Dear Professor Rodgers:

Describe your experience writing this essay.

Explain what you learned, or explain what you re-learned, or what you wish you had learned.

Explain any questions or concerns that you have about the essay.

Calvino describes different levels of reality, he describes there are 4 levels of reality in works of literature. In his work he explains, although all 4 levels seems to be spoken about and discussed in literature, it seems that the higher the level of reality in works of literature that is talked about, the more it seems to be unreal.

– When it comes to fiction literature, since having more levels of reality is said to be unreal, do nonfiction literature has to have more than 1 level of reality in order to make it a work of fiction?

What is your essay about?  What do you hope to argue or prove in your essay?  How do you plan to go about doing this?  What evidence will you use?

Calvino’s essay is about the existence of levels of reality in literature. According to him, different levels of reality may be matched by level s of credibility or different suspension of disbelief.Calvino shows how when writing about fiction, nothing should be taken for granted. He uses specific examples to support what he is writing about by being cautious and clear.

-How does Calvino differentiate the various level of reality in literature?

– He mentioned that authors tend to use the person in their writhing while inventing that character, how  has he proved that?

Fabrice Douillard

Writing About Literature

Topic Specific Questions

Does my story have to be finished? (yes)

Do I have to analyze my own story?  Yes!  After writing your story, I would like you to write a two page analysis of your story.  Please discuss your story as though you are a literary critic.  Describe the elements of fiction.  Are they used conventionally?  If not, why not?  Do you notice any connections between various elements of fiction and how they are used in this story and how they are used in other stories that we’ve read?  Which elements of fiction seem to be most significant to this story and an interpretation of this story?  Are there any connections you can make to/insights you can provide on Calvino’s discussion of levels of reality in fiction that you should mention in your discussion of your story?

For those working on Professor Rosen’s “Retelling the Story” assignment, here are a few guidelines for your critical analysis of your retelling:  Please discuss how writing the story from the perspective you’ve chosen changes the story.  What new insights into the story does a reader attain from re-telling it from this new perspective?  If possible, and if appropriate, please compare one specific passage from the original story and one from your re-telling of the story.  Compare and contrast these two passages.

Description, Analysis, Interpretation

Writing Process

What is an Exploratory Draft?

An exploratory draft is basically a structured free writing exercise.  Before you start this, you will want to consult your brainstorming exercise, some of your Writing Journals, assignments  for our class, and/or other materials  that we have read.  Having thought about the literary response essay as genre and what you may want to write about, please spend forty five minutes to an hour writing.  This is structured free writing.  Please do not be concerned about grammar or punctuation or structure.  Just write and keep writing and see where the writing takes you!

Madame Bovary (Excerpt from Lydia Davis translation)

Calvino’s “Levels of Reality in Literature” talks about the different levels of reality found within a story. It also points out that the “I” can represent a part of the author/writer that creates the story. As readers, we look at fact and fiction as two different things but Calvino points out that we shoul look at them as one factor.

1) Why is Madame Bovary used as a reference within the essay?

2) Does the use of “I” always represent a part of the Author/writer that creates the story?

Madam Bovary – Chapter 1

Describe :

– Characters : Charles Bovary (son ), Charles Bovary (father), Madame Bovary (mother), Madam Bovary (wife), school kids, head-master, and the doctor in Tostes.

– Setting: There are multiple settings in this chapter, but in general events take place in early 19th century in France.

– Theme: Pressure, obligation to become what the parents want him to be. Middle class family trying to gain social status so the pressure falls on the son to get them to make the leap to the upper class society.

– Narrative point of view : Narration starts off as a first person narrator ( as a character) then changes to a third person objective narration and changes between the two.

– Tone : You feel sorry for Charles for not having a say in his own life.

As a group we all agreed that we would like to read the rest of the novel. The reason is the author describes the characters, places, even small, mundane objects so perfectly that you can almost see them coming alive in front of your very eyes.

Group Members : Marissa ( Note-taker),  Aygun (Presenter), Seyhan (Poster), Ben (Editor)

Tiana C, Melissa H, Estefania L,

Describe: starts with the boy being in school. He was a farmer and the school was in the village. The story then goes back to how his parents met. His father liked the finer things in life. The mother wanted the boy to be smart and the father wanted him to be strong and tough.

Analyze: The story mostly talks of the boy so we think that the story will follow with the mother, Madame Bovary

-The boy goes to a new school

– how his parents met.

– when he went to the university to study

– he becomes a doctor

– he gets married. And his wife gets sick.

2) This story is not very interesting but it does spark curiosity because it makes you want to know what the story’s about as a whole. In the first chapter they only tell you so much about the boy but the title is the mothers name. Maybe there is a reason why they mainly talk about the boy in the first chapter but we don’t yet know why.

Honey Pinzon – Open Lab Poster

Mariah -Note Taker

Ajany- Presenter

1. The chapter follows the detailed events that happen to young Charles. The chapter follows chronological order, very similar to proportion surviving. The story describes that Charles grew up in a farm and is attending school.  The chapter leads on to talk about how Charles parents do not get along and takes full control of Charles life. Charles is very lazy and unimaginative, which is the reason why he is treated the way he is. His mother even found him a wife, who nags and scolds him all the time.

2. in our group, we personally do not like this essay. The language seems very dragging and complicated to read. There is much dialect, and difficult to understand.  At some points, seem very confusing, so it makes us stop wanting to read it.

3. There are many different levels of reality.

Setting – his house, farm, wife’s house

Characters: Narrator, Charles, Charles father and mother, wife . The Master.