What to Review for you 1984 and Elements of Story Test:

The questions on the 1984 test, including the essay questions, will be generated from the areas we have studied thus far: setting, character, symbolism, and point of view. There will also be five questions on active/passive voice and a few quote integration questions. The test will take two classes. On the first day, you will be allowed to bring your novel only. That day there will be be short answer/paragraph questions, matching questions, and multiple choice questions that relate setting, character, symbolism and point of view to the novel.

Eg: “He took down from the shelf a bottle of colourless liquid with a plain white label marked VICTORY GIN. It gave off a sickly, oily smell, as of Chinese ricespirit. Winston poured out nearly a teacupful, nerved himself for a shock, and gulped it down like a dose of medicine.”

The quote above allows the reader to learn about Winston through

  1. direct presentation of character
  2. indirect presentation of character

Day two of the exam will be the essay day. On this day, you will be able to bring any handwritten notes along with the novel. You will be expected to write an in class essay of approximately 400 words on the question you are provided. Your question will relate to setting, character, or symbolism in the novel. You will be expected to fully integrate quotations into your essay. There will be a second essay option for the essay that all students will be given.

Both halves of the exam are worth equal value.

Day 1 of the exam is this Friday, November 13th. Day 2 will be Monday, November 16th. All due dates for outstanding 1984 work will be moved to Wednesday, November 18th, except for the culminating activity which will be due November 25th. On November 18th, I will give you the whole class to work on your culminating activity.

  1. Setting:

A.There are three levels of setting:

Micro-The first level of context is the microsystem. This level has the most immediate and earliest influences and includes the family, along with local friendship and peer groups, and neighbourhood or community institutions such as a particular school or church.

Meso- the next level of nested context is the mesosystem. This possesses intermediate levels of influence such as larger and less personal social institutions like government, transportation, entertainment, news organizations, and the like, or geographic regions larger than a neighbourhood.

Macro- The most global level of contextual surrounding is the macrosystem. This is the most distant from individuals and their influence and includes aspects such as international relations or global changes or even more abstract aspects of culture. For example, the movement from agricultural and industrial economies to an information-age, global economy is having widespread influence on the ways societies, communities, and families are operating.

B. Three Main Dimensions of Setting: Physical, Temporal, Social/Psychological

i. Physical: Manufactured vs Natural

ii. Temporal: Clock Time, Calendar Time, Seasonal Time, Historical

Time.

iii. Social/Psychological: the human dimension of setting . The reader must

the social and psychological effects of the setting on the characters in

the story/poem.

C. Uses of Setting

i. create a mood/ atmosphere that affects our response to the work

ii. it may have a direct effect on a character’s motivation

iii. someone or something may enter the setting and change it, causing

conflict.

iv. thesetting itself can be an antagonist

v. two settings may come into conflict with each other, causing conflict

in the characters who must live in them and perhaps choose between

them.

  1. Character
  1. Character and Characterization

Direct Presentation of Character

Indirect Presentation of character

A story will only be successful when the characters are dramatized: shown to be speaking and acting, as in a drama.

Three Principles of Convincing Characterization:Consistent, Motivated, Plausible

Character Type: Flat Character, Round Character, Stock Character

Character Development: Static vs Dynamic

  1. Super Six Clues to Understanding Character: In order to fully understand a character in a book, play, or poem you must closely examine the following 6:

i Characters’ Actions

ii. Characters’ Language

iii. Characters’ Thoughts

iv. Characters’ Body Language

v. Characters’ Physical Description

vi. How others Relate to a character.

  1. Symbolism in Literature

A. Definition- A literary symbol is something which means more than what it is. It is an object, a person, a situation, an action, or some other item which has a literal meaning in the story but suggests or represents other meanings as well.

  1. How to recognize a symbol
  1. Frequency
  2. Detail
  3. Position
  1. Four Types of Symbolism you need to be aware of

a. Name Symbolism

b. Object Symbolism

c. Action Symbolism

d. People Symbolism

  1. Two things to remember:
  1. The story itself must furnish the clue that a detail itself should be taken symbolically.
  2. A symbol may have more than one meaning.
  1. Contextual vs. Cultural Symbols
  1. Contextual Symbol: A unique or original symbol an author creates within the context of an individual work or an author's collected works.
  2. Cultural Symbol: a symbol widely or generally accepted as meaning something specific within an entire culture or social group.

4. Point of View: A. Types

i. First Person- I, We p.ov.

ii. Third Person Omniscient- He/Shep.o.v. : author enters mind of more than one

character

iii. Third Person Limited Omniscient-He/Shep.o.v.: author enters mind of only

one character

iv.Third Person Objective- He/Shep.o.v.: author doesn’t enter any characters’

minds.

v. Second Person– You p.o.v.

5. Active vs. Passive Voice

6. Integration of quotations