ANALYSING PROSE

 Plot
 Point of View
 Character
 Setting
 Theme
 Language
 Author’s style/technique

PLOT

Plot is different from Story. The story is a chronological sequence (arranged in time) of events/episodes.

The plot of a story need not be chronologically sequenced. The plot can rearrange the elements of the story such that (for instance) the
end is narrated before the beginning. In such an instance, the plot uses the device of flashback. To give another example, in a detective
tale, the initial action in the story is not disclosed to the reader until nearly the end, thereby producing the element of suspense.

The plot explores the causal connection (the link of cause to effect) between the episodes of a story.Irony, Suspense, Coincidence, are
some features of Plot.

E.M. Forster illustrated the difference between Plot and Story thus:

Story: The King died, and then the Queen died. (The question that propels the story forward is what happened next?)

Plot: The King died, and then the Queen died of grief.(The question addressed by the plot is why/how is the second event caused by
the first?)

 
What are the constituents of Plot?

Exposition/Introduction is the information needed to understand what will happen during the time frame of a story. It usually consists
of background information.

Complication is the catalyst that begins the major conflict.

Climax or crisis is the turning point in the story that occurs when characters try to resolve the complication.

Resolutionis the tying up of the loose ends of the story, the ending or outcome.

Epiphany: a moment of startling, sudden insight gained by the main character as a result of the unfolding of events in the story

Questions to ask:

1) Why did the author arrange the story elements the way she did? What effect did she wish the story to produce?

2) How does the plot control our emotional response and prepare us for reversals or surprises?

3) Is the plot probable?

POINT OF VIEW

Who tells the story? The teller of a story is the narrator, who is not to be confused with the author.

In fiction, who tells the story and how s/he tells it are critical issues that determine the interpretation of the story. The tone and feel of
the story, and even its meaning, can change depending on who the narrator is.

The narrator can either show or tell. In the former case, s/he has the characters speak in their own voices, without any narrative
mediation. In the latter, the narrator reports the events to the reader and thereby possesses greater control over the interpretation of the
story.
Is the narrator trustworthy? The credibility of the story will depend on the (perceived) reliability of the narrator. The narrator could be
either objective (detached) or subjective (biased). An objective narrator’s tale is more readily believed than that of a subjective
narrator.

  

Types of Point of View

Third Person Point of View - Here the narrator does not participate in the action of the story as one of the characters, but lets us
know about the events and characters. This is an outside voice.

First Person Point of View - Here the narrator does participate in the action of the story. S/he is one of the characters in the story, an
inside voice. When reading stories in the first person, we need to realise that what the narrator is recounting might not be the objective
truth. For instance, a first person narrator might try to justify her action as she wishes to present herself in a favourable light to the
reader. The trustworthiness of the recounting is thus an issue.

Omniscient and Limited Omniscient Points of View - A narrator who knows everything about all the characters is all-knowing, or
omniscient. A narrator whose knowledge is limited to one character, either major or minor, has a limited omniscient point of view.

Questions to ask:

1) How does the point of view affect your response to the story, to the characters and the theme?

2) Is the narrator reliable? How do you assess her reliability?

3) Are the plot and the point-of-view of the story linked? If so, how?

CHARACTER

Characters are either major or minor, and either static (unchanging) or dynamic (changing).
Protagonist - the leading character; the main character. Antagonist - the force acting against the main character.
Flat character - a one-dimensional representation, a stereotype
Round character - a multi-dimensional representation, someone who can convince in a surprising manner
Dynamic character - one that changes or grows from beginning to end
Static character - one that never changes or grows from beginning to end
Readers can learn about characters in many ways, including:
Physical traits, Dialogue, Actions, Attire, Opinions, Point of view
Since a short story aims for brevity, a round character is usually revealed/disclosed rather than developed in the course of the plot.

SETTING

The location of a story's action, along with the time in which it occurs, is the setting. Setting can add an important dimension of
meaning, reflecting character and embodying theme. Setting could even be symbolic, in the use, for instance, of pathetic fallacy.

THEME

The theme of a fable is its moral. The theme of a parable is its teaching. The theme of a piece of fiction is its view about life and how
people behave, the narrator’s vision.The writer's task is to communicate on a common ground with the reader.

Questions to ask:

1) Does the title have anything to do with the theme?

2) Are there repeating patterns and symbols in the story? Sometimes these lead you to the theme.

3) What allusions (references)are made throughout the story?

AN EXPLANATION OF WRITING STYLE

An author’s writing style is not incidental, superficial, or supplementary: style identifies how ideas are embodied in language. In other
words, the effect of how an author uses words and literary elements is important for understanding the meaning of a text. 

An author’s writing style includes all of the items on the list below, including specific word choice (diction), kind of tone, use of
formal or informal language, etc.

The author adopts a variety of style elements depending on his or her purpose, audience, and genre. Analyzing an author's style
involves understanding the particular way a text is written. Style in writing is not what is said but how it is said. Analyzing an author's
style involves analyzing the writer's unique way of communicating ideas. Styles in writing are created deliberately by the author to
convey a specific mood or effect.

Style is often aligned with pathos, since its figures of speech are often employed to persuade through emotional appeals. However,
style has just as much to do with ethos, for an author’s style often establishes or mitigates one's authority and credibility. But it should
not be assumed, either, that style simply adds on a pathetic or ethical appeal to the core, logical content. Style is very much part of the
appeal through logos (appeal to logic and reason), especially considering the fact that schemes of repetition (e.g. outlines) serve to
produce coherence and clarity, which are attributes of the appeal to reason. In other words, most pieces of writing have all three
appeals (pathos, ethos, logos), but one or the other may be more dominate depending on the purpose of the piece of writing.

WHAT DO I DO NOW?

In order to analyze a piece of writing, go through this list to evaluate how an author is using these styles elements. Then, choose which
ones are most dominate in a particular piece that will help you to interpret the meaning of the piece, which is ultimately the entire
point of doing a close evaluation of a piece of writing.

1. Vocabulary/word choice: Are the words simple or fancy? Long/short, simple/complex, many modifiers/few modifiers? Are
they technical, flowery, colloquial, formal, cerebral, lively, exciting, vivid, etc? Use of dialect, standard, non-standard English?
Does the text or this passage make use of shocking, taboo language? Does the author pile on the details? Does author use slang
or jargon specific to the topic?  For example, does the writer utilize sports jargon to describe non-sports things, people, events,
or places? Or military jargon to describe non-military things, people and/or places? How does the author’s word choice
contribute to the message?
2. Point of view: Who is telling the story? Is the novel or this passage written in first person (I, we, us) or second person (you,
your), or third person point of view? If it’s third person point of view, is it limited or omniscient? Is the narrator reliable? Does
the point of view alternate to impact the way the text is read?
3. Is there dialogue, monologue, or reported speech? Dialogue is a conversation between two or more people. It is essential to
fiction writing, and some types of nonfiction.
4. Sentence Structure: What is distinctive about the sentences in this passage of writing? Are the sentences long or short? Do
they contain many subordinate clauses or are they often fragments? Are there any digressions or interruptions? Is the word-
order straightforward or unusual? Are the sentences short and punchy?
5. Figures of speech: Are there any metaphors, similes, analogies, hyperbole, understatement, personification and/or symbols?
Any other use of figurative language? Use of sensory details through imagery?
6. Flashbacks: Does the author use flashbacks? A flashback is an interruption to the narrative that presents an earlier episode.
Flashbacks move a story back in time giving readers insights about characters they don’t know well. Used effectively,
flashbacks enhance the emotional movement of a story, deepen the story’s imagery, and organize a story by weaving
information into the narrative at critical times.
7. Structure: What’s interesting about how the author constructs the literary work? Are there flashbacks (see above), flash
forwards, literary montage, vignettes, journals? Is the work chronological? What specific form is used in structuring the
narrative? How does this form impact the way one reads the work? Does it contribute to the overall meaning or message of the
work? Definition for montage: “a literary, musical, or artistic composite of juxtaposed more or less heterogeneous elements.” 

8. Characters: A character is what he does. How does the author characterize the people in his novel? Characterization is the
presentation of character, whether by direct description, by showing the character in action, or by the presentation of other
characters that help define each other.
9. Allusions: How often and how does the author refer to other texts, myths, symbols, famous figures, historical events,
quotations, and so on? 

10. Sound devices: Use of alliteration, onomatopoeia, rhythm, rhyme, and/or repetition?
11. Does the writer use any of the following: Puns, euphemisms, archaic language, affixation, ambiguity, idiom, clichés, stream
of consciousness, phonological features, foreign words, nonsense words, anecdotes, didactic, satire, vernacular, sarcasm,
disclaimers, footnotes...?
12. Paragraph structure: Are the paragraphs very short, or are there enormous blocks running across many pages? Are the
paragraphs indented or flush left?
 13. Irony: Is there a use of irony? In situational irony, expectations aroused by a situation are reversed; in cosmic irony or the
irony of fate, misfortune is the result of fate, chance, or God; in dramatic irony, the audience knows more than the characters
in the play/film, so that words and action have additional meaning for the audience. 

14. Rhetorical strategies: Has the rhetor appealed to pathos and/or logos? In what way has the rhetor established his or her ethos?
Is there a rhetorical use of humor? An appeal to an authority? The use of a logical fallacy?
15. Tone (the writer’s implied relationship to the reader and the subject matter): What is the author’s attitude? Does the
author seem sarcastic? Remorseful? Fearful? Condescending? Praising? Critical/satirical? Wistful? Pessimistic? Academic?
Philosophically detached? Hopeful? Bitter? Sad? Intimate/distant? Angry/calm? Informative/entertaining? Humorous/serious?
Ironic/literal? Passionately involved/aloof? Is the tone consistent or does it shift? What feeling is evoked in the reader by the
language used by the author? What type of tone shifts exist that impact meaning?
16. Most importantly, how do all of these elements create meaning? What does the passage mean and how does it
contribute to the meaning of the piece of writing?

What to Avoid In Style and Language Analysis

THINGS TO AVOID/WHAT CAN GO WRONG:

 Always clarify with adjectives—for example, do not write “the author uses diction,” write “the author uses understated
diction,” or “industrial imagery,” or “chronological organization,” etc. If you write that the author uses diction, this is just
stating the obvious. If diction is word choice, then everything ever written--ever!--uses diction. No piece of writing can exist
without choosing words to use. You must clarify WHAT KIND of word choice the author has used, which is the whole point of
analyzing the piece of writing. The word choice often determines a clue to the meaning of the piece.
 Always, always explain with specific examples from the text.
 Do not use specific examples until your have made a general assertion, usually in a topic sentence of a body paragraph. For
example, write: The author establishes the unsettling tone of this passage with detailed description. Then, provide the
examples.
 Do not praise the author or personally comment on the quality or validity of the content of the piece. In other words, never use
these kinds of words: great, excellent, etc.
 Do not use first or second person. Stay in the formal third person point of view. (At least in academic writing for this course as
you are learning to write in an objective, academic way at the college level).
  Try to avoid stale or inaccurate verbs. Do not use “this shows,” or “this tells the reader…” Use active verbs, such as
“connotes,” “emphasizes,” and “relates.”
  Avoid using "the reader" as a crutch (unless specifically addressing audience as a style element).
  Do not be overly general in any part of the essay. The more specific, the better is a great rule of thumb for all writing.
 No overly general "funnel" introductions (always be as specific as possible in an introduction--get straight to the point or you
are just using filler), or preachy conclusions (always use facts and appeal to logos in academic writing).
  Do not use truisms (Down through history, there have always been the poor), quotes as openers, or “hooks.” Simply state your
point in a straightforward way. When in doubt, start with the thesis statement. Or, you can start with introducing the author and
the context of the work, but do not waste more than a paragraph on summary or background--and do this only if needed. In
most cases, you should assume that the person reading your analysis has actually read the piece you are analyzing. (At least for
now as you are learning to write college-level, academic analysis.)
 Do not merely paraphrase or summarize passages; you must analyze the use of stylistic devices in a passage. You may need to
include enough details so that what you are writing makes sense, but assume that the person reading your analysis did read the
piece of writing that you are analyzing. (Again, at least in the context of this course as you are learning college-level, academic
writing.)

Narrative Techniques:

Literary techniques pertaining to plots

Name Definition Example
Back-story Story that precedes events in the story being told— Though "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy takes place towards
past events or background that add meaning to the end of the Third Age, the narration gives glimpses of the
current circumstances mythological/historical events which took place in the First
and Second Age.
Chekhov's gun Insertion of an apparently irrelevant object early in a In each plot of a James Bond story, there are always a
narrative for a purpose only revealed later. See number of gadgets whose uses are not immediately clear.
foreshadowing and repetitive designation. The audience cannot necessarily understand in what manner
each device would be use, but in all instances, the secret
agent finds himself multiple situations in which these
devices are used once.
Cliffhanger The narrative ends unresolved, to draw the audience In almost every episode of the TV shows like Dexter and
back to a future episode for the resolution. Breaking Bad ends with one of the characters in a
 predicament (About to be caught by thugs, about to be
exposed by the authority, or a family member or a friend
finds out the main character's dirty secret).
Cut-up technique The cut-up technique is an aleatory literary Tristan Tzara created poetry on the spot incorporating
technique in which a text is cut up and rearranged to random clips of cut-up newspaper in such a way that the
create a new text. Most commonly, cut-ups are used short excerpt of the news becomes the backbone of the
to offer a non-linear alternative to traditional reading "poetic plot" in the process of creation.
and writing.
Deus ex machina (a Resolving the primary conflict by a means unrelated An example occurs in Mighty Aphrodite.
machination, or act to the story (e.g., a god appears and solves
of god) everything). This device dates back to ancient Greek
theater, but can be a clumsy method that frustrates
the audience.
Eucatastrophe Coined by J. R. R. Tolkien, a climactic event through At the end of The Lord of the Rings, Gollum forcibly takes
which the protagonist appears to be facing a away the Ring from Frodo, suggesting that Sauron would
catastrophic change. However, this change does not eventually take over middle earth. However, Gollum
materialize and the protagonist finds himself as the celebrates too eagerly and clumsily and falls into the lava to
benefactor of such a climatic event; contrast his death which causes the end of Sauron. In a way, Gollum
peripety/peripateia. does what Frodo and the Fellowship of the Ring intended to
do through the whole plot of the trilogy, which was to throw
the ring into the lake of fire in the heart of Mount Doom.
Flashback (or General term for altering time sequences, taking The story of "The Three Apples" in Arabian Nights tale
analeptic reference) characters back to the beginning of the tale, for begins with the discovery of a young woman's dead body.
instance After the murderer later reveals himself, he narrates his
reasons for the murder as a flashback of events leading up to
the discovery of her dead body at the beginning of the story.
Flashforward Also called prolepsis, an interjected scene that This has been highly popularized by the television series
temporarily jumps the narrative forward in time. Lost.
Flashforwards often represent events expected,
projected, or imagined to occur in the future. They
may also reveal significant parts of the story that
have not yet occurred, but soon will in greater detail.
Foreshadowing Implicit yet intentional efforts of an author to suggest
A narration might begin with a male character who has to
events which have yet to take place in the process of break up a schoolyard fight among some boys who are vying
narration. See also repetitive designation and the for attention of a girl, which was introduce to
Chekhov's gun foreshadow the events leading to a dinner time squabble
between the character and his twin brother over a woman,
whom both are courting at the same time.
Frame story, or a A main story that organizes a series of shorter stories. Early examples include Panchatantra, Arabian Nights and
story within a story The Decameron. A more modern example is Brian Jacques
The Legend of Luke.
Framing device A single action, scene, event, setting, or any element In Arabian Nights, Scheherazade, the newly wed wife to the
of significance at the beginning and end of a work. King, is the framing device. As a character, she is telling the
The use of framing devices allow for frame stories to "1,001 stories" to the King, in order to delay her execution
exist. nights upon nights. However, as a framing device her
purpose for existing is to tell the same 1,001 stories to the
reader.
In medias res Beginning the story in the middle of a sequence of The Iliad and the Odyssey of Homer are prime examples.
events. A specific form of narrative hook. The latter work begins with the return of Odysseus to his
home of Ithaka and then in flashbacks tells of his ten years
of wandering following the Trojan War.
Narrative hook Story opening that "hooks" readers' attention so they "In media res" is an example.
will keep reading
Plot device Object or character whose sole purpose is to advance Indiana Jones chasing after some mystical object is a good
the plot example. The mere knowledge that a mystical device exists
is what makes the plot progress. This is in contrast to the
Ring in the LOTR plot. Whether The One Ring to Rule
Them All can be considered a mere plot device is debatable
because more than the Ring itself is Sauron's initiative to
conquer Middle Earth that the character must do the things
to progress the plot. In addition to driving the plot along, the
Ring ends up representing a sinister symbol of the human
greed for power.
Plot twist Unexpected change ("twist") in the direction or An example occurs in The Crying Game.
 expected outcome of the plot. See also twist ending.
Poetic justice Virtue ultimately rewarded, or vice punished, by an Wile E. Coyote coming up with a contraption to catch the
ironic twist of fate related to the character's own Road Runner, only to be foiled and caught by his own
conduct devices. Each sin's punishment in Dante's Inferno is a
symbolic instance of poetic justice.
Predestination Time travel paradox where a time traveler is caught In Dr. Who, the main character repeatedly finds himself
paradox in a loop of events that "predestines" them to travel under the obligation of having to travel back in time because
back in time of something his future character had done.
Quibble Plot device based on an argument that an agreement's For example, William Shakespeare used a quibble in The
intended meaning holds no legal value, and that only Merchant of Venice: Portia saves Antonio in a court of law
the exact, literal words agreed on apply. by pointing out that the agreement called for a pound of
flesh, but no blood, so Shylock can collect only if he sheds
no blood.
Red herring A rhetorical tactic of diverting attention away from For example, in mystery fiction, an innocent party may be
an item of significance. purposefully cast as highly suspicious through emphasis or
descriptive techniques to divert attention from the true guilty
party.
Repetitive Repeated references to a character or object that Arabian Nights. See also foreshadowing and Chekhov's gun.
designation appears insignificant at first, but later suddenly
intrudes in the narrative.
Self-fulfilling Prediction that, by being made, makes itself come Early examples include the legend of Oedipus, and the story
prophecy true. of Krishna in the Mahabharata. There is also an example of
this in Harry Potter.
Midquel Background narrative that explains the world of the Examples include Mahabharata, Ramayana, Gundam,
main story. Doctor Who and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Story within a story A story told within another story. See also frame
(Hypodiegesis) story.
Ticking clock Threat of impending disaster—often used in thrillers In the TV show "24", the main character, Jack Bauer often
scenario where salvation and escape are essential elements finds himself interrogating a terrorist who is caught in order
to disarm a bomb.
Unreliable narrator The narrator of the story is not sincere, or introduces An example is The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
 a bias in his narration and possibly misleads the
reader, hiding or minimizing events, characters, or
motivations.
[edit]

Literary techniques pertaining to narrative perspective

Name Definition Example
Author surrogate Character who speaks for the author—sometimes an Socrates in the writings of Plato.
intentionally or unintentionally idealized version of the author.
A well known variation is the Mary Sue or Gary Stu (self-
insertion).
Breaking the fourth An author or character addresses the audience directly (also The characters in Sesame Street often break the
wall known as direct address). This may acknowledge to the reader fourth wall when they address their viewers as
or audience that what is being presented is fiction, or may seek part of the ongoing storyline, which is possible
to extend the world of the story to provide the illusion that they because of the high level of suspension of belief
are included in it. afforded by its audience - children.
Defamiliarization Forcing the reader to recognize common things in an A character who is trapped in a winter mountain
unfamiliar or strange way, to enhance perception of the cabin runs out of food and cooks his leather
familiar. boots. While he is eating his own boots, he
realizes how tough the leather of his boots were.
Epiphany A sudden perspective or insight which is revealed to the reader Archimedes bathing in a pool of water and
(directly or through the epiphany that a character experiences) realizing the solution to the problem of
onto a problem which had previously eluded all attempts at estimating the volume of a given object.
understanding, which in turn, changes the interpretation of the
plot, character, narrative perspective, tone, and/or the style of
writing. Epiphanies occur spontaneously through an additional
external stimulus or through an internal reflection of a
recurring thought from a new perspective.
First Person A text presented from the point of view of a character (esp. the Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Narration protagonist) and written in the first person: Text written
similarly to a diary.
Magical realism Describing events realistically, but in a magical haze of strange Particularly popular with Latin American authors
 local customs and beliefs. like Gabriel García Márquez. Elsewhere, Salman
Rushdie's work provides good examples.
Mooreeffoc (also Coined by Charles Dickens and, as used by G. K. Chesterton, Entering through the door, the writer realized that
written Moor Eeffoc) meaning "the queerness of things that have become trite, when the words Coffee Room spelled backwards was
they are seen suddenly from a new angle." Moor Eeffoc. Inside, he sat down by the table
and stared at the letters standing in mirror image
and thought about what Moor Eeffoc could stand
to mean.
Second-person A text written in the style of a direct address, in
Narration the second-person. An example is Rape: A Love
Story.
Stream of Technique where the author writes down their thoughts as fast An example is "Ulysses".
consciousness as they come, typically to create an interior monologue,
characterized by leaps in syntax and punctuation that trace a
character's fragmentary thoughts and sensory feelings. The
outcome is a highly lucid perspective with a plot that is
somewhat like story-within-story.
Unreliable narrator The narrator of the story is not sincere, or introduces a bias in
his narration and possibly misleads the reader, hiding or
minimizing events, characters, or motivations.

Literary techniques pertaining to theme

Name Definition Example
Conceit An extended metaphor associated with metaphysical poetry that pushes the
imagination's limits to portray something indescribable.
Irony This discrepancy between expectation and reality occurs in three forms: situational A person hears a prophecy about
irony, where a situation features a discrepancy between what is expected and what himself. His endeavor to stop the
is actualized; dramatic irony, where a character is unaware of pivotal information prophecy from coming true, makes it
already revealed to the audience (the discrepancy here lies in the two levels of come true.
awareness between the character and the audience); and verbal irony, where one
states one thing while meaning another. The difference between verbal irony and
sarcasm is exquisitely subtle and often contested. The concept of irony is too often
 misunderstood in popular usage. Unfortunate circumstances and coincidences do
not constitute irony (nor do they qualify as being tragic). See the Usage
controversy section under irony, and the term tragedy.
Symbolism One thing stands for another. In The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, all
doodads are very crooked. This is
because everything in the story is
later revealed to be a dream.
Thematic Distributing recurrent thematic concepts and moralistic motifs among various Each of the chapters of Ulysses by
patterning incidents and frames of a story. In a skillfully crafted tale, thematic patterning may James Joyce.
emphasize the unifying argument or salient idea disparate events and disparate
frames have in common.
[edit]

Literary techniques pertaining to character

Name Type Notes
Anthropomorphism Personification Form of personification that applies human-like
characteristics to animals or objects
Hamartia The character flaw or error of a tragic hero that leads to his Oedipus kills his own father because he doesn't
downfall. understand his true parentage.
Pathetic fallacy Reflecting a character's (usually the protagonist) mood in the For example, the storm in William Shakespeare's
atmosphere or inanimate objects. Related to anthropomorphism King Lear, which mirrors Lear's mental
and projection deterioration.
Personification Using comparative metaphors and similes to give living A talking rock.
characteristics to non-living objects.
[edit]

Literary techniques pertaining to genre

Bildungsroman A type of novel concerned with education, development, and An example is Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit.
maturation of a young protagonist. Essentially, a bildungsroman
traces the formation of a protagonist's maturity (the passage
from childhood to adulthood) by following the development of
 his/her mind and character.
Epistolary Novel in the form of a series of documents (letters, e-mails, etc.) Classic examples include Pamela by Samuel
novel exchanged between characters. Richardson (1740), The Expedition of Humphry
Clinker by Tobias Smollett (1771), Les Liaisons
dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos (1782)
and Dracula by Bram Stoker (1897).
Roman à clef A fictitious novel in which representations of real people and Examples include The Bell Jar and Primary Colors.
real events are disguised. The "key" lists the relationship
between the nonfiction characters and the fiction characters.
Critical Analysis – ‘Walking Home’

They were three yards from the main road. A man appeared out of the dark and stood in front of them. It was the same man
Donna had seen earlier. He was blocking the path. Joel started to go around. The man took his hand from behind his back. He had a
gun.
“Hol’ on bwoy, wehyutinkyugwine?” The man looked at her. He pointed to the black canvas bag slung over her shoulder.
“Drop de bag!” he said. She dropped the bag. “De two of yu turn rounan walk back de same way yu come. Don’t run me
right behin’ yuan de gun ‘ave bullet in it.”
“Wait a min,” Joel said.
“Yu no hear wha mi say!” the man shouted, waving the gun. Donna stood rigid. Joel turned her around and piloted her back
in the direction they had come.
Halfway down the path the man ordered them to stop. He carried the bag Donna had dropped previously. He opened it and
dashed the contents on the ground. A dog-eared book, make-up and a brush.
“Weh de money?”
“Boy de dawta only have whayu see ina de bag an all I have is a two dolla but de man welcome to it still.” Donna heard Joel’s
voice. She was standing right behind him and all she heard was a voice, the words made no impression on her brain at all. The man
was speaking now. She watched the gun.
“How yu mean yu don’ ave no money, a nice, clear skin gal like dat? Wha she a do wid a black bwoy like yu anyway. Gimme
de money, man!”
“Mi not lying to de man, star. Mi don’ have no money, yu can search mi if yu want.”
Donna was afraid. Her lungs were aching. She kept seeing the picture hanging on the wall above the bed in her room. She
was shaking. Why didn’t Joel shut up? The man was going to shoot them, couldn’t he see that? She wanted to pray but she couldn’t
think straight.
“Oh so yu don’ ‘avenottin’. Well we mus get something. Come yah gal!”
Her legs shook violently. She was sweating. She stood still, eyes on the gun.
“Whayu name gal? Speak!” The man shouted at her. She opened her mouth. Her throat was clamped tight. She moved her
lips. There was no sound.
Extract from Walking Home
Taken from Facing The Sea.

Plot Development:
The author uses the device of suspense to move the plot forward. The antagonist’s threatening words and gestures tell us that he has no
good intention for the two characters. The complication in the plot occurs when the antagonist produces the gun and threatens Donna
and Joel. His sinister claim that, ‘…we mus get something’, tells us that he means to harm Donna. The suspense continues to build
when the villain leads the characters to an isolated place and aggressively demands money. His determination to get ‘something’
suggests that he will go to further lengths to be satisfied.

The plot is probable as criminal activities have escalated in the Caribbean setting. The reader can empathize with the characters, and in
this way the author can control his emotional response. The reader feels Donna’s fear and even the criminal’s antagonism. The
feelings grow stronger as the plot unfolds and the threat to both Donna and Joel increases.

Point of View:

The story is told from the perspective of the third person narrator. The narrator is not involved in the action of the plot, however he is
able to give us a clear picture of the characters’ feelings and motives. The narrator ‘shows’ the story as the charactersspeak in their
own voice through the use of direct speech. There is very little narrative mediation, so the characters’ words move the plot along.

The third person narrative perspective makes the story more credible. It also provides enough distance from the incident that the
reader is not totally overwhelmed by the action. The reader does feel Donna’s terror though because the narrator is able to describe her
inner turmoil through her thoughts.

Character: The extract shows interaction among three characters – Donna, Joel and the antagonist. Donna is seen as the terrified
victim. She says the least in the extract, however the narrator does reveal her inner thoughts and turmoil. Her actions reveal her terror
and her inability to cope with the situation. She is paralyzed with fear and her confused thoughts clearly reflect this.

Joel however demonstrates a more balanced response to the situation. He engages the antagonist in dialogue in an attempt to keep the
situation neutral. This shows that he is street smart and more experienced than Donna. His ability to converse with the antagonist on
his level [the use of the creole] also shows this. He makes constant attempts to keep the antagonist calm.

The antagonist fits the stereotype of the villain. He is aggressive and his speech helps to characterize him. It suggests that he is
uneducated and his desperate attempt to attain money could suggest he is poor. He is a sinister character who threatens Donna and
Joel. The extract ends on a note which suggests his intentions for Donna. His racist, discriminatory comment also tells us about him.
He is a man who is governed by race and class distinction, so that it is not clear to him why ‘a clear skin gyul’ would like a ‘black
bwoy’. His statement, ‘Well we must get something’, shows his sense of entitlement.

Setting:

The action of the plot unfolds in a public forum. The story begins with the characters heading to a public street; however when the
antagonist is introduced he moves them to a more secluded area. This provides the right setting for the robbery attempt and ultimate
physical abuse of the character. The deserted setting suits a crime scene. The setting also helps to create the tense mood of the extract.
The reader senses that something sinister will occur and the setting heightens that awareness.

Theme:

The extract deals with the issues of violence and fear and race/discrimination. The writer depicts the violence of crime and the effect it
has on the victim. He shows how individuals behave as victim or criminal. Donna is paralyzed with fear, Joel’s focus is on surviving
and the antagonist is determined to take whatever he can. The reader can identify with this theme as criminal activity continues to
escalate. The writer also looks at race/discrimination. The antagonist introduces this theme when he suggests that Donna and Joel are a
mismatch because of their race. The reader can identify with this theme as this view of life is still seen in the society.

Complete the analysis using the checklist given.

Reading and Analyzing Fiction

A.
Your first concern should be the ‘world’ of the work. Seek answers to the following questions:
1. In what kind of community does the action occur?
2. What are the customs, beliefs, and values of the community?
3. What is sacred in this society and what is held in scorn?
4. What forms of behaviour and response are expected from those who live within its boundaries?

B.
You need to analyze the personalities of the characters. You need to examine their relationships with each other and their actions and
thoughts in response to the demands of these relationships and to the demands of the community. You should seek to determine the
motives of their actions. Bt analyzing your characters closely you should try if possible, to arrive at a conception of the author’s
purpose in writing the story and view of the world he has created.

C.
Every work of fiction has a narrator. When a story is told in the first person, it is clear that the narrator is not the author and may or
may not be presenting the author’s view. But when the story is told in the third person, it becomes a problem to learn who is telling the
story. The narrator maybe the author but often is not and there is danger of misinterpretation in ascribing to the author the views and
attitudes of the narrator. You will need to study carefully the manner in which he moves into the minds of the characters, the kinds of
comments he makes about their thoughts and action. You will need also to ascertain whether the narrator is a character in the story or
an external observer and recorder.

Characterization – the dramatizing of characters

Three methods of characterization:

(i) the ability to identify with characters;
(ii) the touch of the imperfect upon the perfect to add humanity;
(iii) the symbolizing of character to represent someone with whom you can identify.
Two types of characters – (i) Flat character – remains unchanging and undeveloped; (ii) Round character – is developed and changes
throughout the novel.
Steps in Analyzing a Character
1. What the character says and thinks becomes important.
2. What a character says about another character is important.
3. What the character does.
4. What the author says about the character in his writing. (Authorial intrusion)

Things to look at when characterizing: (i) physical appearance; (ii) movements; (iii) speech; (iv) actions; (v) occupations; (vi)
facial expressions; (vii) mimicry.

The Worlds of Fiction

1. The first and most familiar world is that of everyday experience. The stories you will read will concern themselves with family
life, birth, growth, love, marriage, age, death, school, moments of excitement, heroism and cowardice.

2. A second world is the world of economic extremes, the kind of world most of us look at from the outside, the world of great
power and wealth, the world of soul starving poverty. The people who live in these worlds face many of the everyday
problems of the everyday world. They too are concerned with family loyalties, but with a difference. They live with greater
tensions and the climaxes of their lives tend to be more dramatic. The values that motivate the rich and powerful and the ones
that rule the lives of the poor and exploited are similar to those that operate in the everyday world, but arrogance of the rich an
necessity among the poor will lead them more readily to flaunt these values and produce more dramatic outcomes. In addition
among the rich there are the problems of snobbery and boredom and among the poor the devastating problems of hunger,
work, misery and anguish.

3. A third world is the dramatic one in which the malignant forces of nature or innate evil in human beings turns the universe into
a battle ground for survival.

4. A fourth world is the ‘sick’ world. The stories deal with people and places gone awry. The atmosphere and the action are ugly,
weird, strange, supernatural, shocking. The people are maladjusted, perverted, insane, suicidal, retarded. It is the world of
idiots, drug addicts, pimps, prostitutes, sexual perverts, criminals and lunatics.
 5. The fifth world is the world of fantasy. It is an unreal world in which dreams unattainable in the real world are often fulfilled.
Everything is possible in a world of fantasy. Strange and wonderful, strange and terrible things can happen in a world of
fantasy.

In the shamba he felt hollow. There were no crops on the land and what with the dried-up weeds , gakaraku, micege,
mikengeria, bangi – the sun, the country appeared sick and dull. The jembe seemed heavier than usual; the unfinished part of the
shamba looked too big for his unwilling muscles. He dug a little, and feeling the desire to pass water, walked to a hedge near the path;
why had Warui, Githua and the women behaved that way towards him? He found his bladder had pressed him into false urgency. A
few drops trickled down and he watched them as if each drop fascinated him. Two young women dressed for church, passed near, saw
a big man playing with his thing and giggled. Mugo felt foolish and dragged himself back to his work.
He raised the jembe, let it fall into the soil; lifted it and again brought it down. The ground felt soft as if there were mole-
tunnels immediately below the surface. He could hear the soil, dry and hollow, tumble down. Dust flew into the sky, enveloped him,
then settled into his hair and clothes. Once a grain of dust went into his left eye. He quickly dropped the jembe in anger and rubbed
his eye which smarted with pain as water tossed out from both eyes. He sat down: where was the fascination he used to find in the soil
before the Emergency?
Mugo’s father and mother had died poor, leaving him an only child in the hands of a distant aunt. Waitherero was a widow
with six married daughters. When drunk, she would come home and remind Mugo of this fact.
‘Female slime,’ she would say, exposing her toothless gums; she would fix Mugo with a fierce glance, as if he and God had
conspired against her. ‘They don’t even come to see me – Do you laugh, you – what’s your penis worth? Oh God, see what an
ungrateful wretch is left on my hands. You would have followed your father to the grave, but for me. Remember that and stop
laughing.’
Another day she would complain that her money was missing.
‘I didn’t steal it,’ Mugo retorted, withdrawing.
‘There is only you and me in this house. I could not have stolen it. So who could have taken it?’
‘I am not a thief!’
‘Are you saying that I am telling lies? The money was here, you saw me bury it under this post. See the way he looks, he creeps
behind the goats.’
The more feeble she became, the more she hated him. Whatever he did or made, she would deride his efforts. So Mugo was
haunted by the image of his own inadequacy.
His one desire was to kill his aunt.
Mugo went home earlier than usual. He had not done much work, yet he was weary. He walked like a man who knows he is
followed or watched, yet does not want to reveal this awareness by his gait or behaviour. In the evening he heard footsteps outside.
Who could his visitor be? He opened the door. Suddenly the all-day mixture of feelings distilled into fear and animosity. Warui, the
elder led the group. Standing beside him was Wambui, one of the women from the river. She now smiled, exposing a missing line of
teeth in her lower jaw. The third man was Gikonyo, who had married Kihika’s sister.

Analyze the above extract using the key points given above.