1. Literature Bootcamp 101 Learning Objective:
Students will develop a basic working understanding of literature analysis skills.

2. What is literature analysis?
Literature analysis is a breakdown of the story to develop a deeper understanding of the literature.
Analysis is usually a reader’s interpretation of a theme of the literature.
Literature analysis determines the techniques used by the author to create a certain effect on the reader in order to interpret or understand the story- or the author’s intent.
When writing or presenting a literary analysis, it is important to use the appropriate “jargon” to express our ideas or interpretations.

3. Plot Structure:

4. Plot structure: What is it good for?
Use plot structure to discuss:
Story development
Character development
Theme development
Usually plot structures are in sequential order and are causal (cause and effect).
Beware of flashbacks, flash-forward's, and foreshadows. These are used to give necessary background information, but may throw off the sequence of a story. These should be discussed as separate elements of literary analysis.

5. Create a plot structure for 1984, by Orwell.

6. Create a plot structure for KR:

7. Consider the question:
As Amir remembers an Afghan celebration in which a sheep must be sacrificed, he talks about seeing the sheep’s eyes moments before its death.
“I don’t know why I watch this yearly ritual in our backyard; my nightmares persist long after the bloodstains on the grass have faded. But I always watch, I watch because of that look of acceptance in the animal’s eyes. Absurdly, I imagine the animal understands. I imagine the animal sees that its imminent demise is for a higher purpose.”
Why do you think Amir recalls this memory when he witnesses Hassan’s tragedy in the alleyway? Amir recollects the memory again toward the end of the novel when he sees Sohrab in the home of the Taliban. Discuss the image in the context of the novel.

8. Discuss the character development of Amir using the pyramid structure
Hassan in the alleyway
Memory of the slaughtered sheep
Sohrab in the home of the Taliban

9. Annotating. When you break it down, what are you looking for?
Learning objective:
Students will learn to apply annotation of literature in literature analysis.

10. Emergency words: Diction Denotation Connotation Symbolism Imagery
Vocabulary from basic literary elements (plot structure, setting, character, tone, mood, atmosphere, etc).

11. How does the opening line of 1984 by George Orwell begin the establishment of our story?
It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.

12. The Beginning:
It was a pleasure to burn. -Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.
-Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
Call me Ishmael. -Moby Dick, Herman Melville

13. Dog Story by Ms. Old
Warm Up: Create a plot structure diagram for the Dog Story.
Practice activity:
Identify how the author uses repetition within the story. Explain the purpose or effect of the technique within the story. Write an analytical paragraph in response.
Your paragraph should include a quote or example, have a central assertion (topic sentence), supporting sentences, and a conclusion sentence.

14. In the “Dog Story”, Ms. Old wrote, “It was almost nice, almost sweet, the trust we had in each other in that moment. She trusted I wouldn’t leave her to die alone. I knew it. I trusted her to die quickly. She knew it.” Ms. Old uses repetition in this passage that creates an emphasis on the finality of the act occurring in this scene. The choice and repetition of the words “seemed” and “almost” emphasizes the tone of uncertainty and the sense of an illusion and disconnect that has developed throughout the story. Further, the repetition of the word “trust” emphasizes the illusion that occurs for both the narrator and the dog in this final scene that mirrors the totality of the death occurring in the resolution. However, the short sentences changes the pacing of the closing scene; “I knew it” and “she knew it” are concise with clear diction, emphasizing what was known and accepted versus the contrast with the longer sentences that are filled with uncertainty. This contrast further emphasizes the finality of the death of the dog.