Reading Contemporary Novels

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Reading Contemporary Novels

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Using fiction in teaching English as a second language can expose students to the linguistic properties and the academic focus of the program. Therefore, it is essential that the program incorporate the study of contemporary novels and journalism at the higher levels of proficiency. 

In choosing texts that provide students with linguistic and cultural models that are current outside the classroom, the program should aim for close study of these texts that pursue educational goals and permits integrated study of all the skill areas across all of the texts designated for the class.

The following excerpts from a statement by Robert Scholes are instructive in this regard:

“…the novel (is) chosen … because – in addition to literary merit – it takes up directly the problem of voices speaking from places separated by cultural gaps … “voices” will be considered specifically as dialect and register, speech patterns that are audible signs of the group that use them – signs of class, signs of race, signs of gender, signs of educational level … the ways in which language marks us, enables – or disables – us in certain situations.”

“The purpose … is to look at language working in a fictional situation that is recognizably American but in which different varieties of the American language are represented.  In considering the voices within this text, students will be encouraged to … ask who speaks it, where they come from, and what values that they share are embodied in their speech … who is speaking to us? What kind of voice is that? Does it present itself as reliable, trustworthy? How does it establish its authority? How does that voice compare to the voices of characters as they are represented? Is the narrator a character? Is the narrator the author? When is each voice at its most eloquent pitch? What are its strengths? When does that voice reach limits or barriers? Do characters speak always in one voice, or in more than one? How do different characters speak to one another?”


“The length of a novel requires prolonged engagement with it by the class.  One needs time to read it, time to discuss it, time to write responses to it, but one set in a time and place that is accessible by means of other texts…. The point is not to find the answers to fictional questions in the author’s life or in the history of a time and place, but to use such information to ask more interesting questions about that novel.”

While reading and discussing the novel with their peers in the classroom, students may focus on the following aspects of fiction:

The Author
¨     Literary group, school, or period to which he belonged
¨     Year and place of birth
¨     Details of life that have bearing on the novel
¨     Types of literature produced and their style

 Style
¨     Is there anything strikingly different about his style?
¨     What about the length of his sentences and paragraphs?
¨     Is there variation in his sentence structure?  Paragraph structure?
¨     Does he often use figures of speech?  Unusual and vivid, or trite?
¨     Is there much description?
¨     Is there anything unusual about his methods of description?
¨     What is the proportion of narration to description?  To dialogue?  To exposition?
¨     Is there much dialogue?  Is it natural?  What is its purpose?
¨     From what point of view is the story told?

 Tone
¨     What is the tone?
¨     Does the author often employ satire?  Irony?
¨     Is there much wit and humor? Pathos? Is it effective?
¨     Does he make philosophic comments either through a persona or through his characters?
¨     Does he moralize or seem didactic?
¨     Does he seem to be romantic?  Realistic?  Optimistic?

Type of Novel

¨     What kind of novel is it?  Problem?  Manners?  Historical?  Psychological?

Theme

¨     Is there a theme, or is this just an interesting story?
¨     Is there more than one theme?
¨     Is there a close relationship between theme and plot?  Theme and characters?  Theme and setting?
¨     By what methods does the author get his theme across?

Setting

¨     Where and when did the story take place?
¨     How long a period does the story cover?
¨     How real is the setting?
¨     Is there close attention to the details of the setting?
¨     Is the setting essential to the story?  Do conditions in the country have a real bearing on the plot development and outcome, or could the story have been laid in some other country or locality?
¨     Is nature ever used to increase the effect of a scene?
¨     Does the setting ever become symbolic?
¨     Is there a definite influence of setting on plot?  On characters? On theme?
¨     Does the setting seem to be more important than plot and characters so that the novel is actually a study of environment?

Plot

¨     What is the basic conflict?
¨     How is the exposition presented?
¨     What are the major complications in the rising action?  Motifs?
¨     What is the climax?
¨     Is there a strong resolution?
¨     Is the basic conflict completely and logically resolved?
¨     Are there any subplots?
¨     Is the plot stereotyped?  Are there stock situations?
¨     What is the method of narration: Chronological?  Flashback? Through a diary?  Through the exchange of letters?  Through parallel events?
¨     Is there foreshadowing?
¨     Do any scenes provide comic relief?
¨     Do characters, setting, or theme bear undue influence on the plot?
¨     Is dialogue used largely to reveal character or to keep the plot moving?
¨     How is suspense created and maintained?
¨     Is each chapter a unit?  How does it begin?  End?  What keeps it going?
¨     Is there logic of plot?  Are the actions possible and probable?  Are problems solved naturally, or is there the use of deus ex machina?
¨     Is the hand of the author apparent in the plot, or is what happened the natural outgrowth of the circumstances, the characters, and their interaction?

Symbolism/Allegory

¨     What are the major symbols used?  What does each represent?
¨     Is there an allegorical level of meaning?  If so, discuss it in relation to the story.
¨     What are the major motifs used?

Characterization

¨     What are his chief motives?  Does he act and speak in keeping with his motives?
¨     Does he show the influence of heredity?  Or environment?  Of his past?
¨     How does his social or economic status affect him?
¨     Does he influence the action?  How?
¨     Does he conflict with others?  How and why?
¨     What is his sense of morals and his moral values?
¨     What is his philosophy of life?
¨     Is he entirely responsible for what happens to him, or is his fate largely determined by the outside forces beyond his control? 
¨     Is he true to life?  Symbolic?  A caricature?  Stereotyped?


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