文学作品阅读

Fundamentals

Elements

1. Plot
2. Character
3. Point of view
4. Setting
5. theme

Course specific

1. Interesting use of language
2. Structural elements
3. Patterns
4. Juxtaposition (矛盾并存)
5. Repetition

Personal response

1. Things you don’t understand
2. Things that strike you
3. Things you find particularly moving

Note taking strategies

1. Description（实线括号）OR Interesting dialogue (有虚线的括号）

2. Marginal marks （边缘标记— draw your attention to specific details）

3. Marginal annotations （边缘注解, expand your ideas）

4. Underlining （下划线）

Organize your notes

1. 书本开头记录人物第一次出现的页码，以及重复出现的意象出现的页码

2. 读完每一章暂停一下，梳理情节发展，列如下清单：characters, setting and developments

From passive knowledge to active knowledge

character

1. 关注第一次出现的信息

2. 先从不重要的人物开始，just knowing who they are and how they intersect with the plot is enough

3. 再从次重要的人物入手，创建人物特征清单

setting

关注地点之间的联系

plot

关注 main turning point

contextualization

1. 关注 author
2. publication
3. historical moment

Think as a writer

1. Who are the protagonist?

2. Who is the narrator?

voice (who is telling the story and how)

1. Narrative voice (first, second, third person— limited, omniscient)

2. Character voice: narrator ≠ author

   • Narrative voice might miss something. (e.g. action, silence for readers to fill in)
   • Each character is limited to their perspective in their moment.
   • You can’t always trust characters to know/say what they mean.

staging (putting voices in a place and context)

1. Space+Time=Staging

2. Ask yourself why the choices about space and time were made, and how they affect our understanding of the story

3. What we see and what we know: Find out the repeated feature of places to understand why and how the author organized it.