A novelist starts with a story that examines a situation and the actions of particular characters. Remember that authors are not photographers, an that a novel never resembles real life exactly. Ultimately, a novel represents a view of the world that has been created in the author’s imagination.
There are six features of a novel
THE STORY: this is the series of events, deliberately organised by the writer to test the characters.
THE CHARACTERS: the people who have to respond to the events of the story.
Since they are human, they can be good or bad, clever or stupid, likeable or detestable, etc. They may change too!
THE VIEWPOINT/VOICE: who is telling the story. The viewpoint may come from
of the characters, or from an omniscient (all-seeing) narrator, which allows the novelist to write about the perspectives of all the characters.
THE THEMES: these are the underlying messages, or meanings, of the novel.
THE SETTING: this concerns the time and place that the author has chosen for the story.
THE LANGUAGE AND STYLE: these are the words that the author has used to influence our understanding of the novel.
To arrive at the fullest understanding of a novel, you need to read it several times! In this way, you can see how all the choices the author has made add up to a particular view of life, and develop your ideas about it.
Suggestions and ideas:
Identify what styles of language are used in the novel.
What is the effect of the novel’s ending?
Does the novel present a moral and just world?
Find good quotations to back up your opinions and commentary.
Are words, images or incidents repeated so as to give the work a pattern?
