Definition of the novel

A fictional prose narrative of considerable length, typically having a plot that is

.unfolded by the actions, speech, and thoughts of the characters
The 18th Century (The Rise of the novel)
Different reasons for the emergence of the Novel
Rise of literacy
The novel is essentially a written form, unlike poetry which exists for centuries
prior, and still in oral cultures today. The novel is typically written by one
.individual in private and read silently by another
Printing
The modern novel is the child of the printing press, which alone can produce the
vast numbers of copies needed to satisfy a literate public at a price that they can
afford. Typically, the novel is read in private by an individual. Experiencing a
novel is thus a much less collective and public matter than experiencing a
performed play can be, where we are very conscious of how the rest of the
.audience is reacting
Market economy
The 'sociology of the novel' is based very much upon a market relationship
between author and reader mediated through publishers. A market economy
increases the relative freedom and isolation of the writer and decreases his
immediate dependence upon particular individuals, groups, or interests. The
growth of a market economy is of course an aspect of the rise of capitalism, the
.system which had displaced feudalism in Britain by the 18th century
individualism
the novel includes 'individualization of characters and the detailed presentation of
their environment'. Unlike many of the narratives that precede it the novel does
not just present us with 'type' characters, but distinct individuals with personal
.qualities and idiosyncrasies
Secularism
Secularism is crucial to the development of the novel. However, religious themes
are also discussed in the novel. The main reason why secularism is important to
the development of the novel is that the modern novel emerges in a world in
which people were more and more likely to try to find non-supernatural
.explanations for the problems they faced, which is reflected in the novel
Colonialism
Colonialism has a remaining impact on many nations of the world. The effects of
colonialism should not be dismissed as insignificance because it is still important
to know how many nations handle their domestic and international policy today.
Additionally, it is part of the narrative of our nation. For example, Palestinians
started writing novels to show their sufferings. Writers such as Ghassan Kanafani
have written many novels to tackle social, political and economic problems of the
Palestinian families living under the occupation. So, he used the novel as a
.weapon of resistance and that is why Israel has killed him to stop his pen
Novels Can fit in more than one category/type
Different Types of Novel
.Realistic Novel: a fictional attempt to give the effect of realism
Picaresque Novel: A picaresque novel relates the adventures of an eccentric or
.disreputable hero in episodic form
Historical Novel: A Historical novel is a novel set in a period earlier than that of
.the writing
Epistolary Novel: Epistolary fiction is a popular genre where the narrative is
.told via a series of documents
Bildungsroman: German terms that indicates a growth. This fictional
autobiography concerned with the development of the protagonist’s mind, spirit,
.and characters from childhood to adulthood
Gothic Novel: a novel includes terror, mystery, horror, thriller, supernatural,
.doom, death, decay, old haunted buildings with ghosts and so on
.Autobiographical Novel: a novel based on the life of the author
Satirical Novel: Satire is loosely defined as art that ridicules a specific topic in
.order to provoke readers into changing their opinion of it
Allegorical Novel: a story with two levels of meaning- surface meaning and
.symbolic meaning
Regional Novel: A religious novel is a novel that is set against the background of
.a particular area
Novella: a short, narrative, prose fiction. As a literary genre, the novella’s origin
lay in the early Renaissance
Detective Fiction: Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery
fiction in which an investigator or a detective either professional or amateur
.investigates a crime, often murder
The Intellectual Novel: These sorts of novelists attempted to explore the
intellectual responses of the intelligentia to the world
Stream of Consciousness Novel or Psychological Novel: Psychological novels
are works of fiction that treat the internal life of the protagonist (or several or all
characters) as much as (if not more than) the external forces that make up the
.plot
Roman á these/ Social Fiction/ Political Novel: The genre focussed on possible
.development of societies, very often dominated by totalitarian governments
Novel of Incident: In a novel of incident the narrative focuses on what the
.protagonist will do next and how the story will turn out
Novel of Character: A novel of character focuses on the protagonist’s motives
.for what he/she does and how he/she turns out
Roman á clef: French term for a novel with a key, imaginary events with real
.people disguised as fictional characters
Hypertext Novel: Hypertext fiction is a genre of electronic literature,
characterized by the use of hypertext links which provide a new context for non-
.linearity in literature and reader interaction
Sentimental Novel: The sentimental novel or the novel of sensibility
Utopian Novel: A utopia is a community or society possessing highly desirable
.or perfect qualities
Science Fiction (Sci-Fi): Science fiction is a genre of speculative fiction dealing
with imaginative concepts such as technology, space travel, time travel, faster
.than light travel, parallel universes and extraterrestrial life
Fantasy Novel: Stories involving paranormal magic and terrible monsters have
.existed in spoken forms before the advent of printed literature
Adventure Novel: Adventure fiction is a genre of fiction in which an adventure,
an exciting undertaking involving risk and physical danger, forms the main
.storyline
.Children’s Novel: a narrative fiction books written for children
Dystopian Novel: Dystopia is an unpleasant (typically repressive) society, often
.propagandized as being utopian
Mystery Novel: The mystery genre is a type of fiction in which a detective, or
.other professional, solves a crime or series of crimes
Symbolism is a setting, object, character, or event in a story that carries more
than the literal meaning and therefore represents something significant to
.understanding the meaning of a work of literature
Types of symbolism
Conventional symbols: are symbols that are often used in the same way and are
.therefore easily recognized and understood by many
Literary Symbols: Any object, character, event, setting etc. can develop
symbolic significance in the context of a particular poem, play or story. Not
.many people will understand it
Intertextuality: How writers of literary works are influenced or affected by other
.texts
Imagery: is a language used by poets, novelists, and other writers to create
images in the mind of the reader. Imagery includes figurative and metaphorical
.language to improve the reader’s experience through their senses
.Visual imagery This is what you can see
.Auditory imagery engages the sense of hearing
.Olfactory imagery engages the sense of smell
.Gustatory imagery engages the sense of taste
.Tactile imagery engages the sense of touch
.Kinesthetic imagery engages the feeling of movement or action
.Organic imagery it deals with creating a specific feeling or emotion
Figurative language: Is phrasing that goes beyond the literal meaning of words
to get a
Metaphor: implicit comparison between two unlike things
”Simile: explicit comparison between two unlike things using “like” or “as
Allegory: in the narrative, allegory involves a continuous parallel between two or
more levels of meaning in a story, so that its persons and events correspond to
.their equivalents in a system of ideas or a chain of events external to the tale
Tone: perspective of the characters it helps. The readers grasp the author's
.feeling toward particular subject in the story
Style: a narrative’s individual characteristics: how it uses language, images,
.sentence structures, patterns of sound
.Irony: wherever there is a discrepancy between what is said and what is meant
.Verbal irony is saying one thing but meaning something completely different
Situational irony involves a contradiction between what the reader expects to
.happen and what does happen
Dramatic irony occurs when the reader knows something that a character or
.characters do not know
.Allusion: reference to other literary or cultural texts
Intertextuality: A literary term that means how the author is influenced by other
.texts
…Genre: A kind of literature, comedy, mystery, tragedy
Alliteration: the repetition of the word or the sound
In Media Res: Is a Latin stylistic device which means in the middle of the
.events; the reader is involved in the actions of the story
Repetition: is a literary device that involves intentionally using a word or phrase
.for effect
Setting: The time and location in which a story takes place.
Place: Geographical Location.
Time: When is the Story taking place
Weather Conditions
Social Conditions: What is the daily life of the characters like.
Mood or Atmosphere: What is created at the beginning of the novel
.Plot: The Plot is how the author arranges events to develop the basic idea
There are five essential parts of the Aristotle plot
Introduction: The beginning of the story where the characters and setting are
.revealed
Rising Action: This is when the events in the story become complicated and the
.conflict in the story is revealed
Climax: This is the highest point of interest and the turning point of the story.
.The reader wonders what will happen next; will the conflict be resolved or not
Falling Action: The events and complications begin to resolve themselves. The
.reader knows what has happened next and if the conflict was resolved or not
Resolution: This is the final outcome or untangling of events in the story
.Denouement: the story’s resolution
.Suspense: anxiety about how the story will end
.Foreshadowing: clues to the ending
.Flashback: when the story travels back in time
.Complication: a new conflict
.Epiphany: a sudden revelation of the truth of a character or situation
.Open plot: the conflict is not resolved at the end of the story
.Closed plot: the conflict is resolved at the end of the story
Conflict: Conflict is essential to the plot. Without conflict, there is no plot.
Conflict is not merely limited to open arguments, rather it is any form of
.opposition that faces the main character
:There are two types of conflict
.External Conflict A struggle with a force outside of one’s Self
Internal Conflict A struggle within one’s self; a person must make some
decision, overcome pain. its suitable for the stream of consciousness and
.psychological
.Characters is the person in a work of fiction
Types of characters
Individual: Round--many-sided complex personalities
Developing: Dynamic--many-sided personalities that change, for better or worse,
by the end of the story(round)
Static: Stereotype--have one or two characteristics that never change and are
emphasized(flat)
Antagonist the character who opposes the protagonist
.Antihero: a protagonist who is not heroic
.Foil: a character who sets off, by contrast, the character of the protagonist
.Confidant: a character in whom the protagonist confides
.Flat character: a character defined by a single trait, often a stereotype
.Stock character: a stereotypical character with whom readers are familiar
.Caricature: a character exaggerated for comic relief
.Motivation: what causes a character to do what she or he does
Modes of characterization: what a character says or does; what other characters
.say of and to the character; and the author’s word choice in descriptive passages
Point of View: Point of View or P.O.V. is defined as the angle form which the
.story is told or the perspective the author uses to tell the story
Innocent Eye - The story is told through the eyes of a child (his/her judgment
.being different from that of an adult)
Stream of Consciousness - The story is told so that the reader feels as if they are
.inside the head of one character and knows all their thoughts and reactions
First Person - The story is told by the protagonist or one of the characters who
interact closely with the protagonist or other characters (using pronouns I, me,
we, etc). The reader sees the story through this person's eyes as he/she
.experiences it and only knows what he/she knows or feels
Second Person the story is told to another character using the pronouns you,
your, and yours. It is not often used in fiction writing but is used in letters,
.speeches, and other forms of nonfiction
Third-person narrator: every character is referred to by the narrator as "he",
"she", "it", or "they", but never as "I" or "we" (first-person), or "you" (second-
person). The narrator is an unspecified entity or an uninvolved person, not a
.character within the story
There are two main types of Third Person point of view
Omniscient Limited The author tells the story in the third person (using
pronouns they, she, he, it, etc). We know only what the character knows and
what the author allows him/her to tell us. We can see the thoughts and feelings of
.characters if the author chooses to reveal them to us
Omniscient narrator: an all-knowing third-person narrator who sees into the
.minds of all characters
Third Person Objective The author tells the story in the third person. It appears
as though a camera is following the characters, going anywhere, and recording
only what is seen and heard. There is no comment on the characters or their
thoughts. No interpretations are offered. The reader is placed in the position of
the spectator without the author there to explain. The reader has to interpret
.events on his own
Theme: The theme in a piece of fiction is its controlling idea or its central
insight. It is the author's underlying meaning or main idea that he is trying to
convey. The theme may be the author's thoughts about a topic or view of human
.nature