Book Bones: Literary Analysis

           I love reading. It’s the salsa of my burrito, the birdsong of my morning; no-can-do without it.   I have to stack no less than 4 books on my nightstand, many of whom patiently wait through several rounds of unfurling and slumber. When I finish a book, I don’t like to immediately pick up another tome. I need to sit with the last one until I soak up the snare the author has laid for me. I don’t always connect dots, sometimes having to re-read sections to understand something I missed. One perk to teaching is reading the same books for high school literature several times over.  I like to have novels fresh in my mind, but the main benefit is catching something new each time.  
        I first became interested in lit analysis during book clubs. My daughters and I were in a mother/daughter book club. I have also attended several women’s book clubs and a mystery club at a bookstore. I love the issues that come up to discuss, such as immigrant rights in The Tortilla Curtain, deception to survive in A Gentleman in Moscow, and spirituality in The Secret Life of Bees.
      Unlocking a book’s or poem’s layers is something I’m learning along with my students. I’m not the greatest at figuring out certain aspects of literary analysis, and that’s why the internet is incredibly helpful, expert analysis at our fingertips! My favorite two sites of the moment are
Shmoop and Cummings Study Guide. There are other sites like Sparknotes and Cliff Notes. And there are blogs by folks who are in college or who are avid readers. Sometimes I read their takes when I can’t find enough information or my regular go-to sites don’t have the particular novel I’m looking for. This mainly happens with middle school novels.  Some of the publishers offer a list of discussion questions, especially Scholastic, but I find these fairly empty. They focus a bit on comprehension, which is demeaning after a certain point.
      Plot analysis is the easiest to peg. Using the inverted pyramid instantly illustrates plot elements. I draw the party hat lines a few times during the course of a month while the students are reading a book. We revisit that exposition each time, because it is often forgotten when the reader is immersed in a good book. For example, The House of Scorpion by Nancy Farmer, a favorite of middle schoolers, begins in a lab with test tubes. Often the reader forgets that the protagonist, Matt, is a clone, and this plot map shows them the crafting art of the author. The foggiest part of plot elements is the climax, the highest point of tension. I tell my students that no one is ever wrong in naming the climax.
     In fact, I tell students no one is wrong in naming most of the elements.  Scholars argue about many elements, like who the protagonist is in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar: Caesar or Brutus. Analysis is interpretation, and each of us interprets from our own perspective and life experience. I’m reading as a senior citizen, having gone through life raising children, through two separate careers. I want my students to be free to find elements that speak to them, not worrying about being right or wrong.  
     Discussion can take up a fair amount of time, and I discuss the poems and the readings during each class. If we’ve just finished reading a book, we usually have a lengthier discussion. Often a bio on the author helps to understand a book, so I will have given that information the first week or so of our reading time.  I also like to point out the writing style early on, so the students can notice as they read. Books and poems are clearly great models for writing.
     I have a handout that explains all the literary elements to look for in a book: plot elements, character archetypes, point of view, tone, mood, irony, symbolism, etc. I also have a Fill-in Worksheet that I use once a year in my middle and high school classes. Every other year I teach and assign a Literary Analysis Essay. I like the students to write about 3 different themes, but they often write about 3 different characters or three separate elements, like protagonist, point of view, and setting.
     Ironically, students find a theme as daunting a concept as a thesis; I’m not sure if that is an ancient Greek mental block or what. I find it ironic because students understand the issues brought up reading a novel but they don’t equate them to “theme.” For instance, Maus by Art Spiegelman is obviously about prejudice, war, and survival, but students sit silent and stymied if I ask specifically for themes instead of issues.
    A friend of mine gave me a formula that I use to teach themes. I found some fairy/folk tales analyses on the net to illustrate the formula.


Determining Character Conflict and Behavior ---->  Theme


Character_______Wants______But______So_______



 
The Tortoise and and The Hare:
character conflict of tortoise = man vs man, man vs self
character conflict of hare = man vs man
tortoise wants to win but he's very slow so he keeps going with determination
hare wants to win but he's far ahead so he takes a break with a nap because he is lazy, not concerned, internal bad attitude
Themes = attitude (hare is arrogant), determination (slow and steady wins the race)


Cinderella:
Cinderella = man vs man, man vs society, man vs self
Cinderella = wants to be loved by her family but they don’t love her and treat her like a servant so she obeys but longs to be included
Cinderella = wants to go to the ball but her stepmother locks her in her room so a fairy godmother magically helps her to attend
Looking deeper in "but" section: why does her family treat her poorly: father’s title (class), money, cruelty.
Themes = class, family, greed, good vs evil, wealth, luck, supernatural, femininity

Brain Blocks: Brainstorming Techniques

      My students have been good-natured guinea pigs, showing me what writing exercises work and what falls flat. If the assignment does not contain any spark of surprise or delight or mystery, then I need to pass it up.  Sometimes I use the same or similar exercises with the elementary, middle school, and even high school students. Everyone comes up with something unique. High schoolers have more life experience and will write something completely different than an elementary student or my much older self. I have found that writing alongside students encourages them and rejuvenates me.
    Every prompt or restriction creates a challenge and offers a brainstorming technique. Ideas are sparked from places I don’t suspect. My daughter wrote an entire 200 page book, starting with a first line I gave her. She asked me for a sentence prompt, and out of the blue I said, Walking along the sidewalk, she was startled to notice something slimy had passed in front of her. 
       Freewrites are, hands down, the most popular brainstorming tool my students enjoy. They must write for 5 minutes straight in complete sentences, without stopping.  It does not have to be cohesive; the ideas can be willy-nilly about the subject. If students are stuck after completing a sentence, then rather than sit idly, they must write the last sentence again. Usually by the time they are writing the repeat, they think of something else to write. The time constraint forces them to focus. I almost always give them a choice of a few things to write about, just for fun, to show students how to write one. Having a silly topic like mud, caves, Girl Scout cookies, socks, or soap,  makes freewriting fun and memorable. Anytime a brain is niggled to produce something clever, a student is hooked.
          Lists are my personal favorite brainstorming tool. I use it every time I write with the class on the board. Almost every week I model the homework assignment on the board. Besides watching exactly how to do the assignment, the students find it is not that difficult.  I write all their ideas on the right side of the board as a list, and then we use them in our exercise.  I use lists for writing poetry as well as essays.
    Rhyming is a terrific ideas tool. Having to create rhymes for a poem means the poet must find and fit an idea between end rhymes. This is fairly easy with rhyming couplets, but sometimes even freer with a rhyme scheme like ABCB. Students find it helpful to find rhymes online from rhyming dictionaries like Rhymer or Rhymezone.
    This brings me to different poem forms. There are so many different forms with structure and rhyming constraints. These too beef up brainstorming. In a swap quatrain, the rhymes are laid out in the first line. In a Shakespearean sonnet, the rhyme scheme has to be ABABCDCDEFEFGG.  In a sestina, the end words do not usually rhyme, but they are in a specific order,  wringing notions from the poet. —-
    I also like graphic organizers. I draw bubble outlines for essays and a pyramid for mapping plots. Some of my students use a diagram for creating or analyzing a character, and some prefer a fill-in worksheet I give them.
    One of my favorite assignments is an ode or a free verse poem in which I hand out a descriptive chart. It’s really just a list of figurative language types or literary devices.  I ask the students to fill it in on their subject and write a poem using as many as possible. This list includes imagery of each sense, metaphor, similes, onomatopoeia, personification, repetition, rhyming, allusion, etc.  The poems written using this list turn out beautifully!
    I have a handout for Writers Block or Brain Freeze.  I give this out each year to my middle and high schoolers. This has more ideas about preparing to write. Vary the place you write, on your bed, outside in a swing. Vary your font. Deal with a troubling problem before writing. Schmooze with a friend or Mom. Set realistic goals. Walk away from a paper and return later or the next day.
    There are many more brainstorming tools. It’s normal to become stuck sometimes. It’s also nice to be able to discuss a subject with someone else. I always encourage my students to call or email me. No need to become stymied, when I can help. I want them to succeed.

BRAIN FREEZE -- WRITER’S BLOCK

If you get the writing willies try these ideas:

Get something on paper.  Brainstorming, freewriting, spider webs, cluster outline, regular outlining, even doodles about your subject to christen that white paper.

Schmooze with a friend briefly.  Tossing around ideas can get you thinking creatively.

Ignore factors such as sentence length or word count when you first start out.  Concentrate instead on getting a draft in place.

Write the draft out of order, starting with the parts you find easiest.  For instance, start with the conclusion, move to the body paragraphs and end with the introduction.

Vary your method: use the computer keyboard with different fonts, print while sitting on your bed, hand write on the porch swing outside.  If using the computer, turn it off and just focus on your thoughts for a while.

Figure out what’s keeping you from writing,  Deal with the problem, and then go back to writing.

Set aside a specific amount of time and make yourself write for all of it.  Don’t worry about the product.

Set realistic goals, such as one paragraph or a page at a time, not an entire essay or novel in one sitting.

If you write without a net or plan or outline (or even if you do), look for links among your ideas.  Remember you are not obligated to use all or part of your draft.  This realization can free you to explore new directions.

Ask reporter’s questions: Who? What? When? Where? Why? and How?