Response Prompt – Critic Roland Barthes has said, “Literature is the
question minus the answer.” Choose a novel or play and, considering Barthes’
observation, write an essay in which you analyze a central question the work raises and
the extent to which it offers any answers. Explain how the author’s treatment of this
question affects your understanding of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.
Level One Questions: These questions can be answered definitely with facts found in
the text or by information readily available in outside sources.
Example: Name the feuding families in Romeo and Juliet.
Example: Where in Italy is Verona located?
Example: What is an apothecary?
Notice that level one questions have one correct answer and lend themselves to matching,
multiple choice, or fill-in-the-blank tests. They are important because they require the
student to read the work and provide support for levels two and three questions. Students
do need to be attentive to details.
Level Two Questions: The answers to these questions are implied rather than stated
directly in the text. Asking these types of questions requires students to draw inferences
based on specific information they can cite to back up their conclusions.
Example: What is Romeo’s concept of love at the start of the play?
Example: Is Friar Lawrence or the Nurse more to blame for the tragedy?
Example: How do you explain Tybalt’s anger toward Romeo?
Level Three Questions: These questions are more abstract. They go outside the text
and present issues for discussion that bring in the students; frame of reference.
Example: Are girls Juliet’s age ready to be married?
Example: Is love at first sight really love?
Example: Should parents arrange marriages for their children?
Notice that while level three questions will probably promote the most discussion, they
may not necessarily require that the students have carefully read the text.
If we want students to think about what they have read, we should ask level two and three
questions. Even better, we should get the students themselves to think up questions on all
three levels.
1
Character, Setting, Plot, Point of View: Meat and
Potatoes of Literary Analysis
Rebecca McFarlan
mcfarlan@ih.k12.oh.us
Student Generated - Levels of Questions
Sample A
1. What are some of the themes in Brave New World?
2. What actions convey the themes? How does setting help develop the themes?
3. Which of these themes in Brave New World could potentially hold true for us?
Sample B
1. When does John whip himself? What prompts him to do so?
2. At the end of the novel, why did John go in a "craze" about whipping himself?
3. Who do you know that would choose exile in Iceland? In the Bahamas? Remain in
the controlled society? . Would you rather have a fluctuation of intense passions like
John or be numb and ignorant like Linda? What does this tell you about our society and
human nature?
Sample C
1. What items are taken away at each caste level?
2. Why are the particular deprivations chosen for each?
3. What does our government deprive us of and why?
Sample D
1. Who is John's favorite author?
2. Why is Shakespeare John's favorite author?
3. Are we a non-reading/thinking society?
Sample E
1. Who is John's father?
2. Why does the DHC (Tomakin) not talk to Linda and John?
3. Does the relationship among John, Linda and the DHC reflect family values today?
Sample F
1. Where is Bernard threatened with exile?
2. Why does this society exile people? What type of people are exiled?
3. Does our government use the same tactics to control dissidents?
Sample G
1. What are some of the forbidden books?
2. Why is Mond the only one besides John who knows about these books?
3. What do you think of censorship today?
2
Character, Setting, Plot, Point of View: Meat and
Potatoes of Literary Analysis
Rebecca McFarlan
mcfarlan@ih.k12.oh.us
Analysis of Early Works – Multiple Choice
“Body and Soul” – Andrew Marvel
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
Literal Understanding and perhaps the literary device of apostrophe – Level 1
Understanding of part to whole – Level 2
Literary Devices
Inference of metaphorical meaning – Level 2
Understanding of part to whole – Level 2
Literal Understanding – Level 1
Inference of metaphorical meaning – Level 2
Literal Understanding – Level 1
Inference of metaphorical meaning – Level 2
Inference of metaphorical meaning – Level 2
Inference of metaphorical meaning – Level 2
Understanding author’s purpose and style – Level 2
Understanding part (ASR) to whole (theme) – Level 2
“The Eolian Harp” – Coleridge
14. Inference of Mood (not tone) – Level 2
15. Understanding part (ASR/diction) to whole (stanza) – Level 2
16. Understanding symbolic/metaphorical significance – Level 2
17. Literal Understanding – Level 1
18. Inference of metaphorical meaning – Level 2
19. Understanding Cause/Effect – Level 2
20. Literal Understanding – Level 1
21. Inference of metaphorical meaning – Level 2 and Understanding Cause/Effect – Level 2
22. Grammar
23. Inference of metaphorical meaning – Level 2
24. Inference of metaphorical meaning – Level 2
25. Rhetorical Strategy and Understanding author’s purpose and style – Level 2
26. Understanding Theme – Level 2 and 3
27. Inference of tone – Level 2
28. Literary Device
“I Observe the Physician” – John Donne
29. Literary Device
30. Inference of Theme – Level 2
31. Understanding part (ASR/diction) to whole (paragraph) – Level 2
32. Understanding part (ASR/diction) to whole (stanza) – Level 2
33. Literal Understanding – Level 1
34. Inference of metaphorical meaning – Level 2 (in this case analogy)
35. Understanding Cause/Effect – Level 2
36. Literal Understanding – Level 1
37. Understanding Logos and Specious Reasoning – Level 2
38. Pronoun/Antecedent – Literal – Level 1
39. Diction and Literal Understanding – Levels 1 and 2
40. Literal Understanding and Logos – Levels 1 and 2
41. Literal Understanding – Level 1
42. Literal Understanding of what is not implied – Levels 1 and 2
3
Character, Setting, Plot, Point of View: Meat and
Potatoes of Literary Analysis
Rebecca McFarlan
mcfarlan@ih.k12.oh.us
Seminar
Purposes:
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Guidelines:
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To generate ideas for later exploration
To practice reflective and critical thinking
To refine conversation skills (conference)
To improve listening skills
To focus on textual evidence
Everyone should speak at least once.
No one person or persons should dominate. If you have spoken three
times, wait at least five minutes before talking.
Please address your peers by surnames.
Grades are determined by student and teacher.
Your grade is based on a healthy balance among 1) listening to others 2)
speaking 3) questioning and clarifying points made by others 4)
familiarity with the text 4) ability to draw parallels and make connections.
Be aware of people who are trying to jump in, but are having a difficult
time.
Ask thoughtful questions that clarify and expand ideas.
Be willing to qualify or abandon your initial opinions if you are persuaded
by others that you need to do so.
When drawing parallels and making connections refer to the text.
Be comfortable with silence.
Make eye contact with your peers, not the teacher.
The teacher will act as facilitator not as the authority.
Remember, this is a discovery and critical thinking activity. Most
comments are welcome. Evaluation of those comments is encouraged.
Linear thinkers need to be comfortable with ambiguity. Answers and
direction come later.
It’s fine to return to a previous topic in the conversation. Just
acknowledge that you would like to shift the discussion or to return to a
point that Mr. Jones made earlier.
Seminars raise more questions than they answer. Refinement of thought
comes through other activities.
4
Character, Setting, Plot, Point of View: Meat and
Potatoes of Literary Analysis
Rebecca McFarlan
mcfarlan@ih.k12.oh.us
Student Observation Sheet—Socratic Discussions
(Outer Circle)
Please record statements made during the discussion in the appropriate column.
General Comments
Textually Supported
Questions
Any silence? Why?
Please rate the following components of the discussion on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the
highest. Briefly defend your ranking.
Participation
1 2 3 4 5
Content
1 2 3 4 5
Listening
1 2 3 4 5
Cooperation
1 2 3 4 5
Overall
1 2 3 4 5
On the back, write a paragraph analyzing the discussion you just witnessed.
5
Character, Setting, Plot, Point of View: Meat and
Potatoes of Literary Analysis
Rebecca McFarlan
mcfarlan@ih.k12.oh.us
Seminar Evaluation
Name: __________________
Work Discussed: _________________
Level 1:
____ Contributes to the Discussion
____ Listens Actively
____ Is Considerate
Level 2:
____ Does Not Digress Unproductively
____ Is Neither Impulsive Nor Overly Hesitant
Level 3:
Extends and Expands Discussion by:
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
Questioning
Involving Others in a Meaningful Way
Offering Analogies
Alluding to Previously Shared Readings
Clarifying the Contribution of Others
Comprehending and Contributing at the Universal Level
Examining Critically and Logically the Ideas of Others
Grade: ____
A. What were the main points made during the discussion? Which if any were
confusing or unclear?
B. What did I hear that I already knew or thought?
C. What interesting new point(s) did I hear? Who made it (them)?
6
Character, Setting, Plot, Point of View: Meat and
Potatoes of Literary Analysis
Rebecca McFarlan
mcfarlan@ih.k12.oh.us
SOAPStones: A Device to Unlock Meaning in Texts
S = Subject: What is the topic of the piece?
O = Occasion: What called the creator of the piece to put pen to paper? What was
the immediate cause? Is there a later occasion that gives the piece a different or
larger meaning?
A = Audience: To whom is the piece intended? Can there be more than one?
P = Purpose: What is the creator’s message to the audience. What does s/he hope to
accomplish? Purpose and theme are closely related.
S = Speaker: What conclusions can you draw about the speaker?
Tone = Creator’s Attitude to the Subject? The Audience? The Occasion?
7
Character, Setting, Plot, Point of View: Meat and
Potatoes of Literary Analysis
Rebecca McFarlan
mcfarlan@ih.k12.oh.us
SOAPSTONE
S ubject: _______________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
O ccasion: ______________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
A udience: ______________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
P urpose: ______________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
S peaker and S hift: _____________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
TONE: ________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
8
Character, Setting, Plot, Point of View: Meat and
Potatoes of Literary Analysis
Rebecca McFarlan
mcfarlan@ih.k12.oh.us
SOME ASPECTS OF ANALYZING FICTION
I.
New Criticism or Formal: Inside the Work – (Apply all other critical constructs in concert with New
Criticism.
A. Theme—the basic issue dealt with.
B. Meaning—What the author is saying—the conclusion, if any, would have us draw about the issue.
Some say theme and meaning are the same.
C. Setting—What location and why—relation to meaning, their interplay.
D. Plot—What episodes and events, their relation to meaning, their interplay.
E. Character—is characterization interesting, full, believable, consistent, weak, improbable—is
motivation clear enough—relation of character types to meaning.
F. Point of view—angle from which story is told—omniscient author, limited author, author using
narrator other than himself, or the author-narrator disappeared in the stream of consciousness or
interior monologue coming within the character.
G. Tone—attitude the author takes toward the material—serious, confidential, cynical, ironic,
humorous, reverent, ambiguous, detached, etc.
H. Symbolism—are there one or more sensory objects or sensory events which permeate the whole
work and carry unusually heavy meaning.
I. Mood—the emotional atmosphere of the material—eerie, depressing, factual, joyous, etc.
J. Style—the way the language is used.
1. sentence structure—simple, complex, staccato, rhythmic, etc., and why.
2. word choice
a. any distinctive features of vocabulary
b. connotation—emotional atmosphere of words
c. allusion—reference to something outside of work
d. imagery—sources of dominant imagery—relation of image clusters of meaning
K. Structure—relation of any part to another or to the whole, and aspects of overall unity. Such unity
often found in pervasive suspense, repetition and parallelisms, reiterated symbolism, families of
similarly connotative words, etc.
II. Outside the work – Systems that borrow from other disciplines
A. Its relation to other works of its kind—its historical place in the genre (New Historicism)
B. Its relation to other works by same author, especially as containing key ideas on life and art
(Structuralism)
C. Its relation to the life of the author—its autobiographical content (Historical/Topical)
D. Its relation to the social scene—as mirror and judgment of the age—a product of its period. (New
Historicism)
E. Its relation to the audience—does it succeed in arousing the emotions it hopes to arouse or in
generating action by the reader.
F. Its relation to various theoretic systems.
1. Freudian psychology—heavy emphasis on sex symbols, id impulses, sublimations,
complexes, repressions, etc.
2. Jungian psychology—relation to archetype and myth.
3. Marxist dogma
4. Religious dogma (Moral/Intellectual)
5. Philosophy - Existentialism, Epicurism, Stoicism, etc.
6. Feminism
7. Deconstructionism
8. Reader Response
9
Character, Setting, Plot, Point of View: Meat and
Potatoes of Literary Analysis
Rebecca McFarlan
mcfarlan@ih.k12.oh.us
Applying a Critical Construct
1. Which of the critical strategies that we have studied seem the most
appropriate the author/topic of the paper? Why do you prefer one over
another? Do any critical strategies seem especially inappropriate? Why?
2. Does the historical context suggest that certain critical strategies, such as
Marxism or feminism, might be particularly productive?
3. Does the literary work reflect or challenge the cultural assumptions
contemporary to it in such a way as to suggest a critical approach for your
paper?
4. Does the author comment on his or her own literary work in letters,
interviews, or lectures? If so, how might these comments help you to
develop an approach for your papers?
5. Are you able to formulate an interpretation of the work you want to discuss
before reading the critics extensively? If so, how might the critics’
discussions help you to develop, enhance, or qualify your argument about
how to interpret the work?
6. If you haven’t developed an argument before reading the critics, how might
some exploratory reading lead you into significant questions and
controversial issues that would offer topics that could be developed into a
thesis?
7. If you are drawing on the work of a number of critics, how are their critical
strategies – whether formalist, biographical, psychological, historical, or
other relevant to your own? How can you use their insights to support your
own arguments?
8. Is it possible or desirable to combine approaches such as psychological and
feminist or feminist and Marxist?
9. If the strategies or approaches the critics use to interpret the literary work
tend to be similar, are these questions and issues that have been neglected
or ignored that can become the focus of your argument about the literary
work?
10. If the critics’ approaches are very different from one another, is there a way
to use those differences to argue your own critical approach that allows you
to support one critic rather than another or to resolve a controversy among
the critics?
11. Is your argument adequately supported with specific evidence from the
literary text? Have you been careful not to discuss parts of the text that do
not seem to support your argument?
12. Is your own discussion of the literary text free of simple plot summary? Of
unrelated biography? Does each paragraph include a thesis statement that
advances your argument rather than merely consisting of facts and plot
summary?
13. Have you accurately and fairly represented the critics’ arguments? Have you
cited original articles when possible (no Contemporary Literary Criticism
citations allowed).
10
Character, Setting, Plot, Point of View: Meat and
Potatoes of Literary Analysis
Rebecca McFarlan
mcfarlan@ih.k12.oh.us
14. Have you made your own contributions, qualifications, or disagreements with
the critics clear to your reader?
In addition to the questions at the end of each chapter in your Writing About
Literature Books, the following might be of use to you.
Formalist Questions
1. How do various elements of the work – plot, character point of view, setting,
tone, diction, images, symbol, and so on – reinforce the works’ meaning?
2. How are the elements related to the whole?
3. What is the works’ major organizing principle? How is structure unified?
4. What issues do the works raise? How does the structure resolve those
issues?
Psychological Questions
1. How does the work reflect the author’s personal psychology? (a way of
discerning tone)
2. What do the characters’ emotions and behaviors reveal about their
psychological states? What types of personalities are they? Consider what you
know about Freud and Jung.
3. Are psychological matters such as repression, dreams, and desire presented
consciously or unconsciously by the author?
Mythological Questions (closely related to psychology)
1. How does the story resemble other stories in plot, character, setting, or use of
symbols?
2. Are archetypes presented?
3. Do specific allusions to myths shed light on the text?
Marxist Questions
1. How are class differences presented in the work?
2. How do economic conditions determine the characters’ lives?
3. What ideological values are explicit or implicit?
11
Character, Setting, Plot, Point of View: Meat and
Potatoes of Literary Analysis
Rebecca McFarlan
mcfarlan@ih.k12.oh.us
4. Does the work challenge or affirm the social order it describes?
Feminist Questions
1. How are the men and women portrayed. Do they accept their roles?
2. Is the form and content influenced by the author’s gender?
Feminist Criticism
Questions Feminist Readers Ask
1.
How does the work illuminate the traditional roles of women - wife, mother, daughter, sister, lover, or
wife?
2. What is the importance and attainability of equality in marriage?
3. What are the nature and obligations of the mother-child relationship?
4. What issues are raised that are particular to the time period? Which of these issues are still relevant
today?
5. Are the male/female attitudes/responses toward values and behaviors the same? If different, are the
differences acquired or natural?
6. To what extent do the men in the text control the money in the home and in society? Do men control
money flow today? These questions have Marxist overtones.
7. Are women in the text thought to do nothing when they merely run their households? What about the
attitude today?
8. Are housewives considered parasitic and extravagant?
9. Are men still more comfortable with dependent wives than with independent ones?
10. What patriarchal rationalizations are raised?
a.
b.
c.
Men are the rational creatures; therefore, have most of the responsibilities in the
relationships.
Male honor is more important than female honor.
Male jobs carry more prestige than female jobs. Women are incapable of doing well
traditional male job.
the
11. Does the female in the text encourage patriarchal rationalizations? Do females today perpetuate a
patriarchal tradition? Should they?
12. Are males or female totally liberated from traditional role playing?
12
Character, Setting, Plot, Point of View: Meat and
Potatoes of Literary Analysis
Rebecca McFarlan
mcfarlan@ih.k12.oh.us
Questions Marxist Critics Ask About Literature
1.
2.
3.
4.
Is there an outright rejection of socialism in the work?
Does the work raise fundamental criticisms about the emptiness of life in bourgeois society?
Does the author try to overcome “angst” and chaos?
In portraying society, what approximation of totality does the author achieve? What is
emphasized, what ignored?
5. How is meaning restored to life?
6. How is the fate of the individual linked organically to the nature of societal forces?
7. What are the work’s conflicting forces?
a. What secondary conflicts exist? Can they be expressed socially?
b. Does the plot tension imply a widespread social anxiety? Does its resolution imply the
hopes of a period?
c. What threatens order?
d. Who wins in the end? In terms of the unexpected, as well as the predictable victors, can
any ideological statement be made?
8. At what points are actions or solutions to problems forced or unrealistic?
9. In terms of characterization:
a. Are there any common analogies used in describing categories of people or actions
(stereotypes).
b. Are characters from all social levels equally sketched?
c. Are any constituencies caricatured (gender, race, or class), or defined only from an
outsider’s point of view?
d. How often, for what reasons, and in which instances does authorial distance change?
Does the author alter her or his detachment, irony, or seriousness?
10. What are the values of each class in the work?
a. What are the values of one class to another and how are they expressed?
b. Is there a class of virtuous people (children, women, servants, beggars, priest, police,
etc.)?
c. What do characters (or classes of characters) worry about?
11. Are the main problems or solutions in the novel individual or collective? Same question for the
secondary conflicts?
a. Is there an indication that social change might improve anything?
b. What are the dialectics of morality? Is anyone caught in a moral dilemma in which social
or economic necessity clashes with m oral precept?
c. What considerations override basic impulses toward love, justice, solidarity, generosity,
etc.?
12. Which values allow effective action?
a. What values are proposed for the reader’s adoption? Which characters are models?
b. What is valued most? Sacrifice? Assent? Resistance? How clearly do narratives of
disillusionment and defeat indicate that bourgeois values (competition, acquisitiveness,
chauvinism) are incompatible with human happiness?
c. What specific complex force motivates behavior? Family? Village? Passion? Civil
Authority?
d. Does the protagonist defend or defect from the dominant values of society? Are those
values ascendancy or decay?
e. How do characters get information?
f. How are forms of life validated to the characters?
g. Which kinds of characters most demonstrate a change in values?
h. What controls (sanctions, procedures, or protocol) exist within each group of characters
to control behavior?
13
Character, Setting, Plot, Point of View: Meat and
Potatoes of Literary Analysis
Rebecca McFarlan
mcfarlan@ih.k12.oh.us
“To be human is to be an actor who makes choices and seeks to guide one’s own destiny. To
be free, to be an actor, means knowing who one is and how one has been shaped by the
surrounding social world.”
Joel Spring
1. We are social beings, shaped by the social forces which surround us. Social arrangements,
which determine who is privileged and what is valued are decided on by society: they are not
given or natural.
2. The economic system (the mode of production)_ structures the way society operates. It is called the
BASE.
3. The ruling class is determined by its role in the economic structure of the society.
4. The dominate ideas of a society are the ideas of its ruling class.
5. The way people view the world (SUPERSTRUCTURE) is determined by its BASE. This
superstructure acts to regulate or dissipate the conflict which naturally arises between classes of differing
degrees of power. The superstructure includes laws, religions, ethics, and art. As part of the
superstructure, literature’s function is to legitimize the power of the dominant social class. If it does
not support the superstructure, it is labeled subversive.
6. IDEOLOGY encompasses the ideas, values, and feelings by which we experience society. It its the
way we live out our roles in society. Ideology ensures that the situation in which one’s social class has
power over others is seen by most members of the society as “natural” or is not seen at all.
7. The OPPRESSED are those individuals who are prevented from being ACTORS or SUBJECTS, and
have become OBJECTS (see quotation above). Generally, the ideology of the superstructure forces the
oppressed to participate in their own oppression, by forcing them to internalize the image of the oppressor
as human and natural (remember the posters of Big Bother in 1984.) To be liberated, they must realize
the inhumanity of both their oppressors and the image of the oppressor within themselves (here’s where
psychology intersects with Marxism).
8. ALIENATION is the process by which a human (a worker for a pure Marxists) relinquishes his or her
power (labor) power to the ruling (capitalist) class in exchange for wages. The human being becomes a
part of the machine. Life seems to be fragmented into stationary pieces; institutions seem beyond human
control. The world of human relationships appears as relationship between things (REIFICATION).
9. FALSE CONSCIOUSNESS is a state in which people have been manipulated to support their own
oppression by a belief in the invulnerability of the system and the inevitability or naturalness of a
situation or event. People are left with few ways to feel human, other than relying on “lady luck” or
finding some way to “beat the system” rather than finding ways to change it.
10. CRITICAL CONSCIOUNESS means knowing who one is and how one has been shaped by the
surrounding world. Those who are critically conscious act to change and improve their world.
14
Character, Setting, Plot, Point of View: Meat and
Potatoes of Literary Analysis
Rebecca McFarlan
mcfarlan@ih.k12.oh.us
LITERARY THEORY
Religious
Philological
Historical/Biographical
Marxist/Socialist
Literary Tradition
Formalism
New Criticism
Structuralism
Freudian/Jungian
Reader Response
Popular Culture
Feminist
Multicultural
Postcolonial
Poststructuralist
EMPHASES/ CLASSROOM PRACTICE
Text as sacred & source of eternal truth, emphasis on allegory,
Medieval symbol, parable, present day understood through proper
interpretation of omniscient text; priest/teacher as translator and
interpreter
Linguistic and literary traditions define ethnic nationhood,
emphasis on mythology, national epics, ancient popular folklore,
legends; teacher as preserver of national culture
Emphasis on life of great artists; teacher presents writers as role
models
Literature as part of class struggle, emphasis on social inequality,
social justice, working class literature; teacher inspires students to
social change
Literary periods and movements, relation of authors to each other,
emphasis on “representative” works; teacher prepares students for
graduate study in the field
Emphasis on formal elements of the text such as structure, plot,
characterization, themes, language, setting. Teachers emphasize
artistry of text
Literariness, organic unity of literary work, figurative language,
irony, author’s life and history not important, emphasis on
canonical “complex” literary forms, poetry; teacher helps students
discover artistry of writers
Understanding that all meaning derives from a set of symbols (i.e.
letters & words) with specific referents, and structured meanings.
Emphasis on meanings of individual words and phrases
Psychological aspects of the text, use of Freud’s model of “dream
work” and Jung’s archetypes to determine deeper meaning of
symbols
Meaning created in negotiation between reader and text, emphasis
on personal response to literature; literary works that inspire the
responses of students, teacher helps students develop their own
responses as readers
Media studies, popular literature & whole range of cultural
artifacts; teacher helps students analyze pop culture, mass media
Literature, experience, perspective of women needed to address
history of discrimination and exclusion, later social construction of
gender, orientation; teacher helps students explore gender roles
and equity
Literature, experience, perspective of marginalized ethnic groups
needed to address history of discrimination, rethink “canon,”
traditions, emphasis on biography, philology; teacher helps
students explore cultures and equity
Literature of formerly colonized peoples in Africa, Asia, and the
Americas, examination of colonial literary traditions of European
powers, “Third World” literature; teacher helps students locate
themselves globally
Consciousness resides in language and is social, not uniquely
individual or divinely given. No escape from the “stereotype,”
forms include postmodenism, deconstruction, post-marxism;
English courses address the “discourses” that shape identity
(subjectivity, subject positions
15
CONTEXTS/ BEGINNINGS
Medieval
17th to 19th C Enlightenment
Nationalism/ Racialism
19th C Individualism
19th to 20th C Russian Rev,
1930’s
1920’s discipline develops in the
academy
1920’s to 1930’s standardization
of curriculum
1940’s & 50’s
Cold War, anti-Communist,
university expansion
1950’s & 60’s
Cold War
1950’s & 1960’s psychology of
nation examined
1970’s relativism
1960’s Pop culture movement
1970’s women’s movement
1980’s
civil rights movement
demographic changes
1980’s
globalism & decolonization of
Africa, Asia, and India
1980’s – 90’s linguistic &
cultural theory, “information age”
Character, Setting, Plot, Point of View: Meat and
Potatoes of Literary Analysis
Rebecca McFarlan
mcfarlan@ih.k12.oh.us
Literary Themes
Thematic Subjects: A broad topic about life that works of literature
explore.
Theme: A direct or implied statement that reveals the author’s message
and attitude about the subject.
Types of Subjects and Themes:
Subject
1. The individual in Nature(Notice
how many different meanings of
“Nature” are implied in the themes).
2. The individual in Society
3. An individual’s Relation to
God(the gods).
Possible Themes
1A. Nature is at war with each of us
and proves our vulnerability.
1B. People are out of place in
Nature and need technology to
survive.
1C. A human being is in harmony
with Nature as the highest point in
its evolution.
1D. People are destroying Nature
and themselves with uncontrolled
technology.
2A. Society and a person’s inner
nature are always at war.
2B. Social influences determine a
person’s final destiny.
2C. Social influences can only
complete inclinations formed by
Nature.
2D. A person’s identity is
determined by place in society.
2E. In spite of the pressure to be
among people, an individual is
essentially alone and frightened.
3A. God is benevolent and will
reward human beings for
overcoming evil and temptation.
3B. God mocks the individual and
tortures him or her for presuming to
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Character, Setting, Plot, Point of View: Meat and
Potatoes of Literary Analysis
Rebecca McFarlan
mcfarlan@ih.k12.oh.us
4. Human Relations
5. Growth and Initiation
6. Time
be great.
3C. God is jealous of and constantly
thwarts human aspiration to power
and knowledge.
3C. God is indifferent toward
human beings and lets them run
their undetermined course.
3E. There is no God in whom
people can place their faith or
yearning for meaning in the
universe.
4A. Marriage is a perpetual comedy
bound to fail.
4B. Marriage is a relationship in
which each partner is supported
and enabled to grow.
4C. An old man marrying a young
woman is destined to be a cuckold
(a victim of adultery).
4D. Parents should not sacrifice all
for a better life for their children.
4E. There are few friends who will
make extreme sacrifices.
5A. A boy and girl must go through
a special trial or series of trials
before maturing.
5B. Manhood or womanhood is
often established by an abrupt,
random crisis, sometimes at an
unusually early age.
5C. Aspects of childhood are
retained in all of us, sometimes
hindering growth, sometimes
providing the only joy in later life.
5D. A person grows only in so far
as he or she must face a crisis of
confidence or identity.
6A. Enjoy life now, for the present
moment, because we all die too
soon.
6B. By the time we understand life,
there is too little left.
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Character, Setting, Plot, Point of View: Meat and
Potatoes of Literary Analysis
7. Death
8. Alienation
Rebecca McFarlan
mcfarlan@ih.k12.oh.us
6C. Human measurement of time is
artificial and in reality follows the
theory of relativity.
6D. Time is a fourth dimension that
escapes human comprehension
7A. Death is part of living, giving
life its final meaning.
7B. Death is the ultimate absurd
joke on life.
7C. There is no death, only a
different plane or mode of life
without physical decay.
7D. without love, death often
appears to be the only alternative to
life.
8A. An individual is isolated from
fellow human beings and foolishly
tries to bridge the gaps.
8B. Through alienation come selfknowledge.
8C. Modern culture is defective
because it doesn’t provide group
ties which in primitive cultures
make alienation virtually
impossible.
18
Character, Setting, Plot, Point of View: Meat and
Potatoes of Literary Analysis
Rebecca McFarlan
mcfarlan@ih.k12.oh.us
Lesson Ideas for Teaching the Basics Through Close Reading:
Bookmarks –
Reader Response Bookmarks
3 Questions
Find a piece of music that matches assigned chapters and explain how the music reflects
the literary component of the assigned chapters (Sherilyn Highben)
Cereal Box – Literary Ingredients. Put paper on each side and focus students on
ingredients you want such as character, plot, etc. Go to the following link for more
information. (Falanda Collins) www.chuh.org. Go to summer reading on the left side
and click on AP 12.
Use film to help students understand characterization
Read, encode, annotate, ponder (Janet Allen)
Cast characters in a modern movie and explain why. Current actors for novels/plays.
Discuss problems directors would have filming the novel. This gets them to think about
point of view.
Episode of Teen Titans – Outline the plot and apply to plot concepts
Box – Students write a character trait on each side. Then justify the character trait.
Design an album/cd cover – Bill Bosheff
Butcher block paper. Outline a student’s body and fill in details of a character as they
read replete with quotations
Have students focus on one literary motif/metaphor, etc from the beginning of the book.
When they discuss, they will discuss their motif, the peers then evaluate the discussion.
Create a fictitious My Space page – a personal ad (Amanda Foltz) – for the character
(Don’t actually post but give a template because of liability) G. VonVille
Draw the public versus private face of characters.
Full contact sports– Good AM activity – Two groups - Everyone must go to the board at
least once to respond to close reading questions. N. Dunker
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Character, Setting, Plot, Point of View: Meat and
Potatoes of Literary Analysis
Rebecca McFarlan
mcfarlan@ih.k12.oh.us
HISTORY OF CALYPSO
In the 18th century, in the French colonial islands, slaves were barred from taking
part in Carnival celebrations. They celebrated secretly in their backyards. African
drumming, dance and song depicting their African Culture vibrated from their
backyards. "Le vrai"- (singing the truth) was the slaves' hilarious way of mocking
their masters in song.
FROM BENNA 1834 to CALYPSO 1985
Benna derives from a West African word for song-dance that the slaves brought
to the West Indies. It was a lively melody set to simple repetitive lyrics that dealt
with a specific topic. Introduced during post slavery life, which was little different
from that which existed before, emancipated slaves had to find an outlet, other
than through religious song, to express themselves and to forget about the social
ills that existed. Music that was simple and free, entertaining yet functional, was
an obvious vehicle.
Benna dealt with the bawdy, the scandalous, the cruel and occasionally the
humorous. Benna provided slaves with a common voice. In the 1900's, benna
evolved to becoming the newspaper of the people and provided an often illiterate
population with rapid transmission of information. The earliest traceable record of
Benna song states - "Emancipation day is past, massa done cut naygra ass.
In the 1940's and 1950's, a fearless character, John Thomas called "Quarkoo",
sang "Benna". He composed and sang on the spot. His songs gave details of
events ranging from the gruesome murders and courthouse trials to scandalous
husband/wife infidelities of the upper and middle classes in the society. Some of
the lyrics to his songs landed him in prison.
Today, calypsos are used as a basis for critique and open commentary, mainly
political and social. The use of double language, metaphors and folklore has
protected the performer from censorship. In the 1960's, tourism and the influx of
North American visitors to our shores recognised the need for organised
entertainment in the new hotels.
The first calypsonians performing in hotels were Dadian, Black Shirt, and
Skeetch. Accompanied by a string band consisting of two guitars and a bass
made from an empty oil drum with a string attached, they sang about "Slap in
han"- a song about a woman being slapped by an unseen hand. Many persons
thought that this was a sign of obeah.
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Character, Setting, Plot, Point of View: Meat and
Potatoes of Literary Analysis
Rebecca McFarlan
mcfarlan@ih.k12.oh.us
1957 saw the first Carnival in Antigua, and Styler won the first annual Calypso
King competition.
The mid-fifties heralded the emerging national consciousness expressed in
calypso. A series of political and union victories against the colonial
administration and sugar syndicate were expressed in calypso as patriotism, love
of beauty of country.
The 1967 Calypso competition reflected this with "Beautiful lovely Antigua" by
Swallow, "Prosperity" by Lord Lee and "Antigua where land and sea make
beauty".
1957 -1965. Lord Canary and Zemaki performed the best music of this period,
whose rivalry laid the foundation for the Swallow/ Short Shirt confrontations
fifteen years later.
1964-1988 King Short Shirt and Swallow battled for the Calypso King of Antigua
honour. King Short Shirt had won the crown fourteen times including three hat
tricks.
Jamaica Kincaid Resources
http://www.english.emory.edu/Bahri/Kincaid.html
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5292754
http://www.salon.com/05/features/kincaid.html
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Character, Setting, Plot, Point of View: Meat and
Potatoes of Literary Analysis
Rebecca McFarlan
mcfarlan@ih.k12.oh.us
Reading Strategies
Remember that none of these strategies are ends to complete understanding, but rather
starting points.
A. DIDLS – You have a handout on this strategy. A great way to unlock the author’s
tone.
B. SIFT :
S = symbol. Examine the title and text for symbolism. Refer to the symbol
books.
I = images. Identify and analyze images and sensory detail. Chart according to
the senses: Olfactory, Visual, Auditory, Tactile, Taste, Kinesthetics
F = figures of speech (synonym – trope). Analyze figurative language and other
devices.
T = Tone and Theme. Discuss how all devices reveal tone and theme.
C. Dante’s Fourfold Method: Developed by Dante Alighieri (author of The Divine
Comedy), this method is effective if you are having difficulty interpreting
symbols. While he developed it for his allegories, the method can also be used to
discuss the less direct symbolism of more modern writers. Each level is valid;
each can stand alone. Some works contain only two of the levels; others may
exist on all four planes.
o Literal or Historical Level – Joyce’s works literally deal with the life
journeys of Irish folks. Historically and culturally they are set in an extremely
Catholic Ireland in the early 20th century.
o Political Level – The level on which human beings relate to others in a
community and in the world. Refer to your notes on Marxism.
o Moral or Psychological – The way the self relates to the realm of ethics. In
Joyce’s works we see his protagonists struggling with the ethics of the
Catholic Church.
o Spiritual Level – The universal level on which a person relates to the cosmos,
the “way of the pilgrim soul.” The character who achieves this level has
rebelled and conquered all authority of humankind and has exhibited total free
will. Martyrdom is often a result for these folks. They are willing to pay the
price.
D. Aristotelian Theory: This critical stance is based on the work of the philosopher
Aristotle, whose Poetics (fourth century B.C.) laid out the basis for traditional
analysis of drama or “dramatic” fiction. Aristotle asserts that poetic art is “the
22
Character, Setting, Plot, Point of View: Meat and
Potatoes of Literary Analysis
Rebecca McFarlan
mcfarlan@ih.k12.oh.us
imitation of an action,” a spiritual movement which is represented in concrete
artistic form and which then becomes universal. This imitation, or mimesis, is a
writer’s attempt to represent reality or truth in artistic form.
o Unity of Action: Tragic plots must have a clear beginning, middle, and
end, and the action should be ordered and continuous, arising through a
cause and effect process.
o Catharsis: The events in the play should inspire pity and terror in its
viewers, allowing them, through vicarious participation in the dramatic
event to attain an emotional purgation, moral purification or clarity of
intellectual viewpoint.
o Tragedy: Tragedy is characterized by protagonists who are “highly
renowned and prosperous.” And whose reversal of fortune and fall from
greatness are brought about “not by vice or depravity, but by some error or
frailty.” The protagonist’s inner weakness or inherent error is called the
hamartia, taken from the Greek word meaning “to err’ or “to miss the
mark.” The harmatia often concerns excessive pride or hubris. The
reversal of fortune is characterized by “reversal of situation” (peripeteia)
and “recognition” (anagnorisis). Aristotle believed that in the most
successful tragedies, the moment of recognition and the reversal of
situation take place in the same narrative event.
o Scene of Suffering: A scene of suffering must also take place in tragedy.
Aristotle, and the Greeks in general, viewed suffering as a prerequisite for
wisdom.
23
Character, Setting, Plot, Point of View: Meat and
Potatoes of Literary Analysis
Rebecca McFarlan
mcfarlan@ih.k12.oh.us
Archetypes
Carl Jung first applied the term archetype to literature. He recognized that
there were universal patterns in all stories and mythologies regardless of
culture or historical period and hypothesized that part of the human mind
contained a collective unconscious shared by all members of the human
species, a sort of universal, primal memory. Joseph Campbell took Jung’s
ideas and applied them to world mythologies. In A Hero with a Thousand
Faces, among other works, he refined the concept of hero and the hero’s
journey—George Lucas used Campbell’s writings to formulate the Star
Wars saga. Recognizing archetypal patterns in literature brings patterns we
all unconsciously respond to in similar ways to a conscious level.
The term archetype can be applied to:
 An image
 A theme
 A symbol
 An idea
 A character
type
Archetypes can be expressed in
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Myths
Dreams
Literature
Religions
Fantasies
Folklore
24
 A plot pattern
Character, Setting, Plot, Point of View: Meat and
Potatoes of Literary Analysis
Rebecca McFarlan
mcfarlan@ih.k12.oh.us
Heroic Archetypes:
1. Hero as warrior (Odysseus): A near god-like hero faces physical challenges and external
enemies
2. Hero as lover (Prince Charming): A pure love motivate hero to complete his quest
3. Hero as Scapegoat (Jesus): Hero suffers for the sake of others
4. Transcendent Hero: The hero of tragedy whose fatal flaw brings about his downfall, but
not without achieving some kind of transforming realization or wisdom (Greek and
Shakespearean tragedies—Oedipus, Hamlet, Macbeth, etc.)
5. Romantic/Gothic Hero: Hero/lover with a decidedly dark side (Mr. Rochester in Jane
Eyre)
6. Proto-Feminist Hero: Female heroes (The Awakening by Kate Chopin)
7. Apocalyptic Hero: Hero who faces the possible destruction of society
8. Anti-Hero: A non-hero, given the vocation of failure, frequently humorous (Homer
Simpson)
9. Defiant Anti-hero: Opposer of society’s definition of heroism/goodness. (Heart of
Darkness)
10. Unbalanced Hero: The Protagonist who has (or must pretend to have) mental or
emotional deficiencies (Hamlet, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest)
11. The Other—the Denied Hero: The protagonist whose status or essential otherness
makes heroism possible (Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan)
12. The Superheroic: Exaggerates the normal proportions of humanity; frequently has divine
or supernatural origins. In some sense, the superhero is one apart, someone who does
not quite belong, but who is nonetheless needed by society. (Mythological heroes,
Superman)
Types of Archetypal Journeys
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
The quest for identity
The epic journey to find the promised land/to found the good city
The quest for vengeance
The warrior’s journey to save his people
The search for love (to rescue the princess/damsel in distress)
The journey in search of knowledge
The tragic quest: penance or self-denial
The fool’s errand
The quest to rid the land of danger
The grail quest (the quest for human perfection)
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Character, Setting, Plot, Point of View: Meat and
Potatoes of Literary Analysis
Rebecca McFarlan
mcfarlan@ih.k12.oh.us
Stages of a Hero’s Journey
Stage 1: Departure: The hero is called to adventure, although he is reluctant to accept.
Stage 2: Initiation: The hero crosses a threshold into a new, more dangerous world, gaining a
more mature perspective.
Stage 3: The Road of Trials: The hero is given supernatural aid, endures tests of strength,
resourcefulness, and endurance.
Stage 4: The Innermost Cave: The hero descends into the innermost cave, an underworld, or
some other place of great trial. Sometimes this place can be within the hero’s own
mind. Because of this trial, the hero is reborn in some way—physically, emotionally, or
spiritually. Through this experience, the hero changes internally.
Stage 5: Return and Reintegration with Society: The hero uses his new wisdom to restore
fertility and order to the land
Characteristics of the Hero’s Journey




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








The hero is naïve and inexperienced
The hero meets monsters or monstrous men
The hero has a strange, wise being as a mentor
The hero years for the beautiful lady who is sometimes his guide or inspiration
The hero must go on a journey, learn a lesson, change in some way, and return home
The hero often crosses a body of water or travels on a bridge.
The hero is born and raised in a rural setting away from cities
The origin of the hero is mysterious or the hero losses his/her parents at a young age, being
raised by animals or a wise guardian
The hero returns to the land of his/her birth in disguise or as an unknown
The hero is special, one of a kind. He/she might represent a whole nation or culture
The hero struggles for something valuable and important
The hero has help from divine or supernatural forces
The hero has a guide or guides
The hero goes through a rite of passage or initiation, an event that marks a change from an
immature to a more mature understanding of the world
The hero undergoes some type of ritual or ceremony after his/her initiation
The hero has a loyal band of companions
The hero makes a stirring speech to his/her companions
The hero engages in tests or contests of strength (physical and/or mental) and shows pride in
his/her excellence
The hero suffers an unhealable wound, sometimes an emotional or spiritual wound from
which the hero never completely recovers.
26
Character, Setting, Plot, Point of View: Meat and
Potatoes of Literary Analysis
Rebecca McFarlan
mcfarlan@ih.k12.oh.us
Situational Archetypes
Archetype
Description
The Quest
What the Hero must accomplish in order to bring fertility
back to the wasteland, usually a search for some talisman,
which will restore peace, order, and normalcy to a
troubled land.
The Task
The nearly superhuman feat(s) the Hero must perform in
order to accomplish his quest.
The Journey
The journey sends the Hero in search of some truth that
will help save his kingdom.
The Initiation
The adolescent comes into his maturity with new
awareness and problems.
The Ritual
The actual ceremonies the Initiate experiences that will
mark his rite of passage into another state. A clear sign of
the character's role in his society
The Fall
The descent from a higher to a lower state of being
usually as a punishment for transgression. It also involves
the loss of innocence.
Death and Rebirth
The most common of all situational archetypes, this motif
grows out of a parallel between the cycle of nature and the
cycle of life. Thus morning and springtime represent birth,
youth, or rebirth, while evening and winter suggest old
age or death.
Battle between Good
and Evil
Obviously, a battle between two primal forces. Mankind
shows eternal optimism in the continual portrayal of good
triumphing over evil despite great odds.
The Unhealable
Wound
Either a physical or psychological wound that cannot be
fully healed. The wound symbolizes a loss of innocence.
27
Example
Character, Setting, Plot, Point of View: Meat and
Potatoes of Literary Analysis
Rebecca McFarlan
mcfarlan@ih.k12.oh.us
Character Archetypes
Archetype
Description
The Hero
The Hero is a protagonist whose life is a series of
well-marked adventures. The circumstances of his
birth are unusual, and he is raised by a guardian. He
will have to leave his kingdom, only to return to it
upon reaching manhood. Characterized by courage,
strength, and honor, the hero will endure hardship,
even risk his life for the good of all. Leaves the
familiar to enter an unfamiliar and challenging world.
Young Man from the
Provinces
The Hero returns to his home and heritage where he is
a stranger who can see new problems and new
solutions
The Initiates
The Initiates are young heroes or heroines who must
go through some training and ceremony before
undertaking their quest.
Mentor
The Mentor is an older, wiser teacher to the initiates.
He often serves as a father or mother figure. He gives
the hero gifts (weapons, food, magic, information),
serves as a role model or as hero’s conscience.
Mentor - Pupil
Relationship
In this relationship, the Mentor teaches the Hero/pupil
the necessary skills for surviving the quest.
The Threshold
Guardian
Tests the hero’s courage and worthiness to begin the
journey
Father - Son Conflict
In this relationship, the tension is built due to
separation from childhood or some other source when
the two meet as men.
Hunting Group of
Companions
These are loyal companions willing to face hardship
and ordeal in order to stay together.
Loyal Retainers
The Retainer's duty is to reflect the nobility and power
of the hero.
Friendly Beast
An animal companion showing that nature is on the
side of the hero
The Shadow
A worthy opponent with whom the hero must struggle
28
Example
Character, Setting, Plot, Point of View: Meat and
Potatoes of Literary Analysis
Rebecca McFarlan
mcfarlan@ih.k12.oh.us
in a fight to the end. Must be destroyed or neutralized.
Psychologically can represent the darker side of the
hero’s own psyche.
The Devil Figure
This character is evil incarnate.
The Evil Figure with
Ultimately Good
Heart
A devil figure with the potential to be good. This
person is usually saved by the love of the hero.
The Creature of
Nightmare
A monster usually summoned from the deepest,
darkest part of the human psyche to threaten the lives
of the hero/heroine. Often it is a perversion or
desecration of the human body.
The Scapegoat
An animal, or more usually a human, whose death in a
public ceremony expiates some taint or sin of a
community. They are often more powerful in death
than in life.
The Outcast
A character banished from a social group for some
real or imagined crime against his fellow man, usually
destined to wander form place to place.
The Platonic Ideal
A woman who is a source of inspiration to the hero,
who has an intellectual rather than physical attraction
to her
Damsel in Distress
A vulnerable woman who needs to be rescued by the
hero. She is often used as a trap to ensnare the
unsuspecting hero.
The Earth Mother
Symbolic of fruition, abundance, and fertility, this
character traditionally offers spiritual and emotional
nourishment to those with whom she comes in contact.
Often depicted in earth colors, has large breasts and
hips symbolic of her childbearing capacities.
The Temptress or
Black Goddess
Characterized by sensuous beauty, this woman is one
to whom the protagonist is physically attracted and
who ultimately brings about his downfall. May appear
as a witch or vampire
White Goddess
Good, beautiful maiden, usually blond, may make an
ideal marriage partner; often has religious or
intellectual overtones.
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Character, Setting, Plot, Point of View: Meat and
Potatoes of Literary Analysis
Rebecca McFarlan
mcfarlan@ih.k12.oh.us
The Unfaithful Wife
A woman married to a man she sees as dull or distant
and is attracted to more virile or interesting men.
Star-Crossed Lovers
Two characters engaged in a love affair fated to end
tragically for one or both due to the disapproval of
society, friends, family, or some tragic situation.
Symbolic Archetypes
Archetype
Description
Light vs. Darkness
Light usually suggests hope, renewal, or intellectual
illumination; darkness implies the unknown, ignorance, or
despair.
Innate Wisdom vs.
Educated Stupidity
Some characters exhibit wisdom and understanding of
situations instinctively as opposed to those supposedly in
charge. Loyal retainers often exhibit this wisdom as they
accompany the hero on the journey.
Supernatural
Intervention
Spiritual beings intervene on the side of the hero or
sometimes against him.
Fire and Ice
Fire represents knowledge, light, life, and rebirth, while
ice, like the desert, represents ignorance, darkness,
sterility, and death.
Nature vs.
Mechanistic World
Nature is good while technology is evil.
The Threshold
Gateway to a new world which the hero must enter to
change and grow
The Underworld
A place of death or metaphorically an encounter with the
dark side of the self. Entering an underworld is a form of
facing a fear of death.
Haven vs. Wilderness
Places of safety contrast sharply against a dangerous
wilderness. Heroes are often sheltered for a time to regain
health and resources
Water vs. Desert
Because Water is necessary to life and growth, it
commonly appears as a birth symbol, as baptism
symbolizes a spiritual birth. Rain, rivers, oceans, etc. also
function the same way. The Desert suggests the opposite.
30
Example
Character, Setting, Plot, Point of View: Meat and
Potatoes of Literary Analysis
Rebecca McFarlan
mcfarlan@ih.k12.oh.us
Heaven vs. Hell
The Crossroads
Man has traditionally associated parts of the universe not
accessible to him with the dwelling places of the
primordial forces that govern his world. The skies and
mountaintops house his gods, the bowels of the earth
contain diabolic forces.
A place or time of decision when a realization is made
and change or penance results
The Maze
A puzzling dilemma or great uncertainty, search for the
dangerous monster inside of oneself, or a journey into the
heart of darkness
The Castle
A strong place of safety which holds treasure or princess,
may be enchanted or bewitched
The Tower
A strong place of evil, represents the isolation of self
The Magic Weapon
The weapon the hero needs in order to complete his quest.
The Whirlpool
Symbolizes the destructive power of nature or fate.
Fog
Symbolizes uncertainty.
Colors
Red: blood, sacrifice, passion, disorder
Green: growth, hope, fertility
Blue: highly positive, security, tranquility, spiritual purity
Black: darkness, chaos, mystery, the unknown, death,
wisdom, evil, melancholy
White: light, purity, innocence, timelessness (negatives:
death, horror, supernatural)
Yellow: enlightenment, wisdom
Numbers
3—light, spiritual awareness, unity (holy trinity), male
principle
4—associated with the circle, life cycle, four seasons,
female principle, earth, nature, elements
7—the most potent of all symbolic numbers signifying
the union of three and four, the completion of a cycle,
perfect order, perfect number, religious symbol
http://www.webenglishteacher.com/hero.html. Accessed 7 May 2008.
31
Character, Setting, Plot, Point of View: Meat and
Potatoes of Literary Analysis
Rebecca McFarlan
mcfarlan@ih.k12.oh.us
Using Short Fiction to Teach the Basics: Point of View
Rebecca McFarlan
The AP Literature and Composition exam is a skills based exam that demands a
traditional, formal approach to interpreting texts and responding to them through timed
essays. While students might have been exposed to the elements of formalist criticism in
earlier grades, I have found they need practice to deepen their ability to apply literary
components to understanding texts and fashioning their essay responses. In particular, I
concentrate heavily on point of view. Five times over the past seven years, the free
responses prompts on the AP Literature exam have suggested that students consider
“elements such as point of view.” Many of the prompts provide a generic request to
analyze “how the author/poet uses literary devices.” In most, if not all, of these cases
students would have been well served to have practiced applying point of view
techniques to both poetry and prose. Short fiction provides a medium for teachers to
guide students through deep analysis.
Direct Instruction and Guided Practice: To help students apply concepts of point of
view to theme and tone, we start by reviewing first and third person narrators. I add the
term of focalization. I define focalization as the perspective from which the audience
receives the narrative. Adding this concept allows me to draw parallels between written
texts and film. We discuss the similarities between a landscape shot and the third person
narrator; we connect head shots with first person subjective narration. I then give then the
chart below to expand their understanding of narrative voices. Students apply these
narrative stances to video clips by filling in the “Examples” column. Movie trailers and
sites such as Youtube provide ready access to a variety of films.
Application: On the AP Literature exam students will encounter texts they have most
likely will not have read and studied. The “Remarkable Short-Stories” section of the
Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, Writing provides excellent
literature for students to focus on analyze point of view. In addition, “Roselily” by Alice
Walker (pg.) and “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid (pg.) are excellent short selections with
interesting narrative stances. It is important for students to understand that all definitions
on the chart are starting places and that interesting narratives will experiment with
shifting perspectives. I find that the anthology with its many selections offers students
the opportunity to choose works that engage them. I ask students to choose three of the
short story selections to analyze using the worksheet. I model the process using
“Roselily” and “Girl.”
“Roselily” offers a shifting 3rd person focalization. While technically the point of
view is 3rd person omniscient, the italicized fragments from the marriage ceremony
32
Character, Setting, Plot, Point of View: Meat and
Potatoes of Literary Analysis
Rebecca McFarlan
mcfarlan@ih.k12.oh.us
punctuate Roselily’s thought with the effect of a 3rd person observer. They are factual
and ground her thoughts in reality. Within the paragraphs that comprise her reflections,
the narrator layers the thoughts of the groom through Roselily’s perspective: “She knows
he blames Mississippi for the respectful way the men turn their heads up to the yard, the
women stand waiting and knowledgeable, their children held from mischief by teachings
from the wrong God.” Thus, we have the views of two major characters on the confining
southern society. The focus, however, remains on Roselily, as the narrator occasionally
breaks from the authoritative 3rd person omniscient diction and syntax to free indirect
discourse that mirrors her thought patterns: “Yes, open house. That is what country
black folks like,” or “Proposal. Promises. A new life? Respectable, reclaimed, renewed.
Free! In robe and veil.” Because of this intimate focalization, we feel the most sympathy
for Roselily, some for her husband, but none for the people “in the yard.”
Kincaid’s story “Girl” provides an interesting example of a 1st person, stream of
consciousness stance. The narrator replays in her mind advice that she has received from
an older female authority figure, perhaps her mother or grandmother. The speaker
catalogues strings of domestic advice such as “this is how you set a table for dinner” or
rules of etiquette “on Sundays try to walk like a lady.” While most of this short story
consists of the adult’s advice, twice the narrator interjects her rejoinders. Kincaid
indicates this shift by italicizing the girl’s response. While technically the story is told
from the 1st person objective point of view, this shift from what the girl remembers the
adult saying to her own thoughts gives the reader a glimpse at the girl’s spirit. I remind
students of the film clips we have watched. When a camera moves from a full body shot
to a head shot, the audience knows it will be privy to the character’s reflections. When
the stream of conscious narration moves from the adult’s advice to the girl’s responses,
we see her processing the edicts being thrown at her.
Assessment: Finally, I give students a list of previous AP free response prompts from
the prose free response question. These are available at
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/Controller.jpf. To help familiarize students with
the types of prompts they will encounter on the exam, I have them rewrite the instruction
to reflect the stories they analyzed. They then write an essay in response to one of the
prompts.
33
Character, Setting, Plot, Point of View: Meat and
Potatoes of Literary Analysis
Rebecca McFarlan
mcfarlan@ih.k12.oh.us
Point of View or Focalization – Beyond 1st and 3rd Person Terms
Term
1st Person Subjective
1st Person Objective
3rd Person
Omniscient
3rd Person Limited
Omniscient
3rd Person Objective
How to Recognize
Possible Impact on
Theme and Tone (Other
possibilities exist)
Participant in the story;
May intensify action and
uses “I” or “We”; narrates
suspense, but might be
during or close to the time unreliable as s/he has not
of action; therefore, present had time to reflect on the
tense predominates
conflict.
Participant in the story;
May lose some of the
uses “I” or “We.”; narrates excitement associated with
the story after the action
a 1st person subjective
has concluded; therefore,
narrative, but the narrator
past tense predominates
often gains some reliability
over subjective narrators
Nonparticipant; Knows
Reliable speaker knows
thoughts of all characters;
thoughts of characters;
can move locations within therefore, knows
seconds; has God-like
motivations and agendas;
abilities; usually
Less opportunity or need
summarizes not in the
for reader to draw
diction and syntax of the
inferences; can slow
characters, but of the
narrative pace; can distant
narrator
the readers from the
characters.
Nonparticipant;
Reliable speaker, but less
Knows thoughts of one
so than a 3rd person
character; reports dialogue omniscient; reader distance
and actions of remaining
is lessened for the chosen
characters but not their
character.
thoughts.
Nonparticipant; observes
Cannot report thoughts so
the action or retells a it
loses some reliability
from accounts of others
associated with omniscient
narrators; more objective
than a 1st person narrator,
but often not as passionate;
style may be journalistic
34
Examples
Character, Setting, Plot, Point of View: Meat and
Potatoes of Literary Analysis
Direct Discourse
Identified by quotation
marks; reproduces actual
speech
Indirect Discourse
Grammatical structure of
reported speech; narrator
reports what was said, not
how it was said.
3rd person narrator, but a
stylistic departure from
pure 3rd person omniscient
or limited omniscient
narrators. Instead of
reporting thoughts of
characters solely in the
style of the narrator, the
narrator reports the
thoughts in the style of the
character.
Can be either a 1st or 3rd
person narrator, but the
characters’ thoughts are
replicated using 1st person
pronouns; resembles
natural thought patterns
that do not follow spoken
or written syntax; often
dependent on symbols and
motifs
Free Indirect
Discourse
Stream of Conscious
or Interior
Monologue
Rebecca McFarlan
mcfarlan@ih.k12.oh.us
Allows reader to draw
inferences about
characters; supports or
refutes narrative
commentary; often
quickens the narrative pace
Interposes the narrator’s
voice with the characters; a
good place to analyze tone
Mixes in to the 3rd person
narrative a degree of
intimacy found in a first
person narration or stream
of conscious monologue.
Passages of free indirect
discourse are good spots to
look for tone and theme.
. If the overall point of
view is 3rd person, the
stream of conscious
portions resemble a 1st
person narrative; reflects
the order or chaos of the
character’s state of mind;
demands more
involvement of the reader
in discerning character’s
traits and motivation
35