Learning Portal - Study Skills : How to Read Fiction

Reading a Text for Class

When reading fiction for class, remember: everything in a text is in there for a reason.

First, read from a reader's perspective to be sure you understand the text:

• Figure out what's going on.
• Who are the main characters?
• What is the plot?
• How does the text make you feel?
• What does it make you think about?

Then, read again from a writer's perspective to dig deeper into the text:

• Why do the characters do what they do?
• How is the author writing? What strategies/literary devices are they using, and why?
• Are there any repeated ideas in the story? Why are they important?
• What are the themes of the story?
• What is the author trying to say?

Different Ways to Read Fiction

Another good strategy is to be aware of how you read under different circumstances. The reason you're reading something can change the way you read it:

Literary Devices

Literary devices are writing techniques, structures, and types of language that allow writers to:

• Express information subtly, deeply, or more impactfully
• Hint at the larger themes or messages of the text
• Evoke certain feelings for readers

When writing essays about fiction, understanding and being able to talk about literary devices is very important. Some common literary devices include:

• Point of view (POV): what or whose perspective is the story told from?
• Tone and mood: how does the writing style and content feel?
• Imagery: what can we “see” or imagine when reading?
• Symbolism: what ideas/objects are used to represent other things?
• Similes/metaphors: which things are compared to which other things?

Check out the video below by Writing Support Specialist Claire Pienaar (2020) on how to look for and interpret literary devices:

There are tons of other literary devices, though, and you can read more about them on these webpages:

• Literary Devices List from literary-devices.com
• Literary Devices with Examples from the Reedsy Blog

Plot Structure

The way a text is structured can also tell us a lot about it:

• Which events are the most important to the plot?
• Why do things happen in this order, and in this way?
• What is the reader supposed to feel at different points in the text?

A story structure can also be called an arc, or a narrative arc. Below is an example of one commonly used story arc:

Narrative Arc Image by Claire Pienaar, 2021

The key plot events shown above include:

• Setup/exposition: the writer establishes the who, what, when, and where of the story (the setting and main characters).
• Inciting incident: something happens to kickstart the main action of the story. Think of Harry Potter's Hogwarts letter showing up, or Romeo and Juliet seeing each other for the first time.
• Rising action: this isn't one moment in the plot, but a collection of events that raise the tension in the story and move the plot forward towards the high point.
• Climax: this is the moment of peak tension in the story. Think of the main battle scene of a movie, or the moment when the detective finally chases down the murderer they've been looking for.
• Falling action: after the climax, everything starts to calm down a bit, and questions are often answered. This can also be called the denouement.
• Resolution: the end of the plot, where the story is wrapped up.

Context

Context is the stuff around a text:

• The person/people who wrote it and their life
• The time period and place when a text was written, and what was going on there
• Other texts on similar topics, or from similar times/places
• The larger genre or style of the text (e.g., myth, drama, comedy, suspense, etc.)

Understanding the context can give us some hints about why authors wrote the way they did, and about the topics they did. For example, you can ask yourself these questions:

• Do the themes of the text relate to anything from the author's personal life?
  • For example, Richard Wagamese's Indian Horse is a work of fiction, but it is based on true instances of racism and the trauma of residential schools experienced by his relatives that also impacted him.
• Do the author's themes and messages relate to the society that was around them?
  • For example, George Orwell's wartime experiences and political views had a huge influence on the plot and themes of his novel Animal Farm about a revolt that leads to a dictatorship.
• Is the author part of a well-known literary movement?
  • For example, Zora Neale Hurston's writing was part of the Harlem Renaissance movement, which centered on African-American experiences and culture.
• Is the author writing in a way that is typical for their genre, or are they doing something unique?
  • For example, George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series is definitely a set of fantasy novels, but his plots and characters go against a lot of the expectations for this genre: main characters die suddenly, and there aren't always clear "good guys" and "bad guys" like in many other fantasy stories.

Tips for Writing About Fiction

The key to writing about fiction is to ask the right questions, then answer them with evidence.

Writing a Personal Response Paper

• A response paper is about your own thoughts, feelings, opinions, and connections to a text.
• Can usually be written in the first person (using “I”).
• Doesn’t have to follow too specific of a structure, but should introduce the text and author clearly at the beginning.
• Bring in specific moments, details, and/or quotes from the text, then discuss them:
  • What did you find interesting about this moment/detail/quote? Did it surprise you? Did you feel very strongly about it in some way?
  • What connections did you make while reading the text? Did it remind you of your own life or other things in the real world?
  • Did the text leave you wondering about anything, or thinking about something in a new/different way?

Writing a Critical Essay

• An essay will develop a claim about what you have read (a thesis statement) and show examples to support your idea.
• Usually avoid the first person (don’t use “I”) since this is a more formal, academic type of writing.
• Will follow a set structure (like a five-paragraph essay or a research paper).
• Usually, you will be given a specific prompt or question to answer about the story:
  • What are the major themes of the text, and how does the author express them?
  • What does the author’s language or plot tell us about their main idea?

Writing a Scene Analysis

Check out the video below from previous Writing Support Specialist Claire Pienaar (2020) on how to write a scene analysis.