ShmoopTube

Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.

Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos

How to Read Novels 250 Views


Share It!


Description:

Well, you start with the first word, then the second, then the third… until you finish an entire sentence. Next comes the second sentence… Okay, so you know it's more complicated than that. This video would be a complete waste of time otherwise.

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:00

Thank you We sneak how to read novels allah shmoop

00:07

breeding a novel can be a daunting task Some stories

00:10

are hard to follow some books are huge and some

00:13

novels contain a cast of characters so large that we

00:16

need a spreadsheet to keep track of who's who but

00:19

just because the novel is difficult to read doesn't mean

00:21

we shouldn't read it especially is there are some simple

00:24

steps we can follow to improve our novel reading experience

00:27

like reading shmoop well let's take it from the top

00:31

The first step on our how to read novels checklist

00:34

is to pick a novel or have our english teacher

00:37

picket forest let's face it Sometimes we get no say

00:40

in what we read if the curriculum calls for us

00:43

to read the brothers karamazov well then it's the brothers

00:45

karamazov we're gonna have to slog through However if we

00:49

get to choose a novel to read for class or

00:51

even if we're just looking for something to peruse in

00:53

our spare time we can improve our chances of enjoying

00:56

the story If we put a little thought in first

00:59

that didn't really require any thought did it Well we

01:02

should ask ourselves who's our favorite author what's our favorite

01:05

genre Have we read a book reviewer Heard a recommendation

01:09

that caught our attention If we're looking to get away

01:11

from the familiar and expand our horizons by reading fiction

01:15

that's new to us waken refer to various list like

01:18

those containing the titles that have won the man booker

01:20

prize or the hugo award for inspiration Okay second item

01:25

on the checklist respect the reading experience reading is fun

01:30

but it could be a lot of work to especially

01:31

if someone is expecting us to produce a paper about

01:34

what we've read so give the novel and the task

01:37

of reading at some respect Read the novel well in

01:39

advance of when the assignment is due because we might

01:42

have to read that sucker twice And while some people

01:46

have no trouble reading on a plane or on a

01:48

train or in a house with a mouth others need

01:52

to set a block of time in a quiet place

01:54

with no distractions to get needed reading done Furthermore when

01:58

we read we should reach the laptop and the phone

02:02

and any other technical devices that might interfere with our

02:05

concentration third item on our how to read novels checklist

02:09

is to be prepared this doesn't mean we need to

02:12

have a survival kit with us when we read in

02:14

the case the world comes to a sudden end but

02:17

rather that there are some tools we should have close

02:20

toe hand in case we need to mark a passage

02:22

or take notes as we read pencils and highlighters are

02:25

our friends While underlining senses and scribbling in the novels

02:28

margins were great We should have some paper and or

02:31

no cars nearby in case we come across something in

02:33

the novel that inspires more extensive note taking depending on

02:37

the novel we might also want to have a dictionary

02:40

of the paper variety Andy Well yes we can always

02:43

google a definition but googling while reading leads to surfing

02:47

the internet and surfing the internet leads to the dark

02:50

side Yeah so good so we've got our novel We've

02:54

settled into our favorite armchair with a bowl of popcorn

02:56

and a caffeinated beverage We've got our pencils at the

02:59

ready time to crack this baby open and get reading

03:02

Well this leads us to the next item on our

03:04

checklist reid first analyse later they were expected to write

03:08

a five page paper on the development of a particular

03:11

character in a novel way might be tempted to mark

03:13

anything and everything about that character that we come across

03:17

which means we'd have a lot of irrelevant nonsense The

03:19

plow through when it actually comes time to write our

03:22

paper resist temptation read a chapter at a time re

03:27

read a chapter of necessary think about chapters content then

03:30

go back and underlined what's important or put a quick

03:33

note or quote on the paper i eat be efficient

03:36

if we read and actually think about what we're reading

03:39

rather than get trigger happy with a highlighter way won't

03:41

just have a better understanding of the novel and our

03:43

paper topic but we'll have an easier time actually writing

03:47

the paper The fifth item on our how to read

03:50

novels checklist is to look for them meaty stuff as

03:53

we read kind of items we could whip out during

03:55

a classroom discussion so he looked totally awesome For example

03:59

we might see something that appeals to us in a

04:01

novel about a particular character or setting we might like

04:04

How the author uses imagery in a scene or the

04:08

author's syntax throughout the story we might identify an overarching

04:12

theme to the novel In other words look for things

04:15

in her story that set the novel apart from other

04:18

novels and the author apart from other authors Okay six

04:22

item on our checklist it's to remember how we feel

04:26

when we finish a novel Some of us may ball

04:28

hysterically at the end of the book or thank our

04:30

lucky stars that we survived reading that pile of horse

04:34

apples Our emotions can be key to identify an important

04:38

aspect of the book when we feel strongly enough about

04:40

to produce a really compelling paper All right here's The

04:44

seventh item on our how to read a novel checklist

04:47

There is no right way to read a novel Some

04:50

people can read a novel once and be done Others

04:52

need to read the novel two or three times to

04:54

make sense of it Some people can dog your ten

04:57

or twelve pages and produce amazing papers Others need to

05:00

produce copious and detailed notes on a book before they

05:02

can write a single cent In other words there is

05:05

No one way to read in process a novel way

05:07

All have different methods that work for us because we're

05:09

all different people This brings us to the last item

05:12

on the checklist Practice practice practice The more novels we

05:16

read the more likely we are to find an analytical

05:18

process that works for us We'll be able to more

05:20

quickly identify the important components of a novel Also the

05:23

more novels we read the more books will have to

05:25

compare and contrast against Well whatever story were reading and

05:29

that kind of information can often come in handy on

05:31

an english assignment Go now go forth and read What 00:05:37.022 --> [endTime] a novel idea

Up Next

Jane Eyre Summary
123033 Views

When you're about to marry the love of your life, not many things could stop you. However, finding out that your future hubby is keeping his crazy...

Related Videos

What is Shmoop?
91411 Views

Here at Shmoop, we work for kids, not just the bottom line. Founded by David Siminoff and his wife Ellen Siminoff, Shmoop was originally conceived...

ACT Math 4.5 Elementary Algebra
492 Views

ACT Math: Elementary Algebra Drill 4, Problem 5. What is the solution to the problem shown?

AP English Literature and Composition 1.1 Passage Drill 1
1039 Views

AP® English Literature and Composition Passage Drill 1, Problem 1. Which literary device is used in lines 31 to 37?

AP English Literature and Composition 1.1 Passage Drill 2
683 Views

AP® English Literature and Composition Passage Drill 2, Problem 1. What claim does Bacon make that contradicts the maxim "Whatsoever is delig...