GHSGT Review
Reading Prose – Short Stories, Novels
01. Identify the protagonist and the conflict.
a. Protagonist – main character
b. Antagonist – person, or a group of people who oppose the main character(s)
c. Conflict
i. Internal Conflict – internal conflict occurs when one is confronted with a problem that presents difficult choices.
ii. External Conflict – man against man; man against nature; man against society
d. Whose story is being told?
e. What does that character desire more than anything else?
f. What stands in the way of that character’s achievement of his or her goal?
g. The answer to these questions can give you a better handle on the story’s plot.
02. Identify characters in selection.
a. Rounded – lifelike, full, dynamic, reader can predict future behavior because of an understanding of the personality
b. Protagonist – the hero or heroine, main person in the story, person on the quest
c. Antagonist – the person causing the conflict, in opposition to the protagonist, the obstacle
d. Flat character – no growth, static
e. Stock – representative of a group or class (stereotypical)
f. Characters disclosed through
• Actions
• Descriptions, both personal and environmental
• Dramatic statements and thoughts
• Statements by other characters
• Statements by the author speaking as storyteller, or observer
03. Consider the story’s point of view.
a. First-person – First person point of view is a point of view in which an "I" or "we" serves as the narrator of a piece of fiction. The narrator may be a minor character, observing the action, as the character Nick does in The Great Gatsby, or the main protagonist of the story, such as Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye. In addition, a first-person narrator may be reliable or unreliable. While first person point of view can allow a reader to feel very close to a specific character's point of view, it also limits the reader to that one perspective. The reader can only know what this character knows.
b. Third-person limited – Third person limited point of view is a method of storytelling in which the narrator knows only the thoughts and feelings of a single character, while other characters are presented only externally.
c. Third-person omniscient – Third person omniscient is a method of storytelling in which the narrator knows the thoughts and feelings of all of the characters in the story, as opposed to third person limited, which adheres closely to one character's perspective. Through third person omniscient, a writer may bring to life an entire world of characters.
04. Think about the setting.
a. Does it play a significant role in the plot?
b. How does setting affect the story’s tone?
c. Setting helps create atmosphere or mood.
d. Setting may reinforce characters and theme
05. Notice key symbols.
a. If any symbols catch your attention as you go, be sure to highlight each place in which they appear in the test. What do these symbols contribute to the story’s meaning? (*Remember, not every image is a symbol—only those important recurrent person, places, or things that seem to suggest more than their literal meaning.)
Common Symbols in Literature
Ice / Death, cold-hearted
Spring / Youth, birth, life
Water / Birth, rebirth, baptism, purify
Winter / Death, dying, old age
Eagle / Freedom, liberty, strength
Skull / Death
Rose / Love, beauty
Crown / Wealth, royalty
Wedding ring / Love, commitment
Cross bones / Death, danger
Sunrise / New start, new beginning, birth
Full moon / Danger, strange events
Autumn / Middle age, maturity, decay
Light / Purity, truth, hope, goodness
Dark / Evil, death, magic
Sleep / Death
Dreams / Future, fate
Summer / Prime of life
Red / Anger, blood, death, passion
Blue / Happiness
Green / Jealousy
Black / Death, evil
White / Purity, innocence
Green / Growth
Nature / Mother, female
Forest / Fear, test, challenge
Moon / Madness
Cross/Angel / Salvation
Sea/Ocean / Mother of all life; timeless; mysterious; eternity
River / Death & rebirth; flowing of time into eternity
Three (3) / Light, supernatural awareness, Holy Trinity
Four (4) / Circle of life, four seasons, earth, nature, continuity of life
Seven (7) / Most powerful of all numbers, union of three (3) and four (4), completion of a cycle, perfect order
Tree / Life, immortality
06. Look for the theme.
a. Is the story’s central meaning stated directly? If not, how does it reveal itself?
b. Theme is an idea or message about life, society, or human nature.
c. The theme of a fable is its moral.
d. The theme of a parable is its teaching.
e. The theme of a piece of fiction is its view about life and how people behave.
f. In fiction, the theme is not intended to teach or preach. In fact, it is not presented directly at all. You extract it from the characters, action, and setting that make up the story. In other words, you must figure out the theme yourself.
07. Think about tone
a. Tone in literature tells us how the author feels about his or her subject.
b. Tone is the author's attitude toward story and readers.
c. Tone may be formal, informal, intimate, solemn, somber, playful, serious, ironic, condescending, or many other possible attitudes.
d. Tone and mood are not interchangeable.
e. In many cases, the tone of a piece of work may change or evolve.
f. Elements of tone include diction, or word choice; syntax, the grammatical arrangement of words in a text for effect; imagery, or vivid appeals to the senses; details, facts that are included or omitted; extended metaphor, language that compares seemingly unrelated things throughout the composition.
08. Think about style.
a. The author's style conveys the tone in literature.
b. Style refers to ways in which writers assemble words to tell the story, to develop an argument, dramatize the play, compose the poem
c. Essential aspect of style is diction
– Formal = standard or elegant words
– Neutral = everyday standard vocabulary
– Informal = colloquial, substandard language, slang
d. Language may be
– Specific = images
– General = broad classes
– Concrete = qualities of immediate perception
– Abstract = broader, less palpable qualities
e. Denotation = word meanings
f. Connotation = word suggestions; emotional feelings about a word
g. Verbal irony = contradictory statements
– One thing said, opposite is meant
– Irony = satire, parody, sarcasm, double entendre
h. Understatement = does not fully describe the importance of a situation – deliberately
i. Hyperbole (overstatement) = words far in excess of the situation
09. Analyzing author's style involves understanding the particular way a piece is written.
a. Style in writing is not what is said but how it is said.
b. Analyzing author’s style involves analyzing the writer's unique way of communicating ideas.
c. Styles in writing are created deliberately by the author to convey a specific mood or effect.
d. Key aspects in styles of writing include:
1. sentence length, structure, variation, and position
2. the use of sensory details, figurative language, and other literary devices
3. the use of sound devices--alliteration, onomatopoeia, rhythm, repetition
4. the use of dialogue
5. word choice
6. tone
7. the use of local color
8. the use of irony