Notes-1

Writing about Literature

• Reading literature can be enjoying or not depending on past experiences.
• Writing  about literature teaches you about real life even if the story is fictional
• Thinking about what we read open new ideas and opinions for ourselves

Chapter 1- The Role of Good Reading

• In order to understand information read you must slow down ans reread what you have already read
• When reading literature you must critically read which means ask yourself questions about what you're reading and 
• Most texts actually don't have hidden meanings you're just not actively reading which means you won't find what that reading is actually trying to tell you
• Take notes within the reading to know what's important
• Highlight passages that area important, -then make notes on why you did this -ask questions - have an open mind -look for language that sets a mood and gives information on the style of writing - make annotations simple and easy to understand
• If you don't a word look it up in the dictionary
• 4 categories of ?s- Text, Author, Reader, Cultural Context

Chapter 2- The Writing Process

• Chose a topic to write about that your care about and that interests you
• If you are given a topic research it and find out how it might interest you
• Develop a thesis by making it original, relevant, debatable, and appropriate
• Gather information for your thesis that is from the text iteself, other's resources and your own opinion
• When writing you have an argument or something you are going to prove or show is logical
• When drafting you may not write in order of the paper, you may write one point and then skip to another. Also you may have to reorganize to make sense
• You may have to change your tone of your paper as you draft and take out any passages that are controdictory or that don't make sense
• Peer editing look at the content of the paper not the small things like grammer, punctation, etc.
• Manuscript is just a rough draft that is MLA

Chapter 3- Common Writing Assignments

• Summary- write down important points on the plot, characters, the tone, and other parts about the literature
• Explication and Close Reading- take a poem or short prose and mae and explict idea from it tell what the meaning is of the writing in your own words
• Examine the literature on word choice, sentence structure, grammer, the style or elements that contribute to the style of the literature
• Evaluate the poem as a how on each specific topic and not by lines
• Analysis- take apart a peice of literature and analyze the peices and how they are effect the story as whole
• Comparison and Contrast- take 2 literature pieces and compare and contrast them on characters of plot line or only parts that contribute to the story
• point-by-point- compare one subject that relates to both stories in 1 paragraph  
• item-by-item- present one point and then another in seperate paragraphs, then compare or contrast or analyze in a third paragraph
• Literary criticism and theory- 
• Criticism
• Interpretive- look at literature as  and analyze, clarify the meaning and significance of the literature
• Evaluative- like book reviews, They look at how well developed the literature is and where it should be placed within history
• Literary Theory- The base on which you evaluate literature
• Formalism and New Criticism- focus on structure, tone, characters, setting and symbols. Look at the literature on the actual text and relate parts together and finding symbolism, etc 
• Feminist and Gender Criticism- looking at the roles the females play in the story you are reading, the roles men play in stories as being the protectors and providers for the family
• Marxist Criticism- evaluate based the socioeconomic of a person, based on the ruler Karl Marx and how everything was related to economics
• Cultural Studies- Our society tends to pick literature from males, whom were middle-upper class and also those of British dialect, this is because these are acceptable in our society
• Historical and New Historicism- evaluate based on the history and the times in which the literature you read was published in, also connect it with events that happened in history
• Psychological-  Your thinking based on your subconscious mind gives you motivation. Look at the motivation of characters based on their thoughts might also look and the motivation of why the writer wrote this story. Special attention to the symbols found.
• Reader-Response- Read the story and male sure you understand and then respond based on how you feel and your beliefs. use your imagination and think about how things might be based on descriptions and fill in the "gaps" the reading
• Structuralism- look at the text and think about the meaning of what it says referred to other things in life and then answer your questions from there
• Poststructuralism and Deconstruction- There is no true meaning because all meanings are connected to another and they're always changing based on reality
• Essay Exams- be prepared on the material you are to be tested on, also review what you've done in class a few days before so you can remember the information, if needed
• If it's open book, book mark stuff you want to use so you don't spend time looking for your information, also write some notes down
• If it's closed book use your memory and try to recall specific references to use

Chapter 4- Writing about Stories

• Elements of Fiction- 
• Plot-  avoid retelling the plot when writing, just write reminders to the readers on the key parts in the plot
• Character- look at the development throughout the story, ask yourself what motivated the author to develop this character, what made them grow- protagonist and antagonist
• Point of View- sets the tome of the story and whether it's first-person (which can be unreliable) or third-person being more reliable because it's based on another story or facts) 
• Setting- a back drop, but also can so significance in the values of  the values of the writer and how they want to depict their character to look like
• Themes- short stories usually have themes like; love, war, friendship, revenge, art, etc. which is shown through the characters, plot line, and setting
• Symbol- something in story that carries throughout it and has some meaning to the character or the story itself
• Style- this is shown through the tone you first feel when reading a story
• Look at theses elements and analyse them and how they contribute to the story
• Do Not just summarize that's how you write about a story

Chapter 5- Writing about Poems

• Elements of Poetry
• Narrative poem has a plot, setting, and characters and all depict a point of view
• The narrator is who is suppose to read the poem
• Images- are things that appeal to your senses and make you imagine things and dream in  a sense
• Rhythm- repeated sounds my suggest tone or the patterns make certain sounds

Chapter 6- Writing about Plays

• Elements of Drama-
• Plot- what's going to happen in the story
• Characterization- why characters are develop and how they help tell the story
• Theme- what are the characters showing? love, war, friendship, etc.
• Diction- How the character sounds? Smart? Stupid? Country? British?
• Melody- chant words and make it sounds kind of like a song
• Spectacle- what we are seeing when we watch a play. The props, outfits, etc.