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.

JE RD AL

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

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?

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.

MEETING 6: the anatomy of an essay

At the beginning of today’s class, I’ll set the first vocabulary words and sentence patterns for the year. Here are samples of the first patterns. Remember that you’re to look up the definitions of each of the adjectives to define a writer’s tone.

The Anatomy of 50 Great Sentences: [A]

We’ll then turn to 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.

Finally, we’ll look to Daniel Estrada’s summer draft and begin providing him with feedback.

Homework:

(1) Finish Daniel’s essay. As you move through, mark it up as we did in class, calling attention to moments of strong commentary and moments when he might’ve more fully explained the quotes he chose to develop his ideas. Mark clear sentences; mark parts that require sentence-level revision. Mark great thinking. Mark it up.

(2) Complete the two MCQs from the passage provided. One question provides a taste of what a POV question looks like on the exam; the other, a plot structure question. No stakes here. Just a quick tutorial.

MEETING 7: prose analysis

We’ll start today with the two MCQs. How did you do? Pretty easy, I hope?

Then we’ll discuss features of Daniel’s essay: why are there two paragraphs of opening? how do you characterize his structure? what is his level of close reading inside of each of his topic paragraphs? can you comment on his closer?

The hardest work you have when developing your ideas occurs within your topic paragraphs. Too many of you are building your ideas with generalizations. You want to start with what’s on the page and work your way toward a larger understanding by way of close, close, close explanation of prose technique. This is what the task of prose analysis prepares you for. We’ll do our first real prose analysis of the year together, using a passage from The Remains of the Day. Here’s your prompt:

The following excerpt is from Kazuo Ishiguro’s 1989 novel The Remains of the Day. In this passage, a son in his middle years visits his dying father in the father’s bedroom. Read the passage carefully. Then, in a well-written essay, analyze how Ishiguro uses literary elements and techniques to portray the complex relationship between the father and the son.

Let’s consider the features of the prompt first and then work the passage together.

How do you see the skills of prose analysis applying to your process essays?

Homework:

(1) Read the annotated handout on openers and closers.

MEETING 8: openers/closers; prose analysis

Today I’ll introduce you to your CHAVRUSA.

We’ll begin today with the handout on openers and closers from John Trimble’s book Writing with Style.

Then you’ll work for the first time this year with your CHAVRUSA, continuing to practice the prose analysis skills we began to discover in our previous class. Today’s passage is from Jane Eyre.

Here’s the prompt:

The following excerpt is from Charlotte Brontë’s 1847 novel Jane Eyre. In this passage, Jane, the narrator, observes Mr. Rochester enter a drawing-room filled with men and women of a high social status. Read the passage carefully. Then, in a well-written essay, analyze how Brontë uses literary elements and techniques to portray Jane’s complex feelings about Mr. Rochester.

Homework:

(1) Revisit step 3 of the revision assignment. Take the long weekend to begin drafting your essay.