- If you were to describe this novel to someone who hasn't read it, how would you do it (in one sentence)?
- What is one thing that you've learned about your own writing by reading this novel?
- Who is the most interesting character? Who is the most unrealistic?
- What is the funniest moment? What is the most moving?
- After reading this novel, what qualities would you say that a first-person-narrated novel must have?
- Do you have any suggestions for a first-person novel for EN-201 in the future?
Monday, March 9, 2015
Finishing Up w/ Dickens
As we finish up w/ David Copperfield, I'd like us to start to make some general comments on the novel:
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David Cooperfield is a fictional biography that is lengthy and has sorrowful moments, but also very well thought-out and intriguing,
ReplyDeleteI could describe this novel as a boy's journey growing up and all of the highs and lows that come with being alive. I think that a first-person narrative must have an interesting protagonist. If you're not emotionally invested or rooting for this character, it does not make for a very interesting book. I've learned that being more descriptive in my writing can only benefit it. When you add small details it creates a more vivid story, and makes it seem like the reader is really a part of the journey.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I learned from about my own writing from reading this novel is that I do not give each character much personality. I also need to evolve on my dialogue to make my writing a little more interesting.
ReplyDeleteThe story is best described as "a coming of age story that forces you to heavily root for a happy ending of the novel."
ReplyDeleteI have learned how to stretch and flesh out my stories. Instead of just stating action as it goes in very quick sentences, I have learned how to increase the length of the action and be more descriptive.
The most interesting character is Steerforth in my opinion, this is because he surprised me with his love affair with Emily because Emily does not come from the same background as Steerforth and is not as educated as well.
The most unrealistic character is Mr. Creakle. I believe this because he was absurdly harsh to the students without probable cause. While at the same time having some sort of respect for Steerforth when he acted out.
A first person narrative is more powerful in telling a story about someone because it brings you in the journey with them. You as a reader are much more involved because you only know as much as the character telling the story, nothing more and nothing less.
I am currently working on a first person story, though I am not quite sure how far to take it or whether it is worth it.
1) Funniest moment: I'm having trouble thinking of the funniest moment. I would say, instead, the funniest character: Mr. Micawber.
ReplyDeleteMost moving: Martha's confession to the Doctor.
2) Learned about my own writing: That you can digress, but that your reader expects you to come back to the matter at hand at some point. (I love Dickens' digressions!)
3) Other great 1st person narrated novels: Lolita, Great Gatsby, Franny and Zooey, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit.
4) A 1st person novel must have a very observant character who, even if he/she speaks slang/broken English, is more articulate than the average person.
5) The most interesting character: Mr. Dick. The most unrealistic character: Agnes.
6) One sentence summary: Orphan abandoned, reclaimed, makes good, tells story.
The one thing I learned about my own writing by reading this novel is that my initial attempts at dialogue were relatively sloppy in comparison.
ReplyDeleteThe funniest bit was when David becomes intoxicated, and makes a fool of himself to Agnes. The most moving part was when Martha Endell was saved from suicide, then changed her mind about it afterward for Em'ly's sake.
This novel in one sentence: Difficult situations and conditions for a boy who probably doesn't deserve it.
One thing that I learned about my writing by reading this novel, is that creative expression can always bring the best out of a story. Dickens uses a lot of irony and emotion to bring out the characters different personalities. By reading his novel, it has actually inspired me to use more emotion and feeling in my own writing. The most unrealistic character in my opinion would be Steerforth. I say this because in the beginning he had me fooled to believing that he was a loyal and trustworthy friend who always had David's best interest at heart. Instead, Steerforth turned out to be disloyal and he managed to break ties with people who actually cared or him; including his own mother. The most interesting character to me would most likely be David. David seems to be very driven and he always seems to go after what he wants. Even if he fails, he still manages to get up and keep moving; which reminds me of myself in a sense. I also noticed that the moment he lost his mother, it made him love and cherish those around him even more. Lastly, the one thing that David has a lot of is determination. He is always seems so determined to find a true love. No matter if he walks into fire and gets burned by the flame, he manages to brush it off and keep going until he finds the right one; which so happens to be Dora. But the one question I have is if the relationship between him and Dora will change because of her miscarriage?.
ReplyDelete1. The peculiar story of a man's coming of age, going through the ups and downs of a life.
ReplyDelete2. uh, nothing really, I was already fairly confident in my own writing.
3. The funniest moment for me was the waiter that pretty much stole young David's meal early on in the novel.
4. Besides being told in the 1st person, it should have heart. We as humans are emotional creatures, so to read something from what is the perspective of a human and not being able to relate to it is a sure fire way to tell a bad 1st person novel.
5. The Forever War is a fantastic 1st person novel, about the plight of a soldier fighting a distant war light years away with a race of aliens, while battling his own confusion over the time dilation and the changing environment back on earth.( think returning Vietnam soldiers)
6. Dora is the most unrealistic. How do you not know how to cook soup? or anything really? But, Mr.Peggoty is definitely the most interesting, to just go around everywhere looking Emily is a valiant thing.
If I had to describe this book in one sentence I would say: David Copperfield is a long coming-of-age story about a boy whom meets many people, some of which he likes more than others, and all of which influence him in one way or another.
ReplyDeleteI think I've learned a lot about dialogue from this story. I have a tendency to write dialogue like people who speak casually every day. Ie: gonna, gotta, nothin, and common grammatical errors. Dickens does this as well, but he does it a little too much. I understand he is trying to capture the essence of the person by writing how they speak, but for the purposes of reading it, it can be a little much. I have learned not to be too focused on getting a person's speech just right, but instead, putting a little here and there.
I think that David is the most interesting character simply because this is his story and we know the most about him. It's so easy to analyze his actions and opinions because of his childhood. It's obvious that psychologically he was affected by his mother marrying Mr. Murdstone, and sending him away to school, and then losing his mother. His consistent attachment to the girls he meets reflects this unconscious need for womanly attention.
I think that the funniest moment in the book would have to be when David meets Uriah's mother and he said that he felt like it was a game of Badminton. I thought that the scene was entertaining and the metaphor was exactly how I was picturing it.
I think a first-person narrator must have some type of connection and relatibility to the story being told...
A first person narrator has to have the ability to let you see the story through their eyes, feel the emotions they feel, and understand or relate to their thoughts on different situations.
ReplyDeleteDavid Copperfield is a coming of age story told in retrospect of a young naive boy who comes across difficult situations and interesting people who shape his character.
I've learned that my own writing needs to have more layers and characters that further enhance my theme as well as take my readers further into my thoughts and observations as a first person narrator.
I think Steerforth is the most interesting character because of his duplicity.
The most interesting character to me is probably Uriah Heep. Something about him makes me want to know more of what is to happen. The funniest moment to me would possibly be when David's Aunt found out his mother would not be having a girl. In a first person novel you must make the story feel real and believable. As if you were in the situation.
ReplyDeleteThe most interesting character to me is probably Uriah Heep. Something about him makes me want to know more of what is to happen. The funniest moment to me would possibly be when David's Aunt found out his mother would not be having a girl. In a first person novel you must make the story feel real and believable. As if you were in the situation.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I learned from about my own writing from reading this novel is that I do not give each character much personality. I also need to evolve on my dialogue to make my writing a little more interesting.
ReplyDelete1-Its based on a boy who has went through a lot of ups and downs, but overcame them with his sense of intelligence.
ReplyDelete2-I learned that I have to be more detailed especially with the characters of my stories.
3-David is by the far the most interesting character, Dora is the most unrealistic character
4-The most moving moment was when David not only lost his mom but lost his baby brother as well. funniest was when Uriah got caught
if i had to describe this novel in one sentence to someone who hasnt read it, id say its very long but it has moments that capture you.
ReplyDeleteone thing ive learned about my own writing by reading this is that my first person stories can turn into something much bigger. if i put my stories in chronological order, ill have my own novel which would probably be more interesting to many than david copperfield is.
david is the most interesting character to me because he does things that remind me of regular people instead of a made up character.
after reading this novel i believe that first person narrated novel must have clear emotion in the way he/she describes each situation, especially in the powerful parts of the story.
fight club is a great first person narrated book that i think many would enjoy and learn from.
David Copperfield was a good novel. It's a story of a young boy who gave me much pleasure learning about himself and grows up to be a writer. The novel was written in first person and overall Dickens did a good job. When writing in first person your're main focus is the hero. I would say Dickens was chained to that hero. One thing that I learned in my writing by reading this novel is writing in first person. In most of my writing's, I am found writing in first person but often switch alot to third person. I enjoy writing in 3rd person better cause it helps me bring about the story better. One suggestion I would make for a first person novel is Harry Potter! The funniest moment.....
ReplyDeleteOne thing I've learned about my own writing by reading this novel is that I've improved my style of writing. Sometimes it is very useful to look at others' work in order to find inspiration. It also helps us better understand language and how to further create the plot to our future stories.
ReplyDeleteIf I had to describe this novel to someone in one sentence, it would be: Charles Dickens' novel, David Copperfield, is a perfect example of a novel that utilizes drama to enhance the story.
I believe David himself is an interesting character. He depicts a person who cannot make up his mind and also someone who holds attachment(for example his many love interests because of the loss of his mother). Meanwhile I find Mr. Murdstone to be unrealistic. I say this because he seems so sinister (for example his ill- omened eyes) and the beginning of his name sounds like murder which right off the bat gives the reader a bad vibe about this particular character.
I think the funniest moment had to be the conversation between Uriah Heep and his mom while David was sitting with them. There was a particular part in the text where it said Uriah threw the ball, she threw it back, and that just created a visual image where I could see David being thrown back and forth like a ball. The most moving part probably had to be David's mothers' death because he was very close with his mom and the sight of him losing her was very unbearable. He became attached to other women with lust rather than love, it was just David's need for his mother that drove him to his attachments/love interests.
One sentence to describe this novel to someone who hasn't read it: A story revolving around a boy aging into a man, which takes the readers on an emotional roller coaster while we live through his major life experiences.
ReplyDeleteA first-person-narrated novel must have usage of the terms "I, me, and myself." It should probably have high amounts of showing, since the reader would be in the narrator's shoes, to help paint vivid pictures in the reader's mind.
Any suggestions for a first-person novel for EN-201 in the future? Hm. Perhaps... House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski?
One thing that I learned about my writing by reading this novel, is that creative expression can always bring the best out of a story. Dickens uses a lot of irony and emotion to bring out the characters different personalities. By reading his novel, it has actually inspired me to use more emotion and feeling in my own writing. The most unrealistic character in my opinion would be Steerforth. I say this because in the beginning he had me fooled to believing that he was a loyal and trustworthy friend who always had David's best interest at heart. Instead, Steerforth turned out to be disloyal and he managed to break ties with people who actually cared or him; including his own mother. The most interesting character to me would most likely be David. David seems to be very driven and he always seems to go after what he wants. Even if he fails, he still manages to get up and keep moving; which reminds me of myself in a sense. I also noticed that the moment he lost his mother, it made him love and cherish those around him even more. Lastly, the one thing that David has a lot of is determination. He is always seems so determined to find a true love. No matter if he walks into fire and gets burned by the flame, he manages to brush it off and keep going until he finds the right one; which so happens to be Dora. But the one question I have is if the relationship between him and Dora will change because of her miscarriage?.
ReplyDeleteThis is strange. Did you mean to post it twice?
DeleteIf I were to describe this novel in one sentence it would be: This novel epitomizes the adventure and journey of a young boy finding his way through life with the many comedic and tragic encounters and occurences he endures on his path, meeting complex and subtle characters that bring the protagonist David to different areas in his life; some good, some bad but, overall David stay true to his character and finds his calling at the end of this narrative which keeps him content and gives him closure.One thing I've learned by reading this novel which influenced my own writing was the complexity of the plot, the oragnization of the plot, the development of some of the characters overtime, and the communication between characters through dialogue. The most interesting character in this story is I think is David himself, and the most unrealistic is I think Steerforth. After reading this novel I think the qualities a first-person narrative should have is the story should be told from the most interesting character's point of view and not multiple people and that the protagonist or person telling the story should be complex have a lot of thoughts and contemplate a lot of stuff, not be bland and not be too simple. A book I reccomend that should be read that I think is a 1st person novel is "Midnight Express" by Bill Hayes which is a story about an American literary University Student who gets put in a Turkish prison while studying abroad because he was smoking weed and finds himself stuck there with no way to go back home because he was charged with possesion of Marijuanna which got turned into a smuggling charge and he tries to escape the prison by going through the midnight express a production train that goes across the turkish border. He tries to find his way back home in a foriegn country.
ReplyDeleteNow that I think about it, I didn't learn much from reading the story. The only thing I use this book for my own writing is the dialog to get an idea about writing up the dialog. I learn that you don't have to always include a character's name in the middle of the dialog.
ReplyDeleteIf I were to describe this novel to someone who hasn't read it yet, I would say the story is long, but some parts in the story were interesting.
if i had to describe this novel in one sentence to someone who hasnt read it, id say its very long but it has moments that capture you.
ReplyDeleteone thing ive learned about my own writing by reading this is that my first person stories can turn into something much bigger. if i put my stories in chronological order, ill have my own novel which would probably be more interesting to many than david copperfield is.
david is the most interesting character to me because he does things that remind me of regular people instead of a made up character.
after reading this novel i believe that first person narrated novel must have clear emotion in the way he/she describes each situation, especially in the powerful parts of the story.
fight club is a great first person narrated book that i think many would enjoy and learn from.
This novel is a fiction biography that mostly shares moments about a boys life as he grows up. He shares times of sorrow, happiness and major changes in his life. One thing I've learned about my own writing the the best fiction novel comes with experience and how well you explain it for readers to visualize. The most interesting character is David Copperfield because his character is so real because he's very gullable but quick to help others but at the same time defensive when needed. The first person narrative must have interesting conflicts and showing more of whats going on in the story.
ReplyDeleteThe one thing I learned about my own writing by reading this novel is that my initial attempts at dialogue were relatively sloppy in comparison.
ReplyDeleteThe funniest bit was when David becomes intoxicated, and makes a fool of himself to Agnes. The most moving part was when Martha Endell was saved from suicide, then changed her mind about it afterward for Em'ly's sake.
This novel in one sentence: Difficult situations and conditions for a boy who probably doesn't deserve it.