Prof.

Parker
19"' Century British Novel
Some questions to ask while reading a novel

Who is speaking? ls the narrator a character or a storyteller? How do

they "know" what they are relating to us? If the narrator is outside of the fiction,
what distance (if any) do they take from that world? Does the narrator get "inside"
the characters? If the narrator is within the fiction, how does the present moment
(of telling) refract the past moment (of the events)? In either case, what strategies
does the narrator use to convey (or conceal) his or her judgments?

Ho111 does the a11thor represent rea/iry? Does the author "show''-letting the actions and
dialogue speak for themselves, without commentary---or "tell,"layering the
purported meaning on top of the events?In the fottner case, the interpretation
and linking is left up to the reader; in the latter case, a definite perspective is
superadded to the raw facts.

Ho111 does the a11thor organize the "ti111e" efthe story and efthe plot?A story consists of certain
events, everything that happens, e.g.,Jonah is called by God to go to Nineveh, he
runs away, is swallowed bya fish, and so on. But the author is free to organize
(plot) those events into whatever sequence in the narrative discourse. The author
also decides the absolute limits of the story (how far back to begin, when to write
"the end''), as well as the pacing and exclusions (what is not told). I-low (and to
what effect) does the author manipulate the relationship between story and plot?

Who desires 111hat? In all stories, someone wants something. But we have to learn
how to desire. Often in novels, the hero wants something because someone else
wants the same thing (or person), or else sho11/dwant that.

Ho111 does the hero fit into the 1w1fd? Specifically, what room is there in the social world of
the novel for those desires? What does the social world want from the hero? Can
s/he be integrated into society or does s/he remain outside of it? rfhere is often a
misfit between the "soul" and the"world" in the novel: the subjective ideals of the
hero being forever at odds with the real functioning of things. Always ask, what is
meaningful inside the world of the novel?

What are the vario11s 'Junctions" at twrk? Everything in a novelhas its "place," a job
to do. Every detail, every character, every scene, contributes to the meaning---even
if only as "meaningfulness" or a "reality effect." This includes non-narrative or
extra-narrative domains of meaning (history, ideology) and specifically literary
meaning (other books).In this sense, a novel is also teaching us how to read it.

What keeps a story going? What makes it end? Stories are always moving
towards their conclusion-but they also have to start somewhere, and
develop complications. Pay particular attention to these moments.

Ho111is socie!J i111agined and kno11111? I-low much of the social world do we see? What remains
"offstage," in the "hidden abodes" (Marx) outside representation? How do these
unseen or unattended places and processes determine what goes on in the "official"
story?