Written by: Angelia Greiner
Additional Material by: Kelley McConathy
DEFINITIONS…
“A book length story in prose,
whose author tries to create a
sense that, while we read, we
experience actual life.”
By X. J. Kennedy
“An extended fictional narrative,
usually written in prose.”
Anonymous
“An imaginary work in prose
of a considerable length, which
presents as real certain characters
living in a given environment and
describes their attitudes,
fate, and adventures.”
By Percy Lubbock
“The novel is like a symphony
In that the closing movement
Echoes and resounds with all
that has gone before…”’
By John Gardner
The Novel is a Unique Form of Prose
THERE ARE 4 QUALITIES TO THE NOVEL…
Quality 1
• Length is generally 100 pages or more
Quality 2
• Emphasis is on the character
Quality 3
• Allows for more than one theme,
conflict, point of view or plot.
Quality 4
• Plot explores characters in conflict to
understand our own humanity
Novel Compared to the Short Story
NOVEL
SHORT STORY
 50,000 words or more
 5,000 words or less
 Many characters
 Few or one character
 Complex story
 Focuses on one event
 Deeper understanding
of life or individuals
 Better understanding of
an event or character
History of the Novel
• Oral telling of myths, history, and stories
• Written storytelling in the form of the epic
• Written prose fiction concerned with adventure known as the
romance. (The French word for the novel is roman)
• Written prose fiction concerned with reality or actual life. (The
English word for new is novel) 1700s
The Industrial Revolution
•
Mid 18th Century England
•
Growth of cities due to
industry
•
Ideas and goods are
exchanged
•
New “middle class” is
created from industry
Birth of the Novel
New market for
the novel by 1700s!
Increase in the
number of people
able to read
Spending money
available for
entertainment
Creation
Of
The Middle Class
More leisure
time available
The Middle Class
• Concerned with real problems
and real situations!
Early Beginnings–1700s
• “The proper study of mankind is man.”
—Alexander Pope
• Samuel Richardson
• Henry Fielding
Pope
Richardson
The Founder of the Modern English Novel
• Daniel Defoe
• Wrote Robinson Crusoe (1719)
• Moll Flanders (1722)
• Born 1660
• Died 1731
• Established a “middle class”
perspective
Defoe
Basic Elements of the Novel
• Plot
• Character
• Setting
• Point of View
• Theme
Plot
• The plot is what happens in the story.
climax
exposition
dénouement
Conflict in the Early Novels
•
Person versus society
•
Person versus self
•
Person versus person
Person v. Society
• Character trapped by circumstances of birth
• Character falsely accused by society
• Character feels apart from society and discovers own
values
Person v. Society
• Great Expectations
• English Society during the Industrial Age
• Trapped between two worlds
• Middle class audience
“... my infant tongue could make
of both names nothing longer or more
explicit than Pip. So, I called myself
Pip, and came to be called Pip. ...”
Great Expectations Video
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Person v. Society
• Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
• Separated from the cosmopolitan world
• Rebels
“He hoped I would study
law, but all I wanted was
to go to sea.”
Person v. Society
• The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel
Hawthorne
• Individual’s triumph over cultural
expectations of society
• Hester Prynne
“Lastly, in lieu of these shifting scenes, came
back the rude market-place of the Puritan
settlement, with all the townspeople assembled
and levelling their stern regards at Hester
Prynne,—yes, at herself,—who stood on the
scaffold of the pillory, an infant on her arm, and
the letter A, in scarlet, fantastically embroidered
with gold thread, upon her bosom!”
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The Scarlet Letter Video
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Person v. Self
• Character finds inner strength despite poor odds
• Character must develop moral compass
• Character must discover self-worth
Defoe
Dickens
Hawthorne
Person v. Self
• Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
• Own sense of morality
• Journeyed along Mississippi River
• Defines who he is as a man
• Returns home—”outgrown” society
“But I reckon I got to light out for the Territory ahead
of the rest, because Aunt Sally she's going to adopt
me and sivilize me, and I can't stand it. I been there
before.”
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Person v. Self
• Moby Dick by Herman Melville
• High-seas adventure
• Forsakes everything to hunt
the great whale
• “Enveloped in the whale-lines”
“All men live enveloped in whale-lines.
All are born with halters round their
necks; but it is only when caught in the
swift, sudden turn of death, that mortals
realize the silent, subtle, ever present
perils of life.”
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Person v. Self
• Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
• Good vs. evil
• Frodo
“I will take the Ring,” he said,
“though I do not know the way.” —Frodo
Elrond raised his eyes and looked at him...
“This is the hour of the Shire-folk, when they arise
from their quiet fields, to shake the towers and counsels of
the Great. Who of all the Wise could have foreseen it?”
Person v. Person
• One character must battle
another character to gain
power, true love, freedom,
justice or acceptance
• One group of characters must
free themselves
from another
• One character must confront
another to survive
Person v. Person
• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
• Creature
• Companionship
“All men hate the wretched; how, then, must I be hated, who am
miserable beyond all living things! Yet you, my creator, detest and
spurn me, thy creature, to whom thou art bound by ties only
dissoluble by the annihilation of one of us. You purpose to kill me.
How dare you sport thus with life? Do your duty towards me, and I
will do mine towards you and the rest of mankind.”
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Person v. Person
• War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
• Science Fiction masterpiece
• War erupts: Martians and mankind
“Yet across the gulf of space, minds that are to our minds as ours
are to those of the beasts that perish, intellects vast and cool and
unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes, and slowly
and surely drew their plans against us.”
Person v. Person
• Lord of the Flies by William Golding
• Plane crash—boys left marooned
on island
• Psychologically fascinating yet
horrifying
• Mankind’s worst qualities exposed
“But Ralph soon regained his senses. Homesick and tired, he again
competed with Jack for the role of leader. Sensing Jack's unstable
nature, most of the boys again voted for Ralph, whereupon, Jack
gathered his loyal hunters and struck out into the jungle to become his
own tribal chieftain.”
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Character
• Character: person in a literary work
• Main character: the protagonist
• Character in direct conflict with the
protagonist: the antagonist
From the Novel to the Movies!
Protagonist
Antagonist
Lord of the Rings
Frodo
Saruman the Wizard
War of the Worlds
Ray Ferrier
The alien invaders
Harry Potter and
the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter
Lord Voldemort
The Lion, The
Witch and The
Wardrobe
Lucy, Peter,
Edmund and
Susan
The White Witch
Point of View
•
Author’s choice of narrator for a story
•
A story can be told in many different ways
First Person Point of View
• Narrator is
character in story
Captain Ahab and Huck Finn
“Call me Ishmael.”
––from Moby Dick
“It's lovely to live on a raft. We had the sky up there,
all speckled with stars, and we used to lay on our
backs and look up at them, and discuss about
whether they was made or only just happened.”
––Huckleberry Finn,
from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Second Person
• Refers to the use of “you” in writings
Second Person Examples
Directions: Use the
following diagram in
assembling the bookcase.
Memo: You will receive the
following checklist of
supplies in the next week.
Narration: “He hasn’t
disappointed her yet. You
have. She looks at you
through a veneer of
resignation. Her eyes glow,
her lower lip barely trembling.
And well she might fear you.”
from The Bride Wore Red
by Robbie Sethi
Explanation: This PowerPoint® presentation is to
help you understand the
elements of a novel.
Third Person Point of View
• Narrator is not a character in the story
• Third person point of view written in variety of ways
• Third Person (Limited)
• Third Person (Multiple Viewpoints)
• Third Person (Omniscient)
From what viewpoint is the narrator speaking?
“She had not known the weight
until she felt the freedom!”
from The Scarlet Letter
"Bah!" said Scrooge. "Humbug!"
from A Christmas Carol
"Man," I cried, "how ignorant art thou
in thy pride of wisdom!"
Victor Frankenstein,
from Frankenstein
“The agony of my
feelings allowed me no
respite; no incident
occurred from which my
rage and misery could
not extract its food ...”
The monster,
from Frankenstein
Setting
• Where and when a story takes place
• Time of day or year
• Geographical location
• Climate or weather
• Immediate surroundings
of character
Purpose of Setting
•
Become the antagonist
•
Create atmosphere
•
Tell about a character
•
Reinforce an overall idea
Setting Examples
• Puritan New England
in The Scarlet Letter
• The Mississippi River
in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
• The Atlantic Ocean
in Moby Dick
• A deserted island
in Lord of the Flies
• 1920s Jazz Age
in The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby Video
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Theme
• Central idea that serves to unify the story
• Every element of the novel contributes
Theme Topics
• Teamwork
• Discrimination
• Pride
• Trust
• Resourcefulness
• Challenges
• Ethical dilemmas
• Nature
• Leadership
• Euthanasia
• Commitment
• Diversity
• Freedom
• Guilt
• Love
• Convictions
• Heroes
• Community
• Social change
• Loss
• Patriotism
• Communication
• Evil
• Family
• Friendship
• Loyalty
• Power
• Acceptance
• Hope
• Friendship
• Customs
• Loneliness
• Values
• Money
• Death
• War
• Choices
• Prejudice
• Denial
• Poverty
Genres
• Subject or category of
literature
• Novels can fall into
multiple genres
Genre Examples
Mayflower
by
Nathaniel Philbrick
Telegraph Days
by
Larry McMurtry
The Notebook
by
Nicholas Sparks
The Dead Zone
by
Stephen King
Love Walked In
by
Marisa de los Santos
Murder On The
Orient Express
by
Agatha Christie
The Novel’s Many Forms
• Historical Novel
• Nonfiction Novel
• Bildungsroman Novel
• Picaresque Novel
• Trilogy Novel
• Novelette or Novella
The Historical Novel
• Fiction that has its basis in historical fact
– The Scarlet Letter
– The Red Badge of Courage
– The Grapes of Wrath
– All Quiet on the Western Front
All Quiet on the Western Front Video
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The Nonfiction Novel
• Records or nearly records literal truth
– In Cold Blood
– Hiroshima
– The Killer Angels
The Bildungsroman Novel
• Main character struggles toward maturity
– The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
– Huckleberry Finn matures
– Finn experienced:
• Enslavement
• Hypocrisy in society
• Greed
Huck Finn Video
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The Picaresque Novel
• Main character is a likeable scoundrel
• Spanish word “picaro” means rascal
• Tom Jones
The Trilogy Novel
• Three novels in a sequence which tell a story
• The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
• The Star Wars Trilogy
The Novelette or Novella
• Length between a short story and novel
• The Heart of Darkness
• The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Novels of Note:
• Uncle Tom’s Cabin by
Harriet Beecher Stowe
• Degradation and cruelty of
slavery in the South
• American Civil War
Novels of Note:
• Roots by Alex Haley
• First historical novel made into a
television miniseries
• African American family
• Bridge the cultural divide
Novels of Note
• The Grapes of Wrath by
John Steinbeck
• Pulitzer prize
• Oklahoma farm family
during the Depression
• Unemployed Americans &
greed of corporate
America
Novels of Note
• A Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens
• Classic story of
redemption
• Man can change
Novels of Note
• The Jungle by Sinclair Lewis
• Meat packing business
• Government stepped in
In Conclusion
• Novels serve many purposes:
• Help us understand
our own heritage
• Illuminate the human
experience
• Can be a catalyst for
social and political change
• Document an event for
better understanding
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