Lesson 6: Novel Study

Read and Practice

Now it is time for you to begin the novel you have chosen. Remember to document your thinking as you read in one of the ways listed earlier in this discussion. You can also find background information on your novel online if you are curious about anything that interests you as you read.

Section 1: Getting Started

You have learned about character, setting, and plot in your Daybook units. Remember that authors have several ways to tell the reader about characters. If you can’t remember what these are, you may want to go back to your earlier lessons and refresh your memory. Plot consists of the events of a story. At the beginning of a book, you may not learn much about the actual plot, because the author must do several things before getting on with the story. First, the author must establish the setting. The reader needs to know where and when the story takes place in order to understand all of the other elements of the book. As you begin reading the first of the five sections you divided your novel into, notice the function of the setting. It might (1) create a mood, (2) show the reader a different way of life, (3) make the action seem more real, (4) be the source of the conflict or problem in the story, or (5) symbolize an idea.

During the beginning of a novel (sometimes called the exposition), the author will usually introduce the characters and give readers an idea of what they can expect from these characters. Most of the time, you will know which character is the main character (protagonist) of the story at the very beginning of a book.

Activity: Look for plot, characters, and setting as you read the first section of your novel. Complete Activity 6.1. Remember to use the constructed response format for your answers. Write in complete sentences. You will not submit these activities to the Center for evaluation, but share them with your parent/teacher.

Section 2: Point of View

Mood is the feeling a reader gets from a book. If I asked you to describe a book you were reading, you might say that it’s sad, scary, funny, or exciting. These moods can change from one event to the other. Sometimes your book’s mood might be sad, and at another time, it might be exciting.

“Point of view” is the term we use to describe who is telling the story. Think about who is narrating the story. Is it one of the characters in the story, or is it someone outside of the action of the story? If one of the characters inside the story is narrating, the story is said to be in first person. If someone outside of the story is narrating, the story is written in third person. If the story is in first person, you will probably be able to name the narrator. However, if the person is outside of the action of the story, it may seem like the author is telling the story. Other times, you may not exactly know who the narrator is supposed to be. First person point of view is characterized by the use of words like “I,” “we,” “us,” and “me.” Third person point of view would use pronouns like “they,” “he,” and “she” to tell the story.

When the point of view is one of the characters in the novel, the information you know may be limited. Because the reader can know only what the narrator knows, and the narrator is in the story, you might not know as much about other characters as you do about the narrator. You are seeing the world through the narrator’s eyes.

When a novel is written in third person, we sometimes say this is the omniscient point of view. “Omniscient” means “all knowing.” When the narrator is outside the action of a book, the reader may know everything: what each character is thinking, why each does what he or she does, and maybe background information and hints about what will come later in the book.

Activity: When you have finished the second part of your book, complete Activity 6.2. Remember to use the constructed response format for your answers. Share your work with your parent/teacher, but do not send your work to the Center for evaluation.

Section 3: Conflict and Verb Tense

By now, you are nearing the middle of your book. You should have a good idea of where the plot is heading and what the main idea of the book is. By this time, you should have a good sense of the main conflict of the book. If you are having trouble identifying the conflict, think about problems the main character is having. Are there other characters causing the problems? Is the setting itself a challenge for the character? What is the main character concerned about? Remember that there are probably many small conflicts that arise and are resolved, but there will be one big conflict that keeps going through the whole book.

You should be able to connect with some of the characters in the book on a personal level. These connections should become apparent to you as you look back over your sticky notes or log. Can you put yourself in the place of the main character and understand how you might feel or react? Even though the exact events haven’t happened to you personally, can you connect to the way the characters respond? Would you respond the same way?

You learned about verb tenses in the lesson 5 skill lesson. Many novels are told in the past tense. When an author writes in past tense, he or she will use words like “went,” “drove,” “ran,” “walked,” etc. Sometimes an author decides to narrate a book in present tense. The narrator tells things as they happen. When a book is written in present tense, it limits what the narrator is aware of, because he or she can’t know what will happen in the future. In present tense, the author will use words like “go,” “drive,” “run,” and “walk.” Can you figure out the tense of the novel you are reading? How do you know?

Do you notice that you are using the same skills and strategies that you learned in your Daybook lessons? This is applying what you have learned. Good students learn to apply what they learn to new situations. It is the foundation for building strong reading and writing structures. The type of thinking you do as an active reader is just the type of practice that you can use in any reading you are doing. The more you practice these skills, the easier they will become.

Activity: When you have finished the third part of your book, complete Activity 6.3, using the constructed response format. Share your work with your parent/teacher, but do not send your work to the Center for evaluation.

Section 4: Theme and Tone

You worked with theme earlier in your Daybook, and now you are ready to think about theme as it relates to your novel. Theme is the main idea or underlying meaning of a story. Sometimes it is directly stated, and other times it is implied (you are supposed to figure it out as you read). You often have to look at the pattern of events in a story in order to figure out the theme.

Theme is kind of like a moral or a lesson for living. However, a theme does not really tell readers what they should do in a similar situation. When you are looking for theme, you are looking for the main idea. The theme is not the subject or topic of the work, but rather, some statement or an opinion expressed about that topic. A work of literature does not have to contain a theme. Some stories are written for entertainment only and do not have a direct “message” or “lesson” the author is trying to get across.

Be sure not to mention specific characters, events, or settings when identifying the theme, since theme is a general message not specifically tied to the events in the story. For example, in the story of Cinderella, the theme might be something like, “People who are truly good are rewarded in the end.” A more updated stating of the theme might be, “What goes around comes around”! The theme would not be, “Cinderella finally gets to marry the prince, because she is a good person.”

The theme will be something that the reader can apply to his or her own life and experiences. You might not agree with the theme, but you can usually figure out what the author is trying to tell you through the story.

Tone is often a difficult element to identify for young readers (and older readers too!). Tone is often mistaken for mood, and sometimes it does parallel the mood of a story. Mood is the feeling the reader gets during reading. While the mood of the book may move from exciting, to funny, to sad, the tone is the author’s attitude about the topic. Tone doesn’t really change from one part of the story to the other. An author shows tone through the choice of words and details used to describe setting, characters, and plot.

Tone might be described as “triumphant,” “resentful,” “amused,” “sarcastic,” or “despairing.” These are great words; if they are new to you, look them up and see what they mean. Then try to figure out what the author’s attitude is toward the subject of the novel you are reading.

Activity: Now complete Activity 6.4 to practice your understanding of theme and tone. Remember to use the constructed response format for your answers. Share your work with your parent/teacher, but don’t submit your work to the Center for evaluation.

Section 5: Climax, Resolution, and Falling Action

You should now finish reading your novel and pull together all of the analysis work you have done. As you finish reading, you will discover the resolution of the conflict. You may have predicted this resolution by making inferences based on events and information presented by the author. These skills, which you learned earlier in this class, helped you get the most out of your reading.

As you complete your novel, you may notice that after the climax of the story and the resolution of the conflict, there is still more left in the story. This is called the falling action. The falling action ties up loose ends for the reader. It may give information about things that happen in the future of the character. This is where the author makes sure that the reader is “satisfied.”

When you close the cover of your book for the last time, the falling action will help you feel like you are really finished with the story the author had to tell. Sometimes when I finish a book I really liked, I’m disappointed, because I’m not ready for it to be over. If the author has done a good job at the end of the book, though, I don’t feel disappointed in the story itself. However, I might just go searching for another book by the same author or a book on the same subject!

Activity: In Activity 6.5, you will identify the climax, resolution, and falling action for your novel. Remember to use the constructed response format for your answers. Share your work with your parent/teacher, but don’t submit your work to the Center for evaluation.

I hope you have enjoyed reading your novel in this way. Reading to analyze is different from reading for entertainment. (Not that you can’t do both at the same time!) However, both types of reading are important and valuable. Can you think how each type of reading will benefit you in the future? Share your thoughts with your parent/teacher.

Doing this type of “thinking about your thinking” makes all your hard work pay off. You are doing a great job and learning so much. Keep working hard and looking for ways to apply what you are learning in other things you are doing. That’s what real learning is all about!