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How to Read and Analyze Novels Like a Lit Major
Part 2
In Part 1, we looked at some of the terms used to talk about literature and other elements of fiction. Now, in Part 2, we will discuss some elements of fiction to pay attention to while reading literature.
To analyze a story, there are several things we should look for when reading a story:
The narrator: is he/she reliable or not?
Repetition: of objects, locations, actions, scenes, images, words, and people.
Mirrors: this is where an action one character does is repeated by another
Patterns: you may find patterns in words, lists, conversations, etc.
Contradictions: these may be a contradiction in what a character says or what he/she does. Or there may be a contradiction between ideas at the sentence level or in an action.
A reading of the short story, “The Black Cat,” by Edgar Allen Poe shows us that the unnamed narrator is the main character. His narrative is an argument against his guilt for what he has done.
Is he a reliable or unreliable narrator? Can you believe the things he says? Are there any clues in the story that he might not be completely truthful?
