unit 1: introduction to studying fiction
MEETING 1: duty and desire
Rembrandt, “Return of the Prodigal Son”, 1660s
Welcome. Today we’ll talk briefly about the nature of this course and how to do well, my expectations, my hopes for you. But first…
…the Parable of The Prodigal Son from the Gospel of Luke. What are some of the characteristics of the father? The older brother? The younger? What details does Christ provide in his Parable that allows you to understand the story’s manifold purposes?
The Parable of the Prodigal Son’s structure, a movement from disunity to unity, from disorder to order, from imbalance to equilibrium, undergirds so many of the stories we’ll read this year. So, let’s spend the bulk of today’s class exploring how one or two or all three of our summer novels follow or fail to follow that generic structure from brokenness to healing. What are the forces in each novel that require characters to reckon or wrestle with a divided soul?
Should we have time, we’ll work through a key passage from as many of the texts as we can.
Homework:
(1) Familiarize yourself with the course website—this page, the Policies page, and the Writing Center. It’s up to you to know the resources you’ve available to you. Study these pages.
(2) Register on turnitin.com: Class ID: 49451446 Enrollment Password: magis Please use your @mail.strakejesuit e-mail when registering.
(3) Post your summer reading essay to both turnitin.com and mySJ by 8 PM on the night of your first class, either the 13th or the 14th. The mySJ copy must be a Google doc and must be shared with me in the event I need to refer to it.
(4) Read “Narrative Structure,” Chapter 48 in David Lodge’s The Art of Fiction, a handbook we’ll use often throughout the year, skipping around whenever a concept becomes relevant to us. It can be found on pages 215-8. Then read “Time-Shift,” Chapter 16, found on pages 74-9. By the way, they both coincidentally use passages of a sexual nature. Sorry about that; it won’t always be the case. Focus on the concepts rather than the examples from fiction. The student with the most inventive and visually appealing notes will be immortalized.
MEETING 2: plot / structure / time-shift
Day 2. After a prayer, we’ll begin with two stories, alike in many respects but with a few key differences. These differences determine whether a story has a plot or merely a series of events.
What kinds of different plots are there?
Let’s use the three novels to consider the three criteria in our definition of plot. What do we mean by careful ordering? the connection to character? fundamental change?
What does David Lodge mean by Time-Shift? I’ll ask one of you to summarize your key takeaways from the reading.
Good writers offer ways of understanding the structural trajectory of a narrative. I’d like to help you visualize how each of our three novelists organize their narrative.
Key points from today:
(1) Plot is a careful ordering of related events, linked to character, that leads to a fundamental change in the world of the story.
(2) Character determines incident; incident illuminates character.
(3) Narrative structure can be linear, circular, meandering; it can follow a prescribed pattern or veer from the form.
Homework:
(1) Review the content of our three summer novels because we’ll start our next class with a quiz.
MEETING 3: summer reading quiz; thesis statements
After the quiz, we’ll move through the beginning of my grading notes for your summer drafts. Our focus today will be on thesis statements. I have several of your thesis statements and one I wrote comparing Asher Lev to Mr. Stevens.
Homework:
(1) Read “Names” in the David Lodge text. It’s linked here, but if your book arrived, it can be found on pages 35-40. After you read, apply any of his principles about naming to any proper name in any of the three novels. Write a paragraph explaining how the name works, the associations it gives off, and its connection to the novels larger ideas.
(2) Read “Beginning,” Lodge’s first chapter, found on pages 3-8. During our next class, I’ll call on one of you to walk us through the opening of Emma and The Good Soldier. Then we’ll look at the beginning of each of our books.
MEETING 4: names; beginnings
David Lodge shows that in fiction, unlike in real life, “names are never neutral” and “always signify,” evoking a variety of associations, be they an allusion to the Bible or to classical mythology, symbolic of an idea, or even representative of mere ordinariness. I’m not sure they always signify, and it’s never our job as readers to read into names, but many times considering names can be a useful interpretive tool.
Jane Eyre
(1) What ideas are evoked by the names of these characters, if any: Aunt Reed, Mr. Brocklehurst, Miss Temple, Helen Burns, Edward Fairfax Rochester, Grace Poole, Blanche Ingram, Bertha Rochester, St. John Rivers, and Jane Eyre?
(2) What allegorical names are suggested by the names of the major settings in the novel: Gateshead Hall, Lowood School, Thornfield Hall, Whitcross, Moor House, Ferndean?
My Name is Asher Lev
(3) Any thoughts on the names of the three central characters in Asher Lev?
Asher, Hebrew, “happy, blessed,” Genesis 30:13
Aryeh, Hebrew, “lion”
Rivkeh (Rebecca), Hebrew, “to bind, to tie firmly”
The Remains of the Day
(4) In The Remains of the Day, names function less about what they signify? What, then, might we understand about the importance of the names in this novel?
In the second half of class, we’ll look at each novel’s first page.
Homework:
(1) Read “Point of View” in the David Lodge text, pages 25-9.
(2) Read “The Unreliable Narrator,” pages 154-7. Comment in your notebook on the narrative reliability of each of our three narrators.
MEETING 5: point of view; the unreliable narrator; the anatomy of an essay
Today we’ll consider point of view, perspective, and the problem and benefit of the unreliable narrator. Narrative reliability is a spectrum. Where on that spectrum are our three narrators?
We’ll then explore your next essay assignment and the anatomy of an essay, using a structurally sound sample on Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice. In our dissection, we’ll find a strong opener, a rich thesis, a rock-solid structure, cogent thinking, good evidence, and a clear style. After, you’ll provide feedback on two sample body paragraphs, one on Crime and Punishment, one on Inferno.
Homework:
Though it’s not due until September 8/9, the PROCESS of writing your next essay begins NOW even if you’ve yet to receive feedback on your summer essay. You’re still to use in-class writing instruction to begin the thinking process, steps 1 and 2 on the assignment sheet.
