introduction What is Novel? • Novel, as an adjective, means “new, original, especially in an interesting way.” • Novel, as a noun, is “an invented fictional prose narrative that is usually long and complex and deals especially with human experience through a usually connected sequence of events.” Or • is a “creative work of art”. • “The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the Italian word: novella for "new“”
Fiction : “is the imagination or dream of the writer, made visible on a page. It maybe a writer’s live experience which may be entirely imagined, though it may be based on real situations or events.” Prose: “is a form of written (or spoken) language that usually exhibits a natural flow of speech and grammatical structure.” human experience: contains themes about life and society that are relatable to readers that the novelist seeks to share them. Human experience such as marriage, war, haltered, love, revenge, etc. What is a genre Novel? • romance • mystery • horror/ Gothic • science fiction • fantasy • Genre novels must follow the styles, and conventions of their type in order to meet readers’ expectations. For example • In romance type the reader distinguishes a romantic story of the hero or heroin. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. • In Gothic or horror novels the reader expects to meet frightening and horrified situations. Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights • In science fiction genre often involves speculations based on current or future science or technology. Elements of the novel or how is the novel structured? • Plot :a plot is the sequence of events that make up a story or how the story develops, unfolds, and moves in time. • Difference between story and plot • Ex: The king died and then the Queen died (story) • The king died and then the Queen died of grief (plot)
• Characters: A character is a participant in the story. round/ flat, major/ minor, protagonist/ antagonist , static/ dynamic. • setting :is the time and location in which a story takes place. The location and time frame of your story is more than just a stage for your characters • style is the literary element that describes the ways that the author uses words — the author's word choice, sentence structure, figurative language, and sentence arrangement all work together to establish mood, images, and meaning in the text. Style describes how the author describes events, objects, and ideas. • narrative technique/ point of view: refers to the perspective from which the story is told. There are three additional points of view—first-person narration, third-person omniscient and third-person limited. • theme(s) is the point a writer wishes to make. It poses a question—a human problem. Human experiences. • chapters: Chapter divisions are an author’s means of organizing the major events and developments in your novel and provide easy transitions in time, place, or point of view. • dialogue: is an essential element of fiction and, to some degree, memoir. Dialogue consists of conversations between two or more people, Dialogue can also take the place of long character descriptions because what a character says about himself/herself and how a character speaks about others should give clues to his/her personality, emotions, attitudes, opinions, and desires. • Note: (all the above aspects are internal aspects of the novel. Others external related to cultural , religious, political, and social aspects) Some theories or ideologies used in understanding the Victorian novel • Feminism • Marxism • Psychological theory • https://meet.google.com/uac-wxii-owz
