ATAR Notes: Forum
VCE Stuff => VCE English Studies => VCE Subjects + Help => VCE English & EAL => Topic started by: kenhung123 on January 11, 2010, 10:13:18 am
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When I'm reading novels, I don't really know what to look out for. However I do know the overall storyline.
How do you know what quotes or parts of the novel is significant and requires some underlining/highlighting?
Also is there anything different in what to look out for when reading a novel for text resp and context?
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Read the book 4 times then you should know what's important and what's not.
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Over the holidays or throughout the year?
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Read as much as you can in the holidays^. i think it would be better.
Souljette<3
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I only aimed to read all novels once over the holidays.
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This is what our teacher told me.
He said that on my first read through i should chuck in a sticky note etc. at any point i find ANYTHING at all interesting. whether it be a description of a character, landscape; whether it be a revealing passage about a certain character etc.
After my first read of a novel he said i should then go through and read from as many outside sources on that novel i could. Study guides, wiki, spark notes etc. and then get a feel at what the themes of the book are. what essay questions on the book are most likely to be based on etc.
Then i should re-read the book again with this in mind, and again, make note of what i think is important.
My teacher also told me that it is these initial readings of the stories over the holidays and early in the year that are quite important as you formulate your own personal opinions on the novels, and in return you form your own opinion about what is important and what is not in the novel before you are flooded with materials and opinions of teachers and whatever; and usually it is during this initial period where people can pickup on unique ideas and phrases etc. that separate you from the rest of your cohort when writing essays.
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Yeah ^
I also found that with the more initially challenging (read: boring) books the more I read them, the more I liked them. It took me about 3-4 readings of A Man for all Seasons to appreciate it, and then I was able to read it enthusiastically for another 3-4 times.
The best way to increase your understanding of a novel is to make it your bible and never put it down.
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This is what our teacher told me.
He said that on my first read through i should chuck in a sticky note etc. at any point i find ANYTHING at all interesting. whether it be a description of a character, landscape; whether it be a revealing passage about a certain character etc.
My teacher also told me that it is these initial readings of the stories over the holidays and early in the year that are quite important as you formulate your own personal opinions on the novels, and in return you form your own opinion about what is important and what is not in the novel before you are flooded with materials and opinions of teachers and whatever; and usually it is during this initial period where people can pickup on unique ideas and phrases etc. that separate you from the rest of your cohort when writing essays.
I did that, I typed it all up and argh...8000 words for one novel >.<
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8000 words? What on earth did you write about? LOL
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0.o Just everything I found interesting.
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Must be a VERY interesting book! :D
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^ Not really, Shark Net isn't that interesting. It's just that I had a lot of thoughts that I couldn't bear losing forever, and it's a long book too (358 pages).
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kyzoo, is shark net any good?
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No, it's just an account of the author's childhood, only a minor (like 2 chapters) segment of it relates to Reality. The rest is fluff.
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Fark me, hope streetcars the complete opposite
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rofl
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which texts u doing ken?
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streetcar is very easy to write about! so much stuff going on...
for sharknet i found it hard to find anything at all to write about :S
hence why i am shit at english.......
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i think i may have to read up on shark net, not looking very promising.
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Forget about Shark Net, do Enduring Love.
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Forget about Shark Net, do Enduring Love.
This man speaks the truth.
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Forget about Shark Net, do Enduring Love.
This man speaks the truth.
no surprises.
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So off topic lol
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How you want to approach reading and absorbing your texts is really dependant on personal preferences. I would recommend that for your first reading, just read it as you would any other novel. The purpose of your first reading should be to understand the story and the characters on a basic level. Your main goal after the first reading is to be able to recall the order of all significant plot events, have a basic understanding of all the characters and their importance to the story and recognise the novel's central themes.
Identifying key sections, passages or quotes is much easier once you know the sequence of plot events. This gives you a more holistic perspective of the novel meaning you will identify any examples of foreshadowing and character changes more easily. It is much harder to identify what is important when you don't fully understand the plot as you won't be able to place each individual section into context, which could result in over-analysing certain sections or failing to recognise the importance of others.
As for what to look for, start by looking at the major points in the dramatic structure - The exposition (When the characters and setting are introduced), Rising tension, Climax, Falling tension and the Denouement/Conclusion.
Other things to look out for would be changes in character, soliloquys/monologues, any sudden revelations, repetition of symbols/metaphors/imagery, 'thematic' sections (sections that, rather than advance the story, explore the novel's themes and ideas), social commentaries and any authorial values communicated through the text (For instance, any messages that the author is trying to communicate to the reader).
The next step is to look at what the author is trying to communicate to the reader and the ways that he/she does that. For example, is the author criticising an aspect of society? If so how? A character may represent society as a whole or a social attitude. Being able to look beyond the scope of the story and consider why the story was written in the first place is pivotal to writing a thorough and comprehensive textual analysis.
Also don't worry if there are aspects of the novel you don't quite understand or sections that you know are important but don't fully know why. It is still early in the year and you are yet to have discussed the novel in class. Class discussions will often reveal alternate perspectives that you had not previously considered or help to clarify your own ideas.