How to Read a Novel?

READING COMPREHENSION

Muhammad Hasnat | DPT | December 14,2019.

UNIVERSITY OF MANAGEMENT AND TECHNOLOGY,LAHORE.
What Is Novel?
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, normally written in prose form,
and which is typically published as a book. The present English word for a long work
of prose fiction derives from the Italian novella for "new", "news", or "short story of
something new", itself from the Latin novella, a singular noun use of the neuter
plural of Novellus, diminutive of Novus, meaning "new".

What To Notice In Novel?

When reading a novel you should at least check in detail the following point.

• SETTING
• PLOT
• CHARACTERS
• THEME

It’s not necessary that you come to know about these points at the end of the novel. You
may check these points individually for the each chapter of novel and at the end you collect
the data about these points and make notes on this. Moreover the writer has wrote that
novel so that you may create a visual in your mind so try to be a part of it. By doing this,
you’ll be able to enjoy the novel (in fact every writing) with a good impact and will have a
good concept about it. When you visualize it, you memorize it automatically and you need
not to cram these point.

❖ Setting:
The setting is both the time and geographic location within a narrative, either nonfiction or
fiction. A literary element, the setting helps initiate the main backdrop and mood for a
story. ... Along with the plot, character, theme, and style, setting is considered one of the
fundamental components of fiction .Setting of the novel is actually the TIME, AREA,
CULTURE, CONDITIONS, CIRCUMSTANCES and any other idea which you get about it.
TIME is actually the age/era of which the writer is talking about. It is usually mentioned in
the middle chapters. But you may get some idea in the beginning. Because the currency
usage or other financial means may give you some idea about it.(Coins were first introduced
in 600BC, Bank Notes evolved about in 1661 AD, and Credit cards in 1946) On the other
hand if you know the year in which the Novel was written then you may guess about which
time the writer is talking. If you don’t get this stuff, you may consider it as ancient
times(only consider do not take it right unless you get some clue).AREA is the
region/place/surrounding where the novel is based on. The writer usually relates it to the
place of living.( For example: In “KINO and his Family lived in Brush Houses that were
actually Mud huts with muddy floor located near the beach somewhere in The Gulf Of

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Mexico” area is a Brush Village in Gulf of Mexico.). It is easy to get idea about area. Moreover
the ling areas also tell you about the financial background and CIRCUMSTANCES of the
main characters. From the text about neighbors or environment( calm o peaceful, healthy
or unhygienic) you may also guess the circumstances.

❖ Plot:
Plot is a literary term used to describe the events that make up a story, or the main part of
a story. These events relate to each other in a pattern or a sequence. The structure of
a novel depends on the organization of events in the plot of the story. It is the story from
the beginning to the end. It includes all the conflicts and twists.

❖ Characters:
Characters are essential to a good story, and it is the main characters that have the greatest
effect on the plot or are the most affected by the events of the story. The different types of
characters include protagonists, antagonists, dynamic, static, round, flat, and stock.
Characters are the individuals, persons and sometimes animals which are mentioned in the
text. There are two types:

1. Main Characters: They are the leads. There is lot of writing about them. And usually
the novel starts with their introduction. They are mostly included in Dialogues.
2. Secondary Characters: Other Characters are not included in dialogues or
description. They are just mentioned along with the main characters. Or they follow
the leads on the scene.(such as if a King moves then soldiers with him are sideline
characters)

❖ Themes:
Themes is actually a moral lesson or the main point discussed in the novel. It is to close the
idea of whole Novel in a Nutshell. It is not necessary that a novel may have only one theme.
It may have two, three or in tens. You can get different themes from each chapter. One
theme may be repeated in different chapters. You should write the themes of each chapter
separately and write the combine themes at the end of the novel.

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