Development and structure of a novel

Describe how characters in a novel are developed. 2. Describe the plot development and structure of a novel. 3. Describe and analyze the role of the setting in a novel. 4. Identify and analyze the themes in a novel. 5. Identify and analyze an author’s purpose and perspective. 6.

Explain how historical context affects readers” understanding and appreciation of a novel. Behind the Scenes American author Barbara Kingsolver [1955] never dreamed she would become a writer. In school, she studied biology and economics while dedicating her spare time to political activism, including protesting the Vietnam 1ii’il’ar. 1ii’il’hen she married and became pregnant in 1935, she began suffering from insomnia.

Her doctor suggested that she tire herself out by scrubbing the bathroom tiles with a toothbrush, but Kingsolver took to the typewriter instead. Shortly after, she published her first novel, The Bean Trees, which was received with great critical acclaim. Perhaps because she never studied writing or dreamed of becoming a writer, Kingsolver had little interest in what critics thought of her work. She was much more interested to know that average Kentuckians were reading her novels and that they felt well-represented in her work. Readers familiar with Kingsolver’s biography will easily recognize her two great passions — social activism and environmental protection — in her novels, although Kingsolver claims that this is where the similarities end. 1I.|’I.I’ith the exception of setting her novels in the Kentucky region where she grew up, Kingsolver claims there is nothing autobiographical about her work.

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