217 lines
4.1 KiB
Plaintext
217 lines
4.1 KiB
Plaintext
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Criteria for a Good Novel - FICTION EXAM
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Michael Stutz
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Intro To Fiction Final
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Dr. Burchmore
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3-14-9O
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First and foremost, I'm going to define what I believe is the
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ultimate purpose of novels. To me, the novel's prime purpose in life
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is to gain some sort of insight on life itself - it should be realistic
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so that you 'lose yourself' in it. This insight can be gained in many
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ways, such as by a philosophical viewpoint that the novel takes, a funny
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or comical view of something in the novel, or anything really, just as
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long as the reader learns something. Anything. (But we have to stick
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'about life' after that. If all you learn is that Abe Lincoln was
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a US President, it's not a novel, you could read a fourth grade history
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book for that. So you have to learn something about life and living,
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especially as it relates to life on this planet.)
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Now that my definition is clear (I hope), I can define the
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criteria for a good novel. Above all, it must fulfill the definition
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above. It can do this using any/all of the techniques below, and
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probably many more that I just haven't thought of right now at this
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moment:
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Characterization: REAL people. No Batmans or soap opera types, but
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people that you run into in everyday life, or ones
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that you WISH you'd run into. I can't say I've
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ever known a Cliff Huxtable, but I've encountered
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many a Jason Compson.
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Description,
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Imagery: I want lots of good descriptions and imagery that
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is useful (relates to themes and ideas). Good
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stuff will make you want to read a book at one
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sitting, and good images will remain in your
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memory for a long time. (I still remember
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reading Joyce's "The Boarding House" and the
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images that the poor Irish house was given.)
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Plot: I like suprises, but if a plot is all suprise and
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just a trip from point A to point B, it's boring
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and no fun to read, especially the second time
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around. So I like complex plots that use all of
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these other things and tie it all back to the
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theme. The more interprative the better.
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Setting: I'm VERY myopic about this. I will NOT read
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anything about Russia, Europe, or Egypt. I like
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settings that I can relate to, so American novels
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only, please.
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Motifs: To me a novel is like a piece of music, and motifs,
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like music, blend the themes together, sometimes
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recurring at different volume levels and tones.
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I like that.
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Tone,
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Atmosphere: This kind of stuff I really get into, also.
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To me, atmosphere and tone are EXTREMELY important
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elements of fiction, partly because they portray
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the author's feeling, and if you don't know the
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feeling, you can't interpret it. (Well, to me,
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anyway)
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Point of View: I put trust in the author in that he/she has
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written the novel in the best point of view for
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it. (Does this make sense?)
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And now, my two favorites and two worst:
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WORST
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Moll Flanders: I respect DeFoe, he was the first novel writer, and
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his journalistic quality is really getting 'hip'
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again, with people like Thomas Woolfe and the New
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Journalism (there's nothing new under the sun).
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But, the characters were so shallow and it was so
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old of a book that it got in the way of my reading.
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Pride and Prejudice:The characters were like "Dangerous Liasons",
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they didn't do anything. Unless I win the lottery,
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I'll never be able to relate to them.
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BEST
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The Sound and the Fury:If I could only get MY thoughts down on
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paper like Faulkner did!!
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Native Son: It was gripping and it made me look at racial
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prejudice from a different perspective. That's
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one thing I really can't stand and so I was
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intrigued while reading this novel. Besides,
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when I was at the library taking it out, this
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old man said to me, "I saw that play 35 years ago
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at the Hanna." And his eyes lit up like he really
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enjoyed it.
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Michael Stutz
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3/14/90
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