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
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