forster test

according to forster, what must all novels have in common?

they all have the aspect of storying telling and they follow a sequential order

how does forster define a story

a narrative of events following an order that make people want to read more

why must a story be suspenseful

• the story needs to be interesting

• this is the only way the author can get publicity

• the reader needs to be engaged and what to know what happens next

what is the one merit a story can have

making the audience want to know more

what is the one fault a story can have

making the reader not want to know more

how does forster contrast the idea of time with the idea of value that he says is in novels

value is how significant something is

• it is measured by intensity, not minutes or time

• we assign different events a different amount of value which keeps us interested

why does forster say a novelist cannot ignore time completely

no good novel can exist without some sort of schedule

• there is a clock in every book no matter how much it is brought up or not

forster uses sir walter scott in this section as an example, and while he finds him difficult to read, he still gives him credit as an author. why?

he is a good story teller, knows how to use suspense, and plays with the readers imaginationwh (nostalgia)

where does chapter 1 from the antiquary offer concrete evidence of what has been claimed by forster so far

“it sets the story tellers theme. we feel a moderate interst in what the young man will do next”

• it defends how suspense and a sequence help a story to be good

what does forster mean when he says that the story “appeals not to the eye, like most prose, but to the ear”

the book has to sound nice to the person reading it. both your visual and auditory processors need to be engaged for a book to be good and make sense

why does a novelist who tries to abolish time completely always fail

you have to have a flow(time) or else the novel will not make sense. the time makes the story good

why does forster specifically focus on humans in terms of characters in novels

there is a connection between the writer, the character, and the reader because they are are humans

• “since the novelist is himself a human being, there is an affinity between him and his subject matter which is absent in many other forms of art”

how does forster answer the question “what is the difference between people in a novel and people like the novelist or like you, or like me”

if the character is exactly like a real person, it is no longer a story about a made up character, it is a memoir or a biography about a real person

there is also a uniqueness the defines the characters as their own

how does forster differentiate between a novelist and a historian

historians use facts and actions while novelists use their creativity to make a story and use thoughts

• one can read minds and explain their thoughts while the other cannot

how does forster define as the hidden life

the hidden life is something that happens in the characters mind. it is their thoughts and feelings that are not expressed, only internally

• “the hidden life is, by definition, hidden. the hidden life that appears in external signs is hidden no longer, has entered the realm of action”.

what are the 5 mains facts in human life?

birth, love, food, sleep, and death

does the novelist represent each fact of human life accurately or does he change them?

the novelist represents them as accurately as possible. however, they are not always written about in detail. no one can explain how it feels to be born or to die, but it can be briefly mentioned. sleep is also on mentioned, because we know it is happening, but we don’t read pages and pages about the characters sleeping.

the ones that are represented the most accurately is food and love. food is used in a social way, and love is everywhere

why does love seem to be prominent in novels?

love happens all around us. it happens after adolescence. love takes so much time. love is not just dating, it is friendship and in objects and family.

• there is an emotional connection and reason for it

how does the character of moll flanders offer concrete evidence of what has been claimed by forster so far

she faces each of the 5 facts human life in different ways. throughout the book and through her life, she experiences all of these and it backups what forster has claimed

what is our definition of a real character, according to forster?

when the character mimics real life and is able to capture the true unpracticality of human life

• round characters

why, acording to forster, is fiction truer than history

is goes beyond evidence

• knowing hidden life makes it truer

why do characters in novels offer us comfort

more hidden life stuff

• we relate to them because of what they are thinking

• they bring us comfort because of the honesty they and their hidden lives have

what is a flat character

they only have one personality trait. they are one dimensional and cannot surprise us

• called humors

what is a round character

often the main character. they have multiple differnt personality traits and have character develupment. they can suprise the reader

elaborate on the two main advantages of flat characters

1. easily recognized when the enter

2. easily remembered by the reader

what can be problematic about flat characters

it is hard for a novel to be good without them, they balance out the story

why does a complex novel often require both flat and round characters

it parallels life more accurately

what claims does forster make about austens characters in this chapter

he says that all of her characters have the capability to be round

according to forster, what is the true test of a flat character

is they are able to do something out of the ordinary and surprise the reader (would they make a different decision based on who they are with)

how does examining the points of view in a novel help to enhance its characters? omniscient and shifting

pov helps deepen the characters. in real life we can only judge people based on their external actions. in a story, the flexible pov allows a writer to reveal the complete inner life that transforms them into complex and round people

should the writer allow the reader to get too intimate with his characters?

writers should allow people to get very intimate with the characters. this intimacy is rarely possible in real life. it brings a feeling of connection and understanding that is hard to obtain in real life

discuss how the aspect of the plot changes characters in the novel

the narrator explains what is not verbally said by the characters. their hidden life gets narrated

define the word plot

narrative of events (falls on causality)

• the plot tells us why and so what

what does it mean when the emphasis falls on causality (and then vs why)

a narrative shifts from being just a story to being a full plot

• it means that when something happens in a book, no one knows why until the so what happens

what does forster have to say about the importance of curiosity in this chapter

we are naturally curious, the curiosity is the job of the story not us

• curiosity is very unimportant and it is one of the lowest of the human facilities

• curiosity does not take us very far in life or in a novel, it takes us only has far as the story will

why does plot demand intelligence and memory

it is fundamentally rooted in causality

why is memory so essential when reading

it allows the reader to fully grasp the story and to apricate the novel and plot

• if we cannot remember, we cannot understand

explain what forster means when he says that meredith’s plot resemble kiosks

it is kind of like going to different store check outs to get something out of it

• the events of the story are the kiosks

• you go to each to learn something and get something

• Catherine Morland goes to each kiosks, and her behavior at each is the plot

why does plot require mystery

it engages the reader more and allows them to have a higher intelligence and memory of the story

• it keeps them engaged and interested in teh story

why does the plot ultimately lose to characters at the end of the novels

you care about the characters more than the plot sometimes. especially if it is a bad or predictable plot

• the plot has to be wound up and sometimes to round off the plot the author needs to kill a character

the structural requirement to finish a plot forces characters to behave unnaturally

characters + story = plot.

based on what we now know about all three aspects, why might this be the equation

characters are the framework for a story. without characters you don’t have a story. if a story starts to get too intricate when many characters are added, it becomes a plot

• Characters drive the action of a narrative, and the broader context or thematic arc provides the framework, combining to create the sequence of events known as the plot

discuss how the aspect of the plot changes characters in the drama

you only get the information you see them act out/the stage directions you read. as well direct dialogue