After the First Sentence

Posted by: Zahiruddin Alim

Date: Fri 01/25/2008 03:58 PM
New Topic: Starting The March

The first day's handout from Prof. Abraham was entitled Close Reading
Guidelines. I thought I would write it out to help absorb it better.
The first sentence, where it begins, is important as the point of
entry in the story in the way it influences the writing.
How is the story structured?
How does time pass in the story?
How is character presented?
What is the universe of the story?
What kind of sentences does the author write?
What is good about the storybook? Where does it fail?
What is the texture of the work? Is it diaphanous or solid in its
construction?
Do you like the book or hate it? Why?
Does the work bring to mind other readings?
What is the writer’s disposition to scene and narrative? How much
is given in the scene? How expository is it?
Biographical details should only be a supplement, not a substitute
for reading the text.
The names in the story are functional. They define the border of the
story and determine the distance of the characters from the reader.
Narrative distance, e.g., is it a detached observer or one of the
characters in the story?
Leitmotifs are images or themes, returned to again and again.